Kevin, having sat up all night, had left the room shortly after Brianna had returned to the hospital, and gone in search of coffee and some small degree of sanity. Hospitals always brought back bad memories that were better left ignored, and he needed to shake them off. After battling the rest of the early-morning caffeine addicts in the cafeteria, he wandered around the different wards of the hospital, stretching his legs.

He had only been gone for about half an hour, but when he returned to Diane's room, he could tell immediately that something was different. The entire spirit of optimism seemed to have been sucked out of it. Kevin braced himself momentarily before entering the room. There were two doctors standing back in the corner, and Brie was hunched over her mother, clutching her hand.

"Brie," Kevin said softly. She looked up at him, and the look on her face almost broke his heart. She looked completely beaten, something he had never seen before in Brianna.

"They got the test results from brain scan they did," she said roughly, biting her lip. Kevin rested his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged him off and stood up, beginning to pace.

"She signed a donor card, which means that they have the right to turn off the respirator and cut her up. My mom, Kevin, they're going to let her die!" she cried. Kevin reached forward and she fell into his arms. The two men in the room hung back uncertainly, until they had decided that they had allowed them enough time.

"Ms. Jones, we're ready to turn off the respirator now," the younger of the two said softly.

"Does it matter that I'm not ready?" she whispered into Kevin's shoulder. She sighed deeply, and turned around. She grasped for Kevin's hand and watched helplessly as they did what they had to do.

"Love you, Mom," she said softly. The beeping stopped. Everything stopped. Brianna watched, unable to move, scream, fight against it. She could only watch. Within a few minutes, the doctor checked his watch.

"Time of death…" he began to announce. Brianna flinched, and let go of Kevin's hand. She moved, as if to make prevent him from saying those last, final words, but then she stopped. Within minutes that seemed to span hours, they left Brie and Kevin alone in the room. Brianna was pacing again.

"Brie, are you okay?" Kevin asked, knowing that she wasn't. She turned and looked at him.

"No. I…I need some time. I'm going to go for a walk, or something. I just need to be alone," she stammered.

"I understand. I'll be at home, just come there whenever you're ready," he said. Taking one last glance at her mother, she walked out of the room.

* * * *

She could not think at all. She could only think that now she was alone. There was no one else in her life that cared about where she was, what she did and whether or not she was happy. She had lost all of her strength with her mother. And now, the people she was left with…Where was Nick? Why hadn't he come back to be there for her?

Brianna wandered aimlessly around the grounds of the hospital. Around and around she went, trying to find something to focus on, to make the thoughts that were clogged in her brain come out, to start trickling out of her brain.

She opened the door to one of the wards, which seemed very quiet. She was walking down the hall, passing by a desk, when suddenly, the voice she longed to hear seemed to echo down the hall.

"I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find room 345?" he asked. Brianna turned around, and saw Nick standing at the desk, speaking to one of the nurses. The nurse was pointing him down the hall. Brianna rushed towards him.

"I'm so glad you're here," she cried softly as she hugged him. He was surprised to see her there.

"Brie, you didn't have to come all the way down here. I told Brian, all of you around here is just going to make me worry. Laurie is going to be just fine. She's just about to go into surgery," Nick said quickly. Brianna pulled away, and looked up at him. He had begun to walk towards the direction the nurse had pointed out to him, and Brianna followed.

"What do you mean?" she asked, slightly confused.

"We got a call while we were in Cancun. They found a donor for Laurie. Some poor woman had just been in a car accident and they felt that Laurie was a perfect match. She's going to get her operation, Brie! It's finally happening," he breathed excitedly.

"Oh."

"Why are you here?" Nick asked, wondering why she had been at the hospital if she hadn't known about the operation.

"Didn't Kevin reach you?" she asked hopefully. Maybe he knew, maybe he really was there for her.

"No. What's going on?" he asked.

"It's not that important. Just some stupid test they were running on me. I've always been anemic, you know," she lied, feeling that now was not the time to spring the death of her mother on him. "How long have you been here?"

"They called early last night, and we got the earliest flight available. We've been here since four in the morning, just waiting to see. The donor wasn't dead yet, so we've had to just sit around here, waiting to see if they were compatible, and all that stuff," he explained, as he led her into one of the rooms.

"Nick, who do you have with you?" Laurel asked.

"Laurie, Brie's here. She was getting some stuff done here and I met her quite by accident. She wanted to come in and wish you luck," he said, his eyes lighting up the minute he saw Laurie. She was in a hospital gown, and sounded really drowsy.

"I hope everything turns out all right for you, Laurel," Brianna said, forcing a smile, even though she couldn't see it.

"You and me both," Laurel laughed. Just then, a doctor walked in the door.

"How are you feeling this morning, Laurel?" he asked.

"Hopeful. What's the story?"

"It's a go," the doctor smiled. And then he noticed Brianna.

"Ms. Jones? Friends of the family?" he asked curiously. Brianna recognized him as the man from the Donor organization.

"Yeah," she said softly.

"Then I want you to be aware that it is your mother's generosity that is making this operation possible. If only more people would consent to donate their organs after they pass on, there would be a lot less people dying around the world. She's a great woman," he said, nodding.

"What did he just say, Brie? What's wrong with Diane?" Nick demanded. Brianna was in shock. She just shook her head, unable to speak, and walked out of the room. It couldn't be real. It was just too…horrible to even think about.

She found her way blindly to a waiting room, where she sat down in a chair and just stared at the wall, thinking hurt too much. It almost took too much concentration to breathe. Brianna just wanted to crawl into a corner and hide from the world.

Within minutes, Nick came walking down the hall, and stopped when he found her.

"Why didn't you tell me about the accident?" he asked.

"Would it matter if I had told you?" she demanded, standing up. She was angry now, and she had something to vent all her emotions on.

"Of course it would have. Brie, why didn't you tell me that they were Diane's eyes?" he asked in amazement. He was happy. Brianna noticed that with disgust. Even though her mother was lying dead in some hospital room and Brianna was slowly dying in front of him, he was still happy.

"Because I didn't know! I've been trying and trying to call you, so you could come here to be with me because I am just freaking out because my mother is dead, Nick. She's gone, and the entire time I was down there with her, watching her die, and I was alone, and you were up here and I couldn't reach you. I couldn't call you because you weren't answering the phone and I was alone!" she cried.

"I'm sorry, Brianna, I really am. But this is what I've been waiting for! And now, to think that it's Diane that's making this possible…it just seems like fate, Brie."

"No. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. When I needed you, you were supposed to be there. When my mom was dying, you were supposed to be there, holding my hand, letting me know that I wasn't alone. The entire time I was down there, you were up here. Waiting and hoping that my mother would die!" Brianna cried.

"Brianna, I have priorities right now. Laurel is going to be my wife, and I'm sorry, but she is my number one priority. Sure, you and I are friends, and we always have been, but I can't live in the past forever. It's not all about the history you share with someone, it's about how you feel about them. I had to be there for Laurie, because she is one that I am going to spend the rest of my life with. If you can't understand that, then maybe you never were my friend," he said quietly.

"Go to hell," she spat out. Taking one last look at him, she turned and walked out of the waiting room, found the nearest exit and ran outside, into the rain that had begun to fall from the sky.