Certain parts of this was so hard to write, but for a change, we've FINALLY come to an end of one of my Samcedes stories. This one was my very first attempt in this fandom and I want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed and simply been around for the duration of this thing and for all of you who have followed me on other works, as well. I love you all and appreciate you. With that being said… Here is the final chapter of Right Before My Eyes.

Those Last Days

Sam was hurting. He woke up and he felt pain along his left side… if he was remembering correctly, that was not a good sign. He couldn't remember Mercedes ever coming home, but then he recalled Whitney telling him that she was staying with her for the night… or was that the other night? Nights seemed to be running together. He called out to his wife, as loud as he could. Yet, it was not her who came, immediately. It was Wagner. "Hey, Dad – what's wrong?" He asked, gently, though Sam could tell he was alarmed.

"I'm hurting, where's Mercy?" Sam asked, holding his left arm.

"What hurts? Your arm?" Wagner asked, quickly getting the phone. "How does your heart feel, Dad? Is it bothering you, too?"

"I want my wife!" Sam said. "I want my wife…" He began to repeat it.

"Ok, Dad. Alright…" Wagner said. Sam's hands were shaking, and his vision was getting blurry, but he could have sworn that he saw her entering the room, dressed in all white. That dress looked familiar… He blacked out.

He had no idea that all of his offspring were outside of the door. He had been unconscious for a couple of days and he couldn't seem to make himself talk, but when he looked up and saw Mercy, he opened his mouth and began to speak, "Mercy, where were you?" He asked.

"I've been waiting for you," she said and brushed her fingers across his hand. "Are you about ready to get out of here, Sammy?" She reached out for him and said, "Take my hand." Sam looked into her face. She wasn't wearing her glasses and her silver hair hung around her face and shoulders in relaxed curls. He tried to reach out for her and the door opened, causing his eldest son and eldest daughter to enter and… step right through her. They were talking slowly and trying to ask him something, but he was distracted by the fact that Mercedes had vanished.

"Mercy! Mercy!" He heard himself call out to her, but all they heard was him mumbling the "m" sound.

"He's trying to call Mama," Whitney said and whispered, "Do we keep it up, at this point? The doctor said we'd be lucky if he even came to."

"I don't even think he can hear us, at this point," Marvel said. "Just, hold his hand. He may mistake you for her, but – give him whatever support he needs right now." She sniffled and reached for her father's hand. Sam was still mumbling. She stroked his hand and Marvel touched his face. He appeared to be in pain, but hopefully, they could soothe him, some.

"Mercy?" He heard himself call, and she was right next to him. He looked over at her. "Oh, God – how long? How long have you been gone? Why have I been seeing you? You're… you're dead, aren't you?" Mercedes stroked his face and shushed him. "Mercy…"

"You're very sick, Sam. Your heart has rejected the treatment for your heart condition, plus, you've had a stroke. You're not even able to speak right now. The doctor told them that it's only a matter of time and that it will probably be tonight. There's nothing else that they can do for you."

"Why did I see you? Am I crazy? Have I become the crazy old man?" He asked.

She softly laughed and kissed his forehead, "You missed your wife, like any man would, after loving her so long and losing her so suddenly. But, that is over now. Come with me…" She said.

"I love you," Sam said. Whitney and Marvel both looked at each other. He had said it so clearly and he squeezed both of their hands when he said it… but, then his grip went limp.

"Daddy?" Whitney said. "Daddy?" She repeated and shook his hand gently. But Marvel was watching the machine flat line and he pulled his hand free to call for the doctor, thought he knew that this was it. Sam Evans had finally joined his wife. Marvel let out a relieved sigh before his tears began to fall and as the doctor went into the room and Marvel escorted the distraught Whitney out, all of their siblings knew, as well. They began to collect each other into tearful embraces.

