Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Hours left until the wedding: 6
Miles left until Venice: 88

The cab driver refused to accept her money after Mercedes had cried all the way to the hospital.

"Please", she sobbed and wanted to give the last Euro coins she had found in her wallet to that friendly man "I need to pay you, Signor."

"Go to your mamma, my dear", he answered softly "May god be with you."

So she just mumbled a short: "Grazie", and got out of the car. She stumbled into the building trying to find the reception. Of course, she thought all the time, of course, mom is sick. How could I be so blind all the time?

But actually, she had seen it all the time. The weight loss, the exhaustion, the nausea in the car. Her mom even made them pick her up at a hospital, for crying out loud! She…

"Mercedes?"

She turned around.

"I thought we would be back before you got up."

Sam was standing behind her, looking worried. Without thinking twice, she ran to him, letting him pull her into a hug and starting to cry into his sweater. A quiet voice in her head said that she had no right to let him comfort her like that. But she didn't care. She had never been so miserable ever before.

"Come on", he said after a while "I will tell you everything I know."

"I…I should have noticed!", she sobbed. "I should have seen it!"

"No", Sam answered her back. "She didn't want you to notice." He led her to the cafeteria, and they took a seat at a small table.

Mercedes blew her nose and took a couple of deep breaths.

"How is she?", she asked, unable to look at Sam.

"She is fine. The doctor is talking to her", he answered. "We just need to wait."

"Did she…pass out or something?", she wanted to know.

Sam shook his head. "No. They just want to check her."

Mercedes buried her face in her hands. She felt so guilty. "Why didn't she tell me?"

Sam laid his hand onto her shoulder. "She wanted to wait until after the wedding. But yesterday evening, I found her on the hallways after I…left. She was too exhausted to unlock the door of her hotelroom."

"Oh!"

"I kind of supposed something like that", Sam went on "A friend of mine also suffers from cancer."

Jasmine, she thought, he is talking about Jasmine.

"I have noticed as well", she said instead "But I was busy with so many other things that I didn't think about it that much…"

"Sometimes, you are too fond of someone to notice", he said, got up and took a seat next to her to hug her shortly.

"What happened?"

He looked away. "It would be for the best if she told you herself."

At that moment, the elevator doors glid open and Mercedes' mom, supported by a nurse, came into the cafeteria.

"Mom!" Mercedes jumped up and ran over to her. "Are you okay?"

Phyllis waved it off even though she looked pale and fragile. "I'm fine", she smiled. "That's just my luck, why do I have to break down today of all days?"

"Oh mom, don't be silly." Mercedes pulled Phyllis into a tight hug, her small body seemed to fall apart any moment at the body contact, or so Mercedes thought when she pulled away.

The nurse handed her mother a plastic bag and said goodbye to her after she had given a lot of instructions to her in Italian. Phyllis just nodded and thanked her with a smile. Mercedes couldn't help but wonder what her mother went through all the time – and how horrible it was that she had kept it to herself.

Mercedes helped her get to their table where Sam was already standing and waiting for them. "I will give you some privacy.", he said "Take yourself time to talk about everything. I'm waiting outside." With that, he turned around and left the hospital.

"I'm sorry, Mercy", her mother said faintly "I didn't want you to find it out like that."

"How…how bad is it?", she asked, unable to look at her mother, or else, she was going to burst into tears.

"It's lung cancer", Phyllis whispered while Mercedes buried her tear-stained face in her hands. "Shht..." Her mom softly caressed her back. "Everything will be alright…"

"Really?", Mercedes stammered and looked up to her. To her, lung cancer didn't sound good at all. But the last thing she needed was a breakdown. "What did they tell you?"

Phyllis looked out of the window. "I need to undergo surgery. After that, they will start treating me."

Mercedes bit her lower lip.

"That's necessary, baby. But the doctors are optimistic."

"Oh, are they?" Mercedes looked up. "They really told you they were optimistic?"

Her mom nodded. "And I guess I will believe them."

Mercedes blew her nose again and took a deep breath. "How long do you know?"

Phyllis flinched. "More than a month."

"Mom!"

"I know, and I am sorry, but they needed to check on me several times to tell me in which stage the cancer is."

"You must have been so scared." She looked at her mom she loved so much, hating the thought that she needed to go through that all alone.

