Chapter 21:

Elena’s family came and went a few hours later. Upon their departure, Sloan rose to step into Elena’s room. She lay on the hospital bed, covered with a cotton blanket. And IV ran into her arm that lay out, palm turned up. Her eyes were closed. Sloan thought she was asleep and was about to leave when he heard, “Sloan,” from behind him. He turned back around to see Elena’s eyes slowly open. “Where are you going?” Her voice was weak.

“I didn’t want to disturb you. I thought you were sleeping,” he said. “You should be.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Come here, sit down,” she said indicating a chair beside the bed.

Sloan glided to the chair and seated himself in the chair. “So, what did the doctor say?” he asked.

“He said that I’m probably experiencing chest pain due to stress,” she sighed reaching for his hand.

“Oh?” Sloan grasped her hand carefully. “I wonder where the stress came from?” he added sarcastically. It was Casey’s fault and it angered him.

“No, Sloan, don’t be that way,” Elena replied rolling her head over the pillow in a head shaking fashion, as if to say ‘no’.

“Well, it’s Casey’s fault you’re here,” he stated angrily, grinding his teeth.

“It’s your fault, too, Sloan. Not just Casey’s,” Elena spat, her voice raising a little.

“What?” How could he have been the cause of her stress? He had only tried to help.

“If you hadn’t insisted that I simply ignored Casey, I probably wouldn’t have had the pains get worse. I just don’t think ignoring the problem is the best way to handle it,” she said, her eyebrows changing her expression from angry to understanding.

Sloan sighed, “I guess. I’m sorry.”

Elena squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry. It was mainly Casey who caused the stress,” she said smiling.

Sloan forced a smile. “So, when do you get to go home?” he asked.

“In a day or so. They’re doing some blood tests and stuff to make sure it’s not something else,” she said.

“That’s weird. Doctors, usually, would have sent you home after telling you to relax,” Sloan said sounding confused.

“The doctors are doing what they can, Sloan.”

“I know.” He looked down at her tired eyes and felt a twinge of pity. “I’m going to go home and let you get some sleep. You look like you need it.” He began to rise, but Elena didn’t release his hand.

“I can’t sleep in hospitals. Just stay with me until I fall asleep, please?” she begged.

Sloan nodded. “Okay.” He didn’t really want to leave her, anyway. He sat in the chair and held her hand until she fell asleep.

Chapter 22:

Casey constantly checked his email over the next day and each time he sent another email, more desperate, angrier. She wasn’t responding to any of his emails and it was probably because of Sloan. He had to be stopping her from responding.

A day later at school, Casey found Sloan at his locker and roughly pinned him against it. “She’s ignoring me because of you,” he said through gritted teeth.

“What?” Sloan replied shocked by this sudden confrontation. He felt fear, but at the same time, the power to defend himself and Elena. He had a feeling this confrontation had to do with the email Casey had sent her.

“She hasn’t responded to any of my emails because of you,” Casey repeated lifting a fist to deliver a jab at Sloan’s face.

“Woah! Wait a minute! I’m not the reason she hasn’t responded. It’s because she’s in the hospital!” Sloan cried, raising his hands up, palm out in peace. He then added so Casey couldn’t hear, “Even though I did tell her not to respond.”

“What? What’s she doing there? What did you do to her?” Casey demanded, clenching his fist tighter.

“Nothing! I didn’t do anything to her! She’s in the hospital for tests!” Sloan cried out as he closed his eyes tightly, anticipating fist to face contact. It never came. He cautiously popped open an eyelid to find that Casey had dropped his fist, and unclenched his jaw.

“Really? What kind of tests?” he asked as he loosened his grip on Sloan and relaxed.

“Blood tests to check for heart defects and stuff because she had some sort of anxiety attack,” Sloan explained straightening his clothes.

“Maybe I should go and see her,” Casey mumbled as he turned to walk away.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re the reason she’s there. Don’t make it worse,” Sloan called.

Casey paused and turned to glare at Sloan. “What do you mean, I’m the reason she’s there?” He stalked back toward Sloan to tower over him menacingly.

