Quietly Ephram sat in Dr. Abotts car, looking hesitantly at his father's house.

"You're ready to go in?" Harold finally asked. He couldn't wait all day for this kid to decide when to go home.

"Do you have to tell him?" Ephram asked for the umpteenth time.

"Ephram, you fainted. I can't keep something like this from him. He's your father." Harold repeated what he had already told Ephram several times.

"I know, it's just … we don't have the best relationship right now and … I don't want him to make a big fuzz about it."

"Really, you two don't get along? What a surprise." Harold remarked sarcastically.

Ephram only shot him an annoyed look as a reply.

"Okay, what is the problem this time?" Harold asked sighing. This was his daughter's boyfriend after all. He figured he should care about his problems from now on.

"Never mind." Ephram opened the door, but stopped when it was half opened. "If I agree to let you run a medical check up on me, would you not tell him then? If everything is all right, then there is nothing to be worried about, right?"

Harold let out another sigh. He was grateful he had a better relationship with his children than Andy Brown. "All right. I want to see you in my practice before school tomorrow. Don't be late."

"Thanks. I won't be." Ephram replied relieved. "And thanks for the lift."

Feeling much better now that his father wouldn't find out about his collapse, Ephram got out of the car and went to his house.

XXXXXXX

As promised, Ephram went to see Dr. Abbott the next morning. Before he stepped into his practice, he made sure that his father was nowhere to be seen outside. He probably wouldn't like the fact that his son was visiting his rival.

Nervously he sat in Dr. Abbot's office and watched him taking a blood sample.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt." Harold mumbled.

"Does every doctor learn that sentence in medical school?" Ephram asked sarcastically. "It always hurts."

"It's just a small sting." Harold assured him. "So, what are you and the good Dr. Brown are fighting about this time?"

"The usual." Ephram shrugged.

"So you're just screaming at each other without any real reason?"

Ephram shot him an annoyed look, but eventually he decided he could as well tell him. "He keeps insisting on me taking piano lessons every free minute I have. He thinks that he's doing me a favor, but he's not. I like playing the piano, but ... " He shrugged and looked uncomfortably down at his hands. " I don't think it's what I want to do for a living. I don't want a career. It's not worth it."

"Not worth it?" Harold looked at him questioningly.

"You either have a career or a family. My Dad is the best example for that. If you try to have both ... people get hurt. It already took me too long to realize that ... Mom had to die before I understood that." The last part was spoken so quietly that Harold wasn't sure if Ephram had even meant to say it out loud.

"Ephram, you're mother's death wasn't your fault. It was just an accident." He said quietly. He had finished taking the blood sample by now.

Ephram didn't reply anything to that. He didn't really know what to say.

"Okay, we'll just do a few other tests and then you're free to go." Harold said after a moment. "Did you feel dizzy again since yesterday?"

"No, not once."

"What about your appetite? Is it any better?"

Ephram hesitated a moment. "Yeah, it's fine."

"Really?" Harold cocked an eyebrow and looked at him intently.

"Well, I haven't been feeling very hungry, but I wasn't feeling sick."

"Don't lie to me Ephram, you're father's practice is just across the street."

"I'm not lying. I'm fine."

"Let's wait for the test results to decide about that."

The rest of the medical examination didn't take very long. After taking the blood samples, Dr. Abbott checked Ephram's pulse and blood pressure and a few other minor things and after less than an hour Ephram could leave again. Dr. Abbott told him that he would call him when he had the results back. Ephram didn't care very much about that. Even though he wasn't feeling so well lately, he didn't really think he was sick. He was just tired.

XXXXXXX

"So, did my Dad treat you all right?" Amy asked after she had greeted Ephram in school.

"Yeah, he presented himself from his best side. We had a good time, shared some interesting stories about you." Ephram said teasingly.

"Ha ha. So, what did he say?"

"He just did the exam, Amy, there are no results yet."

"I know that, but ... maybe he already has an idea what was causing it?" Amy asked hesitantly. The shock of Ephram's collapse still hadn't waned yet.

"No, he hasn't said anything." He sighed. "Amy, stop worrying, I'm fine, really."

At this moment the school bell rang and Ephram was relieved to put a stop to this conversation. He just wanted to forget about his collapse ... remembering it was just way too embarrassing.

XXXXXXX

After school, Ephram went right home. He was still feeling tired and he wanted to get some sleep before his piano lesson this afternoon. Not that he was really looking forward to it ... maybe he could convince his father to cancel it.