It was the day before she died… Sam had been feeling bad, but now, he was getting better. She had been waiting on him, hand and foot, tiring herself to the bone in order to nurse her beloved back to health. Now that he was back to normal, he wanted to go for a walk. He wanted to pick her some flowers. He wanted to fly kites and feed ducks with their great-grandson and have picnics. He wanted to do everything that he was blessed enough to still be alive and well enough to do. She just wanted to rest, but it was much more fulfilling to spend all of her time with the love of her life, whom she had been so blessed to grow old with.

They did all the things that they loved to do when they were young and full of fervor. Their passion had grown, even though they were physically inferior to their former selves. Kelsey had a carnival going at her grandmother, Stacie's ranch. They had spent most of their morning enjoying fun times with their little munchkin, Avery – with Mercedes fussing at Sam for picking the boy up to put on his shoulders or chasing him around and tickling him. She was worried that he would make himself sick, all over again! They spent some of their afternoon escorting him through the carnival, and after they met up with Adam and Sammie to turn their boy back over to them, the elderly couple enjoyed some alone time at the carnival.

"I'm likely to get sick to my stomach on a Tilt-a-Whirl these days, but a carnival visit simply wouldn't be complete if we didn't get on it!" She said. But, there they went. It was quite an issue for them to even climb into the thing. Mercedes wore a silky dress with bright colorful flowers on it and when she went to get into the cup, she nearly slipped. Sam caught her and made sure that she got onto the ride, safely, but then she had to try to help to pull him up onto it, too. Her upper body strength was nothing to brag about and with his shakes and his weak bones; it was quite a hassle. "Stuff that we used to be able to do all day now takes all day to do," she said with a laugh when they were both finally seated (and breathless).

"I don't care whether I do it all day or it takes all day to do, as long as I can do everything, for all of my days, with you." He replied and rubbed his nose to hers. She smiled brightly and took his hand in hers. "I love you Mercy."

"I love you, Sammy," she said back and kissed his cheek.

They went home and Sam noticed that she seemed to spend much more time in the bathroom, getting ready for bed, than usual. When she came out, wearing her adorable purple nightgown and her curled up hair wrapped up in a purple and silver scarf, he smiled and commented, "I was starting to worry. Are you feeling alright, Darlin'?"

"I guess I must've overdid it today. I'm feeling so tired," she said and gave him a hug. "I won't lie, I don't even feel like going to the kitchen for the juice to take my night vitamins…" She gave him a doe eyes plea and he smirked and her, and tapped her nose with a singular finger.

"Of course, I've got you, Love." He crept into the kitchen, and brought her the juice back.

She took her vitamins, kissed him goodnight and told him, "I'm sure that I'll be sleep by the time you're out of the tub. I love you," she told him.

"I love you too, Baby," he said. Those had been their last words to each other. They always were their last words to each other. But, that night, as she slept and he got ready for bed, her body got weaker and weaker and by morning, only one of them woke up.

Sam didn't feel right when he woke up. His heart was hurting and his head. He immediately became panicked. He couldn't quite understand what was happening, or how to explain it, but his pain and the panic made him worry that maybe something was wrong with his wife! "Mercy, Baby?" He called. He glanced at the clock. His baby was usually up and at it, by now. He woke up a little later than her, and by the time he woke, she generally had breakfast, juice, vitamins, meds, all set out and ready for him. She usually had already washed up and had her morning exercises and started watching her television programs… "Mercy?" He said again, this time a bit louder and with a more frightened voice as he shook her.

He leaned close to her and she felt cool and she wasn't moving. "Well, I know that you aren't dead, because, because you can't be, because that would kill me and you know that I wouldn't be able to handle it and GOD knows that I wouldn't be able to…" He shook her again, more vigorously and fought off the tears trying to come to his eyes. "Nope. Nope… I refuse to believe it. I'm gonna call Sammie, k, Mercy? I'm gonna call our granddaughter and get her to come over and to… and to… do whatever she can do to make you wake up." He nodded his head as he went to the phone.

