“What the hell is wrong in this town?!? Even since I got here, only troubles came to me! Why??? God damn it all!!” Maria cried, breaking down in more tears. She covered her face with her hands. She couldn't answer. It was too much for her.

Corey stood up, “I'm going to check on Shawn, I'll be right back. Look after her, okay?” he said to Taylor, almost whispering.

“Yeah, okay, but don't be too long,” replied Taylor as he sat down next to the crying red-headed girl. “I want to check on him too.” Corey smiled back weakly and then headed towards Shawn's room.

“Maria?” Taylor whispered softly and with tenderness, trying to get the attention of Shawn's twin sister. The latter looked at him with red watery eyes. “You can count on me...I'll be here for you, just like always.” He smiled, it was a friendly and caring smile.

Maria smiled back weakly and remained silent for a moment. They both remained silent. Then, Maria gave Taylor a little kiss on the cheek. “I knew you couldn't hate Shawn,” she whispered with a little smile.

“When I was a kid, Shawn was my best friend, the brother I never had. When we were kids, I protected him. I loved that. Whenever his heart was aching, I was there to heal it. We grew up. And then, we became more than friends. And still I protected him. I loved him. He always called me when something was wrong. And now...I can't do anything, I can't save him. I can't!” Taylor said, breaking down in tears at his turn. Maria was really touched by what he said and gave him a warm and friendly, almost sisterly, hug.

“You are here, you are here for him. I'm sure if Shawn knew you came for him, he would fight with all his might to wake up so as to thank you. Even if you're not as close to him as you were before, I'm sure he still loves you with the same fire,” Maria explained with a smile. She, also, knew Taylor since early childhood.

“Yeah but...” replied Taylor with his eyes filled with tears and his heart filled with sorrow and pain, “the fire for that blond monkey faced ass is stronger than for mine.” He was holding the hand of the red-headed girl. Maria tightened the grip.

Corey opened the door of Shawn's hospital room. He widened his eyes of amazement. There sitting on the edge of the bed, Mr. Ben Matthews. Shawn's uncle. Earlier, Corey went to Ben's house to tell him about what happened and also inform him that they needed his agreement to perform a heart surgery on Shawn, to be able to save him. But Mr. Matthews wasn't there, neither the other members of his family. Corey coughed a bit to make Ben know that he was there.

“Hello Mr. Matthews,” said the young french boy, almost above a whisper. Ben turned his head to face the other visitor. He didn't really recognise the latter. “Ahem, I'm Corey, Shawn's...” Corey's voice trailed off. Ben didn't know him so Corey guessed that it would be better to remain a bit silent.

“Shawn's what?” Ben asked back, quite coldly. Not that he didn't like Corey, but because he was on the edge of depression. Today was the one of worst days of his entire life.

“Um...never mind. How's he?” Corey replied, avoiding the question. Ben sighed sadly as he turned his head to face Shawn and answered that the latter was going to go in the operation room soon. “So you signed their stupid agreement? What a relief...Earlier I went to—”

“Could you go out please? I would like to stay alone with him for a moment,” Ben interrupted, rather coldly. Corey didn't take any offense in that though. He excused himself and then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Corey was going to go back in the waiting room, but then he saw Shawn's doctor. So, he went to talk to him. “I heard that Shawn was going in the operation room soon, so...I was wondering when? And how much time will it last?” Corey asked. The doctor answered that they were going to make the surgery in almost 1 hour and that it would probably last for not more than 3 hours. “Thanks and...” said Corey, with a weak voice, “...please save him...”

Taylor and Maria remained silent, both swimming deeply in their thoughts. Sad thoughts, muddy thoughts. Taylor wished he could help Shawn and somehow, his feelings for him increased even more. He realized how much he truly loved him. Maria seemed to be lost. Taylor tried to ask her what happened which was so horrible, but she couldn't answer. As if the answer itself was a torture.

“Did you know that your uncle was in Shawn's room?” Corey asked to Maria. He was standing infront of the red headed girl, she and Taylor didn't see him come.

“Yeah, I know. He phoned me only a few minutes after you went away,” replied Maria with a sad sigh. Then she put her hand on her head, to massage it a little.

“Why is he here?” Corey asked, curious. He went to the Matthews' house but no one was there, not even Tommy. “His house was empty. Is Tommy here too?”

“No, Tommy's not here. Ben's here because...” answered Maria as tears came back to her eyes, “...he had to tell me something...” She was having some difficulties to speak.