"Sometimes. I kept it to myself because I needed time to digest that new information."

Mercedes thought about something and felt so bad all of a sudden. "And I told you that you looked great because you lost weight", she whispered, terrified. "Oh, mom, I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay, really." Her mother laughed.

"I wished you have told me…" There was something else that came to Mercedes' mind. "Did you already tell Coralee?"

Silence.

"Of course not."

They sat next to each other in silence, and Mercedes took her mother's hand. It didn't seem to matter that they still had an important appointment today, that Coralee was marrying in a few hours, that celebrities were waiting and wondering where they were. Mercedes felt how her mom squeezed her hand and never wanted to forget that moment, how her mom's hand felt in hers.

"And when will you start with the treatment?", she wanted to know, not able to look into Phyllis' eyes.

"Next week."

Mercedes flinched. That was soon. But the sooner, the better, of course.

"I get treated at home as well and thought it went well. But the past days were so stressful and I fell behind."

"I'm so sorry, mom."

Phyllis smiled at her daughter. "No need to feel sorry. Sam was great. He had heard from that hospital. Last night, he made a couple of phonecalls and got me an emergency appointment after he had found me on the hallways. I was worried that my medication won't be enough to make it through the wedding, that's what I told Sam."

Sam had done so much for her mom. Unbelievable.

Again, Phyllis smiled and shook her head sadly. "I just wanted to get through that special day before I tell you girls. And I almost did it." For the first time that day, her mom had tears in her eyes.

"I want to be there for you if things like these happen", Mercedes said quietly. "That's what I was afraid of when you moved to Europe – that we didn't stay in touch." She looked down. "I know that Coralee would tell you so, too."

"Thanks, baby. I know what you mean. I felt the same when you two left Ohio to go to colleges all over the states after highschool. But just wait until you will be a mother yourself. You would do everything in your power to protect your babies from the cold world out there."

Mercedes fought back her tears. "And the doc, what did he say?"

"Oh, it was a female doctor, and she was great. Sam got her name from Jasmine's doctor and she is one of the best in Italy. She contacted my doctor and increased my dose of meds temporarily. They understand that it's necessary for my daughter's wedding. And once I'm back, they will operate on me earlier than planned."

"Doesn't sound good", she whispered.

"It's okay", Phyllis reassured her.

"I wish all that wouldn't happen" Mercedes bit her lower lip.

"No", her mother answered her back energetically. "We need to make the best of what we got – didn't I always say that?"

Mercedes nodded.

"So we should start the fight, that's how we did it in Ohio as well. No whining, no nothing."

"Okay", Mercedes muttered "But that's not all. You have me and Coralee as well."

For a while, they were just sitting next to each other in silence. Mercedes was aware that the clock was still ticking. If they drove off soon…But suddenly, everything was so blurry. What was she supposed to tell Coralee? How in the world was she supposed to keep something like that secret? Coralee would never forgive her once she found out that Mercedes hadn't told her, but on the other hand, that piece of information would not only change her wedding day, it would also change her life.

"There is only one problem", Phyllis spoke up.

Mercedes looked up.

"I need to sleep, Mercy."

"Oh, yes, of course."

"I need to check in the hotel again.", she went on. "They gave me something, they needed to. It is making its way through my system, and baby… There is no way I can drive with you to Venice."

"Mom!"

Mercedes saw how her mother fought back her tears. "Can you tell Coralee? Tell her that I will be by her side in her thoughts, that I love her hairdo, you know, the usual stuff."

She just nodded numbly, not even able to smile half-heartedly. "Come on, let's get you to bed, mom."

Carefully, she helped her mother get up. They slowly left the building and went to the parking where Sam was already waiting next to the small car. He looked up when he saw them come closer and went over to help them, helping Phyllis get into the car as if she was a porcelain doll.

While Mercedes got in as well, she felt her heart beat faster.

"Okay, let's drive back to the hotel", Sam said to Mercedes' mom. "I already called the receptionist; your bed is already awaiting you."

He deftly drove back to their hotel while Mercedes stared out of the window with a giant lump in her throat.

She had absolutely no idea how she could thank Sam for everything he had done for them, despite that little misunderstanding yesterday evening.
Or what she was going to tell Coralee who was supposed to go to the altar in less than six hours.