“Swerve left Liz, no not right, left. STOP!” Justin yelled and the car came to a halt. He breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly checked himself for blood or any serious injuries. When he found none, he smiled while looking over at the young woman in the driver’s seat. Her thick black hair was covering her face, she was breathing hard, and her knuckles were almost white from griping the steering wheel.

Justin gently reached over and pried her fingers off the steering wheel. She lifted her head up and locked eyes with him. Justin paused when his heart made an unusual leap. The way her hair was framing her beautiful face and the way the outside sun gave light to her normally dark eyes did something to his insides. The feeling only intensified when she bit her bottom lip making him focus his attention on her lips.

“Did I… did I do alright? I mean I know I almost killed us but I tried and…” Justin cut her off by putting a finger to her lips. Their eyes met once again when the small touch caused tingles to go up and down his arm. Clearing his throat he removed his finger.

“You did fine. True we almost died but I guess God’s watching over us today.” Justin teased.

Elizabeth gave him a dirty look and pushed his shoulder. She hopped out the car and Justin followed suite. She walked to the front of the car and sat on the hood with her head towards the sky.

“Beautiful day ain’t it?” she whispered.

Justin didn’t answer, he couldn’t. The lump in his throat was too much to overcome. She looked so innocent. The blue tank top and black caprees accompanied by blue sandals fit perfectly. She was looking to the sky, eyes closed and a content look on her face.

“Ahem… yeah we tend to get a lot of those in L.A. We should probably get going though. It’s getting a little dark.” Justin announced, changing the subject.

“Yeah…” she whispered, almost to herself. She didn’t move though. Justin walked over to her, stopping in front of her. His eyes traveled over her smooth complexion. He studied her nose, the small freckles on her left cheek and the birth mark on her right cheek. Beautiful couldn’t begin to describe her. He studied her face as if he was memorizing her, imprinting her into his memory. His eyes slid lower, noticing the outline of the thin scar on her chest. He looked up when she put a hand on his cheek lifting his head up.

“I’m FINE,” she said, effectively reading his mind. A sheepish smile graced his lips. He opened his mouth to speak but she leaned forward and softly kissed his cheek. The tingles that seemed to fill his entire being surprised him. Maybe he was still suffering from the effect of her driving.

“Are you ever going to tell me about France Val? I don’t want to push you or anything but you’ve been here for almost a month and I don’t know anything about what happened to you. I need to know. I know you’re in pain and I want to help you but I can’t do that if you don’t let me in.”

Elizabeth looked at the sky while closing her eyes in agony. She really did want to tell Justin, infact she had come so close in the past two weeks but she couldn’t do it. Her pain wasn’t his pain anymore. They were no longer kids, it was about time she stopped relying on him so much.

“We’ll talk soon. I don’t know when, but soon k? Let’s go home, and this time you’re driving.” Elizabeth said. She abruptly got off the hood of the car and walked over to the passenger side of the car.

Justin sighed heavily while getting in the car. He started the engine and pulled out of the small rode Liz had been driving in.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An hour later, Justin and Elizabeth were spread out in front of the big screen T.V. in Justin’s basement. Various snacks surrounded them and the argument of what movie to watch began.

“Justin we are NOT watching that movie.” Elizabeth said prying the movie from his fingers.

“What’s wrong with John Wayne?” Justin asked innocently. Elizabeth gave him a weird look.

“There are a lot of things wrong with John Wayne but we are NOT discussing that right now Justin. I just don’t want to fall asleep two minutes into the movie. Pick something else.”

“Whatever, John Wayne’s the shit.” Justin replied looking through the stack of movies.

“Well for starters, John Wayne has been dead and rotting for some time now,” Elizabeth said sarcastically.

Justin chuckled at her sarcastic tone and handed her his next choice.

“Oh you have GOT to be kidding me. J are you serious?” Elizabeth asked with disbelief on her face.

“What? Eyes Wide Shut is an awesome movie. Tom Cruise gives a very convincing performance.” Justin defended.

“THAT right there is the reason you’re a singer and not a movie critic. This movie is nothing but porno and marijuana. I should shoot you for picking this.” Elizabeth replied.