Mercy wasn't dead. She might look dead, but it was just impossible. The odds that he would outlive her were strongly disadvantaged. Even though he kept telling himself that she was alright, that he simply didn't know how to properly check on her or how to help her, that Sammie would be able to fix this… the moment he heard his granddaughter's voice and started trying to tell her that he couldn't get his wife to wake up, the reality started to tug at his heart. He started to cry. He could still be understood, but he knew that Sammie could hear his tears and that his sobs were not shielded as well as he would like. When Sammie confirmed his fears, he denied it and practically fell apart in front of her and in her arms. Shortly afterwards, he went into some type of shock. He was non-responsive for a time.

Blaine, Puck and Quinn came to check on him and spend some time with him, and he tried to play fine, but the pain ate away at him, every moment. As much as he loved all of his friends, if he lost every single one of them and still had her, he could endure. Even had he lost his children and their children – it would break his heart, but his Mercy could see him through. Who was going to see him through this? He hated how selfish he felt, but how could she just leave him? How could she die on him?

They had recently celebrated her! He had even more recently fought to get rid of his own illness so that they could have more time together! The services were wonderful. The children made certain that it was fit for a queen and he appreciated everything, everything but the fact that these were his final moments with her. Looking at her in that fairytale princess glass box, dressed in all white and sparkles, looking like a sleeping angel, but sleep, never to smile at him again – he cracked.

Whatever anyone tried to do to make the situation better did not work. He took the most recent photo that he had of her, selected a frame to try to do it some justice and set it next to Kurt's photo, just as he promised. If anyone else died, they were getting left out, because he never wanted to even glance at that depressing display again, now that his wife was added to it. The photo was so beautiful. She had been perfect, up until the end. But, he could not handle not living without her. When he broke down in the bath, two months later, and he fell and injured himself, he would have wanted to die. He would have wanted that fall to reunite them. In a way, it did, because as far as he knew, she was still with him, and he was not going to let her go. She was going to stay with him, until his dying day.

There were a number of people telling the Evanses how beautiful the ceremony was. It was smaller than Mercedes' had been, but just as heartbreaking. The burial was so painful for Sammie that she could hardly breathe. She listened to Joe speak so fondly of her grandfather and of his relationship with God, just as she had months before when he officiated over Mercedes' ceremony. Joe's words were much more emotional now. Even though he loved Mercedes very much, Sam had been a mentor, big brother type to him in high school and one of his dearest friends over the many decades. Joe resided over many funerals and many of them great friends, but Sam was one of those special ones that won his tears.

As Sam Evans was laid to rest, in a plot right next to his wife, bordered on her side by Marvin and Christina Jones and on his side by Dwight and Mary Evans, Sammie watched with tears in her eyes. Her work with them had ended and while it should have been a huge relief, and she should have been happy that he would no longer be hurting nor sad and they would no longer have to pretend things were fine, her heart was breaking that she would now never see either of them again.

Sammie packed away the items into different boxes. She'd gone over the lists that Sam and Mercedes made to separate their items and matched them up with the lists that her aunts, uncles, cousins and nieces and nephews made of things they wanted. She had made sure that everyone got what they were left, first, then that the requests were given out on a first come first serve basis. It was difficult, but Blaine and his son, Andrew had been helping and her husband Adam had joined in the efforts, as well.

Now that both of his great grandparents were gone, she feared that she might have to explain better to Avery the concept of death and her faith in life after death. She determined to do this after the house was cleared out. There were a few items going into museums and the house itself was going to be sold, unlike their first house in LA, which had been left to Wagner (who lived in it, anyway). Whitney insisted that she was going to buy the house, but if Sammie were to be honest, she never wanted to have to step foot in that house again. The memories that she carried out of it were going to be better than many of her last memories inside of it.

