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Jac awoke in the early hours of morning. She didn't bother to look at her clock. Time had started to become strangely irrelevant to her, a sensation she remembered from the brief spell Amelia was in their lives. She felt warm under the duvet but the air in room around her felt cold which meant the heating hadn't kicked in yet so it was before five thirty. She rolled over onto her side to see Jonny was sleeping soundly on his back. She loved him so much that at times she almost felt sick with it. In the beginning stages of their relationship this intensity had frightened her, the thought of how excruciating it would feel to lose Jonny had almost caused her to give up on their relationship for good. That was until Sacha pointed out she was foolish to think the pain of unrequited love would fade and surely the good things of being in love and being loved in return were worth the risk. 'Greif is the price we pay for all love' he had told her 'but the price is unbelievably worth it.'

Jac felt an abrupt urge to touch Jonny, to feel his warmth and to know he was real. She didn't want to wake him but she needed this small comfort. She gently moved herself over to him and lay her head on his chest so she could hear the reliable beating of his heart. Jonny often joked with her only a heart surgeon could find the sound of a steady pulse comforting and relaxing.

Jonny woke as soon as he felt the weight of his wife laying her head on his chest. He let her lay there for a few minutes before whispering 'Are you ok?'

'No' Jac answered truthfully for once. Jonny stroked her hair as he listened to the sound of the heating clicking on. 'How many days do you think she has left?' Jac asked him.

'Jac, you know that's impossible to tell'

'But you're also thinking days rather than week's right?'

'How long does Jasmine think she's got left?' Jonny twisted a length of Jacs hair around his fingers.

'She wants to make it to new year.' Jac listened to Jonny's heart beat a while longer before declaring 'I think however long she has left we should make it happy for her. Anything she wants she can have it.'

'Agreed' Jonny wrapped his arms around Jac 'who says death has to be a morbid occasion?'

'You sound like Jasmine' Jac laughed 'she keeps telling me not to look so miserably serious all the time.' The couple lay in silence enjoying the peace in each other's company. The homely silence was shattered by a mournful cry of 'Auntie Jac! Auntie Jac!' Jac moved out of the bed as quickly as she could making her way to Ava's bedroom barefoot and dressed only her pyjamas not caring about the cold.

'Hey Ava, its ok' she soothed the child as she snapped on the bedside light 'its ok I'm here' she gathered the sobbing child into her arms. 'Did you have a bad dream?'

'Mummy said she was going to heaven soon, I don't want her go. Why can't she stay with me?' Ava cried against Jac's shoulder.

'Shh Pumpkin' Jac rubbed Ava's back as the child continued to sob 'Mummy is very poorly and the doctors can't make her better' she reminded the child 'Mummy's body is so sick its causing Mummy a lot of pain and soon it won't work for mummy anymore'. Jac could tell Ava was listening to these familiar words as the child's sobbing had ceased.

'When mummy is in heaven will she hurt anymore?' Ava asked a question she hadn't asked before. Jac lifted the child off her shoulder and sat her down in front of her on the bed.

'No Ava, Mummy won't be in anymore pain when she's in Heaven' she answered Ava seriously looking her in the eye she wiped away the child's tears with her hand.

'Do you think it will be better for Mummy to be in Heaven?' Ava asked.

Jac thought for a moment considering the maturity of the child's questions but not wanting to confuse her with her answers either. 'Well in some ways yes it will be better for Mummy when she's in Heaven because she won't be sick or hurting. But it will also be a sad thing for Mummy to be in Heaven because she will miss you very much and we will miss her very much too'. Jac smoothed the child's hair as she asked 'is that ok Ava?'

Ava nodded her head 'maybe that's why mummy isn't always sad'.

'I know it's confusing but you can be sad and happy at the same time Ava' Jac smiled at the little girl 'I'm sad Mummy is dying but I'm also happy I got to know her and to meet you.'

'Like how at Christmas I was sad Mummy was in hospital but then I was happy because Santa came?' Ava asked thoughtfully.

'Yes exactly' Jac smiled 'it's ok to feel lots of things all at the same time for lots of different reasons. When Mummy is happy it's because she's happy to see you and she doesn't want it to always be sad.' Ava nodded her head to show she understood. 'I bet you'll never guess what's happened over night' Jac smiled at Ava still smoothing her hair.

'What?' Ava smiled now.

