Okay, so I'm super happy I got this updated, and I'm super sad I got this updated. Not sure why.

Happy Beethoven's Birthday! He's 245 years old today! Woo hoo! Sorry, that's my Schroeder coming out in me XD

This chapter hit me right in the feel guts. I almost broke down trying to write it. Please be prepared.

Oh, just wanted to let you know, I have several different Ninjago multiverses, and this is going to come in handy to remember in this particular story. In this multiverse, Ed is the pastor at Ninjago City Baptist, the church the Ninja and several of the Elemental Masters attend. Wu and Misako have gotten married in this past time too. (I know, I know, sue me, I'm a big Garsako fan, but this pairing worked for a later chapter in this story.) Just had to get that out of the way.

2. An Even More Unexpected Revelation

Jay jumped off his motorbike, completely forgetting to take his helmet off as he dashed into the hospital. Just before he slammed into the hospital doors, he skidded to a stop, remembering where he was. Walk, don't run, he told himself. You don't want to get someone else in an accident. Trying to remain calm, he walked into the hospital.

There was no line at the receptionist's desk, which Jay took as either a miracle or a hopeful slowdown of dramatic accidents. The receptionist gave him a wary look. He probably did look rather suspicious, with his helmet hanging by the strap around his neck, and the black leather biking jacket he was wearing. "Can I help you?" she asked coldly.

Even though he was trying to keep a cool head, Jay couldn't hide a note of urgency and panic in his voice. "Did an ambulance just arrive?" he asked.

"A few minutes ago," the receptionist replied, frowning.

"Was my dad in it?" Jay blurted out. He felt like slapping himself as soon as the words escaped his mouth. That was not what he was going to say.

The receptionist raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"I'm the son of the guy who just came in," Jay squeaked, his brain's jumbled thoughts coming out in his even more confusing speech. "If it was him, my dad, I mean." His cheeks were burning bright red.

The receptionist looked him up and down, the nervous and embarrassed expression, the way he was fidgeting with his jacket collar, and her guarded look softened. He was obviously very worried. "What's the name?" she asked, a little more kindly.

"Mine or the man's?" Jay asked.

"The patient's," she said.

"Edward Walker," Jay answered automatically. "I'm his son, Jay."

The receptionist got up from her desk after checking the files on her computer. "Well, give me a minute, and I'll go check inside," she said.

"Can I come with you?" Jay pleaded. He was becoming more and more desperate to see his dad by the minute. Who knows how he was doing now? Even though the last time he had seen his dad, he was as jovial and healthy as he always was.

"I'm sorry, but you can't," the receptionist said gently. "But I'll be right back." She walked through the doors into the hospital itself, leaving Jay to find a seat in the lobby.

Just as he sat down, he heard a familiar voice call, "Jay!" He turned to see Nya, with her biking helmet under one arm, and a concerned look on her face walking toward him.

"Hi, Nya," he greeted her, giving her a hug as she sat down next to him. Glancing behind her, he grinned. "You didn't tell me you brought the whole pack!"

"Huh?" Nya turned in the direction of the hospital doors, and saw Cole, Zane, Kai, and Lloyd entering the lobby. "I told you not to follow me!" she exclaimed, frustrated.

"Did you really think we'd do that when Jay freaked us out by dashing to the hospital?" Kai demanded, giving Jay a look.

Jay grinned sheepishly back at his worried teammates. "Sorry about that," he apologized, beckoning his friends to sit down. "I got a phone call from an old friend of mine with bad news."

"What sort of bad news?" Zane asked, frowning.

Jay's grin faded as he said, "My friend Alex, who's a mail carrier in my parents' neighborhood, saw an ambulance leave my parents' house with my dad in it about seven minutes ago. That's why I had to go so fast."

None of the other Ninja were expecting that. "Was your dad sick?" Lloyd asked, confused. "Because the last time we saw him, he was perfectly fine!"

"That's why I'm going to find out," Jay said, resting his chin in his hands and frowning. "I have no idea what's wrong with Dad."

Nya put a hand on his back. "He's probably okay," she said, trying to comfort her anxious boyfriend. She wasn't all too sure herself, but, like Jay would say, she was using the "power of positive thinking."

