The next three weeks went by quickly, and Alyssa was extremely ecstatic. It was finally the day of the journey to London. She could hardly believe the day had finally come. The crew was originally supposed to leave six weeks prior, but then there was Michael's mishap and they were forced to postpone it. Of course there was the scare that it was not going to happen at all. Luckily, that was not the case, and the concerts were only canceled until Michael's recovery period ended. The night before went by so slowly, she thought it would never end. She was so glad Shannon was with her, otherwise she probably would have lost her sanity waiting. Not only that, but she hadn't seen her friend Shannon in over three months. It had been such a happy reunion. Lissie was also glad her best friend was able to keep her fan girl side in check when she met Michael in person...well, she sort of did that, anyway. She did pretend to faint, but that didn't warrant a lecture. She was worried she would have to give her friend a long lecture for embarrassing her. Another thing Lissie was glad about was that Shannon found someone to leave her kids with-her sister(whom they adored spending a lot of time with anyway, because she spoiled them sometimes).She was worried they would run wild in Michael's house and mess up one of his items, or even worse, his kids' things. That meant they would be able to enjoy some time alone....for a little bit, at least. Once they got in London, there would be little time to do that. There were still a lot of preparations to be made before the concerts began in eight days...dress rehearsals and all.

Michael's family was excited as well, especially his children. They would get their chance to perform with him, and had been practicing with him ever since he began to prepare for the concerts, and recently when he was well enough to rehearse again. They were a bit nervous about it, but thought they could make it through, since they appeared at the tribute concert several weeks ago. That was great preparation for this big event. Kai was excited, too, as she would also be going, upon request by Prince, Paris and Blanket. And she was looking forward to writing the cookbook.

"Aren't you excited?" Shannon cheerfully asked, tossing a crossword puzzle into her carry-on bag.

"You bet," answered Lissie, packing her camera. She had promised to take photos and send them to Anastasia.

"I have been waiting for this moment for a long while. I can't believe it is finally here. To think we almost didn't get a chance to see him live. If TMZ was sadly right about what they said, I would have been crushed. Thank God they were wrong. "

Lissie agreed with her. It had been two months and she still hadn't quite gotten over that day. But at least she was able to move on. She just used that moment to treasure her moments with Michael and to value their friendship. She was so glad he had fully recovered and was in good shape for the tour. And she hoped that nothing would happen during the tour. "I understand how you feel. But Michael is doing all right now, and that's what matters." ‘I hope he doesn't hurt himself on this tour...at least not severely.'

"I guess you're right. It's just going to take some time to completely heal from that day."

"It's okay. Take your time. I am still healing myself." As were his family. They were so thankful for his health.

"I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling that way. At first I thought it was just me."

"No you aren't. Trust me, a vast majority of the fans are still reeling a bit from June 25th...deathly afraid of losing Michael. "  Lissie then decided to change the subject into something more pleasant...talking about that day was so depressing. "Michael's birthday is coming up....on the same day the tour begins. I'm sure being surrounded by fans and doing what he loves most will be a highlight of his birthday, but I want to get him something to once again repay him for all he has done for me."

Shannon looked thoughtful. "Ooh. That's nice. Do you know what you'll get him?"

"As a matter of fact, I think I have an idea of what I'll get for him." At first Lissie was having a little bit of trouble coming up with a gift but remembering Michael's high opinion of Princess Diana gave her an idea of a possible birthday present. She would get him Princess Diana memorabilia.

"Oooo, what is it, if I may ask?" asked Shannon.

Lissie told her.

"Wow. That's so nice. He'll really appreciate it," Shannon commented.

"Glad you think so. Please don't tell him about this. I want it to be a surprise."

"You got it. My lips are sealed."

There was one problem though. Lissie wasn't sure when she would get a chance to go shopping for the gift, as she figured there would be a lot of work to do. There might not be time for shopping. But she decided to wait and see. ‘No sense worrying. I will just have to cross that bridge when it comes.'

"Are you nervous about going to London?" asked Shannon.

"Sort of. Not as much as I was before," answered Lissie. That was because Michael had given her some information on the culture in England so she knew what was expected of her. After all, he'd been there enough times to educate people on what one should or should not do. He was a life saver.

Just then, Lissie's cellphone started ringing. She looked at the number. It was the number from the local hospital. 'Now who could that be?' she wondered. "Excuse me for a bit, Shannon."

"Okay." Shannon decided to double check to make sure she packed all of the important things.