'Come and see' Jac held out her hand to the little girl and helped her off the bed. She lifted the child into her arms and drew back the curtains to reveal the road outside, the cars and trees all covered in a white blanket.

'Is that snow?' Ava asked in wonder at how much the outside could change when you weren't looking.

'Yes it most certainly is' Jac kissed Ava's cheek 'today Uncle Jonny is happy because he'll be able to build a snowman.'

'Can I build a snowman too?' Ava asked excitedly.

'Of course, I should think the snow will be here for a couple of days' Jac felt the child's bare feet with one her hands 'come on, you're getting too cold let's get some socks and a dressing gown on you.'

Jac walked up the final flight of stairs to Keller ward to find Malick and Jasmine looking out of the window at the top.

'Jasmine's never seen proper snow before' Malick offered as an explanation.

'Never?' Jac was surprised

'You don't get a lot of snow in India' Jasmine grinned sarcastically.

'Right, sorry I forgot' Jac nodded.

'And apart from a few snowflakes it hasn't snowed the whole time I've been living in Bristol either which was slightly disappointing because it wasn't how I imaged winter in England.' Jasmine watched as a couple of nurses had an impromptu snowball fight in the car park. 'Where's Ava?' she suddenly asked.

'She's making snow angels with Sacha and Mo' Jac answered her as she watched Malick help the frail woman back into her wheelchair. 'She'll be in soon'

'You didn't want to play with them?' Jasmine enquired as they made their way back onto the ward.

'Far too cold for me' Jac shivered

'I wish I could go out in it' Jasmine spoke wistfully 'I don't even know what snow feels like'

'Cold and wet' Malick informed her as her helped her back into bed. 'Does that satisfy your curiosity?'

'Not really' Jasmine laughed.

'Isn't this possibly a little bit of an inappropriate reading choice?' Jac asked with an raised eyebrow as she held up a copy of The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom she'd picked up off the bed tray.

'No' Jasmine laughed again 'it's beautiful. Jake lent it to me'

'I'm sorry' Malick shook his head embarrassedly 'that boy doesn't think'

'No, it was good choice of his. He's a smart young man, did you know he wants to be a teacher?' Jasmine smiled a Malick.

'A teacher?' Malick sounded surprised 'how on earth did you find that out?'

'People always seem to want to tell me things' Jasmine shrugged 'I guess it's because I enjoy listening to their stories.'

'What else did he tell you?' Malick asked curiously.

'That he misses his mum, that he is proud you are his father and he worries he'll fail to make you proud of him.' Jasmine lightly touched the surgeons arm 'I think possibly you might want to make a little time once in a while to talk to your son.'

'Evidently' Malick smiled gratefully at Jasmine 'are you sure you're not offended by the book?'

'Honestly no' Jasmine laughed as Malick walked out of the side room to begin his ward rounds.

'So who will be the five people you will meet in Heaven?' Jac asked as she sat herself down in the chair beside the bed.

'I can only think of three' Jasmine answered her 'but then I guess that is one of the points of the book, you don't always know who you're connected to or which lives you touch in life.'

'Go on then, who's the three you can think of?'

'Grandma Naylor is my first choice because she sounds like a character and I also want to see how much you are actually like her.'

'A lot apparently' Jac rolled her eyes.

'Then I would want to meet Amelia. I would tell her how much she is loved and missed.' Jasmine threw a box tissues at her sister as she looked as though she were about to cry. 'I know you don't believe in it Jac but if there is a Heaven and I make it there I promise I will find Amelia and I will cuddle her for you'

'Quick move onto the third one' Jac sniffed dabbing at her eye's 'I've already had an emotional morning'

'sorry' Jasmine smiled guiltily, hating seeing Jac cry. 'Right my third choice would be a childhood friend of mine called Kamesh. He died of typhoid fever when we were fourteen. I held his hand as he died'.

'I'm sorry' Jac spoke softly 'that must have been hard for you'

'It wasn't exactly a peaceful passing, his mother was distraught' Jasmine shrugged her shoulders pretending the memory didn't hurt as much as it did.

'I can imagine. What was he like?'

'He was a handsome boy, from a kind family. He would walk me to school every day and he could make me laugh. A few times when Mum had left on my own he would take me home to his family and they would make such a fuss of me, it was as though I belonged somewhere. After he died I refused to go home for three days. His mother let me stay, until mum turned up and dragged me away becoming deaf to the protests of Kamesh's family.'

