Warning: This story could only be concluded with a Tissue Alert chapter. I and my Beta Reader recommend you get them before you start to read.

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Life Moves On For Some

Over the next several months all of the DeSoto family noticed a reduction in visits requesting assistance from their neighbors. There was Mrs. Cosgrove who came to ask Roy to help her convince her husband he needed to go to the hospital when he was having chest pains. Roy was quick to follow her back to her home reminding her that denial was one of the symptoms of a heart attack. After checking the man's pulse he called for a squad and then called the hospital to give them the information he was able to gather. When the squad arrived Roy was able to just hand the phone over to the paramedics as they walked through the door and Dr. Brackett was able to give them orders for an IV and meds while asking them to send him a strip.

But that was the only request for help in over six months. The next time Jenny was called into action was the day a drunk driver plowed into a telephone pole near the Elementary school taking out a bunch of power lines and leaving the school without power or phones. Jenny wasn't called into action for the driver, the accident had happened in the early hours of the morning. Without power or phones school was canceled for the day and since Jamie and Jodi's moms still had to work JoAnne agreed to let the girls stay at her place for the day. They started by spending the morning baking and then eating cookies but after lunch the three girls decided to go work together to plant new flowers in Mrs. Hathaway's flower beds. The rumor was getting around that Mrs. Hathaway's health was getting poor enough that she was going to be moving from the home she had lived in since just after her children all moved out on their own. Her children were still trying to decide for sure where she was going to live but at least to start with she would be spending several months at a time with each of her children. Her oldest son was going to be there in just a week to help her pack up her things and place the home for sale.

All three of the girls were sad to see Mrs. Hathaway go but they had to admit she couldn't walk so well any more. Whenever she went to the doctors she had to have two people help her down the front steps of her home and she hadn't been able to drive her car for over a year now. During the frequent times she'd stopped by to check her Super Grandma's blood pressure Jenny had become aware that Mrs. Hathaway was nearly always in pain and she always spoke of her frustration of not being able to do things for herself any more.

As much as Jenny was sad to see Mrs. Hathaway move from the neighborhood she was glad that she was going to be able to spend more time with her grandchildren. Even though Jenny knew those grandchildren had children of their own, and some of them grandchildren of their own Jenny still pictured them in her mind as being her age.

The three girls were talking happily as they made artistic designs with the flowers they were planting when they heard what sounded like a crash inside the house.

All three girls were quick to go inside knowing it would take all of them to help the dear sweet woman up off of the floor if she had fallen. Jenny could tell in one quick look that things were worse than if she had just fallen. Her face looked distorted and misshapen as she lay unconscious on the floor. Jenny quickly raced to her side and reached for her neck to check a pulse. It was there but it was very, very week.

Jamie was sent to the telephone to call for a squad as Jenny told her the number for dispatch from memory. Jodi was sent to get Jenny's mother her team mate in case they needed to do CPR before the squad arrived.

When JoAnne raced in the house after Jodi she held Jenny's bag and while they waited for the squad to arrive JoAnne got on the phone to Rampart while Jenny recorded the elderly woman's vitals JoAnne read the names of the medications that were on her medicine tray. They could just hear the sirens in the distance as Jenny took the phone from her mother and told Doctor Brackett the vitals she had recorded as well as what she was seeing. The blood pressure was low Jenny knew, way to low but she was hopeful after remembering the time it had been low before and it just turned out to be that the doctor's needed to change her medications around a little.

When the paramedics from station 20 hurried through the door with their equipment JoAnne was able to hand the phone to one of them, "Rampart's on the line," while the other hurried to the patient's side and after taking a quick glance at the paper where Jenny had written down the pulse respirations and blood pressure he quickly started checking the woman's pupils before rechecking the vitals.

"Right pupil is blown, left is following no muscle response on the right week response on the left." The paramedic at Mrs. Hathaway's side called out and the two men went to work quickly starting two IV's and placing an oxygen mask on the woman's face.

Jenny wasn't sure what she was hearing but JoAnne knew enough to know it wasn't good.

-0-

Roy and Johnny had just finished gathering replacement supplies after treating four people involved in an auto accident. As they scooped the boxes up in their arms Dr. Brackett came out of the control room barking out orders and when Dixie ran off to set up the treatment room Kell Brackett turned to Roy.

