So, here is the next to last chapter! Hope you guys like it, and please read, comment, and spread the word! On to chapter 21!! :DD
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I'M OKAY NOW.
-A few weeks later-
"I wanna go visit Grammy's grave."
The statement was met with unnatural silence. Grammy's death had been a touchy subject with the both of them ever since Bill found out who killed her. Tom cleared his throat.
"Uh, sure."
They got up, pulling on their scarves and coats. Tom drove his car to the local cemetery, and they got off, shivering slightly in the biting wind. The cemetery was a sight to behold, the leaves on the trees shading the ground bright orange and red, some fluttering slowly to the ground. The ground was covered in fallen leaves and twigs, the sun giving bright light to the grounds. They walked slowly through the gates of the cemetery, winding their way through the headstones to the one with Grammy's name inscribed on it. They stood awkwardly in front of it, staring at the writing on the cold stone.
Gloria Pritchard
Beloved daughter, wife,
mother and grandmother
You will always be in our hearts.
Bill bent down, plucking a couple of flowers from the ground, then placing them gently in front of the headstone. They stood in silence for a while, before Tom gained enough courage to ask.
"Are you mad?"
Bill turned his head to Tom's direction as though waking up from a trance.
"At you?"
Tom nodded.
Bill thought for a while, watching the leaves falling before answering.
"I was."
"You should still be."
"Why? Why would I hold something against you when it wasn't even your fault?"
"It was my fault! If I had gotten her to the hospital, then maybe-"
"No. I don't think she would've survived, even if you brought her to the hospital. She was too old, and weak. I don't think she would've pulled through."
Tom gazed at Bill questioningly.
"What? You don't think I've given this any thought before?" he said with a small smile. "I think it was meant to be that way. If it didn't, the dream she had probably wouldn't have happened. Not yet anyway. And we wouldn't be where we are now."
Tom thought Bill's words over in his mind.
"Yeah, I guess so."
They stood there for a while longer, before Bill said:
"I think I'm okay now."
Tom walked over to him, and gave a swift hug.
"I'm sorry. I'll always be sorry, and you know that. And thanks for staying strong through it all."
Bill smiled.
They walked back through the wrought-iron gates of the cemetery, feeling as though a burden had been lifted from their shoulders.