'I thought you said you'd never been in love' Jac smiled mischievously 'you were in love with this boy'.

'I don't think so Jac' Jasmine responded huffily.

'If you say so' Jac grinned to herself

'Don't be irritating' Jasmine crossed her arms across her chest grumpily.

'Whatever' Jac smirked.

Malick poked his head into Jasmines side room to find Jasmine fast asleep with Ava cuddled up beside her taking her afternoon nap. Jac was sat reading a medical journal tuting occasionally at the ignorance and narrow mindedness of some of the researchers.

'Jac' Malick whispered to get her attention. He gestured for her to come out to talk to him outside the room. Jac stood and raised the bedrail on the side Ava was sleeping on to ensure the little girl wouldn't accidently roll off when Jac was out of the room. She shut the door behind herself so their voices wouldn't wake the sleepers.

'I can't believe the rubbish the BMJ is publishing these days' Jac waved the journal at Malick.

'One of my papers is in there!' Malick spoke indigently

'I know' Jac nodded sympathetically.

Malick chose to ignore her comments 'We think we might be able to get Jasmine outside this afternoon so she can feel what snow is like. Serena has a meeting at two thirty…'

'Whoa! Who do you mean by we?'

'Ric, Chantelle and I.'

'So this doesn't have Serena's approval?' Jac raised her eyebrow at him

'Oh come on Jac since when have you been a stickler for rules and authority?' Malick laughed 'Jasmine has been stuck inside for days now.'

Jac looked at her sleeping sister through the glass pane in the door. She remembered her statement she'd made to Jonny that whatever Jasmine wanted she should have. 'Ok' she nodded her head 'a few minutes outside would probably do her more good than harm'.

'Great' Malick grinned. He snatched the journal out of Jacs hand and flipped through it until he found his paper. 'So what's wrong with this then?' he asked her waving in under her nose.

'Where'd you like me to start?' Jac asked him seriously.

'Are you seriously going to let me go outside?' Jasmine asked for the fourth time that afternoon as Jac and Chantelle dressed her in as many warm clothes they could find.

'Yes but we need to hurry up about it' Jac smiled as she tucked a blanket firmly over Jasmines legs.

'Right, Serena is in Hanssens office about the skype the man himself so this is our best opportunity' Ric Griffin spoke hurriedly as he entered the room dressed in his winter outdoor gear.

'Ok lets go' Jac smiled as she pushed Jasmine along to the lifts.

'I can't believe you two are conspiring to let me out the hospital after all the fuss you made over my wedding dress shopping outing.' Jasmine chattered as the lift carried them down to the ground floor.

'Yeah well this is a quick ten minutes still on the hospital grounds outing' Jac muttered 'so don't get too excited'.

'Ooh its cold!' Jasmine exclaimed as the cold air hit her face as Jac pushed out of the hospital entrance.

'Surprise!' Granddad George, Jonny, Mo, Sacha and Ava all yelled as Jac pushed her up to grass verge where they were all waiting by a recently built snowman.

'What do you think?' Sacha asked happy patting the snowman on the head.

'It's amazing!' Jasmine beamed.

'I remember the first time I ever saw snow when I arrived here from Ghana' Ric smiled at the memory 'I would have only been about six at the time but I can remember the snowball fights we had with the neighbourhood children.'

'Here' Malick spoke to Jasmine handing her a snowball he'd made as he walked up to the group with his son Jake. 'Now you can say you've held snow'

'It really is wet and cold' she joked as the melting snow soaked through the wool of her mitten. She let the snowball fall to the ground, watching the way the icy substance broke and shattered like powder.

'Oh crap' Jac suddenly muttered to Ric 'Hanssen's office window over looks this part of the grounds'

'Oh' Ric looked up at the hospital as he remembered Jac was right. 'It's a bit late now' he shrugged just as a snowball hit him squarely in the chest. 'Who threw that?' he asked laughingly as he bent and scoped up some snow moulding it into a snowball. Another snowball hit him on the shoulder. 'Right Sacha Levy' Ric laughed 'do not underestimate my skill as a bowler' he laughed as he threw the snowball to hit Sacha in the arm.

Ava ran over to Jac and her mother for cover from the snowy missiles being thrown by the childlike adults. Jac scooped the child up onto her hip and grasped Jasmines gloved hand with her free one as they laughed watching the snowball fight. It felt good to laugh at something silly amongst all the heartache weighing heavily upon them.