“Your email caused her stress and that caused her to have a panic attack,” Sloan explained glaring back at him. “So if I were you I would leave her alone. Leave us alone.”

Casey huffed and spun away, charging down the hall in anger. What did Sloan know, anyway? Casey put Sloan’s warning out of his mind and went to the hospital anyway.

He walked up to the front desk with a bouquet of roses in his hand. It was Elena’s favorite flower and he wanted her to know that he remembered. “Excuse me,” he summoned the nurse. She turned to him and smiled. “I’m looking for Elena Riland.”

“And you are?”

“A friend.”

“She’s in room 210,” the nurse said smiling again.

Casey nodded, smiled, and went in search of room 210. A few minutes later he was standing outside the room looking in the little window at Elena lying in the hospital bed, her eyes closed. He slowly and silently opened the door, slipped in, and closed it behind him. He tip toed to the seat beside the bed and sat down. The sound of the air escaping the seat cushion woke Elena.

She opened her eyes, blinked and then searched the room for the source of the sound. Her eyes fell on Casey and she froze, her eyes widening.

“Hi,” Casey said, waving and smiling. Elena didn’t reply. Casey lifted the flowers to her. “These are for you.”

Elena, her eyes wide, slowly reached for the flowers. “Thank you,” she said. “They’re beautiful.” She laid them down in her lap without smelling them, then placed one palm on the stalks.

“How are you?” Casey asked sliding the chair closer to the bed.

“Tired. What are you doing here, Casey?” she asked her brow furrowing.

“What? I was concerned for you. Thought you might enjoy some company. Sorry for caring,” he replied defensively, pouting.

“How did you find out that I was here?” she asked.

“Sloan told me.”

“Did he also tell you why I’m here?”

“He mumbled something about it being because of me, but I didn’t hear it all,” he said lamely, waving a hand as if he were shooing away a fly.

Elena smiled, but only slightly. “Well not completely, but mostly. Your email caused a panic attack and stressed me out.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s why I came, to relieve you of your stress. All you have to do is forget about Sloan and take me back,” Casey said pleadingly reaching for her hand.

Elena pulled her hand back. “I don’t think so, Casey. I’m happy with Sloan and we’re going to get married and be together into our old age.”

“No, Elena, you don’t understand. Before, I wasn’t ready to give myself to you completely and I was scared. But now, I realize how much I want you and how much I need you. I want to give myself to you, forever,” Casey said sweetly reaching for her hand again, grasping it tightly.

Elena was silent, and confused. What to do? She couldn’t handle this right now. “You know what I want, Casey?” she said.

“What, Elena?”

“I want to be friends with you, but nothing more. I want you to get over me and give up because Sloan and I are happy, and even though you gave me a lot of happy moments, he’s willing to give me that for the rest of my life,” she said watching his face go from a smile to a frown.

He shook his head and said, “No. I can’t and won’t accept that. I’m willing to give you happiness for the rest of your life. Don’t you believe me?” he pleaded.

Elena shrugged. “I don’t know.” A moment later she spoke again. “I think you should leave. Thank you for the flowers.” She tried to pull her hand out of Casey’s, but he had a firm grip on it.

“Are you tired? I can step out if you want to sleep,” he offered, dwelling in his ignorance.

“Yes, Casey, I’m tired.” Elena nodded thinking that it was the easiest way to get rid of him until Sloan could come and chase him away.

“Okay. I’ll go find a vase for those flowers,” he said taking the flowers from her. “Have a nice nap.” He stepped out of the room and closed the door.

Elena actually felt tired and felt no need to fight it. She closed her eyes and fell into the world hidden by her unconscious mind.

