Jimmy felt much better after his talk with David but he still doubted he'd be able to relax. He wondered how Breena was doing at home. He would have to call in check in after visiting hours had ended. Two days ago everything had been perfect. Lizzie was sick and that scared him to death but now everything was flipped upside down. Lizzie had always been a healthy kid. She had the standard colds and flues but until the last bout of flu she had always bounced back pretty quickly. She had some issues at birth but nothing too serious not even bad enough to require her to stay in the NICU. She just needed a little extra monitoring. So Breena and her spent an extra two days in the hospital and then she was just fine and for four year she was never hospitalized again. Until now that is. She had been rushed to the ER in the middle of the night once or twice but they always sent her home within a couple hours. Now all of the sudden she had a life threatening illness and would spend days and weeks maybe even months in the hospital. The doctors had said that as long as she responded well to her chemo. She would be treated with out-patient therapy and be able to leave when she was done. If she had complications or the chemo given to her at first didn't work. She would have to had in patient treatments but it was rare with ALL that was caught early enough. That was strange enough and certainly terrifying enough but things had changed for Breena and him as well. Breena had always been the strong one in the relationship and now she was falling apart and Jimmy had to be strong for her. He had said that to himself a hundred times in the past two days but he still couldn't accept it. He opened the door to Lizzie's room and stepped inside.
"How was your dinner Mr. Palmer?" Ducky asked.
"Good it was good." Jimmy replied.
"Well you certainly seem to be in better spirits than you were when you left." Ducky observed.
"Yeah I met this guy David in the cafeteria and he helped me out." Jimmy replied.
"That is good to hear." Ducky replied.
"He lost his son to cancer years ago back when it was a death sentence. God I am glad that Lizzie didn't get sick back then. Of course she wasn't born yet and neither was I but still I can't imagine what it must have felt like to have no hope." Jimmy explained.
"Well it is good to have somebody who understands what you are going through." Ducky replied.
"Yeah and he said that his daughter went on to become a researcher and developer of chemotherapy treatments for childhood cancers. It's crazy the daughter of a man who I met by chance in the hospital cafeteria. May end up save my daughter's life." Jimmy replied.
"It is always amazing when life works out like that." Ducky replied.
"I wish that Breena could have met him too. She could really use somebody like that." Jimmy replied.
"She will find somebody who will help her the way David helped you." Ducky assured.
"I hope so. I am worried about her." Jimmy replied.
"Did her mother have ALL like Lizzie?" Ducky asked.
"No she had AML Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Which is much worse and she had a few other health issues before the cancer. They say cancers run in families. I am so glad that Lizzie doesn't have AML and that Breena is healthy." Jimmy explained.
"Has Breena ever had cancer? I know Edward had Thyroid cancer and her mother had leukemia and Victoria is currently battling it." Ducky asked.
"No but she is really careful with her health." Jimmy replied.
"You know sometimes it skips a generation." Ducky assured.
"I know but I wish that it had just stopped." Jimmy replied.
"I do too Jimmy. I do too." Ducky replied.
Breena stayed with her dad while Jimmy stayed with Lizzie at the hospital. She was eternally grateful to her husband for offering to take the night with their daughter. She wanted to be with Lizzie she really did and she understood that her daughter needed her but she couldn't take another night in the hospital. If it wouldn't be completely unfair to Lizzie. She would never go near the hospital when Lizzie was getting her treatment.
"Are you OK?" Ed asked.
"No" Breena admitted.
"Do you want to go back to the hospital. I am sure Jimmy would understand and I could let him stay here again." Ed offered.
"No I can't do that." Breena replied.
"You know you have to face this at some point. Don't you?" Ed asked.
"I stayed with her last night and most of today." Breena reminded.
"I know but you haven't dealt with it." Ed replied.
"I can't even think about losing her." Breena sighed.
"You won't." Ed assured.
"Mom died of leukemia." Breena reminded.
"Your mother had a different type than Lizzie does a more deadly type and she had other severe health problems. Severe asthma and heart problems. I thank God every day that Edward Junior, Cecilia are healthy." Ed explained.
"Savanna wasn't and she was only five months older than Lizzie is when she died." Breena added.
"Sadly Savanna wasn't strong enough to survive but she did not die of cancer. She had a heart problem and unknown blood disorder. Trust me your mother and I had her tested for leukemia. Your mom had just beaten the disease when Savanna got sick. She got sick the first time just after you were born and then again when you were eight." Ed explained.
That night Tony found himself alone. He hated that he was alone in all of this. He knew that Jimmy and/or Breena were with Lizzie maybe even staying in the room with her but he was all alone. He wished that he hadn't of lied to Ziva in the first place and that he had told somebody about his illness before everything happened. At least Gibbs had come God, why hadn't he been nicer to Gibbs? He was angry but he still wanted Gibbs. Why couldn't he have let his anger go and let Gibbs in? He thought about calling his boss but then thought better of it. Gibbs had probably given up on him and was down in his basement building something for Lizzie and drinking bourbon.
"Why the hell would you think that I left you?" Gibbs asked walking into Tony's room.
A/N: Of course Gibbs would just hangout at the hospital and then sneak in Tony's room past visiting hours just to check on his son. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.