Boy Meets Girl, Girl Loves Boy

16- Part Two Room 317

"Sorry we were gone a long time. Has she woken up again yet?"
"Nope. We've just been waitin. Leah and Mike are ready to go home, Shelbi, but you have the keys. Care to share?" Ryan's dad replied when they walked in.
"Here are the keys, Dad. Can I just stay here for a bit and Ryan take me home?"
"That's fine. Just text before you get home so I can unlock the door for you. Got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Can you help me out here?" Michael was the only one awake and needed help carrying everyone down to the car.
"Bye, love you, see you at home." Shelbi hugged her dad after they had loaded everyone and Ryan had walked Leah out who was still half asleep and stumbling.
"See you at the house."

"She woke up for five minutes two and a half hours ago and hasn't again since. I'm worried she's sleeping too much," Ryan whispered to his dad.
"Son, it's been four and a half hours since Mike and Leah left. She hasn't slept past the puking and pain she's exhausted. Give her a while to sleep. Why don't you take Shelbi home? She's almost totally over there and I'm sure she needs to sleep in her bed tonight."
"Okay I'll be back in a bit."
"You should go home too."
"No. I'm going to come back. I'll go home later." Ryan couldn't bear the thought of leaving his mom. He walked across the room to Shelbi picked her up and said, "Hey I'm going to take you home. C'mon grab my neck."
"No... no im... awake... I wanna... stay." She was starting to wake up but was still mostly asleep so she understood simple tasks.
"Okay well we can just go to the store and I'll bring you back. Get your buckle on."
"Aye... aye... Cap'n." She said as sketch fumbled for her buckle with out opening her eyes.
"Here let me help you. There. Now let's get you out of here."

R: Hey I'm on my way to the house with Shelbi she's asleep and I will be carrying her in. I'll be there in ten. Open the door for me?
M: yeah I will. I'm in the livingroom already. See you in eight.
R: thanks
M: welcome.

R: in the neighborhood.
M: waiting on you.

"Hey. Thanks for your help, Morgan. I'm just gonna tuck her in and go back to the hospital."
"Okay I'm going to go to bed. See you later. When your momma wakes tell her I'm prayin for her."
"Will do." When he tucked her in he kissed her forehead and left. He went back to the hospital and stayed for the night.

The next few weeks flew by in a flash with the occasional waking moment from their mom and many tests and doctors. Finally with the last test it was determined that she wasn't going to make it. How long they werent sure yet.
As her remaining weeks of life ticked by there were many visitors but only two people stayed constantly, Jackie and their father. The boys had to keep the animals fed and the house under control.

"Mr. Crutchfield? We have something we'd like to say." Nurse Rose came in and whispered because Jackie and her mom were sleeping.
"Yes?"
"We have figured out how long she has left. She has roughly 10 days. We just couldn't catch the cancer and slow it down."
"Why do I hear a but? Is it a good one?"
"Depending on how you look at the situation. We want to know if you'd like to take her home to sleep in her bed and everything for her last few days? She would get only some pain meds and would probably be awake more often. Would you like to take her home?"
"I'd love too. Thank you all for taking such great care of us all. My son was here a little while back and yall made that experience as little insanity as possible. Thank you for everything. When can we take her home?"
"Tonight. Once we can get the discharge papers signed yall are good to go."
"Got it."

"Finally back at home. I know it's bitter sweet but at least we aren't in that hospital room anymore. Right, guys?"
"Yeah. I guess."
"Sure."
"Whatever." All three muffled replies came at once.

Everyone helped to get their mom unloaded from the car and up to her room. When that was done everyone tried to sleep for a little bit because no one had slept very well in the room. That last full week of time flew by and everyone was happy and suffering the whole time. When the cancer got to the point where she could no longer eat or get up they knew it was time.
"I'll call everyone and have them gather for a while." Ryan said as he walked out and tried to hold back tears.
"I'll get some food ready and go to the store so we have enough." Damien wanted to be strong but could no longer handle all of this and cried on his way out the door.
"I'll stay here with you and Mom. Just like last time. Okay?"
"Yeah that sounds perfect, sweetie."

When everyone arrived they solemnly ate and said their goodbyes. After all had made their peace she fell asleep. After and hour of sleep she passed. All were sad for losing her but relieved at last for the end of her suffering. After she died and everyoneleft, one section of family at a time, Ryan disappeared to the barn. No one could get him to speak for the first two weeks of his grief, he barely slept, rarely was seen eating or drinking anything. Everyone close to him worried deeply about him. They assumed he would snap out of it soon, but this was not the case.