She dreamed about Sloan and felt happy and in love as she embraced his hands and they danced through the reddish pink clouds of the dream. She could hear classical music from somewhere unknown. She was relaxed and felt her whole body tingle as he twirled her into him, his arms wrapping tightly about her. They were about to kiss when the clouds and the sky turned dark and the music became deep and thunderous. She felt fear and clung to Sloan for protection, but it wasn’t Sloan, it was Casey. She backed away fearfully, calling out Sloan’s name, but no sound escaped her mouth. Casey forced her back into a mound of cloud that had once been fluffy and pink but was now dark, hard, and sharp, causing her pain. All she could see was Casey, but she could sense Sloan coming. Her vision cleared as Sloan tackled Casey to the cloud floor. She watched as they fought in every fashion possible. She felt a warm liquid splatter on her arm. Observing it, she realized that it was blood, and then saw that both Casey and Sloan were bleeding. She stepped away from the sharp cloud mound and ran toward the mess of arms and legs in an attempt to break it up. She screamed with her non-existent voice, “Stop it!” and just as she placed her hand on a shoulder, the cloud floor beneath her shattered as if it were glass. She fell past the edges of the cloud hole; they scraped at her sides and arms. She screamed as she fell down into darkness. Her voice had finally returned to her.

Chapter 23:

At the same time, Sloan was arriving at the emergency room with a single rose in hand for Elena. He was about ten feet away from the door when it opened and Casey stepped out. He had a bouquet of roses in his hand. Sloan glared and charged toward him. “What are you doing here?” he demanded as he grabbed Casey’s arm and turned him roughly. “I told you not to come here.”

“Yeah, well what were you going to do to stop me?” Casey replied shoving Sloan’s hand away. “I need to find some water for these, excuse me.”

He took a step away, but Sloan spoke, “You – leave. Now.” He felt his anger rise.

Casey stopped and turned. “Why don’t you leave?”

“I won’t leave because Elena is my girlfriend, and if you won’t leave then I’m going to make you leave,” Sloan said through clenched teeth, his fists balling tightly. The thorns on the rose stem pressed into his skin but he ignored the pain.

“Oh really? Is that a threat?” Casey sneered.

“That’s a promise.”

“Hmph,” Casey scoffed. “Alright. Try me.” He had little fear of Sloan; he was nearly twice Sloan’s size. Not to mention, he had been weight-lifting for a few months. The only thing Sloan had been lifting was Elena’s hand.

Sloan, on the other hand, felt strength and power – probably adrenalin – pumping through his body. He stepped forward and pushed Casey as hard as he could, throwing him off balance, causing him to drop the dozen roses in the hallway.

Casey was surprised. The little guy was stronger than he had thought. He clenched and grinded his teeth then pushed Sloan back.

He tripped and fell back onto his palms, a thorn on the rose stem tearing into his skin. Sloan cringed and pulled the rose out, tossing it aside. He stood back up and leapt at Casey, crying out as he did.

The cry caught the attention of the nurse at the front desk and she rounded the desk in an attempt to separate the pile of flailing appendages. She didn’t dare to actually physically separate them, but she did commence to crying out, “No! No! This is a hospital! Take it outside!”

More nurses and doctors arrived at the scene to try to put a stop to the violent fight.

Both Sloan and Casey were bleeding from knuckles, noses, cuts, and several different places. One larger sized doctor finally wedged himself between them and pushed them apart. Both were heaving and gasping for breath, blood dripped on the floor.

“Okay, what’s this about?” asked the doctor keeping himself between them.

“He’s not supposed to be here!” Sloan cried pointing an accusing finger at Casey, who glared in return.

“Why not?” the doctor asked, glancing back and forth from Sloan to Casey.

“It’s my girlfriend he’s visiting!” Sloan cried.

At that moment a blaring, monotonous beep erupted from behind Elena’s door. The nurse’s ran to the door and barged in. “Doctor! She’s flat lining!”

The doctor left Sloan and Casey behind to rush into the room. They stood stunned and heaving watching the doctor and the nurses work. They rolled the bed out of the room and down the hall as fast as possible.

Both Casey and Sloan panicked and followed the group that rushed through a pair of double doors. One nurse stopped at the door and turned to confront Casey and Sloan. “I’m sorry, boys. You can’t come in here.”

“What? No! What’s happening?” Casey cried trying to see past the nurse and the swinging doors.

“Please, just go have a seat in the waiting room. You will be informed afterwards,” she insisted turning and slipping into the room.