Corey kneeled down and held Maria's hands in his. He had a weird feeling, like a sort of bad presentiment. “I guess that's why he phoned you, right? So...what did he want to tell you?” He asked, his voice shaking a bit.

Taylor didn't say a word. As long as it had nothing to do with Shawn, it was none of his business. Well, if Maria's concerned, which seemed to be the case, he'll be there. So he just listened.

[Song : ‘Something Horrible Happened’]

Maria took a deep breath before replying. “Corey...our...” Maria tried her best to fight the tears, “...my mom...and...” She was fighting hard, “...your mom...their plane...” She tried her best, she fighted till the very end, “...crashed!!” And she broke down in tears. Corey's eyes were immediately filled with tears, he stood straight, he was having trouble breathing. Taylor took Maria in his arms and gave her a huge hug. “What am I...going to do?” she whispered sadly.

“The plane...crashed????” Corey asked back, almost yelling and crying. Tears were running freely on his burning hot cheeks. He had to sit or else he would have fallen, as his knees were getting weaker and weaker. “H-How? Wha-What happened??” He couldn't believe it. His mother...was dead.

“One of the plane's motors exploded,” said Ben as he approached the three teenagers. The latter turned their heads to face Ben. His visage was filled with sorrow and pain, just like the three teens. “Heather tried to call Shawn and Maria, but no one answered,” he explained. Maria replied, almost whispering, that her cell-phone was turned off, she was at the movies. “And then she called me...she made me promise to take care of Shawn and Maria. And...” Ben was getting teary-eyes too, “...and she asked me to tell...her children that...she will always be there for them, and that she loved...” He tried to, but he couldn't finish. He sat down on one of the seats with his hands covering his face.

All of them remained like that, silent and crying. Their hearts were completely broken. Taylor cried for Shawn and Heather, Maria cried for her brother and her mother, Ben cried for the mother of his children, for the woman he once loved and he was also crying for his son, Shawn, and Corey cried...for the love of his life, Shawn, and for the one who gave birth to him, Mylene, his mother.

The night was cold, the time was late. The street-lights were still on, they always remain on all through the night. With water in the eyes, weakness in the knees and pain in the heart, Corey was walking slowly towards his house. He wanted to be alone. He lost his mother, the woman who gave him life.

Everything was different now. He was alone, truly alone. Shawn was in the hospital, fighting for his life and Mylene, his mother, was dead. On the route to his house, Corey came across a beautiful flower. It was a dark blue one, very beautiful. He took it in his hands, caressed it with the tip of his fingers and then...he closed his hand firmly, tightly and violently. The tears had stopped, there were no more. He had cried so much. Anger took the place of sadness. The flower had some spines, so Corey's hand started to bleed very lightly. He didn't even notice it. He continued his way.

He was infront of his house's front door. He opened it, but...he couldn't enter. He felt the pain and the sorrow in his heart grow instantly. He had some trouble to breathe. Finally, after some minutes wrestling with his emotions, he entered the house and closed the door behind him. Only the moonlight enlightened the house, he didn't want to turn on the lights.

He took a bottle of french red wine from the fridge. He drank very rarely, just for the big occasions. He never drank more than half a glass. He liked it though. He took the bottle, opened it and took a glass. He went in the living room. There, he poured the wine in his glass, filling it completely. He drank all the red liquid in a gulp. He poured more.

After one or two hours of drinking, Corey was drunk. He mumbled some words about his mother and Shawn. He talked in the air, imaginating that there were people around him. Then, as he looked around, he noticed something. There was a message on the answering machine. He stood up, with some difficulty, and walked in little zig-zags towards the telephone. Then, he pressed the play button. It was a message from his mother.

[Song : ‘Something Horrible Happened’]

“Corey, mon prince adorer. Je suis a l'aeroport actuellement, nous allons bientot embarquer. Je voulais te souhaiter une bonne soiree, mais tu n'es pas la, donc c'est un peu rater. Alors, amuse-toi bien avec Shawn. Je dois raccrocher, la batterie de mon portable est presque a plat, a bientot et...je t'aime!”

For those who don't understand french, here's the translation :
“Corey, my dear prince. I'm at the airport right now, we're going to embark soon. I wanted to wish you a good evening, but you're not here, so I guess it's misfired. So, have fun with Shawn. I've to hang up now, the battery of my cell-phone is nearly dead, I'll see you soon and...I love you!”

Corey stared at the machine, his hair and face were damp with sweat. His eyes were bloody red, they were crying, he was breathing hard and his heart was shattered in million of pieces. All of this was too much......
He fell to the floor and closed his eyes.