Lissie left the room and answered the phone. "Hello? Oh, hi Mrs. Churchill. What's going on? How's Abby?" Then her facial expression turned into a worried one, and she felt a cold feeling inside her stomach. "Oh no. That's not good. All right. I'll tell Michael. Thanks for letting me know about this. Goodbye." She hung up, and re-entered her bedroom.

"What happened?" Shannon asked, eyeing Lissie's worried look.

"You remember I told you about Abby, the girl with lupus, right?"

Shannon nodded.

"Well, that was her mother who just called me. She said that Abby's health is rapidly making a turn for the worst. She's now hospitalized with pneumonia and is in critical condition. And she is so weak that she can't even move."

"That's so awful."

"It sure is. I have to tell Michael about this. He'll be devastated, since he and I both have been praying for her."

"I'll bet."

"Yeah. He helped pay for her transplant." She rested the cellphone down and skipped out of the bedroom to find Michael. She found him in his dance studio, teaching his children some dance moves. Boy, did it feel good for him to be able to start dancing again. He had only been able to do it for the past week. Lissie thought he was such a superb dancer. The fancy footwork...everything she loved watching him do. And he was such a great teacher, too. She watched as he guided them through doing the spin and the moonwalk. She hated to interrupt because he needed all the time he could have before getting ready to head to the airport. And if they were going to be on-stage with him they needed all the practicing they could get. But this was an emergency. "Michael, sorry to interrupt, but I have to tell you something. It's very important."

"Sure." The pop star wondered if anything was wrong. Lissie didn't look too happy, to put it mildly. "That's enough practicing for now," he told his children.

"Okay." Taking the hint that some privacy was needed, they left the dancing studio to make sure they had everything they needed.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked Lissie.

Lissie could feel her eyes welling up with tears, but she fought them. She didn't want to be too emotional about this. She wanted to believe that everything would be ok, that Abby was strong enough to pull through. "I just got a call from Abby's mother. Abby's in the hospital again and she is not doing well."

Michael's heart sank and he had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What's wrong with her?"

"She has pneumonia."

Michael didn't like the sound of that. Even though his form of lupus was fairly mild, he knew enough about it to know that fighting pneumonia while on steroids didn't always go well. Oh, did he hope she would be okay. She was such a wonderful girl.

"I think we should go and see her, while we still have the chance. But do we have time to? We have to leave early so we could check in."

"Sure we have time if we leave right now."

"Oh, I get it. Stop at the hospital on our way to the airport."

"Exactly."

"Okay. I'll go get my suitcase and stuff. We have to hurry." She took off. Shannon was all packed and ready to go. She was sitting on the bed, reading a book.

"How did it go? How did he take it?" she asked Lissie.

"Not so good. We're gonna go and see her now, then it'll be time for us to go to the airport."

"Okay. I'm right with you." Shannon put the book she was reading back in the carry-on bag, and got her luggage. Lissie got hers, too. She and Shannon exited the bedroom together. Michael and his children were waiting.

Abby was in the Intensive Care Unit in the hospital, hooked up to a ventilator. Her pneumonia worsened so severely that she had started gasping for breath. Doctors had decided to use this as a last resort. Her mother hoped this would work. She was so scared for Abby. The young teen had been in and out of the hospital ever since she started to show the common symptoms of SLE, and she feared this would be her last hospitalization. She had been warned that infections could develop as complications from the transplant, but things were going so well for awhile. But unfortunately, there was a relapse and she seemed to be getting worse. It was so hard to see her this way.

Abby felt like she was dying, like there was no life left inside her. She was too tired to do anything except lay there in her hospital bed. She wondered if she was really dying. Not that she was afraid to. Once she got her wish she didn't care. She thought it would be nice to see Michael just one last time.

It seemed she was in luck. All of a sudden, Michael and Lissie entered. She was so happy to see them, but she was too weak to greet them. And she couldn't talk, because of the bag valve mask that was in place. She would usually wave at them when she was too tired to speak or unable to, but this time she couldn't even force it.

Michael couldn't believe his eyes. This frail, lifeless girl just couldn't be Abby. She was never really energetic, but she was certainly more vibrant than that. It hurt him so deeply to see her that way. Lissie was almost tempted to leave the hospital room, that's how much she couldn't bear the sight. So when Michael walked up to her bed and gently held her hand, she stood back.

'Get a grip,' a voice in her head said. 'You've seen scarier things before and you've made it through.' She fought to regain her composure, and moved a bit closer. "Hi, Mrs. Churchill."

"Hey there."

"Hi, you two," answered Abby's mother, trying to smile.