Casey and Sloan glanced at each other, their eyes wide. “I guess – I guess we’d only be in the way anyway,” Sloan stuttered. Casey nodded. “I’m gonna go sit down,” Sloan added.

They both slumped and dragged their feet back to the waiting room. The hall where they had fought was covered in rose petals from the trampling of the bouquet of roses. Sloan leaned down and picked up a single rose that had been spared. It was Elena’s favorite flower.

Chapter 24:

Casey and Sloan sat as far apart from each other as they could in the waiting room. Casey leaned his chin in his palms, his elbows propped on his knees. He stared across the room at Sloan who slumped in his chair, turning the rose slowly in his hand.

“What do you think is happening?” Casey sighed.

Sloan glanced up. “I don’t know, but it’s probably not good,” he replied then looked back to the rose. His knuckles and his nose ached, and he knew he was a mess, but he didn’t care. “I hope she’s okay.”

“I know what you mean,” Casey added. He breathed deep and sat back. “I wish I’d never let her go.”

“I can’t say I’m unhappy you did. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” Sloan said still rotating the rose.

“She was my once in a lifetime. I wish I’d seen it before,” Casey sighed, he was talking more to himself now.

“I don’t know what I’d do without her,” they both said in unison. They each looked up at the other, realization on their faces.

“You really loved her didn’t you?” Sloan asked after a moment. He set the rose down on his leg.

Casey nodded. “I still do,” he muttered sadly, shifting his eyes away.

“Why’d you break up with her then?”

“I – I was stupid. I didn’t realize how much I needed her.”

There was a moment of silence.

“We’re going to get married, that is-“ Sloan’s voice caught in his throat, “-if she survives whatever is happening.”

“Yeah? She always wanted to get married. I was always too scared to talk about our future,” Casey mumbled in reply.

“Yeah, she told me.” Sloan sighed. “She used to think about you.”

“Did she?” Casey sounded surprised.

“Yeah, she did, and I was scared that she wanted to go back to you.”

“She didn’t,” Casey mumbled sadly.

“Yeah, and I feel sorry for you, but I’m glad she didn’t,” Sloan said picking up the rose. “I would do anything for her.” He began slowly rotating the rose again.

“So would I. She deserves the best life can give. And I guess I can accept that I’m not the best thing for her,” Casey sighed. “She’s a good person and she doesn’t deserve to be in this place.”

“No, she doesn’t, and she wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for you. You shouldn’t have come here, Casey. I warned you, and if you want Elena to get better you should probably leave now and not come back,” Sloan rambled.

Casey glared at him resentfully. “I’m not going anywhere. If I can’t have her as my lover, then I can at least have her as a friend. I’m going to be here for her to help her get better.”

Sloan glared back, but made no reply.

They remained silent for the remainder of their waiting time. It seemed like the longest wait. Casey actually lay down across several seats and took a short nap while Sloan stared at the rose.

It felt like hours before the doctor finally came in search of Elena’s family, who hadn’t been called. “What relation are you two to Elena?” he asked.

Casey sat up. “We’re friends.”

“Well, in the absence of family, I guess you’ll have to do.” Casey and Sloan stood in anticipation, approached the doctor. “Elena had an aneurysm, in her brain. It happened in her frontal lobe which means that she may have a hard time with reasoning and memory. Usually people who have brain aneurysm’s die, but we managed to bring her back. Though, if she doesn’t wake up within the next day, I wouldn’t be overly optimistic of her recovery.”

Sloan and Casey were both shocked. They had almost lost her, and even though, she was still hanging on, it was only by a thread. They could still lose her.

“Thank you. Can we – can we see her?” Sloan stuttered, his expression was still stunned.

The doctor nodded. “She’s in the recovery room,” he said.

Moments later they were standing outside the recovery room door. Casey put his hand on the knob. “Wait here, I just want a few moments alone,” he said as he turned it. Before Sloan could reply he slipped in and closed the door.