Justin rolled his eyes and looked at the rest of his movie collection. “You’re so damn picky and violent too. What do you want to watch then? Oooh hey when was the last time we saw this?”

Elizabeth gently took the movie from him and stared at it. She couldn’t believe he still had the same copy after all these years. She held back the tears that fought to escape.

“A week before I left,” She choked out. “It was a really good movie, sad but good.”

“Alright then, City of Angels it is.”

Shoving all the movies and snacks aside, Justin made his way to the DVD player and popped in the movie. He sat next to Elizabeth and pulled a blanket over their legs. She leaned her head against his shoulder, they both watched as the opening credits of the movie started.

About twenty minutes Justin couldn’t pay attention anymore, not that he needed to or anything. Elizabeth didn’t know this but he had watched that movie almost everyday just so he could be closer to her in a way. Her presence was completely distracting him though. Why? He didn’t know. He and Elizabeth had always been close, they had always done things that made people wonder if they were a couple but it never got uncomfortable. He never noticed little things like the tropical smell of her hair, the silky feel of her hair, the smooth texture of her skin, the small pout on her lips, or the feel of her breath on his skin. He hadn’t noticed all these things before but he noticed now. Everything was so vivid and it felt so good. Being with her and holding her felt so right.

Justin was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard Elizabeth sniff beside him. He looked up at the screen and noticed that it wasn’t the sad part in the movie so Liz had no reason to cry yet. He glanced at her face surprised to see all the tears on her face. He grabbed the remote pausing the movie with one hand and whipping away some tears with the other, but that only caused her to cry even harder. Justin lifted her head from his shoulder and stared into her eyes which were red with tears. It looked like she had been crying for sometime.

“Liz? What is it? What’s wrong?” Justin asked while whipping away the remainder of her tears.

“I’m sorry Justin, I’m so… so sorry…” she blurted out in between sobs. Justin didn’t hesitate to take her into her arms and offer the comfort of his body.

“What are you sorry for sweetie? You didn’t do anything.” Justin replied stroking her hair as she sobbed. She pulled back from him roughly whipping at her eyes and face.

“I’M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING OK. I’m sorry for leaving, I’m sorry for being so sick all the time, I’m sorry for everything I put you through, I’m sorry for staying away for six years, I’m sorry I cut off communication with you. I’M SORRY!!!” She shouted and broke into a whole new fit of tears.

Justin was unsure about what to say or do. He had no idea Elizabeth felt like this. Why did she have to be sorry about being sick? It’s not like she could have prevented it.

“Elizabeth Natalie don’t you dare apologize for something that you had no control over. You being sick was hard on all of us, especially you. Why would you apologize to me for that? And what brought this on anyway?”

Elizabeth sniffed again and looked at her hands. “The movie reminded me of the day I left. I remembered your tears, my tears, your mom’s tears, the guy’s tears. Don’t you see Justin, all I’ve ever been able to do is cause everyone pain. I’ve caused y’all so much heartache and I’m sorry for that. And I know you were hurt when I wouldn’t talk to you anymore, I’m surprised you haven’t asked me about that by now.”

“I didn’t want to push you. I figured if you wanted me to know, you’d tell me. You’ve always been able to talk to me and you’ve never hidden anything from me. It seemed like you were trying your hardest to avoid the topic so I figured it was really bad. But you’re right, I’ve been wondering why you stopped talking for me for 5 years.” Justin replied taking her hands in his and rubbing the backs of them.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak but the way he was rubbing her hand caused her to close her mouth. When she found her voice, she cleared her throat and proceeded to explain.

“I was dying…” she started. Justin’s head shot up.

“What… what do you mean?” He asked with confusion in his eyes.

“I was… I was pretty much on my death bed a few months after I got there…” She continued. When she didn’t explain further, Justin spoke.

“But… but I thought there was a heart waiting for you when you got there. What happened to it?”

“They gave it to someone else. They fed us some bullshit about us being too late when we came at the exact time they wanted us there. My dad and my brother’s were beyond pissed and worried. They threatened to sue the hospital if I didn’t get a heart soon but that didn’t get us anywhere. I felt defeated, I felt like my life was finally over. I wasn’t really afraid to die. I mean I had come so close so many times that it was almost a routine for me. I was just afraid that I wouldn’t be able to see you again. I knew if I gave up, I would die. And the whole time the only person I was thinking of was you. I knew how devastated and heart broken you would be if I had given up on my life and allowed myself to die. Justin, the only thing that kept me alive was the promise I made you. If it hadn’t been for that, I don’t think I’d be here right now.”

