Epilogue

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Voices speaking. Softly. Worried.

Why did they sound so worried? He felt perfectly fine – extremely tired, but comfortable and warm. He tried to open his eyes, tried to tell them that they had nothing to worry about...

"Mum! I think he's waking up. Dad?"

Someone took his hand and squeezed it gently.

"Honey?"

He saw nothing but white at first: White sheets, white walls, while ceiling. Then the faces of his family came into focus. They all looked deeply concerned. His boys looked almost frightened.

"Ellie?" he croaked.

She smiled, but she blinked rapidly to stop her tears from welling up. He knew that she cried because of him and he felt awful, though he had no idea of what he had done to make her cry.

"It's all right, love," she said in a soft, low voice. "You're at the hospital. You had a heart attack."

It took a while for her words to sink in, but then he remembered. The pain. The uncontrollable fear of dying. The recognition in the ambulance that he was going to die, despite Ellie's promises, that she wouldn't let him. It had been so close. If it hadn't been for her, he would have been nothing but a obituary in the local newspaper by now:

Brutus Howell – 1893-1954

Leaving behind his beloved wife and 16- year old twin boys, Thomas Dean Howell and Michael John Howell.

"Geez, Louise," he muttered. "I really was a goner, weren't I?"

The boys grinned nervously, but Ellie made a puzzling noise, somewhere between a chuckle and restrained sob. Brutus reached out for her and she hugged him as hard as all of the machinery allowed her. He could fell her tears on his neck.

The twins looked both relieved and worried. Brutus had never realised before, how much they looked like her. Sure, they had his height, but the hair colour and eyes were Ellie's. They exchanged looks and Thomas nudged his brother between the ribs.

"We'll find her some tea," he said and the twins disappeared.

Brutus embraced Ellie until she regained control of herself and sat up on the edge of the bed. Brutus smirked at her.

"You scared the life out of them," he said. "They had never seen their mother cry like that."

"There's a first time for everything," Ellie said huskily and dried her eyes. "And this is the first and only time you ever do this to me, you hear me?"

Brutus raised his hand to wipe the tears of her cheeks.

"Yes, ma'am."

She grasped his big hand in both of hers and they sat like that in silence for a while, whilst the machines beeped calmly next to the bed. Brutus looked at all the wires and tubes.

"See," he said, "this is why you shouldn't have married a man who's seventeen years older than you."

Ellie smiled and bent down to kiss him. Then she lied down next to him, her head nesting in the gap between his jaw and shoulder, perfectly, like it had always done and always would.

"No," she said softly. "This is why you married a nurse."

Wow, never really thought that I would actually finish this story. What should I do with my life now?! xD

Thank you readers, for your kind words and reviews through the years! I hope you had as much fun reading this story, as I had writing it :) Brutus actually dies from a heart attack in the book, but I couldn't let that happen. Obviously.