Elena lay silent and unmoving in the bed, the blankets tucked up beneath her arms. The heart monitor pulsed and beeped beside the bed. There were no chairs in the room so Casey was forced to stand beside the bed. He looked down on her unchanging face and sighed. She looked pale and helpless. He brushed the back of her hand gently, searching for a reaction; there was none. He lifted her hand and stroked it. “Elena, I’m so sorry if I’m the cause of all of this. I just wanted to show you that I wanted to give you everything. I wanted to prove it and I was selfish. I just wanted you, I needed you, and I wanted you to realize that you wanted and needed me, too. Maybe that was a bad choice and I’m very, truthfully, honestly sorry. You have to wake up. If you wake up, I’ll – I’ll move on and realize that you are happy with Sloan,” he finished then added solemnly, “Happier than you were with me.” He stroked her hand again, hoping, praying for a reaction. There was none.

Casey sighed once more and laid Elena’s hand gently by her side, reached up, stroked her face, then her remaining hair, sighed again and turned toward the door. He left the room and found Sloan leaning against the wall across from the door. He became alert when Casey stepped out. “Is she-?”

“No,” Casey said sadly. “I’m gonna go home for now, but if it’s alright with you I would like to come back later to check it she’s waken up,” he said in a tone that, more or less, expressed how it wouldn’t matter if Sloan cared or not; he would be back.

Sloan crossed his arms and shrugged. “I guess so.”

Casey nodded. “Alright.” He turned down the hall and walked away with no further words.

Sloan watched until Casey was out of sight, then turned his sights on the recovery room door. He hadn’t turned Casey away when he had implored to be able to come back because he knew that the war wasn’t worth fighting. It had been the reason Elena was in trouble and he didn’t want it to continue. He stepped forward, grasped the knob, and turned it. He stepped into the room and closed the door gently.

The room was quiet and Sloan could find no chair to sit in. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked down into Elena’s silent face. What was going to happen to her? Sloan laid a hand over one of hers.

“Elena? Elena, please hold on. You have to wake up. There are so many people who need you and love you. I need you, I love you. I don’t know what I’ll do if you never wake up. You can’t leave me; I’ll sink into the dark depths of depression where no one can save me.” He was pleading now. “Please, Elena, wake up. I can’t survive without you. You make my days worth experiencing. You give me a reason to get up every morning. If you’re not with me then I don’t think I’ll get up, ever again. Please, Elena stay with me.” A tear escaped as he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. No response.

Sloan found a chair and remained by her side through the night.

Chapter 25:

Elena didn’t wake up the next day. Her family had been called and informed of the happenings and sat in the waiting room, doing their best to keep alert in case any news of Elena came about. Sloan sat with them, silent.

They heard footsteps in the hallway coming their direction and everyone sat up hopefully. Casey stepped into the waiting room and all bodies slumped in disappointment. Casey paid no attention to the action and moved to sit one seat away from Sloan. “How is she?” he asked, not looking at Sloan.

“She hasn’t woken up yet,” Sloan replied.

“You know what that means,” Casey muttered.

“No, Casey. She could wake up at any time today. Don’t think that way,” Sloan insisted turning to stare wide-eyed at Casey.

Casey turned his whole body toward Sloan. “Come on, Sloan, let’s face the facts. 77 percent of those who have aneurysms die,” he persisted.

“Well, that still leaves 23 percent. For someone who claims to love Elena so much you don’t have much faith in her survival,” Sloan snapped.

“No need to get angry. Settle.” Casey hushed Sloan. “Look, I do love Elena – with all my heart – but don’t you think that if she’s suffering, it would be better if she didn’t survive?”

Sloan was silent a moment. Maybe Casey was right. But Sloan wasn’t ready to give up yet. “We don’t know if she’s suffering,” he mumbled and turned away.

Casey shrugged at Sloan’s ignorance and turned away as well. “What’s going on, anyway? Why are you in here? I thought you were staying with Elena,” he asked after a moment.

“I was, but they took her for tests to see if she could be waken up.”

“And?”

“That was an hour and a half ago.”

“Oh.”

“We’re waiting for the doctor to come and let us know.”