"We've got another one of your daughter's patients coming in Roy. Form the information I just got over the phone it doesn't sound good."

"Who, who is it." Roy was quick to ask.

"I didn't get a name but it's a woman in her late seventies early eighties from what I could get from the attending paramedics it looks like a massive stroke."

"That could be either Mrs. Hathaway or Mrs. Riley," Roy quickly deducted. He then quickly looked up at Dr. Brackett again. "Doc, If it's Mrs. Hathaway, she's had an inoperable brain aneurism they've been treating by keeping her blood pressure as low as they could for at least four years now."

"Unfortunately that fits with what I'm hearing Roy, you might want to give Laura an update just in case your daughter needs someone to talk to."

Roy and John quickly carried their supplies to the squad parked near the hospital's Emergency Entrance and started putting them in their proper places. That's where they were when the ambulance backed into position and Roy quickly stepped around behind it to help unload the patient. Once the gurney was on the ground and Dr. Brackett was at its side doing his initial exam Roy got his attention.

"Doc, that's Mrs. Hathaway," Roy confirmed.

"Thanks Roy," Dr. Brackett responded with a grim look on his face before turning to Dixie. "Dix, see if you can get her doctor on the phone and have Dr. Joe Early join me in the treatment room as soon as he can." With that the medical party moved down the hospital's hall and Roy leaned back against the squad wrapping his arms around himself as he took in a deep breath.

"At least she didn't die while Jenny was taking care of her," Johnny commented not able to think of anything else to say.

-0-

Back at the Hathaway house Jo had been quick to gather the girls in her arms as soon as the ambulance pulled away. Each girl was given a tight hug and then they were all hugged together.

Once Jo was able to get herself composed she moved to the drawer where she knew her friend kept her children's phone numbers and made short work of contacting her oldest son at his place of employment. He assured her that he was on his way and expected to arrive at the hospital in about three hours.

As soon as Jamie's mother returned home from work she placed both Jamie and Jodi in her care and left a note for Chris before she gathered Jenny up and headed for the hospital.

-0-

Roy had been called on a run after Mrs. Hathaway had arrived at the hospital. It turned out to be a minor accident where the patient decided to go to his own doctor so John and Roy returned to the station from there. Once at the station Roy headed straight for the phone to call home while John hesitated just a moment before seeking out his captain to fill him in on the latest in the saga of young Miss Jenny DeSoto.

Roy was able to get a hold of his son who was home alone. He did however say that he had just talked to his mom and she and Jenny were at the hospital and should be home as soon as Mrs. Hathaway's son arrived in a couple of hours.

Dinner was fixed at the station and Roy tried to eat but found he wasn't really hungry, the face of his neighbor and friend Mrs. Hathaway weighing heavy on his mind. She hadn't looked good and he knew more than enough to know this wasn't going to be fixed with a simple medications adjustment.

It was a man down call that gave him the excuse he needed to get away from the food he just wasn't hungry for. When they arrived at the scene they learned that the man had just a little too much to drink and stepped wrong off of the steps of the home where the party had been held. Both Roy and Johnny felt that there was a slim chance that the ankle in question was fractured but Roy needed to get to the hospital so his understanding partner loaded him in the ambulance with the patient and gave the double slap that sent them on the way.

Once at the hospital Roy followed the patient as far as the hall way where Dixie was pointing out the treatment room to take the man. As soon as the gurney moved in that direction Roy stepped up to Dixie, "My wife and daughter?"

"Are in the hospital chapel," Dixie responded with a grim look on her face. Roy didn't ask for any other details he just moved with haste in the direction he had been given.

When Roy stepped off the elevator he could see his wife and daughter coming out of the room where he had visited on occasion when he had needed the peace and quiet to converse with a higher power.

JoAnne's hand was on Jenny's drooped shoulder, Jenny's eyes watching her feet move as JoAnne pulled Jenny against her side with a gentle squeeze.

The three DeSotos met in the hall and the first thing Roy did was drop to his knees to get in the sight of his daughter.

Jenny looked at her father with eyes of recognition but no excitement in seeing him.