Justin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. All these years he had been in the dark about how much she was suffering. If he had known, he would have flown to France and stayed by her side through the whole ordeal.

“You remembered that promise?” Justin asked softly.

“Of course I do. When you told me to fight until my dying breath I didn’t think it would really come down to that, but it did and I was so scared Justin. I fought, and I fought hard. To this day I don’t know how I did it but just know that you had a lot to do with it.”

Justin went back to rubbing her hand while nodding his head gently. “But why didn’t you call me if you were in so much pain? I could have helped you. I would have come to you.”

Elizabeth put a hand on his cheek, lifting his head up so she could look into his eyes.

“And I knew that. I knew that if I told you I needed you, you would be on the next plain to France, but I couldn’t do that to you. I couldn’t do that to the guys. Y’all were on top of the world. Y’all had just released your NSYNC album and everything was going great. I couldn’t rain on your parade and tell you how bad things were going for me. Remember when we used to talk like every night? You would always tell me about the dancing y’all do, or the music you were singing, or the places you were performing at. You sounded SO happy and my life was shitty. I couldn’t tell you that I was dying when you sounded like the world had been handed to you. I had to be strong for the both of us. I missed you so much and hearing your voice and your happiness everyday only made it harder.” Elizabeth explained.

Justin now understood why she had stopped talking to him. She had been in pain and he had done nothing but tell her about all the wonderful things going on in his life. She was trying to protect him. She was ALWAYS trying to protect him. If anything can cause him pain but she can prevent it, she would fight hell and high water to do so. He had sensed that something was terribly wrong but she never gave any signs because her voice always sounded so chipper and happy. He knew something was wrong the day they hung up the phone and she said “good-bye” instead of “talk to you later.” She had said “good-bye” in a way that made him suspicious but he never asked her about it.

“That’s why you stopped talking to me…” It wasn’t really a question, more like a statement.

Elizabeth sniffed and removed her hand from his cheek. “Yeah… I couldn’t do it anymore. It became too much ya know? I was trying so hard to be strong for the both of us but I lost the battle after a while. I know what I did was impulsive and unforgivable but I didn’t have a choice. I needed to be strong for you and I couldn’t do that if I was sobbing to you over the phone.”

“Why do you always take it upon yourself to be the strong one Elizabeth? We’re best friends; we’re supposed to rely on each other for EVERYTHING. When you’re weak I’m supposed to be your strength and vise versa. But you lost faith in that. You lost faith in the strength of our friendship.” Justin said sadly. She had gone through so much pain without him. He shouldn’t have let her go. He should have forced her to stay with him, but she probably wouldn’t be alive if he had done that.

“It’s kind of hard NOT to lose faith when I’m an ocean away from you. I wanted more than anything to tell you everything but I didn’t want you to feel the pain I was feeling. But I did survive and I’m here now.”

“But you’re not the same…” Justin muttered. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud but since they were laying everything on the table tonight, why not that too. The sad look in her eyes told him that she knew she wasn’t the same.

“I know and I hate it. I hate not being the carefree, sarcastic, laughing girl I once was. Everything that happened in France drained me Justin. I don’t know who I am anymore and I’m so tired. I’m tired of all of this searching. I’m tired of wondering why I went through all that pain. I’m tired of wondering about what a normal life would have been like. And most of all I’m tired of wondering why I fell in love the way I did.”

Elizabeth hadn’t meant to utter that last part. The last thing she needed was to have Justin question her about Travis. She couldn’t talk about him, not yet.

Justin could see the pain vividly in her eyes when she mentioned being in love. Who had she fallen in love with? And why was it causing her pain? Did he cheat or something?

“You fell in love? With who?” He asked with some jealousy attached to it. Elizabeth had never even dated before she left. She always said boys were a waste of precious space but it seems like her opinion had changed in France. He had gotten used to having her all to himself.

“It’s a long story, a painful one. I think we’ve laid out enough pain for one night.” She answered vaguely.

