The next day had gone by and Lilith went in Cheers looking for Frasier. She found him, along with a somber looking crowd. Instead of a lively bunch, no one was talking. Norm and Cliff were munching on beer nuts; Carla was refraining from insulting even Cliff, which alerted Lilith to the fact that something was terribly wrong.
"Gang, what is going on in here? You are acting strangely- even for this crowd," Lilith asked.
No one responded. Frasier did not want to be the one to break the news to her even though he knew he could not hide it much longer.
She knew she could get the truth from one person. "Woody, what are you all hiding? I know you won't lie to me."
Woody looked at Sam. "I'm sorry Sam. She pried it out of me. You know I'm afraid of Dr. Sternin-Crane, just like Dr. Crane is."
Frasier frowned, knowing that there was a grain of truth to that.
"Miss Chambers is real sick, Dr. Sternin-Crane. No one knows if she's going to make it or not," Woody said, beginning to cry. Sam went over to hug him.
"Now Woody, no one said that. She's going to be just fine."
Lilith's pale face revealed nothing, though Frasier knew her well enough to know that she was in a state of shock.
"She's sick? What does Woody mean?"
"Well my pet, Diane has breast cancer. But the doctors are treating it accordingly. Now you know what my secret was and why I couldn't tell you. I was sworn to secrecy."
"I still wish you would have told me. But I understand. I can see that you all are affected. If anyone needs to express themselves I extend my services professionally and also as… well as a friend. Woody would you like to talk?"
"Sam?"
Sam patted Woody on the back and Lilith took him to Sam's office where he opened up to her about how confused he was and how worried he was that she might not make it. This was the first time, other than with his animals, that he'd ever had to deal with death. With animals he knew that it was part of life. But with friends, well, he just didn't understand. Lilith listened to him and let him get it out of his system and tried to explain to him that bad things happened to good people, but that just didn't sit well with him. That was too complex of an idea for him, until he asked if it was like how only the best of cattle got chosen at the auction. She pointed out that this wasn't an auction, and that Diane's fate wasn't determined. She needed people to be positive, and everyone agreed that Woody was the most positive person they knew. So they needed Woody more than anything right now. Woody agreed, and thanked Lilith for listening. She wasn't an affectionate person, but she gave him a slight pat on the hand as he returned to the bar.
00000
Three weeks later neither Sam nor Diane were prepared for what the doctors would have to say. Treatments were grueling yet she had managed to deal with the side effects. Work had helped her a lot to get her mind off of the awful nausea that she was feeling; even Carla was starting back with her sarcasm, which Diane found to be a relief. She didn't want to be pitied, although she was grateful for the signs of compassion that she'd found in her friends. No one had been stronger than Sam. He'd been to every appointment, he'd been reading up on the disease and she knew that he wasn't a reader. He'd really come through for her, and for that she would always be thankful. So imagine her surprise when the doctor said that he would have to suspend her treatments.
"Is this good news, Doctor Reynolds? Am I in remission?"
"This is good news. That's the only reason I can think of for stopping her treatments. Everything's been going great between us," Sam declared.
"Apparently so," Doctor Reynolds replied sarcastically.
"Hey, I know that tone. What's he mean by that?" Sam asked angrily.
"Calm down. I'm sure he doesn't mean anything by that, do you Doctor?" Diane smiled.
"When you two are intimate, are you two safe?"
"Of course! I live by that rule," Sam protested.
"And you are aware that her medications render her birth control useless," the doctor replied, glaring at Sam.
"Yeah, that's why I'm responsible."
"Every time?"
"Every time."
"Wait Sam. There was the night I told Carla about my being sick… what does this have to do with anything?" Diane asked.
"Diane, I'm bringing this up because your blood tests brought up unusual results."
"Oh no, is the chemo not working?"
"It has been up until this point. Miss Chambers, I'm afraid that you're going to have a baby."