Casey nodded and decided that he would sit and wait for the doctor as well. One part of him hoped that Elena would survive, and another part of him worried that she might become a vegetable if she did survive. He knew that Elena would rather be dead than be a burden on everyone in her life. So, to some degree, he did hope that she died.

It seemed like forever before the doctor finally stepped into the waiting room. Elena’s mother and stepfather stood in anticipation, as did Casey and Sloan.

“Well, she’s alive, but I’m sorry to say that she’s in a coma. She may not ever wake up, or her condition could deteriorate and she could die. There’s no telling what could happen at this point. I’m sorry,” he said sadly hanging his head.

Elena’s mother was crying.

Sloan sat down hard. Casey turned and looked down at him. “She’ll make it,” he said sitting down as well.

“But you said –“

“I know, but right now, I guess, we all have to think positive.”

Sloan nodded. “Yeah.”

Everyone began to leave the hospital knowing that there was nothing that could be done. Casey and Sloan remained behind.

“Why don’t you go home, Sloan? I’ll stay with Elena. You go get some sleep,” Casey suggested having noticed how tired Sloan looked.

Sloan glanced his direction gratefully. As much as he didn’t want to leave Elena, he knew it was probably best to go and get some sleep. “I guess so. I’ll be back later.” He rose to leave the waiting room and Casey behind.

For the next week, Sloan and Casey alternated between who would stay with her. When one was there, the other would go home to sleep. Elena showed no signs of waking up at all, and her condition had begun to deteriorate very slowly. It was barely noticeable, but the doctors could see her skin color fading and her heart beat slowing a little more each day. It didn’t look good for Elena, and Sloan and Casey were prepared to let go if they had to.

“Maybe we should just pull the plug,” Sloan suggested sadly as he looked down on her pale face one afternoon.

“Maybe,” Casey agreed. “But wouldn’t that be considered murder without the consent of her mother?”

“I think so. Oh well, I guess we’ll see what happens,” he sighed and sat down to sit and wait for Elena to wake up.

All hope was gone for Elena, her family visited less and less, save her mother who came everyday in a hope that there would be some change for the better; there never was. No one expected her to survive, until one day, her skin color came back and her heart beat picked up to normal.

“Does this mean that she could survive??” Sloan asked the doctor excitedly when he had heard the news.

“She may, but I can’t guarantee that she’ll wake up. She could remain in a coma for the rest of her life,” he said.

“Why do doctors always make things so negative?” Casey whispered to Sloan after the doctor had left.

Sloan laughed. “She may never wake up, though. The doctor was just being honest.”

At that moment, Elena’s eyelids fluttered but didn’t open.

“Did you see that?” Casey asked pointing at her eyes.

“See what?” Sloan asked confused.

“Her eyelids fluttered, as if they were trying to open. You didn’t see it??”

“No, but apparently, you did.”

Elena’s eyelids fluttered again, and this time Sloan saw it.

“Omigosh! They are fluttering.” Sloan rushed over to the bedside and held Elena’s hand. “Come on, Elena, wake up. You know you want to.”

Her eyelids fluttered again and then slowly began to part. Casey rushed over to the other side of her bed. “Come on, Elena.”

Her eyelids parted and widened, then blinked a few times and looked around the room, confused.

“Elena, you’re awake. Oh we’ve all missed you and worried about you so much!” Sloan cried. “Casey, go call her mother and let her know that Elena is awake!”

Casey ran from the room quickly.

“Oh, Elena, Elena, I’m so happy you hung in there. I don’t know what I would have done without you,” Sloan said as he leaned down and hugged Elena tightly. When he pulled back and looked at her, she appeared confused and frightened. “What is it, Elena?”

“Who are you?” she asked, her eyes wide with a lack of understanding.

“Oh no. Your memory. You don’t remember who I am?” Sloan asked after remembering that the doctor said she may have a problem with her memory.

Elena shook her head insistently.

“Oh. Okay. Well I’m going to go get a doctor. Okay? You just stay here, relax, and don’t worry about a thing.” Sloan left Elena behind and went in search of a doctor. He ran into Casey on the way out.