Justin nodded. He wanted to push her further, but he stopped himself. She was right. They didn’t need anymore tears tonight and he had a feeling that the worst wasn’t over yet. He would wait for her, again, for as long as she needed him to wait. Justin whipped away the remainder of her tears and started to pick everything up. Even though their movie night had been cut short, he felt like they had made tremendous progress on getting to the root of her problems.

After everything was clean Elizabeth headed upstairs to wash her face and get ready for bed. She was so exhausted but it wasn’t anything physical. She was emotionally drained and all she wanted to do was sleep. When she came out of the bathroom she found Justin standing by her bedroom door waiting for her. As soon as she got within reaching distance his arms circled her waist, hugging her to him. Elizabeth let out a content sigh and hugged Justin back. Being in his arms was heaven. Maybe she was enjoying it a little too much but she couldn’t help it.

“I forgive you Liz. For everything,” he said. Elizabeth let out a relieved sigh and pulled back slightly.

“Thanks Justin,” she said, kissing his cheek. He smiled that all too familiar toothy smile and nodded his head. He let go of his hold on her but his hands remained on her waist.

“Goodnight Val,” he said using that all too familiar nickname. She smiled when she remembered how much she used to hate it but now she loved hearing it.

“Goodnight Spazz,” she replied eliciting a chuckle from him. Justin couldn’t remember the last time she called him that. True she had given him that nickname as an insult but it was still nice to hear. He quickly but gently kissed her forehead and they headed to their separate rooms.

As soon as her head hit the pillow, Elizabeth was out like a light but her sleep was anything but peaceful.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Elizabeth woke up when the obnoxious beeping by her side wouldn’t stop. She didn’t remember having an alarm clock in her room. Her eyes opened wider as they tried to adjust to the darkness of the room. She looked around to see where the offensive noise was coming from. It wasn’t her heart monitor; it wasn’t her IV pack, it wasn’t her oxygen mask… what the hell was making that god-awful noise? When the beeping got louder she realized the noise was coming from the small pouch attached to her gown. Her mind finally made the connection between her beeping pouch and what it meant. The beeping pouch could only mean one thing… a new heart. Before she could blink, three nurses and a doctor barged into her room.

“Miss Elizabeth, we need to get you to surgery right away. And don’t worry your family is on their way,” nurse Zelda informed her. She couldn’t speak because of the mask that was helping her breathe so she didn’t try to respond. They started unplugging various machines left and right and Elizabeth tired herself out trying to keep an eye on all of them.
 

“Stay with me Liz. We can’t have you slipping away now that you have a heart,” Dr. Bernard instructed her. She couldn’t help being tired though. She hadn’t done this much movement in weeks and now she was being wheeled down the hall to surgery. Where was Travis? He said he would be there the day she went into surgery but he was nowhere to be found. Her oxygen intake was increased when it looked like she would pass out from the strain her heart was now under. A small smile graced her bluish lips when she saw her dad, Taylor, Brian and Matt headed her way. When they finally reached her they practically pushed the nurses and doctor aside.
 

“How you feeling kiddo? It’s finally gonna happen and don’t worry you’ll be fine. I love you.” Her dad said softly and managed to kiss her forehead.
 

“Yeah I love your annoying ass too,” Matt said with a bright smile which she tried to return.  
 

“I love you too Lizzy,” Brian echoed.
 

“I love you Liz,” Taylor followed.
 

Even though they couldn’t hear her Elizabeth mouthed, “I love you guys too.”
 

Elizabeth still couldn’t see Travis anywhere and she weakly removed her mask to ask her family.
 

“Where’s Tra… Travis?” She choked out only to have the oxygen mask forced over her face by Zelda.
 

Her family looked at each other with sad faces and then back at her. None of them spoke and Elizabeth knew that something was very wrong. They knew where Travis was but they weren’t willing to tell her. But why? What could be so bad that they wouldn’t tell her?  Before she could question anything else she was wheeled into the surgery room and her family was left at the door. She felt herself being lifted from her bed and onto a different one. She felt the shot that was put into her left arm and sooner than she would have liked she felt herself going under. Before her world completely went black she saw Travis’s smiling face blowing a kiss at her. And then everything went dark.
 

