"Christian?"

Her voice is soft and I whir around, guiltily snatching my hand from atop Masie's hand. Color floods my cheeks. What the fuck is wrong with me? The child is not a dog. You don't pet children. You certainly don't pet other people's children. She must think I'm some sort of mental defect and has rightfully come in here to protect her child from being treated like a doggy day care participant. She, Anastasia, moves slowly into the room her eyes flickering between the still slumbering Masie and to me. I'm usually good at reading people. So good, that I built a fortune upon it but I don't have a clue what she's thinking...

Probably that she doesn't appreciate her ill child being manhandled.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, for everything."

Okay, not what I was expecting. Nor do I know what do with the sudden moisture in her eyes and the frog in her throat. I am ill equipped to deal with both ailments and so words decide to spew from my mouth without thought for the repercussions.

"It's a beautiful day to save lives, huh?"

She stares at me blankly and my entire blood volume floods to my face.

Fuck Dr "McDreamy" Derek Shepherd and his beautiful way with words.

Handsome bastard.

"How did your consultation with the surgeon go?" I hurriedly ask. "Is everything ready to go? Do you need me to do anything... go and get anything?"

She smiles the widest smile I've ever seen and I feel... feelings.

It's disquieting.

"Everything is going according to plan," she murmurs softly, moving towards the bed and placing a loving hand on Masie's forehead. "There was a little hesitation earlier because she spiked a fever but its broken now and the doctors are happy to go ahead. They'll be taking her to a different room for the last pre-op checks in a few moments and then she'll be going straight into theatre. They say the operation should take around five to seven hours..."

Five to seven hours?

I glance down at the snuffling child below me and feel something I rarely ever, ever feel.

Blind panic.

How the hell do these doctors expect a child the size of my unopened mail stack to withstand a surgery of that scale? I had Taylor, who is soon to be fired if he had any act or omission in allowing that douchebag Scott in here, thoroughly vet the surgical staff here. All top tier medics with impeccable records and recommendations. And yet... as I look down at Masie's tiny frame and pale pallor...

I'm afraid.

What. The. Fuck.

I shake my head like a wet dog and snap out of it. This is not my ship, not my rudder. I am just the financier in this situation. It's like a business transaction, like the thousands of business transactions I have carried out in my tenure. And the number one rule of business is never, ever get emotionally invested in a deal. If the numbers don't add up, you walk away. If they do, you wait for them to pay off, cash out, and never think of it again.

That's what needs to happen here.

Suddenly, I remember my tumor and relief courses through me like a heavy bass beat. That's what's wrong with me. The tumor is getting worse. Pressing on nerves and such like and such forth. My frontal lobes and all that jazz are probably fading. For all I know, they could be entirely dead. I will have to get my affairs in order on the fucking pronto. No way is this going unanswered down here whilst I rest on my VIP cloud in heaven.

Flynn is in for one hell of a lawsuit.

"Christian?"

Shit.

Get back in the room, Grey.

I smile as best I can at her, my reassuring businessman smile. It doesn't meet my eyes. It never does. Confusion colors her face slightly as she smiles instinctively back and guilt prickles at me. I told this woman I would sit with her while her child is in surgery. I didn't say that Mr Christian Grey, CEO of Grey Enterprises would sit with her. Flynn tells me there are two Christian's... maybe he's right.

Maybe he's a raving nutter.

Who knows.

"She's in good hands," I say quietly. "She'll be fine and-"

I'm cut off by the swooshing open of the sliding glass door. Turning around I see the team of butchers assemble, staring over my shoulder at their prey. I recognize the chief surgeon by her profile. A formidable woman, Dr Alice Nolan is the best Pediatric surgeon in the state. She nods briefly at me, before turning her attention to Anastasia. As she walks into the room, her two residents trail in behind her, obviously in a state of constant awe.

"Anastasia," she says, with surprising gentleness, "It's time to take Masie down now. Okay?"

