After a week enjoying seeing Michaela more than she had for some time due to their differing working hours, Jamie returned to London to pack up the rest of their belongings and arrange a carrier to take them to Scotland. Her mother was in aged care accommodation. Sadly she had developed Alzheimer's Disease at a relatively early age. Sometimes when Jamie visited her Mum knew her, but other times she stared vacantly at her. It was heartbreaking.

Now Jamie visited her for what might be the last time. She spoke quietly to her mother and held her hand but her mother seemed asleep. Finally, as it was time to go, Jamie whispered; “I'm going now Mum and I might not see you again here. I'll make a deal with you, whoever arrives first at the Pearly Gates waits there for the other one, agreed?” To her surprise, it felt like her Mum gave her hand a faint squeeze.

In addition, Jamie visited her sister Edna who was married with four children, three of whom had now left home. Edna was shocked to hear about her younger sister's cancer and asked if there was anything she could do.

“Perhaps visit me in hospital?” said Jamie. “I've been told that I will have to be admitted eventually and I'll make sure you know when and where I am.”

She also visited Eve, who thanks to her inheritance was now living in a very nice house, not far from where she grew up. James, her son was now quite grown up. Eve had chosen not to marry again after her first experience.

“The only person I would marry is a millionaire, or I'd be afraid he was only after my money,” she told Jamie. She too was shocked to learn that Jamie had a terminal illness and said that if there was anything she could do, Jamie must let her know.

Jamie enjoyed being a housewife in Edinburgh. She was determined to leave Michaela in as comfortable a home as possible when she was finally on her own.

The day arrived when Ronnie was hosting her farewell at the Blue Note Jazz Club. Michael took a day off from work. The office was coming together nicely and he felt that it was safe to leave the staff on their own. After discussion with Jamie, they decided that it would be best for him to attend the jazz club as Michael.

When they entered the building, Michael in a dinner suit and Jamie in a beautiful blue floor-length gown, they were surprised to see a big sign above the stage saying “Thank You Jamie and Good Luck” Jamie had discussed it with Ronnie and said she didn't want to announce about her cancer. The club patrons would just think that she was moving to Edinburgh. As promised, there was no smoking that night.

During the evening, Jamie took the opportunity to see Ronnie in his office and make certain arrangements

The house band was in attendance and there was a constant stream of patrons coming to Jamie's table to thank her and wish her luck. She did feel well enough to get up and sing two of her favourite songs, 'April in Paris' and her signature tune 'Sweet Georgia Brown', and she received a standing ovation. She was feeling better than she had for a while when she and Michael left to go to the hotel where they were staying for the night since they had now given up the London flat.

They returned to Edinburgh and it was in the middle of the following night that Jamie woke up with a stabbing pain in her chest. Her gasps of pain awoke Michaela. Fortunately, she had followed Sam's advice and collected the pain killers from the pharmacy. She took two tablets as directed and the pain soon started to diminish to a dull ache.

“I think you should go back to the hospital in London,” said Michaela.

“Oh, not yet,” said Jamie, knowing that when she went into hospital, that would be the beginning of the end. She also knew that the new branch was due to open soon and the Board would be making the trip from London for the official opening. She had several more episodes of pain but none as bad as the first time, and the tablets kept it to a manageable level. She was getting more and more short of breath but pacing herself each day, she was managing.

It was the day before the official opening that Jamie finally realised she couldn't possibly attend it. The pain was constant now and she was too reliant on the pain killers trying to keep it under control. Even they seemed to be losing their potency. It was time for her to return to London. Michaela wanted to go to London with her, but Jamie insisted that she stay and host the opening.

“This is your big day and you need to be here. I'll be alright. Come down after they've left, or even the following day.”.

Jamie rang Sam on his private number and he said he would reserve a bed for her the following day. When she arrived, he had been as good as his word. She was settled into a bed in a private room, and one of the nurses inserted a drip into her arm. Sam explained that this was the easiest way to administer morphine as needed. She soon felt much more comfortable.

Jamie rang her sister, Edna, to tell her she was in hospital, but Edna and her family were in Spain on holiday. “I'll visit you when I get back,” she said. Jamie didn't like to say that it might be too late. Anyway, she had said her goodbyes to Edna already.

She lay in bed reading some stories on her tablet and occasionally dozing. She wasn't really hungry but ate a sandwich and had a cup of tea. She slept well that night, undisturbed by any pain, thanks to the morphine infused in the drip.

It was the day of the official opening of the office in Edinburgh and she hoped everything went alright. She would like to have been there but it had been impossible. To her surprise, at about six o'clock Michael walked into the room and bent over to kiss her.

“Hello, darling. I didn't expect you until much later, maybe even tomorrow morning,” she said. “I've been imagining how the grand opening went; Mr Bristow officially opening the office and complimenting you and the staff on how well it is already going. Then you replied, thanking Mr Bristow for the opportunity to head the branch, and praising your staff before you all had tea and sandwiches. Was it like that?”

Michael smiled. “You missed out one thing, the part where I thanked you for your support without which it would have been very hard to get everything set up so quickly. Then Mr Bristow said you should have been present and I explained that you were not well and in a London hospital. I think that he realised that your illness was serious because he asked me to go into an office away from the others and asked me exactly what was happening with you.

“I was close to tears when I told him and he did an unexpected thing; he put his arm around my shoulder and said 'Son, when I was your age, work took priority over everything else. I missed the births of both my children because of it. Now I realise that family is the most important thing and I wish I could go back and rewrite history but I can't. Go home, pack a suitcase and head straight to London. Take as long as you like, your job will still be waiting when you come back'.”