Cole jerked his head toward the hospital entrance. "There's Dr. Jones coming this way." Dr. Emmaline Jones had previously tended to some of the Ninja's more serious injuries, like when Jay broke his foot or when Kai got a concussion. Dr. Jones had a serious, almost sad look on her normally pleasant face when she saw the six eagerly waiting young men and young woman.

"Hello, Jay," she addressed the blue ninja, giving the others a greeting nod.

"How's my dad?" Jay asked hopefully.

"Um . . ." Dr. Jones hesitated. "Maybe we should go-in there, the consultation room." She gestured for Jay to follow her inside.

"We'll wait out here," Nya said.

"No, no, you can come too," Jay said, a little more cheerfully.

"Oka-a-ay," his girlfriend said nervously. The other four got up and followed Jay, Nya, and Dr. Jones into the hospital.

"How is he?" Jay repeated his question to Dr. Jones as they entered the small consultation room, located just a bit away from the hospital hallway entrance.

"You weren't with him?" Dr. Jones asked, frowning as she closed the door behind them.

"No, I got a phone call from my friend Alex," Jay said. "He delivers mail in their neighborhood-oh, never mind. Just tell me how my dad is."

Dr. Jones hesitated again. "You should sit down first," she told Jay. Nya and the others immediately got the impression something was wrong.

"I don't want to sit down," Jay said, a little stubbornly and a little impatiently. "Just tell me how he is."

"He-" Dr. Jones sighed. "He had a heart attack, Jay," she finished quietly.

Nya gasped. "Oh no," Zane murmured, dismayed. The others just stared at the doctor in shock.

"Maybe I should sit down," Jay said weakly, sitting heavily on a chair across from Dr. Jones. That was a blow he didn't expect. A heart attack? His dad? The lively, hands-on, inventor/pastor/loving father guy who ran a junkyard during the week and preached so enthusiastically on Sundays? That could not be right.

"A heart attack," he repeated, incredulously. "But . . . how? He's healthy! He's never had heart problems!" He shook his head fervently.

"I'm afraid not, Jay," Dr. Jones said. "He's been on medication for as long as I've known him."

"And he never told me?" Jay was a little irritated with his dad now. "Well, I'll have a few things to say to him about that. Where is he?" His irritation vanished just as quickly as it had come when he heard Dr. Jones' next words.

"Jay . . ." she began, but she began to choke up. After taking her glasses off and wiping her eyes on her sleeve, she said, "I'm so, so sorry, but . . . your dad passed away."

Jay's breath caught in his throat. His eyes went wide. It took him several minutes to register what the doctor said. Finally, he squeaked, "He's . . . what? No! That's a mistake!" he protested, trying to catch his breath while the other Ninja stared, in horrified disbelief, at Dr. Jones, their eyes glancing back in forth between the tear-filled eyes of the doctor, and the panic-filled ones of their teammate.

"It's likely he died instantly," Dr. Jones said, voice racked with sobs. "They tried to resuscitate him in the ambulance, but they were . . . oh, I'm so sorry, Jay."

Jay's blue eyes welled up with tears. "He's dead?" His voice sounded like a pleading whimper, begging for someone to come in and say that, miraculously, his dad was okay. But that someone never came. "That can't be . . ." he choked. ". . . he was . . . he was fine when I saw him . . ." He buried his head in his hands. "No . . . no . . ."

Nya wrapped her arms around Jay, who was falling into a fit of sobs, his chest heaving and his eyes spilling over with tears, running down his cheeks. She was crying too, but silently. Ed had treated her and loved her like his own daughter, even if she and Jay weren't married yet. "Oh, Jay," she murmured, hugging him tighter as his sobs became louder and more heart-wrenching than a lonely dog howling at the moon. Only this dog was mourning for his master.

"Da-a-a-ad!" Jay howled. His world was completely shattered. His dad, his loving, caring father, was gone. A piece of Jay's heart had been torn out. And this was a part he could never replace.

I'm so, so sorry if I tortured you with this. It wrenched my heart out writing this.

#God's Not Dead