Chapter Sixteen:

Hospital Stays:

"Daddy!" Jenny yelled as she and Tyler ran to Ephram's bed.

"Hey Jenna, Hey Tyler. I'm so glad you brought the kids, it feels like I haven't seen them in ages." Ephram said when his dad came to see him on Thursday.

"Yeah, I thought you'd want to see them."

"Yeah I did. Could you give me a moment alone with them?"

"Sure I'll take the triplets for a walk." his dad said as he pushed the stroller towards the door.

As soon as the door shut Ephram turned to the twins. "I need to talk to you two about something. Do you remember me telling you about me being sick?"

Sick:

"Yeah." Jenny and Tyler said at the same time. Ephram couldn't help, but smile at their closeness.

"Well I have a new sickness called stomach cancer, so I'm going to have to stay here for awhile."

"Why?" cried Jenny. Ephram held her close as he continued.

"Because I need help. Help only the hospital can give me." Ephram said softly.

"Can we stay with you?"

"We can't stay at the hospital with him stupid." Tyler snapped at Jenny.

"Tyler James Brown, apologize to your sister."

"Sorry!"

Sick:

"I know this is a lot to ask of you two, but I need you to help your grandparents with Ali, Cassie, and Kay.""Okay Daddy."

"Thank you Babies."

Andy came back into the room to find the twins asleep in Ephram's arms. "Did you tell them?"

"About me staying? Yeah, I did. Don't worry they'll be on their best behavior."

"They're always on their best behavior. How'd they take the news of you staying?"

"They're upset, but they'll be okay. Jenny even asked to stay with me."

"How sweet."

"I can't do this. I can't stay here."

"You have to."

"I can't die yet. I can't leave them without either of their parents."

Sick:

"You'll be around long enough to see them all grown up and married, not to mention your grandkids." Andy said brushing the hair out of Ephram's face.

"You think so?" Ephram asked pulling Jenny and Tyler close.

"I know so."

"I don't think I will. That's just not in the cards for me."

"We need to talk without the kids."

"Okay." Ephram said before waking Jenny and Tyler up. "Jenna, Tyler I love you two very much and I'll see you later okay."

Sick:

"We love you too." Jenny and Tyler said hugging Ephram.

"Okay can you two give me a moment alone with your daddy?"

"Sure, bye bye Daddy." Jenny and Tyler said as they ran out of the room.

"I'll bring them by this weekend."

"Alright, I'll see you later." Ephram said as his dad hugged him.

"I'll be back later tonight and we can talk." his dad said pushing the stroller out the door.

Sick:

When Andy got back to the hospital later that night he found Ephram's room empty. "Where's my son?" Andy asked approaching the nurses station.

"What's your son's name?" the nurse asked turning to her computer.

"Ephram Brown."

"Let me call Dr. Dunkin and he can explain everything to you." the nurse said picking up the receiver. "Dr. Dunkin Ephram Brown's father is here. Okay." she said hanging up. "He'll be right down."

"Thank you." Andy said before taking a seat.

As promised it didn't take Dr. Dunkin long to come down to talk to Andy. "Ah your son was the one with Timely disease and stomach cancer." he commented more to himself than Andy as he read Ephram's chart.

Sick:

"Yeah he is. What's wrong? Why isn't he in his room?"

"I'm sorry to have to inform you about this Mr. Brown, but your son went into cardiac arrest about thirty minutes ago. A nurse found this in his room. It's addressed to you." Dr. Dunkin added handing Andy a piece of paper.

"Thanks."

"Look I know that this is the last thing you'd want to do right now, but we need you to identify the body."

"Can I have a minute first?"

"Of course take all the time you need. You can just come down when you're ready."

"Thanks." As soon as Andy was alone he sat down to read Ephram's letter.

Sick:

Dear Dad,

If you're reading this it means that I was gone before you came back. After you and the kids left I realized I needed to write down everything I wanted to tell you because I might not get another chance.

I love you Dad so much. I am so sorry for all the hell I put you through over the years. Except one thing, Madison. I'm not sorry for my relationship with her illegal as it may have been and I'm sure you're not mad about it anymore because of one thing, Adam.

Sick:

I need you to promise me one thing, that you will find Jennafer, Tyler, Alison, Cassen, and Kayla a good home. I know you and Nina said that you'd be their guardians if anything happened to Amy and me, but that was before Alison, Cassen, and Kayla came into the picture. But if you do end up raising them could you remind them that Amy and I loved them with all our hearts every now and then?

Love,

Ephram

Sick:

Andy finished reading Ephram's letter and then went down to identify his body, something he never thought he'd be doing with one of his kids. Afterwards he drove home to inform everyone of the terrible news. He just couldn't believe that his son was really gone.