"Has Abby improved at all?" asked Lissie.

Mrs. Churchill sadly shook her head. "I'm afraid she's still the same. And there's nothing else that can be done for her if this doesn't work."

That was such bad news to Michael. Especially when the young girl was so still. But then something unexpected happened. She waved at Michael and Lissie.

"It's okay. Save your strength," Michael told her. He didn't want her to use what little energy she had left. Not just for him.

She sent him a tender message with her eyes. Since she was not able to speak, that was one of the only things she could do. But Michael seemed to understand what she was telling him.

"The pleasure is mine. I love you more," he told Abby.

Abby's body was losing warmth by the minute, and there was no life in her emerald green eyes. Just as Michael told her those words, her hand went limp, and she was still.

Lissie nearly fainted. She realized the awful truth. Her friend Abigail, sweet and kind Abigail, had expired. This was the first time anyone had ever died in front of her. "Oh no," she whispered loudly. She was more shocked than sad. It hadn't really sunk in yet. She glanced at Michael, and saw that he was slightly ahead of her. It looked like he was trying to hold back tears, whereas she was too shocked to cry at the moment. She watched him let go of Abby's hand, which was colder than ice at that point.

Just then, a doctor entered the room to check on Abby. He saw that the red head was no longer alive. He grimly removed the ventilator.

Mrs. Churchill, who had been weeping silently, dabbed at her eyes with a Kleenex, and gave Abby last kisses. She felt like a piece of her went with her daughter. Now she was going to have to worry about funeral plans. She didn't think the funeral would be anytime soon, because she nor her husband made enough money to plan a decent funeral. Not unless some miracle happened. She supposed that she could call her relatives and ask them to help, but even that wouldn't be quite enough. Her husband was away on a business trip that week, and he wouldn't be returning until the next day. So she would have to call him and tell him of this.

Michael wished he didn't have to miss the funeral. He really wanted to pay his respects. Abby was such a special friend, next to Lissie. He thought of something he could do to show he cared. It wasn't the same as actually being there at the funeral, but it was the next best thing. He knew that the Churchill family was oftentimes low on funds. He took some money from his wallet and gave it to Mrs. Churchill. "It'll cover most of the funeral expenses," he said.

Surprised, Mrs. Churchill took the money from him. This was so nice of him. Not only that, but her worries were over. Now all she had to do was make the funeral arrangements. "Thank you very much, Michael. May God bless you always."

"Likewise." The superstar checked his watch and it was almost time for him and Lissie to get going. And Shannon and his children were waiting. Not to mention that he had told all of the participants in his concerts, Kai, Karen and Shelley to meet him at the airport. "Well, Marie, it's about time we get going. Lissie, are you ready? Is there something you'd like to say to Abigail?"

"In fact, there is. Give me a minute." By this time she had somewhat gotten over her shock and the turn of events were beginning to sink in, and she was beginning to become teary-eyed. She walked over to Abby's lifeless form and placed her hand on top of one of hers. "Farewell, Abigail. I am glad to have met you. You'll be in my heart always." She broke down after saying that. Michael put an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the hospital room. It felt so comforting. She knew she was lucky to have him around at a time like this. The tears she was trying to fight streamed down her face, and she quickly dried them, because Shannon and Michael's kids were out there. She didn't want them to see her crying.

Shannon was reading a magazine, and Prince, Paris and Blanket were reading books they brought with them while they waited. They looked up, and saw that Michael and Lissie had come out. Both of them looked glum, as if they would start crying any minute. They had the feeling something was wrong.

"What happened?" asked Shannon.

"Abby is gone. She didn't make it," replied Lissie.

There was silence for a moment. The children didn't want to believe it, but the sad facial expressions said that it was true. But they didn't think it was fair. Abby was so young. She was only fifteen, just five days shy of her sixteenth birthday.

Paris broke down in tears. ""Oh, Lissie, I'm sorry."

Prince tried to hide the fact that he was crying, but Lissie could tell he wasn't happy, and Blanket didn't really understand what was going on.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Shannon gave her friend a sympathetic look.

"I am relieved that she no longer has to suffer anymore." Lissie didn't think she could say anything more than that. She feared she would really start crying. She hoped the dress rehearsals in London would cheer her up, or at least take her mind off of it.

Michael was still in a bit of shock. He wanted to get out of there, and he was sure Lissie did, too. "Let's go, everyone. We have a flight to catch in a few hours," he said.

Everyone somberly made their way towards the exit. Michael decided to dedicate his very first concert to Abigail Cynthia Churchill.