Roy placed his hand on the side of her saddened face. "Are you alright honey?"

Jenny didn't say anything but she was able to shrug her shoulders as an answer. Together they walked down the hall to the room where Mrs. Hathaway was resting peacefully. It wasn't an Intensive care room and that told Roy that nothing aggressive would be done for his neighbor. Before they reached the room they noticed Jane Hathaway's oldest son George standing in the hall talking with Dr. Early and Dr. Rayburn who had spoken on Jenny's behalf at the press conference after Alan's funeral. The unmistakable look on Dr. Early's face along with George's posture and the way he held his own head with his hand confirmed to Roy that the news wasn't good. The DeSotos waited near the corner until the two doctors moved on and then Roy took the lead and approached the man he had only seen a few times and talked to on the phone twice.

Roy and George greeted and shook hands and Jenny and JoAnne listened in as Roy was told what the Doctors had said.

"There's not much chance that she's ever going to wake up. If she does she's lost all use of her arm and leg on her right side, she'll not be able to feed herself and even if she did she won't be able to chew or swallow anything. They'd have to put some kind of a tube down her nose to feed her with." George recited in a monotone voice that barely hid his emotions. "She's already set up instructions with her Doctors not to do anything aggressive to keep her alive if she gets like this. As much as I don't want to lose her I don't want her to have to live like this either."

JoAnne and Jenny went home and JoAnne was worried when her daughter didn't say anything the rest of the night. When it was time to send her to school the next morning Jo decided to let her stay home. She wanted to be with her and help her to get through this time in her life not send her to teachers that had too many other children to keep an eye on and didn't fully understand.

When she went in to tell her daughter she was going to keep her home from school today she found her reading one of Roy's paramedic manuals, the book was opened to the section on strokes and brain injuries.

On Roy's last run to the hospital of his shift he noticed George in the hallway with three other women, he was sure they were Jane's three daughters. They were all in a family discussion and just getting on the elevator so Roy didn't say anything to them.

Johnny followed him home after shift to check on his adopted niece. When Roy knocked on her bedroom door she was quick to open the door and stood looking up at her father. "Is she?"

"She's about the same as she was yesterday as far as I've been told." Roy answered with a half attempt at a smile.

Jenny was encouraged to eat breakfast with her dad and Uncle Johnny and together they were able to get her to eat something before she declared that she wanted to finish planting the flowers down at Mrs. Hathaway's.

John and Roy agreed to join her and when they ran out of flowers before they ran out of flower bed Johnny ran to the garden store for another flat. They had just finished tucking the last two flower plants in around noon when a car pulled into the drive way and Mrs. Hathaway's four children climbed out.

Their eyes were red and puffy and they were sobbing. It was the oldest and one and only son that thanked the three people for the work they had done on the flower beds and informed them that his mother had passed away half an hour ago.

Roy offered a quick condolence then turned his full attention to his daughter. She stood next to the newly planted flowers near to tears but not letting them fall.

"It's okay to cry sweetheart," Johnny encouraged but Jenny just responded to the open arm invitation of her father and threw her arms tight around his neck as he picked her up and held her tight all the way back home. As he carried her home Roy was worried about the lack of talking coming from his daughter but he was also comforted by the strength by which she held onto his neck so tight. As he carried her Roy could feel her heartbeat against his chest, her heart rate was steady and strong assuring him that she wasn't going into shock.

When they got home Roy learned that JoAnne already knew the news, having received a call from Dixie, and she came into the living room just as soon as she heard the door open. Seeing her daughter in her husband's arms Jo raced into Jenny's room to get her favorite comfort blanket hurrying to her husband's side with the blanket and his first aid kit.

Roy wasn't worried about his daughter's vital signs this time but he readily accepted her comfort blanket and sat on the sofa while he wrapped it around her. Uncle Johnny was soon at their side checking the vitals he needed to know the readings of.

The three adults sat on the sofa with Jenny in silence for a long time. Johnny reached out a second time to check the young girl's pulse but Jenny pulled her arm away.

"I'm alright Uncle Johnny," Jenny finally spoke.

"I know," Johnny tired real hard to hide his relief. "You're just being too quiet and it's driving me nuts."