At first, it looks like there's going to be no problem. Anastasia nods and slowly bends down to kiss a still slumbering Masie on the head. All is going well as she straightens up and moves slightly away. But when the residents move to unstop the wheels of the bed and prepare to wheel it out, Anastasia bursts into the most terrifying bout of sobbing I have ever seen. The Residents immediately halt their removal as Dr Nolan raises a stilling hand and Anastasia wraps her arms around an amazingly still asleep Masie, weeping bitterly into her golden hair.

Dr Nolan makes to move in, but the tumor is having fucking none of it.

I'm walking when I don't intend to walk. Talking when I don't intend to talk. I reach Anastasia and place a hand gently on her shoulder, reaching down to speak quietly into her ear. Weirdly, I notice how pleasant her hair smells.

"Anastasia. Hey, hey... It's okay... it's going to be okay. They're going to take the best care of her. We'll be right here throughout the whole thing. Masie won't be on her own. Come on now, let the doctor take her down and we can see about getting her better. I'll be right here. Come on now, you can do this. I promise you that you can do this."

Her lioness like grip on Masie lessens a little, but only a little.

The tumor is spreading to my heart. My heart is hurting. At least I'll die in a hospital.

Efficient.

"Anastasia, I know this is terrifying and that you don't want to let her go. But everything is going to be okay. Masie will get through this and so will you but you need to let her go so the doctors can see about getting her better. The sooner they take her, the sooner they can bring her right back to you. Come now, let her go... let her go so she can come back to you."

With one last watery sob, Anastasia nods and heartbreakingly releases her child.

The Residents swoop in and with one last kiss to her head from her mother, Masie is gone.

The tumor doesn't like it.

The tumor wants Masie to come back.

Dr Nolan lingers for just a moment. She casts a more detailed eye over me this time and I think I see a spark of recognition in her eyes before she flicks her gaze to Anastasia and smiles a perfected smile of confident reassurance. She doesn't say anything, instead, she reaches out and squeezes Anastasia's upper arm gently and with one last nod, she turns and sweeps from the room. Her white coat billows behind her.

Before I can even open my mouth, a nurse enters the room.

"Miss Steele. Can I take you down to the surgical waiting room? You and Mr err...?"

"Grey," I supply. "Call me Christian."

She smiles.

Tumor likes her. She's homely.

"Ok, shall I take you and Christian down to the surgical waiting room? It's as close as we can get you to the operating theatre and you'll be best placed to receive any news as it falls there."

Anastasia nods hurriedly and we follow the nurse down one flight of stairs and into a warm, small room with books lining the walls and several pieces of worn but comfortable furniture. The thoughts of the type of news families receive in this room occurs to me and make my stomach churn. The nurse offers tea and coffee, both of which are declined, before telling us to take a seat and get comfortable.

When the door closes, we are alone.

Me, Anastasia and Ted the tumor.

Everyone should have a name.

The silence is suddenly suffocating as we sit side by side on a beaten down leather sofa. I don't know what to say. Anastasia is paler than any human being should be and she's staring intently at the wall in front of us, her hands twisting in her lap. We're going to be here for the next five to seven hours and the need to find something, anything, to say is overwhelming. I cast around my brain that has never once failed me and find that this time, it has.

That'll be Ted's doing.

"Christian?"

Her voice is so quiet I barely catch it.

"Yes?"

She turns to look at me and the pain in her eyes is outrageous, incomprehensible.

"What if she doesn't come back... what if... what if she doesn't make it?"

A bruising wail catches in her throat and Ted goes to fucking town. Without a second thought, my arm is suddenly moving up, snaking around, and wrapping tightly around her shoulders. Far from being repulsed as any normal woman should, she leans into my side and shivers with misery. I should be recoiling. I should be slithering away. I hate the human connection, the human touch. But I don't. As a matter of fact, the feel of her warm torso against mine is... comforting.

Ted must be a particularly aggressive form of malignancy.