"Hey Ephram." Delia called for him from the living room.

"Hi." Yawning Ephram joined his sister on the couch. "What are you watching?"

"Just zapping. Tired?" Delia asked, not really looking at him. She was still busy zapping through all TV channels.

"Yeah ... is Dad home yet?"

"Can't you smell it? He's trying to cook again."

"Great." Ephram groaned. He still remembered the last dinner his father had tried to cook by himself. Relieved that he wasn't feeling hungry and therefore wouldn't have to eat too much from whatever he was trying to cook, he laid his head down on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. A few moments later he was deep asleep.

When Andy came to get his children for dinner, he found his daughter snuggled close to her big brother watching cartoons while Ephram was sleeping. He had to smile at this picture ... he didn't get to see his children so peaceful very often.

"Dinner is ready." He said quietly. "I, uhm, ordered some pizza. The ... " He cleared his throat. "The meat loaf was a bit ... burned, so ..."

"Yay, pizza." Happily Delia jumped up from the couch, dragging her brother up as well. "Come on, Ephram, dinner won't be as bad after all."

"Hey ..." Andy tried to look offended, but he couldn't stifle a laughter at the sight of his daughter. "I'm not that bad."

"Yes, you are, Dad." Delia said earnestly before she ran into the kitchen.

"I guess she's right." Andy sighed. "How was school?"

"Good." Ephram replied as he walked by his father towards the kitchen.

"Anything interesting happened today?" Andy kept asking while he placed the pizza on the plates.

"It was school, Dad ... nothing really interesting ever happens there." Ephram replied dryly.

"Brittany and Casey were fighting today. It was really bad. They're both interested in Kevin O'Reilley. But he doesn't like either of them, so I think it was rather stupid to fight about it." Delia told them excitedly.

Both Ephram and Andy looked at her with wide eyes.

"Aren't girls in your age supposed to be more interested in dolls than in boys?" Andy asked dumbfounded.

"I never cared much about dolls, Dad." Delia pointed out.

Ephram nearly spit the water he had just drunk at the flabbergasted look on his father's face. "I think it's time for the talk, Dad." He said teasingly.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no ... I didn't have that talk with you until you were 12. I have at least two more years with Delia." Andy replied determinedly while he threw a warning glance at his daughter. "You're not interested in boys, right?"

"All boys are idiots, Dad." Delia grimaced.

"Good answer, Delia." Ephram grinned.

The rest of the dinner they stayed mostly silent. When they cleared the table, Ephram turned to his father again.

"Uhm, Dad, is it okay if I cancel the piano lesson for today? I, uhm, feel pretty tired and I have tons of homework to do, so ..."

"Ephram, we talked about that. I know you're already a very talented piano player, but you have to keep practicing to get even better."

"I'm fine with how I play. What if I don't want to get any better?" Ephram glared angrily at his father.

"Look, I know that you want to spend all your time with Amy right now, but trust me, you will thank me for this later. Those lessons are important and ..."

"This has nothing to do with Amy." Ephram interrupted his father frustrated. Why couldn't he understand? "You're not even listening to me."

"I've been listening to you you're whole life, Ephram. Playing the piano has always been the most important thing in your life and just because you reached the teenager age, I won't let you throw that away."

"This is my life." Ephram yelled at him.

"Exactly, and I won't let you ruin it."

"Like you ruined yours?" Ephram asked in a cold voice. "You put your career before everyone else, you're happy about that?"

"Oh, now we're back to that." Angrily Andy shook his head. He was tired of this discussion. He couldn't change the past, no matter how much he wanted to. "You're gonna take this lesson today, end of story."

Angrily Ephram glared at his father for a moment. Then he punched the wall with his fist, desperate to let out his frustration, and left the room.

Watching his son leave, Andy let out a frustrated breath. "Well, that went great." He mumbled.

He never noticed his daughter sitting frozen at the table, tears brimming in her eyes.

XXXXXXX

A few days later Harold Abbott sat in his office, going through his daily mail. It also included the test results of the last few days. When he opened the one from Ephram Brown, he didn't put much thought to it. He wasn't really worried about him because of his collapse. He hadn't been eating that day, he had stress with his father and he clearly wasn't over his mother's death yet. It wasn't really surprising he collapsed. In a way he was glad that he had found a girl to help him through all this ... if only this girl wouldn't be his daughter.

But when he read the results, he caught his breath. This couldn't be right ...

TBC