"Peru," I say, looking back down into the letter. "They love it on that side of the world."

I feel his hand on my knee to comfort me. "You're worried about them."

I nod again, gently. "Yeah, as always, but I worry about them more when they're over there. Some places are really dangerous. I just don't want them to end up like-"

Gavin reaches out and fits my chin in his fingertips. "They'll be fine, you know they will."

Maybe he's right. My mom and dad have been backpacking across the world for two years now, and the worst danger they've encountered-by what they've told me, anyway-was that my dad was robbed once and another time they had an issue with their passports. But anything could happen, especially being alone like that with only backpacks and the open road.

Apparently, I'm a lot like my mom when it comes to how much I worry.

"Two more years and they'll be just as worried about you," he adds, and then pecks me on the lips.

"I guess so," I say, smiling up at him as he stands from the bed. "My mom will probably be up every night wondering if I got mauled by a lion."

Gavin smiles a crooked smile.

We decided six months ago that we really want to go to Africa after college. When we first met, it wasn't so much an idea as it was something we brought up in casual conversation. But now, it has become our goal. At least for now. A lot can change in two years.

I fold the letter and place it back inside the discolored envelope and set it on my nightstand.

Gavin reaches out his hand to me. "Ready?" he asks, and I take it and stand up from the bed with him.

I go to leave the room to celebrate Gavin's birthday with our friends, and just before I step out into the hall, I look back once at the letter before closing the door softly behind me.

About the Author.

J.A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children, two cats, and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries and is a huge fan of AMC's The Walking Dead.

Learn more at: www.JessicaRedmerski.com Twitter: @JRedmerski Facebook.com/J.A.Redmerski

A Letter from the Author

Dear Reader, THE EDGE OF NEVER ended for so many people on a heart-wrenching emotional note and I admit that when I wrote it, I was just as affected as everyone else. I felt that if I added anything else that not only would it be far too long of a story, but any addition might diminish that experience that many felt. I definitely didn't want to do that. However, after the book was published, I got a swarm of emails and comments from people all over the world asking me for one thing: Will you please write the hospital scene from Andrew's point of view?

How could I say no?

So, I got to work right away on it and finished it in a day. But then I sat on it. For a long time. I intended to post it on my blog and let everyone read it from there, but at that time, I was still hoping that a publisher would take interest in my book. I started envisioning that scene being in the book itself, not as part of the story, but as a little something special inserted in the back for all of those who asked me to write it.

And then my dream came true and a publisher did take interest, and now you all get to read that special "extra" chapter from Andrew. Readers can finally get into his head and know what he was thinking when he was lying in that hospital bed with Camryn curled up next to him. And you get to see what happened when he and Camryn parted ways as the nurse wheeled him out of the room.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of the fans out there who have made Camryn and Andrew's story what it is-for supporting it and spreading the word so relentlessly that the book became a New York Times bestseller! Without all of you, none of that would have been possible. A huge thanks to my Super Agent, Jane Dystel, who rescued me from some truly troubled times, and my foreign rights agent, Lauren Abramo, who rocked those foreign deals every day it seemed. And of course to Grand Central Publishing/Forever Romance and my editor Megha Parekh, who loved THE EDGE OF NEVER and believed in it enough to give it a home at Forever Romance.

So here is the bonus scene from Andrew's point of view in the hospital. And I'd love to hear from you, tell me what you think about it by commenting on my Facebook page.

(Facebook.com/J.A.Redmerski), Twitter (@JRedmerski), Goodreads or at my website www.jessicaredmerski.com!

Thanks again and enjoy!

J. A. Redmerski

The Hospital Scene from Andrew's Point of View

I really thought that I had more time. It's been less than a year since Marsters dropped the load in my lap, pretty much telling me that I was going to end up like my father. Well technically he didn't say that, but that's what I got out of the few words he did say. I know I was just being an ass; Dr. Marsters-and my family-tried to get me to go back, do more tests, find out how serious it was, but what more could he tell me that I didn't already know? There was no hope for my dad. He had all the tests. He went to all of his appointments. He took the medication they gave him and had treatments. For a while. Until he realized he was going to die anyway and refused to prolong the inevitable. Empting out his bank accounts to everyone but his family. But I'm his son and I assumed stuff like this was hereditary. That's why I never went back to Marsters myself. Because like my father, I didn't want to drag it out. It wasn't until six months after I was diagnosed that I finally broke down and did some research on it. I found out that brain tumors typically aren't hereditary at all, only about five percent. I read something about rare syndromes. I don't have any syndromes and neither did my dad. But by then the headaches had gotten worse. Much worse. And then I started having seizures. Scared the shit outta me.

By this time, I knew it was too late. I didn't want to face Marsters, looking for some magic solution that I knew he wouldn't be able to give me. Because I waited too long.

But enough of that.

All that matters right now is Camryn. I'm an asshole for putting her through this, especially after...goddammit, what was I thinking?! Her last boyfriend died and here I am doing it to her all over again.

I guess I'm nothing short of selfish. Because I love her and because I knew from the moment she spoke to me on that bus back in Kansas that she was the one.

But fate is cruel, and if Fate were standing in front of me right now I'd kick him in the fucking nuts.

I just hope Camryn can forgive me....

The door to my hospital room opens and then I see her for the first time since last night when I made love to her. She just looks at me for a moment, her face full of heartbreak, torture-damn, it's killing me. And then she comes toward me, falling into my arms. I hold her so tight. I never want to let her go.

God...I never want to let her go....

