Evening all. I've been enjoying everyone's Newsroom stories so much lately, I thought I'd better have another stab at writing one myself. Please let me know what you think, and don't be put off by the beginning – I promise it won't be as angsty as Unforeseen Consequences.


Knock. Knock. Knock.

No answer.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"C'mon Habib, I know you're in there. Open up!"

The door cracked open a fraction and Dr Habib appeared in the gap, trying to look stern.

"Will McAvoy. I never would have guessed."

"I gotta see you Doc. It's an emergency."

Habib sighed. "It's always an emergency with you Will. Why don't you try coming to your weekly appointments like everyone else? You're not the only patient I have, you know."

"I know, Doc, and I get it, but this time it's different. I think Mac's cheating on me again."

Habib took a closer look at Will. "Okay, just this one time I will squeeze you in. Hang in there for a little bit longer, okay?"

"Okay, thanks Doc, I really appreciate it."

Will paced restlessly around the waiting room for another ten minutes until the door opened again. The woman who'd been in with Habib gave Will a dirty look on her way out, and the doctor motioned Will through into his office.

He waited until Will was seated in the overstuffed chesterfield before he spoke.

"So, we'll get to why you think Mackenzie is cheating on you in a minute, but for now I just want to ask how you've been lately? You've missed quite a few sessions, which you know I don't recommend, but I thought it was because you were happy?"

"I am happy. I was happy. Being married to Mac is like," Will struggled to find the words to describe it. "I mean, I could say it's like being a kid on Christmas morning, but it's not like any Christmas I ever knew growing up. It's like I'm invincible. I'm glad Dantana dropped the lawsuit, mostly because of what it was doing to Mac, but even if he hadn't, we'd still be okay because we have each other."

Habib nodded. "Go on, Will."

"I've never had that before, not with anyone. Don't get me wrong, we still argue at work, but it's not to hurt any more, it's just because we enjoy the sparring, and goddamn that woman is stubborn, and strong, and magnificent. And it doesn't matter what happens during the day, it doesn't matter how much shit the world throws at us, because we can still go home at night and, well," Will broke off as he saw Habib's smile.

"Never you mind what we do at night, you're not old enough to know about that anyway, Doogie Howser. Suffice to say that I've never been this happy in my entire life. I must be walking around all day with a big goofy grin on my face, because people either smile back or look at me like I've lost the plot. And I don't care. I don't care what anyone thinks of me, I don't care about anyone's opinion except Mac's, and she tells me every day that she loves me, and that I'm a good man."

"That's great to hear Will. I'm really pleased for both of you. So what has changed recently?"

Will crashed back to earth with a thud. "It started a few weeks ago. We got home one night after a long day and Mac didn't want to – you know. She said she was too tired."

"That sounds pretty normal in a long term relationship, Will. You can't expect to stay in the honeymoon phase forever, and a woman's libido can sometimes be lower than a man's."

"I know all that, you don't have to tell me about the birds and the bees, Doogie. But Mac and I have always – you don't need to know the details – but Mac and I have always been very compatible in that department."

"Okay, so what happened after that?"

"Well, I tried not to read too much into it, and we did make love the next night, but she didn't want me to touch her the way that I normally do."

"Did she say why?"

"She just said that things were a bit more sensitive than usual and to go easy on her."

"And since then?"

"She's been going to bed really early, almost as soon as we get home from doing the show. She's always asleep by the time I come to bed."

"It that the only reason you think she's having an affair?" asked Habib.

"No, it's not. I know something's worrying her, but she won't tell me what it is. She just brushes it off and says that she's fine. But she's not. She seems really distracted, and a couple of times she's started to tell me something and then broken off like she's too scared to do it. She's more emotional than usual too. I swear she was trying not to cry in the run down meeting the other day when we were discussing a story about a kid that got kidnaped. I remember her being all tearful like that just before she told me about Brian."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, she's been picking at her food. I love making her favourite dishes, because I get to watch her eat them, and then afterwards she usually shows me how much she appreciates my cooking by" Will coughed, embarrassed. "Well, anyway, I like to cook for her, but lately she's just been pushing the food around on her plate. The other night she only ate about three bites of my fettuccine carbonara, and then half an hour later I caught her sneaking crackers out of the pantry," Will finished indignantly.

Habib raised his hand to his mouth to cover his smile.

"I'm glad you find this so fucking entertaining!" Will exploded. "Do you have any idea what it would do to me if Mac is cheating again?"

Habib stopped smiling, and nodded seriously.

"It would finish me," Will went on more quietly. "I would be dead inside. I would never trust another human being again."

"I know Will. I understand. You've opened your heart completely to Mackenzie, made yourself vulnerable again, and you're terrified of getting hurt. But I don't think that your fear has any foundation in reality. It doesn't sound to me as though Mac is being unfaithful."

"It doesn't? How could you possibly know that?"

"I can't know for sure, but let me just sum it up for you. Mac is unusually tired and emotional, she's extra sensitive during sex, she's off her food and acting like she has a secret that she's not telling you, and the only explanation you can think of is that she's cheating on you?"

"What other explanation is there?"

Habib sighed again. "Let me take another tack. When exactly would she be meeting this lover? I thought you two spent just about every minute together."

"We do. And I love it, it's never too much for me. But lately she keeps leaving work for 'doctor's appointments', even though she's not sick. That's the other thing I didn't tell you," said Will, looking guilty.

"What have you done Will?"

"Today, I followed her. I'm not proud of my behaviour, okay?" said Will defensively, seeing the disapproving frown on Habib's face. "But I had to know. It was eating me up. So as soon as she left work I caught a cab to her doctor's building, and paid the driver extra to run a few lights so that I would get there before her. She never came." Will took a few deep breaths before continuing. "I waited for an hour and then I told the driver to bring me here."

Habib studied him closely. "Will, I have to see my next patient in a few minutes, and you definitely need to show up for your appointment next week so that we can talk about your trust issues, but right now I need you to listen to me very carefully. I don't think Mackenzie is cheating on you, in fact I'm almost sure that she isn't, but you need to talk to her about this."

"Ask her if she's cheating, you mean?"

"No! That would be incredibly hurtful to her. Just get her alone, and tell her that you're worried about her because she's tired and not eating and acting strange, and see what she says."

"If you think that's a good idea."

"I do Will, I really do. And do me a favour? Don't do it in a commercial break, or just before a rundown meeting. At least wait until after tonight's show, okay?"

"Okay Doc. But you better be right about this."