The last place Sandra expected Rick's portal gun to take her was a well-kept living room in what looked like a completely ordinary-looking suburban household, but that's exactly where she found herself standing in an instant, so fast that it made her head spin.

"Ouch!" Sandra backtracked, realizing she had stumbled directly into the wide wooden coffee table in the center of the room. This was Rick's house? He'd seemed far too absurd to have come from someplace like….this.

"FREEZE!" A woman's shrill voice made Sandra comply immediately. She whipped around to see a short blonde woman, probably right around her same age (in her mid-thirties) if she had to take a guess-and the woman was pointing some kind of a weapon at her?

"W-WAIT!" Sandra held up her arms in defense. "I-I come in peace! I-I'm a friend of Rick's-your Dad's!"

The woman's eyes grew wide at the mention of Rick and then his grandson, and Sandra's shoulders eased; she knew she'd gotten her attention, and that they were on common ground. "Wh-who ARE you?" Beth stammered, tentatively coming closer towards Sandra. "H-how do you know-"

"I-I know this looks weird," Sandra blurted out, "but-I just met your father and-"

"You met him where?" Beth's eyes narrowed. "H-how did you get his portal gun?" Her eyes widened even more when she saw what Sandra was holding. "H-how did you know where to find us-?"

"Look-" Sandra wanted to slap some sense into the woman, because they were running out of time, but Beth didn't know that. "You-you've gotta come with me."

" 'Come with you?'" Beth laughed, a hollow almost bitter laugh. "You're a stranger in my HOUSE! Why on Earth would I come with you?"

Sandra's cheeks flared, and she stared pointedly at the ground, fearing that if she looked Beth in the eyes she might break. "Because Rick needs you," she whispered hoarsely.

Beth gaped at the intruder, this stranger, for a moment, before bursting out in almost callous laughter. "He NEEDS me? HA! The only thing that Rick ever needs is a DRINK-"

"He's DYING!" Sandra hissed, her ever-hardening gaze snapping up to meet Beth's with silent rage. She was beginning to understand why Rick had sought comfort in her Aunt instead of this woman who it seemed didn't even care one bit what was happening to her own father.

"How do you know that?" Beth snapped.

"He told me," Sandra declared, trying to keep the pride out of her voice.

"Bullshit." Beth's finger itched against the trigger. She flinched when Sandra began laughing, but it was an almost mechanical laugh that hurt her ears.

"You know what's 'bullshit'?" Sandra strode across the room in the blink of an eye. "That he came here to heal, but his own family gave up on him!"

" 'Gave up on'?" Beth spat through gritted teeth. "You don't know the first thing about my father! He abandoned me when I was only sixteen years old-"

"You abandoned him when he needed you most!"

"What right do you have to be telling me-"

"BETH?" Jerry was standing in the entrance to the living room, watching the catfight explode between a complete stranger and his wife.

"Go to bed, Jerry!" Beth snapped over her shoulder, "I'M gonna take care of THIS one mySELF!"

"You can push me away," Sandra proclaimed as she crossed her arms and stood very still, "but if you push me away, you might be missing the one chance-" Her voice faltered, and she had to struggle to keep her composure. "The one last chance you have...to say...goodbye-"

"Good-" Beth swayed a little on her feet with stunned surprise. "G-good...bye?"

"He's in the hospital right now," Sandra practically whispered, "in a coma...he had a heart attack-"

"Oh…." Beth cupped a hand over her mouth in shock. Tears spilled out before she could stop him. "I…." She was shaking. "I didn't-" She covered her face with her hands. "I didn't know….." she mumbled, feeling dizzy.

Sandra's shoulders sank. She didn't know why but she suddenly felt very sorry for this woman she didn't even know.

"Morty's waiting for you in the lobby," Sandra proclaimed.

"WHAT?" Beth shot a look at Sandra in surprise. "WHERE is Morty?"

She could hear Jerry double back down the hallway, calling like a dumbass down the hallway, "Morty? Are you in there? MORTY?"

"And by the way," Sandra added hotly, "he was crying about leaving you all-and your husband should know that."

"C-crying…?" Beth's head was spinning. "I don't believe that," she shook her head firmly, yet not even convincing herself. "My father doesn't cry," she whispered.

"Well…" Sandra rocked restlessly on her feet. "He was. He spoke about a lot of...difficult things. He's very vulnerable right now," she warned, "You need to go and see him….There could still be a chance."

Beth stared at her strangely. "How…" she blurted out, "How would you know that?" she demanded, however this time more softly.

"Because I'm a nurse," Sandra informed her proudly. "Now, please come with me." She rolled her eyes. "And bring your idiot husband if you'd like," she added tersely over her shoulder.

"I-I have to wake my oldest daughter," Beth declared numbly. "She-she needs to know what's going on….she should come with us, right?" she asked weakly. She didn't want to believe what she was hearing, but it made a lot of sense….if Rick had truly been detoxing and then had suddenly had several beers, it was no wonder his heart had begun to give out.

"Do it quickly," Sandra ordered, suddenly in brisque professional mode. Before she became too professional she added hastily, "I have a son at home, and I need to get back to him."

"Oh…" Beth softened a little. She was suddenly curious about this woman who her father had, in her own words, felt comfortable enough with to open up to. She only hoped that she wasn't secretly a prostitute on the side. "Okay," she muttered and ambled slowly down the hall towards Summer's room.

A/N: Thanks for reading and for your continued support! :D More to come (for realzies!) I haven't completely abandoned this story-I promise-just been dealing with a lot of sh*t (ahem) I mean "life stuff" recently and I think we can all agree these last few years have been a doozy...so, I'm seriously sorry for such a long hiatus and delay! I hope to finally get this story finished, hopefully very soon! :) I was inspired to write this after seeing the latest episode of Season 5, "Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort". (If you see ANY episode of Season 5 so far, it should be THAT one!) I'd watch "The Wedding Squanchers" (Season 2 finale), "The Rickshank Redemption" (Season 3 Premiere) "Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri" (Season 4 finale), and then 5x8 "Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort" for a great ride! (Filler episodes could include "Get Schwifty" (2x5), which includes an important scene with Bird Person for backstory. The season 5 finale will be a 2 parter coming September 5th (I believe) and this episode's really got me excited!