I hold her cheeks in my hands and push her hair away from her eyes and kiss away the tears streaming down her face. I choke back my own tears, knowing that seeing them will only make Camryn feel worse.

"I'm so sorry," I say in a painful, desperate voice. "I couldn't tell you, Camryn...I didn't want our time together to be anything but what it was."

More tears pour from her eyes.

"I hope you're not-" I start to say.

"No, Andrew...I understand why. You don't have to explain. I'm glad you didn't tell me...."

Now I feel even guiltier. I deserve to be slapped! Please baby, just slap me! Scream at me! Do something other than tell me it's all OK....

I pull her face gently toward me and kiss her lips.

"You're right," she says. "If you would've told me then our time together would've been dark and...I-I don't know, but it would've been different and I can't bear the thought of different-but Andrew, I wish you would've told me for one reason alone: I would've done anything, anything to get you to a hospital sooner." Her voice begins to strain. "You could've-"

I shake my head. "Baby, it was already too late."

"Don't say that! It's not too late now! You're still here, there's still a chance."

I smile gently and my hands finally fall away from her cheeks, resting at my sides on the white knit hospital blanket that covers me. An annoying IV snakes from the top of my hand.

"I'm being realistic, Camryn; they've already told me that my chances don't look good."

"But there's still a chance," she argues, painfully. "Small is better than no chance at all."

"If I let them operate on me."

She looks like she was just slapped in the face.

"What do you mean, if?"

I look away.

She reaches out and grabs my chin, forcing me to face her. "There's no 'if', Andrew-you can't be serious."

I move to one side of the bed and then reach out for her, guiding her to lie down next to me. I pull her close.

"If I had never met you," I say, peering into her eyes, "I never would've gone through with it. If you weren't here with me right now, I wouldn't do it. I would think it was a waste of money and time and would only put my family through a false sense of hope, dragging out the inevitable."

"But you're going to let them do the surgery," she says suspiciously.

I brush her cheek with the pad of my thumb.

"I will do anything for you, Camryn Bennett. I don't care what it is, I don't care...anything you ever ask me to do and I will do it. No exceptions."

Sobs rattle her chest.

I move my hand across her cheek, push back her hair, and look deeply into her eyes, "I'll do it."

She crushes her mouth over mine and we kiss feverishly.

"I can't lose you," she says. "We have the open road ahead of us. You're my partner in crime." She tries hard to smile through her tears.

I kiss her forehead.

We lie together for a long time and talk about the surgery and the tests that still need to be done. She tells me that she won't leave my side and that she'll stay here with me for as long as it takes. And we go on and on about the places we want to see, and I start picking songs that I want her to learn so we can sing them together on the road. Of course, she's really stuck on The Civil Wars, and I don't mind one bit.

"You've got to learn Tip of My Tongue, Andrew," she says with such excitement in her eyes. "It's such a fun song and I can just see us performing it. I've already got it all figured out in my head!"

I can't bear to say anything negative or foreboding and risk that smile draining from her face right now. I feel in my heart that we'll never get to that point, that I'll be dead and gone before I ever get to perform with her again.

But I keep the smile on my face. I won't let her see the defeat in my heart.

"We could be like a cover band or something," she adds, beaming. There's a little blush in her face, too, as though the suggestion embarrasses her in some way.

I think on it for a second and say with a nod, "That's not a bad idea. I've played at a lot of bars and clubs from here to Louisiana. I know the owners. Hell, we could even go to Chicago and play at Aidan's bar."

Her face lights up and she nestles her head next to mine. I kiss her hair softly.

"Then that's what we're going to do," she says. "You and me, on the road doing what we love. It's not exactly backpacking, but it's...," she pauses, pondering the meaning of it all and then she says with enthusiasm, "It's an upgrade."

I laugh lightly and run my fingertip down over her temple and the side of her cheek. It hurts my heart to hear her say these things, to be so strong in letting herself believe that any of it will ever happen. It hurts so damn bad that I'm not going to get to be here with her. It wouldn't matter to me how our lives turned out as long as we were together.

For a time as we lay in this bed together it feels like it did when we were on the road. We don't talk about sickness or death. We just talk and laugh and I go all pervert-mode on her, slipping my fingers here and there, teasing her. She giggles and pushes my hand away, but eventually she gives in and lets me do what I want to her. And she returns the favor.

And then we just lie here together, sometimes looking into each other's eyes, sometimes looking right through each other as if we're both immersed in deep, heartbreaking thoughts.

Camryn gets up from the bed.

"Babe, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," she says smiling warmly.

She slips off her pants and shirt.

I'm grinning like a little kid. I've never done it in a hospital bed before.

"As much as I would love to have sex with you in a hospital room," she says while crawling back into the bed with me, "it's not 'gonna happen; you need all your strength for your surgery."

I gaze up at her curiously as she lies back down next to me wearing only her panties and bra. She presses her chest firmly against mine, tangling her legs around mine. Our bodies are perfectly aligned, our ribs touching.

"What are you doing?" I ask with a curious smile.

She moves her free arm down and traces my tattoo of Eurydice with her fingers. I watch her intently, loving her movements, her touch, her warmth. Her index finger finds Eurydice's elbow where the ink stops and then she moves it along her own skin to pick up where mine left off.

"I want to be your Eurydice, if you'll let me."

My heart stops for a second, and my breath quietly catches. The girl just caressed my very soul with her lips. I want to cry, but what comes out is a huge fucking grin.

"I want to get the other half," she goes on, touching my lips with her fingers now. "I want to get Orpheus on my ribs and reunite them."

It still takes a moment before I can speak.