Hannah took a sip of water from the Smart Water bottle to soothe her parched throat as she told her story to a packed room. One could have heard a pin drop. She had finished speaking about moving to New Jersey from Texas. The audience in the big lecture hall consisted of scientists, doctors, addicts, and the chronically ill that dealt with M.E. and different addictions on a daily basis. She had a slide show with her that depicted her whole entire life story but most importantly the last 7 plus years since she was diagnosed and then how everything spiraled downhill.

The presentation was held at the Hoboken Institute of Technology on one of the higher floors of the tallest building on campus. It was about a mile from her apartment with Allen. Her portion of the presentation was over and she could wait outside until the Q&A session began while others told their stories. Hers was one of the most poignant, considering how far she had come in the years since her private hell had begun.

Two hours passed since she started speaking. She stepped out of the hall and walked past the wheelchair that had been offered to her before the presentation started in case she needed it. Even though she still had to face the PTSD from her past, she no longer shuddered when looking at those contraptions. She just thought of it as something that was available for anyone who needed it. She stepped up to the window again and looked out at the Hudson River. Hannah could see Manhattan from her vantage point.

Allen was working and therefore couldn't come to the presentation but he would be there to pick her up after it was all over. She fingered her engagement and wedding rings absentmindedly. Hannah Peters (nee Shifford) was now Hannah Roberts. She and Allen had gotten married the year before. Her bank account was full as the sale of her and Chris' house in Plano had been quick and uneventful. He knew that she had left the state and was with Allen. She had changed her phone number and upgraded her phone to the latest in smartphones; as promised she only gave out her number to a very select few number of people most of who were in the tristate area.

Meanwhile, Chris was part of a huge news story back in Dallas featuring a massive lawsuit against Scarlett for not disclosing her infectious viral diseases to her sexual partners and infecting multiple men. Chris was only one of many but the story was so huge that it caught national attention. Hannah was stunned when she first heard about it and would get updates from Caddie any time something new happened. Eventually, in lieu of doing serious jail time, Scarlett had to sell her house to pay off lawyers' fees and her fortune from before quickly went down the drain as she had to settle with every single man—Chris included—for a lump sum of $1 million each.

One of her ex-husband's was given full custody of all of the children with her only allowed minimal visitation and with supervision. She was completely disgraced and moved back to Pensacola, Florida where she had been hiding out ever since. Courtney and Ralph Peters made their son give Hannah all of that $1 million for everything she had to endure with him and Scarlett. Between his cushy job and the amount of money his parents would eventually leave him, he was loaded, and they knew Hannah could use it a lot more. It wasn't like he ever would want for anything.

So Hannah's bank account was definitely looking a lot better than before. She and Allen had gotten married back in Dallas because that's what was most important to her and Allen was more than willing to oblige. His family was just fine with flying down south for the celebration. The Mother Superior performed the ceremony in the beautiful and yet cozy chapel at St. Bernadette's with Caddie as maid of honor. Caddie had relapsed once soon after Hannah left and ended up nearly overdosing on meth but Ryan saved her life and she was determined to put it all behind her. She went back to rehab and with Ryan's support got clean once and for all. During their last conversation, Caddie was clean and sober for well over a year and that was the longest she'd ever gone. Everyone was very proud of her, especially Hannah.

Allen's brother Richard had flown in from Chicago and acted as best man while Ryan was a groomsman. Chris' parents were also invited as Hannah still felt strongly connected to them and wanted them in her life no matter what. They were determined to never sever that connection either.

Chris was renting an apartment not far from his office and had little insight about his own future. Everything he had ever known—his wife, house, respect from his parents, and colleagues—he had lost due to his selfish ways. Neither Ralph nor Courtney knew if he would ever fully grasp the severity of the error of his ways but giving that he was their only son, they would still see to it that he had the best doctors that money could buy to deal with the horrid disease that now plagued him. As Hannah had said years before, even though Chris was a total asshole, he didn't deserve to become ill.

In the meantime, with all of the money Hannah now had at her disposal, she sank a good portion of it into renting a building in Tribeca that was owned by Columbia University to create 'Sister Grace's Center of Hope' for people who were chronically ill and needed a community to fit into. It was a lot like the place she had volunteered at in Dallas but she put her own spin on things. This was the perfect way for Hannah to honor the memory of Sister Grace and do something to help those like her. She fingered the cross that always hung around her neck and smiled as she thought of all of this.

The center provided therapy, holistic doctors, yoga among other things of that sort, and a sense of belonging that wasn't seen anywhere else in the country. Hannah was the founder and director; so though it was a non-profit organization, the donations that were constantly pouring in to keep the place going, were amazing. When Allen couldn't find Hannah, he knew she was at the center. It was where she lived and breathed.

Which was one of the many reasons Hannah was part of the panel that afternoon at the Institute; to draw more sponsors to the center and the organization as a whole. The Q&A portion of the presentation went relatively fast and soon it was time to head home. Hannah put up a link as part of the presentation where people could donate money for research in finding a cure for M.E. and then with a last standing ovation, she and the others walked out. She was very proud of how much she had accomplished in the 2 years since moving to the east coast. She thanked everyone and walked out of the building towards the parking lot and saw Allen leaning against his white Toyota Prius smiling at her.

She smiled back as she remembered that just a few days prior to this presentation; the two of them had visited an adoption agency and had filled out the necessary paperwork. Everything was looking good and they had spoken about adopting an infant though it didn't matter which sex. They'd be pleased with either or. They were very hopeful that very soon they'd have new titles added to their names; mommy and daddy.

As she walked through the tree lined campus on that warm spring day towards Allen and the car, she thought back to how her life had been lined up and the twisted windy paths she had taken. She had been orphaned at age 5, grew up in a monastery orphanage, married her college sweetheart, diagnosed with a non-curable illness by the age of 30, had been cheated on by the only man she had ever loved, lost the only woman she'd known as her mother since childhood, turned to meth addiction as a means of escape, nearly died, met an amazing man, had a miraculous recovery, and took a leap of faith with that man by divorcing the jerk she was married to and starting a brand new life in New Jersey and New York City.

She had faced a lot of adversity in her life with everything that had happened and she was definitely out of the woods now in more ways than one. She had overcome it all by learning from her mistakes with grace and dignity. So as the Hudson River sparkled away, she was fully in the clear now. Good.

***To help find a cure for M.E., please donate to www.omf.ngo***

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                                                                    ***The End***