Four Years Later...[James/Ash/Luke]

"Are you okay?" James asked breaking the silence, "Luke filled me in on what happened, and if I wasn't stuck in this bed I would have came over and flushed whatever you weren't supposed to be eating down the toilet...oh wait you already did that." James added jokingly.

Evelyn felt her cheeks redden, and lowered her head, making a mental note to kick Luke's butt. She scratched her ear.

"I dunno...I was just...craving comfort . . . food I guess," she mumbled to her hands.

"You couldn't find comfort in a carrot stick?" James chuckeled weakly.

Evelyn shrugged. "I like chocolates...I don't know...I guess they distracted me from the whole mess with you, or something..." She turned her head away and wiped her eyes on her jacket sleeve.

Her gaze landed on James' hand, resting beside him. Her eyes widened. "They didn't mention anything about yoru hand getting broken...as far as Luke told me, he said you'd be just fine to play ball...but he also said that you wouldn't, uh...be as great as you had been, at least, not for a while."

James sighed looking down at his hand, "My hand, this happened before the accident. I um, was upset and I took it out on the mirror in my hotel room. You know my temper its no good, and this happened after I..." He paused, "I got off the phone, with you."

Evelyn swallowed, and reaching out, lifted James' hand, lightly holding it.

"Look, I—I, didn't mean for this to happen . . ." She bit her lip, tracing circles on his hand absently. Her eyes felt stingy again.

"James, I'm sorry," Evelyn began again, closing her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks once more. A horrid raging guilt settled over her, and she dropped her face in her hands.

"Why are you sorry? This had nothing to do with you. I got upset and being the stupid guy I am I punched out a mirror and didn't wait to hear any logic before I took off. If I had waited a little bit longer none of this would have happened. Don't be sorry this was my stupid mistake that was made." James reached out for her hand holding it in his.

"Don't cry." He spoke softly hoping to calm her.

Evelyn swallowed, biting her lip. She leaned forwards, resting her head on James' chest again. "I guess, I meant...I should've told you about the whole leaving hting...it was stupid of me. I just...didn't know how to put it. But Leon says I can choose,. as long as it's nowhere near here," she said quietly, hearing the steady thumping of James' heartbeat.

James exhaled slowly, "So where do you want to go then?"

"Not here," Evelyn replied, shrugging slightly. SHe closed her eyes. "I don't know...I'm just fed up of all this happening. I want to go somewhere far away. Luke is suggesting I enrol at Tiff's university....Leon is on the side of online classes, lso this way, I could do them from anywhere."

"Do what you want to do and everything else will fall into place. If you want to go to Flordia, go. There is nothing holding you back from doing what you want to do." James said, coughing slightly.

"Oh, sorry!" Evelyn lifted her head off his chest, wincing. "You alright?" She glanced at the monitors around him. They appeared calm.

"I'm fine, you didn't do anything its just my thorat's kind of dry I was clearing it." James assured her that she hadn't broken his lungs or anything.

"Oh, here." Evelyn reached past him to a water-glass with a plastic straw. "Can you alleviate your bed up or something so I don't pour this down your nose?"

James laughed, "Yes." He lifted himself up gently so he would be sitting up and took a sip of water, the cool beads trailing down his throat he looked up at Evelyn and pulled away, "I feel like a kid."

"Now you match your IQ," she replied, without thinking, as she finally foudn the handle on the side of his bed and yanked on it. The bed slowly rose to a sitting position.

"There," Evelyn said, putting the glass back.

"Way to add insult to injury." James joked.

Evelyn winced, clapping her hand over her mouth. "Sorry...that just..came out," she mumbled, embarrassed. I have got to stop insulting the guy, particularly when he's in a hospital bed.

"You're easy to insult, I guess—oh, crap, I think I'll shut up now," she groaned, clamping her hand over her mouth again, as her cheeks tinged bright pink.

James laughed, "Gosh Ev its only a joke its not like I'm crippled, besides that shade of pink on your cheeks always attractive." He winked.

Stop it! You guys aren't dating anymore you can't act like this anymore!

Evelyn glanced up at James, trying and failing as her cheeks simply reddened some more.

Okay, going the wrong way. What is he doing? she asked herself, dazedly, as she lowered her gaze to her clasped hands.

"You know, I should, um . . ." She meant to say she was leaving, but her mouth had dried up somehow. "You should go back to sleep. You'r enot exactly healthy. And if you want to be able to catch that flight in a week back to NYC, then you need all the rest you can get...but you know, you won't be able to play for a while...so you can go back whenever you feel like it," She ran a thumb distractedly over James' bandaged knuckles.

"True I could, but I don't want to stay here any longer god only knows what would happen if I stuck around, but I might just so Haley could pack her stuff and she can come back with me, but as for sleep. I can sleep when I'm dead." James said resting his thumb on Evelyn's.

Evelyn nodded. She sighed and pulled her hand back. There was no point in letting this go on.

"I, um, I'd better get going before they kick me out," she said quietly, getting to her feet. "And, uh, I have to go pack up the apartment." She paused, looking dow at her feet. "I'll miss this place...so much has happened here, huh?"

James looked down, all of the memories passing in his eyes quickly to this moment. He looked up, "Yeah a lot sure did happen, stuff I'd like to forget and other things that I'll remember forever." His eyes landing on Evelyn he sighed.

"I'll be seeing you then huh?"

"I'm honestly not sure where to go from here," Evelyn admitted absently. "I always kinda figured I'd graduate and then focus on figuring out where I wanted to settle . . . now I have to figure out what to do with myself. I told Leon that I didn't really want to go to London . . . I want to stay in the States, just somewhere not here," she finished, wondering why she was telling him this. She ran her fingers through her hair, tugging on a lock of bronze curls.

"I don't even know what I'm packing up for, honestly, just that I don't want to stay here," she added. Before James could say anything, she put her hand in her pocket, pulling out a newspaper article.

"Um, I meant to show this to you, but then, we, uh . . ." She inhaled and quickly read the article out loud for him.

"Local businesswoman Kelly Howards, during a visit to courts for a divorce procurement from husband Kent Howards, has reached an untimely end. The forty-three year old and her soon-to-be-ex-husband were found shot dead in a sewer near WIllchester Water Reservoir, and witnesses claimed that a blond man and woman are prime suspects, having been spotted driving away from the scene. Police have looked into this incident, but found no person for suspicion." Evelyn glanced down at James, a faint smile playing around her mouth, regret lingering in her eyes.

"I don't know if this means the danger's over . . . but Ryan and Candice have fled, I know. Cathy called me last night after I got out of the hospital, told me Ryan had said he had some urgent business to attend to, and he fled, probably not back to Seattle." She sighed wearily. "Funny, it ends at a very convenient time, huh? Even if there might be other nut jobs around to do us in."

There is no "us", Evelyn...not anymore, a cold voice said, in the back of her mind. Evelyn gulped and continued talking.

"Last I heard, he was headed for—for North Virginia," she said, looking at her feet. "I, um, meant to fill you in on this . . ." Her voice faltered, wavering as she added, "I saw Candice's ki—kid, Cory. I feel so bad for him. Bu—but at least he's better off n—now, where—wherever they ar—are."

James shrugged, "I feel bad for Candice's kid, honestly I do. No kid should have a mother like her, but as for nut jobs trying to do us in. I guess you're free of Ryan and Candice. As for me; god only knows where Chris is by now. He's probably planning his next move since he probably knows I'm not dead."

James sighed looking down at the floor, "Funny how things supposedly get better after we, you know?"