Jenny looked up at her adopted Uncle, "Don't blame that on me, you've been nuts ever since I can remember."

Roy silently laughed but his belly shook prompting Jenny to sit up straight on her father's lap and look at him.

"This feels a lot different than when Alan died." Jenny said without preamble. "I not sure why exactly except that Mrs. Hathaway was old and Alan was just a kid. She always told me that the only sure things in life were death and taxes and that one day everyone would die. . . . Is it wrong to feel sad?"

"Absolutely not," Roy was quick to answer.

"We all feel sad sweetie," JoAnne added, "Mrs. Hathaway is a very dear friend we're all going to miss her a lot."

"Do you think she's in heaven with Jesus?" Jenny looked straight into her father's eyes the way she did when he had to honestly tell her that Santa was a Christmas Myth.

"Yes, I do," Roy spoke with honest conviction, "that's the only place she would go. Mrs. Hathaway was a very good woman and she always has been."

"Do you think she's going to see Alan there?"

"I don't know for sure but I want to believe she will." Roy answered feeling a little inadequate in his religious convictions.

Jenny turned silent again as her breathing started to come in hitched gasps, "Is it alright to cry?"

"Yes honey," Roy reached up and cradled his daughter's head in his hand and pulled it onto his shoulder. "It's good to cry. It will help you feel better." As Jenny's sobs muffled by Roy's shoulders were heard Roy and JoAnne let their tears fall also. "Let it out honey, there's nothing to be ashamed of," Roy sobbed out as he wrapped both arms around his daughter and pulled her tight."

When the tear stopped flowing JoAnne recommended a little nap. Jenny looked uncertain but she obeyed her mother and went to her room. When Roy checked on her a short time later he found her laying quietly but not asleep. He slipped into her room and sat at the side of her bed taking her small hand into his. She looked up at him and gave his hand a squeeze but neither of them said a word. Roy found no comfort in the fact that his young children were already learning to accept death, he felt like a failure as a father for not keeping them from coming to this point until they were much older.

When Chris came home from school he could tell instantly by the feel in the home that something bad had happened, he too needed some time to come to grips with the news concerning the death of a beloved neighbor and then he too shed a few tears into his father's stomach before he pulled himself together to become the man he felt he should be.

Later that night after dinner there was a quiet knock on the door. When Roy answered it he found George Hathaway standing on his doorstep and quickly invited him in. JoAnne was quick to offer him some coffee of ice tea but he solemnly but politely turned each down.

"I need to ask for a little help if I may."George asked carefully.

"Whatever we can do to help," Was Roy's quick and firm answer. "Your mother meant a lot to all of us here in the neighborhood. We share in your loss. She will be missed deeply"

"Thank you,' George responded in controlled emotions. "As I know you were aware, my Mother has not been a well person for several years now. We wanted to move her in with us or at least closer to us, when we first found out about the aneurism but she wouldn't have any part of it. Somehow I'm sure that she dropped dead now just because the doctor told her she couldn't live alone any longer." George gave a tearful smirk, "My sisters and I would like to thank you and your family for making it possible for her to live the way she wanted these last years."

"It was our privilege," Roy responded humbly.

"Anyway we opened her drawer to see what was left for us to do to get her affairs in order and we've found that about the only thing there is to do is set a date and time for the funeral. She did request that you be one of her casket bearers Mr. DeSoto,"

"Roy please, and I'd be honored." Roy responded.

George sighed and then started to smile. "The thing of it is, she instructed us to make sure we scheduled her funeral on one of your days off. She said, and I quote, I don't want to interfere with him saving people just so he can help drop my lifeless bones in some hole in the ground."

Roy Joined George in a moist laugh, "That sounds just like your mother."

"She also requested Jim Jackson her next door neighbor to be one of the casket bearers but we're instructed to make sure that he's on the side he needs to be so that he doesn't hurt the shoulder he messed up falling out of his tree." George and Roy laughed again. "He's agreed and said that the shoulder is not a problem anymore but I really don't want my mom's spirit to come back and haunt me. Could I ask you to please make sure he's on the proper side of the casket."

With a tearful smile Roy nod his head before confirming verbally, "I'll see to it."

