Shout-Outs:RayOfTheDawn, VampirePrincess86 and StruckkByColfer

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my mistakes which are probably many.

Rated: T

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Chapter 7

"Sorry mate but Eve isn't in this morning," Ezekiel Jones said as he chewed on a slice of Granny Smith apple, his mouth puckered slightly as he swallowed. "But if you really need to talk to her then I could tell you where she is."

"That would be helpful," Jake answered.

"She's at the hospital with Cassandra," Ezekiel replied. "Hold on a second and I'll go get the name for you."

He disappeared into Eve's office and came back a few minutes later with an electric blue sticky note.

"Thanks," Jake said as Ezekiel handed it over to him.

Ezekiel smiled cheerfully. "No problem mate!"

Jake hesitated a moment and then cleared his throat. "Do you know what Eve is doin' at the hospital?"

"Just visiting, I think. Why? Are you worried she'll pull the plug today or something?"

"Or somethin'," Jake answered, shoving his hands into his jeans as he rocked forward a little.

"I don't think she's doing it today," Ezekiel replied. "She told me that she still needs a little more time to think about it before she actually does it. Why do you want to talk to her anyways?"

Jake shrugged. "Jenkins is hopin' that I'll be able to convince her to not pull the plug on Cassandra."

"You!?" Ezekiel asked incredulously. "You're practically a stranger! You don't even know Cassandra. Why would she listen to you?"

"I don't know," Jake lied. "Maybe because I'm staying in Cassandra's house. Jenkins is kind of different."

"You're telling me!" Ezekiel replied, he looked around the office and lowered his voice. "He thinks he can talk to ghosts, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, you should get going. Even though Eve isn't here, I still have a business to run! See ya around, Jacob!"

"Okay, 'bye," Jake answered as Ezekiel disappeared again.

Jake plugged the address into his phone and followed the directions while Cassandra chattered non-stop beside him, clearly anxious about what they would find when they got to the hospital. He nodded and murmured in agreement, trying to hide his own concern. He knew he didn't know her in real life but he knew it would be hard if she lost her life like Mable had.

He lied his way into her hospital room, saying things about being her boyfriend and just getting back from studying art in Paris. They let him in without much questions, looking a little bit grateful that Cassandra had more than two people in her life that cared about her.

Eve was in the hospital room, talking to her in a hushed voice and rubbing her hand, she looked up when she heard the door open and sniffed a little bit. "How did you get in here, Mr. Stone?" she asked, swiping at her face with the back of her hand.

"Don't tell her you lied," Cassandra said.

"I. . . I need to talk to you," Jake answered. "Jenkins told me that you were thinking about taking Cassandra off life support. And I think it's a bad idea."

"I don't see how you can get away with telling me what to do with my friend, Jacob!" Eve said. "You don't know her! You don't know what's good for her the way I do and she's been in a coma for a long time. She's not getting any better. I don't think she's going to wake up at all. Why prolong the inevitable?"

Jake searched for an answer, looking towards Cassandra to help him out. But her attention was on the body lying in the hospital bed.

Her body.

He watched her approach it and he knew that she wouldn't be much of a help to him, he looked back at Eve and saw that she was still waiting for an explanation from him for his strange behavior.

"Listen. . . I know you may think it's strange that I want you to put off taking Cassandra off life support. . . especially given that I don't know her but there's something about her, something that's captured my interest and I can't seem to let her go."

Eve sniffed and rubbed her red eyes. "That's sweet of you, that's really sweet. . . but I already signed the papers. It's been a long few months and I just can't take it anymore."

Cassandra gasped audibly and met Jake's eyes with shock and fear. Jake felt physically ill as he realized the implications of what Eve was saying.

Pretty soon it would be too late for Cassandra.

He had to throw all caution to the wind and tell her the truth.

"Wait!" He said frantically. "You can't. . . you have to tear those papers up! Cassandra's still here!"

"Jake. . . have you been drinking?" Eve asked cautiously.

"No!" Jake answered. "I have not been drinking! I can't explain it but I can see her just like I can see you. I've talked to her and she's right here with me, asking you not to give up on her yet."

"You have to prove to her that I'm really here," Cassandra said. "You have to tell her something only I would know. Let me see. . . oh! Remind her about the time we got drunk on wine coolers after she flunked her first test for her realtor's license. She doesn't like to talk about it because she hates it when she loses control."

"She wanted me to remind you about the time you got drunk on wine coolers after you flunked your test for your realtor's license."

Eve shook her head. "That doesn't prove anything! You probably heard it from Flynn; I rarely hide anything from him."

"Her college roommate, Liama, was in love with her!" Cassandra said. "I know that nobody else aside from me knows about that!"

"Your college roommate Liama was in love with you!" Jake repeated.

Eve looked horrified. "How do you know about that!? Nobody knows about that! You shouldn't repeat things like that! Liama is married to a perfectly nice man and she has a perfectly nice family!"

"Cassandra told me that she was in love with you," Jake said.

"Get out of here, right now Jacob Stone or I will call security!" Eve snapped, her face flushing deep red.

Jake shrugged. "I was only trying to help."

"Well, you weren't helping!" Eve answered, practically shoving him out the door. "I don't know what you're playing at but I think you should consider going to get your head checked. You can't just go around telling grieving people that you're talking to their friends who aren't really there!"

"I think if you'd just listen to me then you'd understand. . ."

Eve shook her head, cutting him off. "No. It's over, I'm shutting off the machines tomorrow morning and then I'm going to make plans to lay my friend to rest for once and for all. It's what she would have wanted. I'm not going to ignore her wishes any longer."

It wasn't until she had shut the door behind him that Jake realized he had left spirit-Cassandra in the hospital room with her body and to cope with losing her life all by herself. He turned away dejectedly, overwhelmed with the notion there was nothing else he could do to save her.

Just like he'd been unable to save Mable in the end.

TBC. . .

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Author's Note:

Hey everybody! I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me. But I've been around, plotting and planning where this story is going in between being a bridesmaid and doing my bridesmaid duties. My sister has been married for a week now but before I could get back to writing as usual, I had a run-in with a nasty insect on Tuesday night, which I didn't know until I woke up on Wednesday and found my whole face was swollen because of a sting I'd received on the inside of my lip. My excuses being made, I hope you will forgive the overdueness of this chapter and tell me what you think.

Also, I have a soundtrack for this story. Which I should be posting sometime in the next week or two, so be on the lookout for that! Although the ending track might be spoiler-ish, maybe.

Until Next Time!

Love,

Holly, 5/2/2015_