One of the last things that she packed up was the bookshelf that was dedicated to those they had lost. She stared at it for a while, before being able to put her finger on what was wrong with it. Her meemaw's photo was missing. She set the empty box next to the shelf and ventured into the bedroom. It was one of her least favorite places in the house, right before the bathroom that she'd found Sam in after he slipped. She spotted the photo on the bed, face up and went to collect it. She looked at the photo and how happy Mercedes had looked, only a few short weeks before her death. She had gone on so peacefully, while her granddad had struggled before crossing over. But, that was all in the past, now. They were gone and they were together and she was going to simply have to get over that and be happy for their sake. Besides, she would see that smiling face again, just as she knew that her grandfather would.

Sammie hugged the photograph to her chest with a hopeful and sad smile and made her way back to the shrine. When it was all packed up and secured with bubble wrap, she set her grandma's photo on the top of the pile, smiling up at her, then opened the brand new frame that she had brought for Sam. She got the photo of him that had been taken at the birthday celebration of Zadyn and she placed it into the frame and set it next to Mercedes' photo. The frames matched, perfectly and even though she might not see them together for a long time, she firmly believed that she would again. In the meantime, their photos would always be right next to each other, as a constant reminder to her of the power of true love and how two hearts that become one were never to be split apart.

Adam came into the practically empty room with Avery on his back and asked, "Ready to quit for the day, Honey?" She started from her daze at the beautiful, departed couple and smiled brightly at her family – at her chance to continue to build upon the legacy that was Sam and Mercedes Evans'.

"Yeah, I am. You know… how Uncle Joe offered you that position to become the pastor over his church? I think that you should do it."

Adam let his son off of his shoulders and met his wife at her box, "Where is this coming from?"

She sighed and said, "I know that we've had this discussion already before, but I haven't supported you nearly as much as I should. If I've learned anything from the time that I spent around my grandparents, it's that when you love someone, you are willing to go through whatever there is to go through, as long as they're there. I want to be there for you. I want to love you the way that they loved each other." She looked into the box at the two elderly smiling photos. "With all of the reminiscing that they did, do you know that there really were never any regrets? I have always wanted to be like them and now that I don't have this obligation, this overwhelming responsibility to look after them anymore, I hope that you're willing to give me a chance to be there for you the way that I should."

Adam smiled and pulled Sammie into a hug, "Samara, you've always been there for me and everyone else. I understood your relationship with your grans, and I've admired you for it. If you really wanna move to Ohio and do this, I would love to. But, I'll love you and love being with you, no matter what or where we are, Honey." She grabbed both of his hands and squeezed them as he pulled her tight. He looked into the box and asked, "Can you imagine us, like that? Happy and in love for the rest of our lives?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I can," she answered and shut the box.

Sam reached for Mercedes' hand and followed her. He looked down at himself and noticed that he was wearing all white, too… just like her. Then, he remembered seeing her that day, when he fell out of the bathtub. "Was I supposed to come with you, then?" He wondered.

"We always come exactly when we're supposed to. You wanted to come then, but it wasn't your time, yet. But, now – it is!" She smiled brightly as she led him towards the light and told him, "And you'll love it!" When they went into the light, he lost her for a moment, but when he saw her again, she was several feet away. He came up closer to her and something had changed. She was no longer the same woman that they laid to rest several months before. The silver hair was now black, the wrinkles now smooth and as she smiled at him, he saw that she looked almost exactly like she did the day that he married her. "Sammy, will you come on? Everybody's waiting!"

Sam felt brand new. He looked at his hands and saw that they were youthful again. He felt refreshed and genuinely filled with joy. She shook her head at him, noticing that he was a young, healthy man again, then she simply took off running. Sam broke into a run after her. It had been years since he had been able to run and he relished in just the feel of it. He paused when he reached a large group of people. There was music and laughter, dancing and overall love. She was right, everyone was there. All of his loved ones that he had missed. His parents, his friends, other family and most importantly, her. She reached for his hand again and he took it and let her bring him closer to everyone. "Sam's made it home, everyone!" She announced and they all cheered and began to spread around tokens of affection and gladness. "And don't worry about the ones that we had to leave behind, either. I promise you, we'll see them again, and each and every time, we have a celebration!"