When Elizabeth woke up she didn’t know where she was for a moment. She looked around only to see a heart monitor, an IV pack, and another machine that she had never seen before. Sure enough she was still in the hell hole of the hospital but something was different. She felt different. She glanced at her hands and gasped when she noticed that they weren’t the same shade of blue she had gotten so used to. They were back to their normal healthy pink color that she hadn’t seen in years. She looked at the rest of her arms and noticed that she wasn’t as pale anymore. Her natural Italian color was coming back. What was going on? She looked at her feet and the same realization hit her. She wanted to see her face but there was no mirror around. She touched her face but the oxygen mask that had been her second best friend was no longer there. She was breathing on her own.
 

“I see you’re finally awake,” Dr. Bernard said walking towards her. She hadn’t even known he was in the room. “How do you feel?” he asked.
 

She tried to answer but her throat was too dry. “Water,” she forced. Dr. Bernard obliged handing her a glass of water that was sitting by her bed. She gratefully gulped down the soothing liquid and noticed how it wasn’t painful anymore. Swallowing was no longer painful… that’s weird. She cleared her throat and answered the doctor’s original question.
 

“I feel weird. What’s going on? Why do I feel so different?” she asked skeptically.
 

“The things you’re feeling are the affect of a new heart. You’re heart transplant went very well and the after affects are showing very clearly. You’ve been asleep for four days now but that’s to be expected after what you went through. Do you have any questions?” The doctor asked.
 

“Where’s my family?” Elizabeth asked simply. Instead of answering her he went into the hallway and brought back the four smiling faces of her family. They rushed to her side each taking their time to hug her and kiss her cheek. They sat down around her and talked for hours about everything that had happened and how she was finally going to get to go home after three years. She had asked them questions about Travis but they wouldn’t answer them. They would always dodge them, changing the subject every time she brought it up. She knew they were keeping something from her but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Had something happened to Travis? Is that why she hadn’t seen him in almost a month?
 

One day when her dad and brothers came to visit she had every intention of finding out what was going on. She was not going to take no for an answer this time.
 

“Dad, where’s Travis?” She asked plainly.
 

“Honey I don’t…”
 

“Bullshit dad, you know exactly where he is and what’s happened to him. You all do. Now I want someone to tell me what’s going on and I want to know NOW!” She said forcefully. Her family members looked at each other as if trying to figure out a way to get out of telling her.
 

“Y’all can’t get out of this anymore. I need to know what happened to him and I know y’all know or you wouldn’t be avoiding this so much. I’m 21 years old, so stop trying to protect me.” She continued.
 

Instead of answering her, her dad reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a letter that had her name on it. He handed it to her and she quickly ripped it open. The first thing she noticed was that it was Travis’ hand writing.
 

“Dear Elizabeth,
If you’re reading this letter it means that I am gone. I have never done this kind of thing before so forgive me if it sounds terrible. I have never loved a woman the way I love you. I always thought that love was overrated and stupid. I had been hurt so much in life but you showed me what living is all about. I know I always seemed happy when we first met but the truth is I wasn’t truly happy until my heart found yours. It’s so messed up that we met in a hospital but I’ll take your love no matter where we are. I love everything about you baby. I love your eyes (even thought you hate them for some odd reason), I love the way they sparkle when you laugh, I love the way you make me laugh, I love the way you care, but most importantly I love the way you love. I never knew this day would come so soon. I never knew I would be writing a letter to the woman I love about why I’m leaving her. Baby, I don’t have cystic fibrosis. I lied to you. I know I must seem like a horrible person for doing that but I couldn’t tell you the truth about my condition. I was planning on telling you but after you told me you were in love with me I couldn’t break your heart by telling you I would die soon. I have been living with a brain tumor for as long as I can remember and I’m surprised I’ve lived this long. Maybe I was only meant to live long enough to meet you. Maybe I was only meant to live long enough to love you. I don’t know why God willed for things to unfold like this but they have and I can’t do anything about it. I’m so sorry baby. I’m sorry for having to leave you. I know you won’t take this well but I need you to live. I need to know that our love won’t die with me. I want you to live a normal life. I have asked the hospital to use everything they can from my body but I specifically requested them to give my heart to you. I know this sounds harsh and heartless but I’m doing this because I love you more than life itself. I can’t allow you to die with me because you have too much to live for. I have lived my life to the fullest and it came full circle when you showed me what true love really is. Please accept my heart and take care of it. Take care of yourself and live to be an old woman. Even though the thought of you loving something else is something that makes my stomach turn I have to be realistic. I don’t expect you to be alone forever. Mourn me for as long as you need to but move on. Fall in love again, get married, have kids and so on. I only want what’s best for you. You might hate me after reading the contents of this letter but please realize that I would never do this if I didn’t love you. I know you won’t be alive much longer if you don’t receive a heart. I will see you again in heaven but God is calling me now and I must go. You can’t possibly fathom how much I love you Liz. And I hope someday you will forgive me for leaving you in this manner. Everything will work out in the end, I promise. I will forever live in you and you in me. Your heart is now mine and my heart is yours, always and forever. I love you, don’t you ever forget that. Live…live for the both of us. And remember, I’ll always be your guardian angel.