“Her mother has been called. Where are you going?” he asked excited.

“I have to go find a doctor. She doesn’t remember who I am,” Sloan said running past him.

Casey entered the room to find Elena laying in the bed, her head pressed against the pillows, her eyes wide with fear. “Elena?” he said gently. “Elena, you don’t remember me do you?” He moved to her side.

Elena simply looked up at him in fear with no response. She was like a newborn baby that didn’t know where it was or who the strange people it was meeting were. Casey shook his head sadly. She didn’t remember him, she didn’t remember Sloan, but would she be able to rebuild her memories?

“I feel you. I don’t know you, but I have feelings about you,” she said, her voice shaking.

“You do?” he asked intrigued. Maybe if she recognized the feeling she could remember who she was talking to. “What kinds of feelings?”

“Happy feelings, and my heart pounds when I feel them,” she said innocently. She really didn’t know what it was she was feeling or why.

“What kind of feeling would you call that?”

“I guess it could be love?” she said questioning herself more than him.

“Love…” Casey trailed off.

“Yes, love. I felt the love feeling with the other strange boy who was just here, too. Is that right?” She was confused. Everything was a jumble in her mind. She could see faces of people she knew, but she couldn’t name them, and she couldn’t remember having experiences with them, she just knew that she felt something for each of them.

“That’s probably more right than you feeling love for me,” Casey muttered sadly. Even though he had the opportunity to take Elena for himself, he and Sloan had become pretty good friends over the past week and he couldn’t do that and feel right about himself.

“I see. Were we once in love?” she asked.

“At one time, yes. But you love the other guy now. The one who just left.”

“Oh.”

At that point, the doctor and Sloan returned.

“See?” Sloan pointed at Elena who had slowly sat up in the bed as she was speaking with Casey.

“My gosh. It’s a miracle,” said the doctor excitedly rushing around the bed.

“Not really. She doesn’t remember names, or why she’s here, but she does remember feelings connected to faces,” Casey said still staring at Elena’s now vibrant and rejuvenated face.

“Well, she may have some problems with her memory,” said the doctor as he examined her. “This is a miracle, boys.”

Elena was sent home with the mission to attempt to reacquire her memories. She was visited by many people, relatives, friends, acquaintances she rarely talked to, and even her school enemies. It almost became too much for her to handle, but she persevered, until one night when Sloan and Casey were headed over to her house to visit and help her regain memories.

The evening was dark and damp, and a bit windy. They pulled up to the house and found an ambulance in the driveway, it’s lights – red and blue – flashed brightly throughout the entire neighborhood. Alarmed, both Casey and Sloan leaped out of the car and ran up the driveway to the door. Elena’s mother stood in the doorway, wearing her housecoat and slippers, she held a tissue to her nose. Her eyes were all puffed and red. “Mrs. Riland, what’s wrong? What’s the ambulance doing here?” Sloan demanded gently as they approached her.

“Elena…..she……she…..she’s dead,” she stuttered and burst into a fit of tears and sniffles. Her husband hurried to put his arm around her and comfort her.

Sloan and Casey ran down the stairs to Elena’s room where they found the paramedics zipping up a body bag, and all they caught sight of was a flash of Elena’s red hair. It was the shade of a rose.

Chapter 26:

The funeral took place on a Saturday. The weather was bleak, cold, and grey. Everyone whose lives Elena had touched came, including Sloan and Casey.

Sloan couldn’t remember Elena looking as peaceful as she did in the black, red velvet lined coffin. Casey couldn’t either. Elena had always mentioned being cremated, but it had never been put in writing so she was buried.

Casey and Sloan stood at the graveside after it had been filled, tears still falling from their cheeks.

“Can I have a moment?” Sloan said still staring at the mound of dirt.