As he spoke, tears formed in Michael's eyes. Jamie reached out her hand and Michael grasped it. “Did you book into a hotel?” asked Jamie. “I can do that later,” said Michael. The truth was he had bumped into Sam in the corridor and had been told that for Jamie it was a matter of days, possibly hours, so it was best that he stayed at the hospital.

“I'm so glad you are here,” said Jamie. “I have something to tell you. Could you give me my handbag please?” Michael did as he was asked and Jamie extracted an envelope which she gave to him. “Don't open it now, wait until … later,” she said. “When I was last down here, I arranged and paid for everything when I'm gone because I didn't want you to be bothered with all the stress when you are grieving. There's a number to ring and a list of everything, where the memorial service will be held, where I will be buried, and the wake which will be at the Blue Note Club. I would like to be wearing the beautiful bracelet that you bought me, I hope you don't mind?”

“Of course not,” said Michael, frankly stunned by the matter-of-fact way in which Jamie was describing her funeral, and doing his best to hold back tears.

“I've booked a celebrant,” continued Jamie. “I never was a churchgoer and it seems a bit cynical to ask a minister to officiate at the end, even though I'm sure they wouldn't mind. I've even written out a brief CV which you can imagine is heavily censored, so that the celebrant will know what to say.”

Michael managed a ghost of s smile at that and Jamie smiled in return.

“That's better, I haven't seen you smile properly in days and there's nothing to be sad about. I've lived a full life and I was lucky enough to meet you so the last part has been wonderful. Sam is looking after me so well, and I'm in no pain.”

The mention of Sam made Michael realise that Jamie was not wearing the gold locket around her neck. She saw the direction of his eyes and said “The locket is in its box in my handbag. Would you take it with you now, please? I didn't want to embarrass Sam by wearing it. Perhaps you'd like to sell it and give the money to the Lost Dogs' Home? I always fancied having a dog but my lifestyle and yours didn't really make it practical. You can't have everything you want in life, but I've done better than most.” She gave Michaela's hand a squeeze and then she yawned and smiled. “I'm just tired now and I want to go to sleep for a while. Will you stay with me? Please?.”

Michael gulped. It was hard to control his emotions in the face of Jamie's bravery. “Of course I will darling, I'll be here when you wake up,” he said.

He sat by her bed, holding her hand, as the light outside the building gradually faded away and the lights of the city buildings started to glow. Jamie slept. Sam came in to check her from time to time. At one point she stirred and murmured quietly “I love you”. Her eyes were shut and it could have been said to Michael or Sam, or maybe to both of them.

The hours slipped slowly by and Jamie's breathing became more and more shallow, and eventually, it stopped altogether. Michael gazed at her face, pale in the lamplight. He hadn't realised that Sam was in the room until he stepped forward and checked Jamie's other wrist for a pulse. “She's gone,” he said quietly. “I'll leave you for a while. Come out and see me when you are ready.”

Michael nodded, grateful for Sam's sensitivity. He looked at Jamie's face and she looked so peaceful. “Jamie my darling, you can't hear me now but I love you with all my heart. Thank you for the years we spent together; what they lacked in quantity, they made up for in quality. Goodbye, my love. I hope it's just 'au revoir'.”

He stood up, and leaning over, kissed her gently on the lips. They were still warm and for a moment he could almost imagine that she was only asleep. Then he walked out into the corridor and up to the nurses' station where Sam was sitting together with the night nurse. He glanced at the clock. It was three o'clock in the morning.

“Thank you so much for all you've done for her, Sam; you and all your staff. I'm so grateful that she wasn't in pain at the end,” he said, and offering his hand, shook Sam's.

“We'll take great care of her,” said Sam. That reminded Michael and he reached into his pocket and pulling out the envelope, opened it. It contained a business card for an undertaker, and a folded piece of paper with a list of all that Jamie had organised.

Michael managed a smile. “She's thought of everything,” he said, showing the paper to Sam. “We just have to follow her instructions.”

A day later, Michael visited a jeweller and showed him the gold locket.

“I think it's probably gold plated as the person who bought it for her was a student at the time,” he said.

The jeweller examined it. “No, it's genuine solid gold,” he replied. “It's worth quite a bit.” He gave Michael an estimate of its value.

“Thank you,” said Michael. He had already decided that he couldn't bear to think of it around another woman's neck, but he would give a donation of the value to the Lost Dogs' Home as Jamie had requested.

Four days later, on the morning of the funeral, Michael visited the funeral parlour to see Jamie for the last time. She was lying in a white satin-lined casket, wearing a beautiful white silk nightgown. At her request, her face had been made up to appear as if she was only asleep. The bracelet Michael had given her was on her wrist. There was only one thing missing.

Michael reached into his pocket and brought out a small box. Opening it, he showed the staff member the gold locket and chain.

“Would you please make sure that this is placed around her neck?” he said. “It was her final wish.”

The End

Author's note: So ends the story. Achieving approximately 500 readers per chapter I count as a success, also the number of 'kudos' garnered. I wish there had been more comments, but I must thank those who took the trouble, especially Dorothy Colleen, who never missed a chapter, The Copredy Kid, and others. Your comments were greatly appreciated. If anyone else wants to message me directly, rather than make their views publically visible, please feel free to do so. Your remarks will be held in confidence.

I did wonder if the sex episodes were too much although I hope they were not gratuitous. This is a story of redemption as I'm sure you understand, so it wouldn't have meant so much if Jamie hadn't fallen so low at one point in her life. There's hope for us all.

Theresa