What If I

Part 1: After The Blizzard

They chatted for hours in that hallway it seemed. Neither expected that a ward for the dying would bring about a bit of joy for anyone. But as they stand there and talk, a few ready to pass souls converse about the views- and they aren't talking about the New York City Skyline.

"Zeke? Are you...high?" Adele walks over to the professor and notices he is swirling in his chair staring at the ceiling smiling. In the short few hours she has known Zeke Meredith, she found out real quick that he doesn't smile nor does he believe in anything that isn't precise like math.

"Adele...Don't you see the snowflakes? They're so beautiful." Ignoring his insanity, Adele grabs a seat next to him and notices Dr. Sharpe and Max getting close in the hallway. She notices the way Helen rubs her foot shyly up and down the back of her other leg and how she twists slightly while listening to him. Watching Max, she can tell just by his smile and eye contact that those two are meant to be together. Sure enough she knows she needs to make this her business before he times up.

"Zeke, you're Dr. Sharpe's patient, right?"

"Yeah, she's amazing." He spins and spins and Adele just rolls her eyes.

"Listen, you need to get her to explore her and Dr. Goodwin's relationship a bit more. Can't you see how close they are? Can't you see the way she blushes and he smiles? We must do something." Zeke slowly sits up and looks at the commotion across the room. Still high he laughs and leans back in the chair. "Oh talk to me when you aren't stoned."

Standing up, Adele decides she should intervene herself. How could a harmless dying old woman do any harm by prying?

"So white flowers, not red." Max says smiling and Helen nods. "And should the music be electric? Or maybe just me doing some auto-tuned beat boxing."

"Haha oh my gosh, no. Just regular music. Maybe stuff you like or whatever the popular jam is when I'm gone." Adele creeps a bit closer and decides to make her move.

"Sorry to interrupt, Dr. Sharpe, but I was just wondering about Zeke. He seems...high." She leans in and whispers it to Helen, who makes a face and looks at Max, who raises an eyebrow.

"Well, I have a very special, legal, treatment for Zeke, but per HIPPA, I'm unable to say." Helen smiles and blushes when she catches Max looking at her. Adele steps in again.

"Well, that's alright. I won't pry. It's good to see him smiling. What you both did here is simply amazing. We can't thank you enough."

"No thanks needed. I promise. Although as a quick form of payment, I do want to ask- what's a good peice of advice you could give us? I was talking to Dr. Sharpe about what my advice would be, since I came close a few times with the Reaper- what do you think?" It was the Lord answering her prays finally. She knows she only gets one shot at this, so she takes it.

"My advice? Oh well, it's really nothing to major, however I wish I was told it when I was your age." The old lady knows she's reeling them in. "My advice would be- Explore all avenues. You only have so much time on this Earth so explore new relationships, new places, everything. Sometimes love only comes once and if you don't take the opportunity to reach out and take a bite of that moment- you may wind up like me- dying amongst strangers instead of the one that got away. Well, goodnight you two. Go exploring!"

With that Adele leaves and Max and Helen just stand near each other, embarrassed to even make eye contact.

"You...you don't think...you don't think she was talking about us? Do you?" Helen asks a bit confused and becomes more concerned when Max remains quiet. "Max! You think she was talking about us, don't you?"

"I mean, she laid it on pretty thick. Any thicker and we'd need a shovel to get through that blizzard she brought in." He tries to joke, but the thought is still in the back of his mind.