After discussing Roy's work schedule and picking two possible dates George pulled a handful of stuffed envelopes out of his breast pocket. "Mom wrote a bunch of letters, there's one here for your daughter Jennifer and your son Christopher, there's also one here for you and your wife." George handed the three envelopes over. "There's also letters here marked for Jodi and Jamie but there's no last names would you perhaps know where I can find these girls.

Roy and JoAnne both offered to deliver the letters but when George informed them that he would really like to do it personally they provided him with the family names and addresses.

"There's one more thing," George started again. "There are a bunch of papers that we'll need to go over together, I hope you don't mind if it waits until after the funeral.

"Mom was very grateful for the way your daughter watched after not only her and her medical needs but also the neighborhood. A year and a half ago Mom cashed in some stocks and set up a trust fund for your daughter in the form of a scholarship to help pay for her education. Now she put a little away for your son too, but not nearly as much as for your daughter. I helped her do the legal stuff involved at the time and she explained to me that your daughter had earned a little more and that she was sure the girl was destined for Medical school and was going to need a little more. She also mentioned it to her doctor who had already been very impressed with the blood pressure reports that your young daughter was recording and he contributed as did some of the other neighbors you're daughter has helped and a few others. Last I checked the fund was a little over ten thousand dollars but with proper management it can be significantly higher by the time she's ready for collage.

Roy and JoAnne sat across from George Hathaway; they were so stunned that they were unable to speak for some time. By the time they were ready to speak George was ready to move on to the others on his list that he needed to visit with so Roy respectfully showed him out.

When Roy turned around he saw his two children standing at the top of the stairs and wondered how much of what had been said they heard. With a quick thought he hoped there wouldn't be any hard feelings that Jennifer was getting a larger scholarship than Chris but he hoped that they had heard everything that had been said. It had been quite complimentary to each of them.

After silent hugs with their children Roy and JoAnne could think of nothing better to do than to give their children the letters that were meant for them. They each chose a spot where they could read them privately, Chris in the corner of the family room while Jennifer went out on the back deck. Roy and JoAnne found a place at the kitchen table where they could sit to read their letter and still keep an eye on each of their offspring.

Chris's letter was short and spoke of the woman's gratitude for him helping with her yard and included two twenty dollar bills for his labor, she then charged him with watching out for his sister and growing up to be a respectable adult.

Roy and Jo's letter also read of her gratitude for their friendship before going into more detail about the scholarship funds.

Jennifer's letter was a little different.

My dear sweet Jennifer

You are indeed a tender hearted soul, a more caring and unselfish child I have never met. I watched you anguish over the loss of the young Alan. Even I could tell there was nothing more you could have done for that poor child but I could see how it tore your heart out that you couldn't save him like you've saved so many others.

I often say that the only sure things in life are death and taxes, yet my son is in the business of showing people how to get out of as many taxes as they can. The doctor's and people like yourself in this world postpone the other, but they can't stop it from eventually claiming you. Death is undeniably the one sure thing in life.

As I'm so very aware that the time ahead of me is much less than the time I've already spent on this earth I pray you will accept my passing with more comfort and less anguish than the first experience you've had in facing that inevitable fact of life.

I have never dealt well when a young child is called home to Heaven but at my age I can tell you with absolute certainty that there are worse things in life than death. It's not something to be hurried into but when you understand the love Jesus has for all of us it's not all that frightening when you get to that point.

On most memorial markers there are two dates, the day the person was born and the day they are declared dead. These are the most insignificant details of a person's life. The most important part of a person's life is so encompassing that the only symbol that can be used to represent it is the most insignificant symbol you will find on the grave marker. It's that little dash between the two dates that means so much there is no other way to mark it. It's all that is meant by that littlest of symbols that will mark your place here on this earth.

Live my dear sweet child. Fill that dash with the wonders of this world and the caring of your soul. You are truly one who will make this world a little more like the heaven we all hope to go to.

Thank you for my beautiful flower gardens and the tender care you've given all you touch. I look forward to watching you from above as you go on to fill your dash with many more great and marvelous acts and caring.

The world you yours my dear sweet child, go forth and live your dash to its fullest.

Forever watching from above, Your Super Grandma by heart

Jane R Hathaway.

The end.