Mike and Kate were surprised to find that Commander Marshall was not present at the briefing and instead they received their orders from a lieutenant who worked in the Commander's office.

"Excuse me Lieutenant," inquired the CO "I was wondering about Commander Marshall?"

"He has been admitted to hospital I'm afraid. Last night he had another asthma attack and it being the season, the doctors wanted to ensure against a bronchial infection" explained the lieutenant.

Mike nodded. He knew that Commander Marshall's medical history was one of the reasons he had chosen to centre his career on shore. Mike couldn't help feel sorry for the man who was a great sailor and on board leader to Mike when he had first began his Navy career.

On leaving NAVCOM, Mike decided on a quick detour to the Hospital to visit the commander before setting out on patrol. Despite a professional veneer that they should not have bothered and that their visit would only delay the patrol departure, Commander Marshall was pleased to have visitors.

"You have your orders I see." He pointed to the dossier in Mike's hand. "You really should be on the Hammersly preparing for departure."

"Yes sir, just wanted to check in with you before we leave" Kate explained.

"Well as you can see it's only the blasted asthma playing up again. These doctors are doing the usual overacting." He smiled and rolled his eyes "It's like they have nothing else to do."

He nodded towards the glass partition to the room through which they could see the ward desk and the to and fro of hospital traffic. Kate followed his eyes and looked out into the ward and did a double take. Bob, Ann and Hannah were at the desk talking to the nurse who was filling out a form which she handed to Ann and Hannah to sign.

Frowning Kate turned back into the room. "Ah, Will you excuse me sir?" She looked at Mike and then Commander Marshall who both assented.

"I will meet you in 5 minutes, X" replied Mike. Kate saluted to both officers and left the room to follow the group down the corridor that they were being led down by the nurse.

Kate stayed back as Bob, Ann and Hannah were taken to a room with a number of comfortable chairs in a row and several complicated looking machines in between each. Hidden from view Kate watched with horror as she saw Hannah slide into one of the armchairs and the nurse set about the fiddly task of connecting two canulas and tubes to Hannah's arm. Meanwhile, Hannah put in some earphones from her ipod and lay back with a fashion magazine casually allowing the professional to do her job. The nurse having completed her task lent over and set the machine into action. Kate watched in horror as blood was pumped through the one tube, into the machine and back through the other tube into Hannahs arm. Kate's eyes wandered to the sign above the ward room that explained the scene in front of her further. It was the Kidney Dialysis Unit.

Soon Bob and Ann kissed their daughter goodbye and patted her arm to which they were given a distracted nod by the teenager. The couple left the room hand in hand. Kate was too stunned to move even though she knew Bob and Ann were coming straight for her. The couple became just as frozen when they saw Kate and the realisation hit them that she had witnessed exactly what had been happening. They were confronted with the questioning eye of a Navy Lieutenant.

"Kate! What on earth are you doing here" asked Anne, the high pitch in her voice doing nothing to hide her surprise and her awkwardness.

Ignoring this Kate stated "Is Hannah sick?"

Tears welled in Anne's eyes and her head dropped. Bob stepped forward "Kate, Hannah asked us not to mention it. The choice was hers and we had to respect that."

"Well how sick is she. I mean, it's a problem with her kidney isn't it? That can't be good."

"Kate, Hannah has been suffering from kidney disease for 18 months now." Bob walked her to the waiting room chairs and sat her down "She suffered food poisoning – the E coli virus after a school camp. Hannah nearly died form that and then in recovery they discovered her kidneys had been severely damaged and no longer functioned properly. She has been on daily dialysis ever since."

"How long will it take for them to heal?" Kate asked

"They won't Kate. The damage is irreversible." Bob added with real sadness in his voice.

As Kate processed this, she saw Mike approach who was clearly looking for his X in order to get the patrol underway but as he happened upon the scene he stopped with a more private concern.

"You mean she has to go on those machines everyday of her life?" Kate asked become more stricken as the reality revealed itself.

Bob nodded and Anne finally found her voice. "Our only hope is transpl…."

"Enough Anne, this is not what Hannah wants" commanded Bob to which Anne dropped her gaze again.

"You mean a transplant?" asked Kate thoughtfully beginning to understand the role genetics may play in Hannah's hope for a healthier future

"Look Kate, Hannah has wanted to meet you since she was old enough to understand who you were and when you wrote again she saw it as her chance. She seems to be getting weaker and she was worried that she'd never meet you if she didn't come now. But Hannah was determined to not make you aware of her condition. She would be mortified if she knew you were here"

"What are the chances of the transplant?" Kate asked.

"Well she is a good candidate in that she is young and fit but her blood type hasn't made it very easy" explained Bob

Kate looked up to Mike who had quietly taken in the situation but was still concerned that their departure was delayed again. 'At this rate the Hammersly would be under mutiny' he mused as he nodded to Kate and indicated his head in the direction of the docks.

Thinking quickly Kate looked at Bob and Ann "I have to go. I am really sorry. Please don't leave town. Can you find a reason to stay in town at least till the end of this patrol? It's only 72 hours. You don't even have to tell Hannah that I know. Just that you have decided to have a look around."

Bob and Ann looked at each other and then silently nodded. Kate stood to walk toward the door.

"Hannah's blood type," She said just as she was at the door and facing Mike who still looked back into the room. "It's B positive, isn't it?"

Kate didn't turn to see their answer but looked at Mikes face as he glanced from them to her and then back again with renewed concern. "Ok. I will see you in three days."