"And Melody?" I stretched my neck "She was on the side of the car when it was hit. How is she? They should have just put us in the same room, she is going to bitch at me."

He didn't say anything.

Why isn't he saying anything?

"I asked you a question brother; how is my wife?"

He just stared at his fucking feet. My heart started to race and whatever daze I was in completely disappeared.

"I'm going to ask you one more time-"

"Please don't brother." He took a deep breath, his chest shaking when he exhaled. "Please don't make me say it."

"Say what? What don't you want to say? I asked you, how is my wife? Your reply should be 'a little banged up but healing, she's with the kids' or 'asleep, you can see her later.' Those are not hard things to say Declan, so fucking say it!"

He opened his mouth and then shook his head. "Melody...is... Liam...I'm so... Her heart couldn't take it."

What?

What?

I did not understand.

"Declan, what are you saying to me right now?"

It was so silent I could hear that neither of us was breathing, the only noise coming from the machine attached to my arm.

"Liam...we lost her. Melody died at 1:09 AM this morning."

I sat there, my mind blank for the longest time.

Melody was dead?

My wife was dead?

The woman who ruled Chicago.

The mother of my children.

The one person who kept my heart beating was dead.

I laughed.

I laughed so hard my ribs hurt.

"You're insane," I said to him, unable to stop laughing. "Do you know who my wife is? She doesn't die. My wife doesn't die, Declan, so try again, with a story I believe."

"She was rushed in with a massive bleed like you were, but her heart couldn't take the stress and gave out-"

"BULLSHIT!" I hollered, pulling the IV from my arm and getting out of bed. "BULLSHIT. Where is she, Declan?"

"Liam-"

"Do not touch me!" I smacked his hand away. "I said, where is she? Melody. This joke is not funny. I'm done listening to you so get the fuck out of my way."

The cast on my leg made it impossible to walk straight but I didn't care. I grabbed the IV drip pole for balance as I limped toward the door. They were all there, everyone but Neal and the children; Mina, Cora, and my mother all sat outside.

"Liam, you should be resting."

I stared her in the eye. "Ma, for some reason Declan wants to fuck with me today, so if I kill him, now you know why."

"Liam, I'm so-"

"SHUT UP!" I snapped at Mina as she reached out to me. Who the fuck did she think she was?

"Where is Melody?" I looked at each of their faces and they all looked like Declan. "Fine, I'll find someone with a medical degree to answer the fucking question since it is so goddamn hard for you all!"

Limping down the hall toward the nurses station, I ran into a doctor-well actually, the woman nearly ran me over.

"I'm so sorry I-"

"I'm looking for my wife, Melody Callahan. 5'9", black hair, brown eyes, Italian. Where do I go?"

She just stared at me like a baby deer. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I took a deep breath. "She also happens to be the governor..."

"We know who she was." Another doctor came up beside her.

"Was? That is past tense. How long have I been asleep? Did I miss an election?"

Silence.

"SOMEBODY SPEAK!"

"Liam, I'll take you to her." Declan came up beside me. "You need to rest-"

"Declan, I swear to God I'm going to kill you if you don't stop this shit. Either take me to her or stop butting in."

The all looked at each other before he nodded them.

"Right this way, Mr. Callahan." Doctor Baby Deer led me to the elevators and I still couldn't think when I got on. My mind was blank, just empty.

The more silent they were, the more I could hear my own heart beating...screaming.

The doors opened and the first thing I noticed was that the floor was dimly lit, just like when I'd gone to see my...

"Liam," Declan called to me when I didn't get off.

I shook my head. "I know this floor. I've been to this floor before. She isn't here. Let's go."

"Liam-"

"SHE IS NOT ON THIS FLOOR."

"Okay," he said. He got back on the elevator alone, the other doctor disappearing. The doors closed and we went up, just the two of us.

"Take the next one," he said to a group of people when the doors opened. We waited for them to close again.

"Tell me you're lying," I whispered, gripping the pole beside me. "Tell me I'm having a nightmare...tell me anything but what you told me before."

He didn't reply and bit by bit, I felt myself crumble.

"We will ride this elevator as long as it takes. We get off only when you are...only when you are ready to see her."

Never. If it was the same place I last saw my father then never.

8:11 AM.

Three hours. It had taken us three hours to get back to that floor. My legs had given out at some point and he had gotten me a wheelchair. I hated those things; they reminded me of when I was a kid. I would rather walk on a broken foot...but I couldn't find the strength so he just wheeled me down the hall. When we got to the room, I felt sick, so sick my chest started to rise and fall again.

"Liam-"

"Show me!" I wouldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. They were going to open it and she wouldn't be there, I knew it.

The coroner pulled out the drawer, and I stood up when she slid out the silver bed.

"AH!" I gasped out.

"I'm so sorry." Declan held on to me as I sobbed.

"Mel? Melody!"

It was her. Just lying there. That was it? She didn't die this way. No. We had plans and I hadn't gotten to say goodbye...or even...I hadn't said anything to her. "Ahh! MELODY!"

This couldn't be real.

It was a nightmare.

"NO! Get off of me. Get off." I shoved him and moved to her, grabbing her cold shoulders. "Melody get your ass off this table. GET UP! Wake UP! WAKE UP! You don't die, remember? You said that you said it! SO GET THE FUCK UP!"

Nothing.

Me. Her. Everything...it equaled nothing.

TWENTY-SIX.

"So it's true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love."

~ E.A. Bucchianeri LIAM.

DAY 3.

Knock.

Knock.

"Liam? I brought you some food."

Grabbing the lamp at the side of my bed, I threw it at the door before shifting back onto the ground, lifting the bottle back up to my lips and pressing play for the video on my tablet to start again.

"Liam, get that out of my face-I swear I'm going to hurt you." She pushed the camera aside.

"How can you hurt a man with a face like mine?" I said, in sync with my recorded self.

She paused to think. "With a hammer, a blow torch, or safety scissors, if I'm feeling creative..."

"Let's put that mind to better use."

"Liam don't! Liam! HAHA!" I tackled her to the ground, holding the camera to her face.

"Say it."

"Say what?"

"Say you love me."

"Liam we need to finish-"

"I'm not letting you up until you say it."

She made a face into the camera. "Does it count if you are forcing me?"

"Yes, because I know you mean it anyway."

"You are so-"

"Say it-"

"Oh my God, fine! I love you, Liam. I, Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan, LOVE YOU! Are you happy now?"

I smiled just as hard as I had back then. "Yeah. I'm over the moon because I love you too."

The video cut...and I drank.