Jill sat quietly in the uncomfortable chair. "You know you'd think they could make these chairs more comfortable since they know people will be spending hours in them."

Ashley gave her a small smile, not wanting to disturb Abby who'd fallen asleep with her head on her shoulder.

"Yeah," Summer said quietly, "they certainly don't help much do they?" She looked at Jill and then over at her mother. "Mom?"

Phyllis turned to face them, "I'm sorry, honey, did you say something?"

Summer sighed. "We were just talking about how uncomfortable these chairs were and how awful it is they put them in a waiting room." She flashed a bright smile for her mother.

"Right." Phyllis whispered, her voice distant.

"Not that you would know." Jill stood, walking over to her, You've done nothing but pace the floor for the past three hours. Why don't you come sit down?"

"I can't," she said, her voice shaking, the fragile grip she had on her composure already starting to slip. "They told us Jack was in recovery hours ago. It shouldn't be taking this long. I don't understand why no one is coming out to talk to us."

"Mom," Summer said softly, "I'm sure they'll come as soon as they know something."

As if on cue, the double doors opened. A nurse wearing surgical scrubs stood there. "Family of Billy Abbott," she called out.

Phyllis and Jill both rushed to her.

"Is he ok?" Phyllis asked, her voice strained with worry.

"Does he have any history of blood disorders, Mrs. Abbott?"

Phyllis looked at Jill, her heart already beginning to pound.

"No," Jill said quickly, "Nothing that I'm aware of. What's going on? Is my son ok?"

"We're doing everything we can," the nurse said politely. "We just had some issues controlling his bleeding, but it seems to be under control at the moment. Barring any unforeseen complications, he'll be transferred to recovery within the hour and he'll be up for a quick visit before long. The doctor will be out to speak with you soon."

The nurse walked away as Phyllis felt her legs give way beneath her.

"Phyllis," Jill called out, grabbing her arm and gesturing for Summer to grab a chair.

Summer pushed the chair up behind her gently as they eased her into it. Her head bobbed for a moment, her face still white.

"I'm gonna get her some water," Summer said, stepping over the water system in the corner.

"When's the last time you had something you eat?" Jill asked, the concern in her voice sounding entirely foreign.

"Please, Jill, you can drop the act. Billy's not even here to see the performance." Jill had made her feelings about their relationship very clear. She still remembered the look on Billy's face the night he'd called his mother to tell him that she was going to be a grandmother again. Billy had been so sure that the news would be the breaking point for her-the moment she realized it wasn't worth it to keep up her ridiculous feud, but she hadn't. Instead she'd told him how sorry she was that her grandchild would grow up without an extended family and that she hoped Billy was prepared to answer all the questions about that one day.

That had broken him-maybe more than anything ever had.

"This isn't a performance, Phyllis. I know you're worried about my son. I can respect that. You obviously care about him and he cares about you. I know it took a lot for you to call me-to ask me for anything, so I'm putting all my judgment and animosity aside for the moment."

"Really?" Phyllis took a breath, desperately trying to quell the wave of nausea that spread throughout her body, "Just like that?"

"We're both adults. We both love Billy. We both want what's best for him. He would want me to make sure you're ok. That's the least I can do for him right now." Jill waited for her snarky comment or protest and was surprised by her silence.

Another breath, the nausea now feeling more like pain, the kind that started as a dull ache and grew and grew... "No.." Phyllis replied, trying to keep her voice steady, "no thank you. I'm really not hungry."

Jill sighed, "Alright then," she said, "if you don't want anything you eat, what about some coffee? The stuff in the cafeteria isn't gourmet by any stretch, but it's caffeine..."

She moved to stand from her kneeling position in front of the chair and felt Phyllis' hand grip her arm like a vice. "Wait, please."

Jill stopped, looking at Phyllis' face, her eyes suddenly full of concern. "Phyllis? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry it's nothing." Pain ripped through her body again and drew in a sharp breath in spite of herself.

"Phyllis for God's sake! What's the matter?" Jill now stood beside her, her hand resting on her arm.

She looked up at her. This was never the person she wanted to need, but she had no choice. "Please get a doctor, Jill."

How's he doing?" the nurse asked, her eyes gathering a lot from the concerned look on the surgical tech's face.

"There's still bleeding-it's coming from somewhere...we just can't seem to pinpoint where. We could go back in, but that opens up to infection risk. It's possible that he's just slow to clot, but if that's not it and it's just a slow bleed..."

"What about the vitals?"

"Just within limits..blood pressure especially low. I'm thinking that's why he's still out. He's not gonna regain consciousness with a pressure that low."

"What does Dr. Singh say?"

The tech shook his head. "He's in the room now, looking over his charts, making sure there isn't anything he might have missed..,something that might explain this. Otherwise..."

The nurse sighed as she finished the thought, "otherwise he's got to go tell a family this might not be the life saving transplant they'd all hoped for."