"She will come back and she will make it," I say firmly, softly. "She is going to get through this surgery and then, she's going to get through the next one when she gets her kidney. She's going to get out of this place and play outside with her friends, go to school, go to college. She's going to live her life and this will one day be nothing but a bad memory."

She looks up at me, completely exhausted, slumped into my side.

"How can you be so sure?" She whispers croakily, "how can you know?"

I glance down at her and smile.

"It's what I do, Anastasia. I expect certain outcomes and they tend to come to fruition."

A sudden and invasive image of Scott appears in my mind and I am torn. Should I tell Anastasia that he was here? What good would that do? But then again, who am I to keep that information from her? Looking down again at her wan and withdrawn face, the decision is made. I will tell her. But not here and not today. The here and now is all about Masie and nothing else. Silence envelops us once more and time snails away.

The next time I glance down at Anastasia, I am pleasantly shocked.

She's asleep.

Fitfully and without looking at peace, but asleep nonetheless.

I instinctively know that she hasn't slept in a very long time.

Time continues to trail by and before long it's three hours gone, four hours gone, five hours gone. Anastasia doesn't stir. Her body has finally caught up with her and her exhaustion is making itself known. I am in a state of distress for want of a leak but I cannot possibly move for fear of waking her up. My arm is numb as it lays across her shoulder and my side scowls at me as her elbow inadvertently digs all the more sharply into it.

In any other situation, I would have leapt up and had a chemical shower.

But not now.

Now here, with her.

And Ted,

It is as the clock snails around to the six and a half hour mark that the door squeaks open. Anastasia is immediately awake and leaping to her feet, blinking away the confusion of an unintended slumber. I clamber to my feet straight after and watch with a hammering heart as Dr Nolan, dressed now in scrubs., enters the room and gently closes the door behind her. She turns slowly around to face us and I am dizzy with the lack of oxygen to my brain. I suddenly feel a small, warm hand slide into mine and I glance to the side to see Anastasia clinging to me and staring at Dr Nolan as if her life depended on it.

Which it does.

Dr Alice Nolan's face splits into the most beautiful smile and my knees tremble.

"It could not have done any better, Anastasia. Your little girl is a fighter and is recovering marvelously. The operation was a resounding success, it exceeded our expectations. We've bought Masie the time she needs. She's sedated now but should wake in a few hours and I have no doubt she'll want to see her mom when she does."

There's weird shit in my eyes.

Like pools of water, or something.

Ted.

"She's... she's okay?" Anastasia whispers, "She came through?"

Dr Nolan beams.

"She came through it and then some, Anastasia, and then some."

I'm no doctor and don't pretend to be but I know when someone is about to faint. Before she can hit the ground, Anastasia is up and in my arms. Her breathing is shallow and her cheeks are flushed. My frantic gaze is met with the calm and collected gaze of Dr Nolan, who instructs me to lay her on the sofa. This, I do, and watch anxiously as examines her. Straightening up, she offers me a reassuring nod.

"Not to worry, it's really quite common. Parent's neglect their own needs in times like these, of course, and the relief of an outcome can often push them over the edge. She'll wake herself naturally in a few moments and she may have a headache when she does. I shall arrange for some meds to be brought in. You might sit with her until they come?"

I nod immediately and Dr Nolan exists the room with an oddly knowing smile.

I glance down at Anastasia and see her lips trembling to mouth words, even in her semi-conscious state. Crouching down, I place a hand over hers at Ted's instruction and listen closely, concerned that she may be in pain and trying to express it. Her lips open and close over and over again to the point where I'm about to break ranks and bolt for a nurse. But her success in speech stops me and Ted dead in our tracks. It's a short and stunted sentence but it roots me to the spot, crouched beside her and staring in wonder.

"Christian, please... don't go... me and Masie... need you."

With that, she slips back into full unconsciousness and I am frozen still.

She needn't worry.

I'm not going anywhere.

Ted's got me by the balls.