Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 151 - Melody's Gifts

Richard approached Greg as soon as Dr. Bowers left the room.

"Greg, I'm going to leave," Richard told him.

"Are you taking Forest with you?" Greg wondered.

"Would it help if we continued to keep him for a while?" Richard asked.

Greg looked to Jessie. "What do you think? Would you like Forest to stay with Richard another day or two?"

"Yes please. He can come home after the funeral," Jessie said.

Greg cocked his head and arched his brow at his friend. "There you have it."

Richard nodded. He gripped Greg's arm and ended up giving him a bear hug, then he and Forest left after various family members told them goodbye.

The rest of the family all stood to the side of Melody's bed all looking at one another.

"Who wants to stay?" Matt asked.

"Not me," Jessie said. "I want to go home."

"I'll go with you, Jessie," Bert offered.

"What about you, Zack?" Matt asked.

"I don't know. I suppose we could go to work this afternoon," he suggested to Kelly.

"Dave said you could have the day off if it happened today. Do you want to go to work?" Kelly asked.

"No. I want to stay here ... but I don't know what I could do. Melody is gone. I don't know what you're supposed to do," Zack said.

"We could pray for guidance and healing in the days ahead. We should gather Melody's things to take home with us," Susan said. "Then, like Jessie said, we need to plan a funeral."

"Where do you want it to be?" Matt asked. "At a church or a synagogue?"

Greg and Susan exchanged a look.

"Probably at the funeral home," Susan answered. "We should probably contact them."

"The same one we used for Grandma and Grandpa?" Matt wondered.

"Yes. We already have cemetery plots there. I think the details of the service for Melody should be relatively simple to arrange," Susan said.

"Then, what are you going to do?" Zack asked.

"Then ..." Susan hesitated looking at her husband. Greg arched his brow curiously, encouraging her to go on. "Then, I'm going to get up early tomorrow morning, and take a walk on the beach."

"The same thing you did when Grandma died," Matt recognized.

"It helps me," Susan told him.

Matt nodded. "Who wants a ride home with me?"

Jessie and Bert looked at one another. "We do," she said, speaking for them both.

"Get your things. Do you need me to do anything before I go?" Matt asked his mother.

"I can't think of anything," Susan said. "Call Ashley."

"I was going to, from the parking lot," Matt said.

"And I should call Alan and Julie," Greg said.

"Do you want to do that now? Or after we leave?" Susan wondered.

Greg studied his wife. She was behaving like nothing happened when she fell, but the fact she blacked-out at the same moment as Melody's death and its timing relative to the earthquake concerned him. The things Susan was talking about were the earthly things that needed to be done when a family member died. But he suspected there was more to her experience than that. Perhaps he would learn about it in time, possibly during what was becoming their long anticipated walk on the beach.