With all my love,
Travis
 

The sobs coming from Elizabeth were hysterical as she put down the letter and she clutched her chest in pain.
 

“Tell… tell me it’s… tell me it’s not true dad. TELL ME!!!” She screamed tears coming out harder.
 

“I’m so sorry baby. I’m so sorry.” Her dad responded.
 

Elizabeth didn’t respond, she only clutched her chest even harder. She groaned in pain and her heart monitor started beeping uncontrollably.
 

Taylor stepped out into the hall and she heard him yelling for the doctor. “DOCTOR!!! SOMETHING’S WRONG, GET IN HERE PLEASE,” he yelled with tears in his voice.
 

Elizabeth writhed in her bed still grabbing at her chest trying to stop the pain that was starting to become too much.
 

“Oh Travis…” She whispered before the pain completely overtook her and her world went black once again.
 

~End of Dream/flashback~

“JUSTIN GET IN HERE! JUSTIN!!!”

Justin jumped out of bed when he heard somebody yell his name from Elizabeth’s room. Sliding on his sweats he quickly opened his bedroom door and ran to Liz’s room. What he saw at the door stopped him in his tracks for a second. Trace was on Elizabeth’s bed trying to keep her from falling off. She was clutching her chest like it was killing her and she was kicking and screaming. Her body was completely covered in sweat. After he got over his initial shock he ran over to the right side of the bed and tried to help Trace hold her down.

“I found her like this when I got in. She was kicking and writhing in pain, screaming Travis over and over. What the hell is going on?” Trace asked.

“I don’t know but you need to call and ambulance right now. Go find a damn phone and call and ambulance.” Justin said forcefully. Trace ran out of the room and went in search of the cell phone he left in the kitchen.

“Liz… LIZ WAKE UP. Come on sweetie wake up.” Still no answer. All she did was moan and groan in pain. Justin didn’t know what to do. He felt so helpless. He didn’t know what was going on but he knew it was bad because her normally healthy brown skin turned into a weird pale color and some of her body parts were starting to turn blue, almost as if she was being deprived of oxygen. Justin’s eyes widened when realization finally hit him. He put a hand under her neck to feel her pulse and became increasingly alarmed when he felt it beating at an insane rate. Her heart was going into overdrive and the pain from it was causing her to clutch her chest. Before he could blink she stopped moving and her breathing seemed to stop.

“FUCK!!! TRACE FORGET THE AMBULANCE AND GET A CAR READY, WE NEED TO TAKE HER TO THE HOSPITAL NOW!!!” 

In a matter of five minutes they had Liz in the car and Trace raced towards the hospital. Justin sat in the back with her and he tried his best to wake her up. Tears were streaming down both of the men’s faces and before long Trace pulled into the parking lot of Methodist hospital’s Emergency room. Trace had called ahead so the hospital had nurses and a doctor outside the hospital as soon as they arrived. They quickly put her on a stretcher and started to wheel her towards the entrance of the Emergency room. Justin and Trace followed closely behind with Justin talking to Elizabeth the whole time.

“You gotta be ok Val you just have to be. Don’t do this, don’t do this again please. Please be ok Val, please.” Justin pleaded with tears still streaming down his face. When he had gone as far as they would let him, he watched helplessly as the doctors raced down the hall with the woman he loved.