Casey nodded and walked off a fair distance. Sloan was alone. “Elena, Elena, why did you leave me so shortly after I’d found you? I wish we could have been together forever. I’m sure our children would have been beautiful, like you.” Sloan sobbed. “Orlando Ryan isn’t a stupid name for a boy, and red is a gothic color. Man, what I wouldn’t do to turn around and see you there, smiling that beautiful smile of yours, opening your arms to me.” He sniffled, trying to gain control of himself. “But it won’t ever be. Never again. I’ll love you forever, Elena.” He kissed the rose he had in his hand and then laid it on the grave. “Goodbye.” He turned his back, sighed, and walked to where Casey stood. “You can go say goodbye, if you want.”

Casey nodded and walked back to the grave. He kneeled down beside it and let his tears fall on the rose in his hand. “Elena, I never meant to hurt you. Never. I only wanted what was best for you, but I was blinded by my own selfish desires. I wish I had realized that Sloan was what was best for you! You’re gone and it’s my fault! You wouldn’t have had an aneurysm if I hadn’t come back. You wouldn’t have had your second aneurysm if I hadn’t been trying to force you to remember me.” He laughed to himself. “I’m sorry. I took it all away from you by trying to give it all to you, I hope you can forgive me. I never meant for this to happen,” he sobbed. He let the rose down beside Sloan’s rose. “Goodbye, Elena.” He let a few more tears slide down his cheek then rose to rejoin Sloan.

“She was something else,” Casey sighed looking out over the mass of tombstones.

“Yeah. She wanted everything. She deserved everything,” Sloan added looking in the same direction.

“She wanted to get married and have kids.”

“I know. I proposed to her over a week ago,” Sloan said.

“But you’re only seventeen, and she was only eighteen. Don’t you think that’s a little young to be getting married?” That’s what Casey had thought when she had pitched the idea to him. Then again, he had always been afraid of their future together. Now there wasn’t one.

Sloan nodded. “Maybe, but I loved her so much that I didn’t care. I wanted to keep her forever.”

“I loved her, too,” Casey replied defensively.

“I know you did.”

“When did you realize she was the one for you?” he asked curiously.

“When she forgave me for that horrendous conversation that Ken spread,” Sloan was ashamed.

Casey couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, that convo was pretty nasty.”

“When did you?”

“When did I what?”

“Realize she was the one for you?”

“The very first time I went up to her house and she fixed my coat when I cut it open,” Casey reminisced. “That was before we were even going out.”

Sloan hummed in acknowledgement. There was a moment of silence and then he realized all the things that he and Elena would never do together. “We’ll never get to go dirt biking,” he mumbled to himself.

Casey heard his mutterings. “What was that?”

“Oh, Elena and I had planned to go dirt biking this summer, and now it won’t happen,” Sloan explained forcing more tears back.

“We had planned to go to the same college and live together. She was going to go to a school she didn’t initially plan to go to, just so she could be with me,” Casey described, remembering how happy and excited she had been.

“We’ll never get married –“ Sloan began.

“-Never have kids,” Casey cut him off.

“Maybe, wherever she’s gone, she’s got everything she wanted,” Sloan said, looking in Casey’s direction.

Casey looked at Sloan, and nodded. “Maybe.” He lifted his eyes to the sky that had begun to clear, revealing blue sky.

“And she’s happy,” Sloan added, looking up into the sky as well.

Casey nodded as the sun shone through the grey clouds. “Yeah, she is.” He felt peace as the rays touched his face. It was as if Elena was reaching out and grazing him gently, reassuring him, chasing away his guilt. The guilt that had been caused by her death. The stress he had caused her had caused her to have the aneurysm that put her into a stage of vulnerability for the one that killed her. But the rays of light relieved his guilt.

Sloan felt the rays wash over his body with a warm wave. It was the same warmth he had felt when he had embraced Elena, a comforting warmth. “I’ll always be with you,” he heard by his ear accompanied by a breath of warm air. He swore it was Elena’s voice and he spun quickly to make sure she wasn’t standing behind him. There was nothing. He smiled and remembered Elena’s dream and how it had made them both believe that they were spiritually linked. He turned to Casey. “You want to go play some pool, and talk a bit more about Elena?” he asked.

Casey dropped his gaze to Sloan. “Yeah. Let’s go.”