He sniffed. The whole time he knew about the tumour he wished there had been something he could have done. But the tumour had been in a certain part of the brain and couldn't be removed without killing her. And by the same token, radiation and chemotherapy wouldn't have worked very well, if at all.
Zac sighed, noting that if she had done therapy, Hope wouldn't have lived.
Taylor gave him a nudge. Zac realised that they had just been calling him to say something. He sat at a keyboard that had been set up for him and spoke into the mic.
"Umm, I umm, Cassie was... I loved Cassie very much and I, umm, I would just like to sing a song I wrote for her..."
And he began. He sang his song, that went by the title 'Lost Without You'. Everyone listen appreciatively.
About halfway through, Zac started choking up. As it progressed, he was more choking out the words than singing them.
The problem with tears is that they're like laughter - contagious.
The second Zac hit the last note, the tears were streaming down his cheeks. He stood up from the keyboard and walked back down so his seat. He barely noticed Diana wrap her arms around him as he sobbed into her shoulder.
**********
Zac watched as they lowered the coffin into the grave. He half expected her to open the coffin and sit up, but in his heart he knew it wouldn't happen.
He threw a rose into the grave and just stood there as the crowd slowly departed.
"Oh Cassie." He said. "Why'd you have to go? Why?"
He stood there in silence for a few moments, then knelt down on his haunches.
"What am I gonna do without you Cassie? I never loved anyone like I loved you."
Zac wiped a single solitary tear from his eye.
"I never want to fall in love again." He said finally. "I'm just gonna die a lonely old man and I don't care. I rather be lonely for the rest of my life than have lived a minute without knowing you."
Then he paused, wondering where he had heard something like that before.
"I love you Cassie."
Finally he stood up and walked slowly away, his hands burrowed deep in his pockets and his head lowered.
He may have cried more, but all his tears were gone. Not a single one left.
Not even one.