"Mum!" Katy glanced up from buttering bread and smiled absently at her eldest daughter. Ruby was clearly excited about something or other, but the cause of her good mood wasn't immediately obvious. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"No! You have to guess!"

Katy sighed, wrinkling her nose as she thought. "Granny Glenda's taking you out for tea?"

"Nope."

"Umm… Grandad's taking you out somewhere?"

"Nope."

"Something to do with Aunty Whit?"

"Nope."

With another sigh, her mother shrugged. "Go on, then, I'll never get it."

"Daddy's getting married!"

Katy dropped the knife in her hand. "He… what?"

"Yeah!" Ruby beamed at her. "He just told me. I called him and he told me. He said I can be a bridesmaid."

"Right…" Her mother felt slightly sick. She'd known nothing good would come out of Jack buying her daughter a mobile. "When…"

"I don't know yet. He just said that him and Pippa are getting married." She twirled around excitedly. "Can I tell Amy?"

"Yeah… why not."

Turning away, she moodily picked up the knife and stabbed it into butter, her good mood totally evaporating. Changing her mind about spending the afternoon at home with the children, she called to Glenda that she needed to pop to the bar and headed irritably towards the R&R.

Shutting herself in the office with the paperwork wasn't entirely the best idea for attempting to cheer herself up, but at least it distracted her for a while.

When her phone started ringing, Katy clenched her jaw and considered ignoring it. The name on the display made her feel sick, but she answered the call and clamped the phone between her ear and her shoulder anyway.

"I suppose congratulations are in order." She said in a flat voice.

"Oh… Ruby told you."

Katy rolled her eyes at Tyler's comment. "Of course Ruby told me. You can't tell a seven-year-old something like that and expect her to keep it to herself, especially if you tell her she can be a bridesmaid."

"I'm sorry, K. I wanted to tell you myself."

"That's so good of you."

"Katy, please. Come on…" He almost whined.

"Come on?" She laughed mirthlessly. "What do you expect me to say, Tyler? You're getting married to the woman you left me for and what do you honestly expect me to say? D'you want me to say I'm happy for you?"

"No, of course I don't." Tyler assured her immediately. "I know it's… I should have told you. I just… it happened so fast."

"Right…" There was a long pause. "Are you happy?"

"I… yeah. Yeah, course I am."

"Well that's… good." Katy bit her lip, hard. "Are you serious about this? I mean, you barely know her, Ty. Are you sure this is what you want to do? It seems a bit... hasty."

"Just because you didn't want to marry me, it doesn't mean that no one else does."

"So you proposed to someone you've known for five minutes just to prove a point?" Katy laughed mirthlessly. "Jesus Christ, Tyler."

"I can't talk to you when you're like this." He muttered irritably. "I'll call you in a couple of days so we can talk about the kids coming out here."

There was another long pause before they both spoke at once. Laughing uneasily, Katy closed her eyes tightly.

"I better go. I've got stuff to… good luck, Tyler."

She hung up quickly, before he could answer. She dropped the phone on the surface of her desk as though it had burnt her, staring at it for a couple of moments before crossing to the box of extra stuff in the corner of the room and ripping the cardboard open.

As she pulled a bottle of vodka out, her eyes landed on the photograph of Ronnie and Roxy on the wall and she let out a soft sob. Then she unscrewed the cap and took a long gulp, closing her eyes as the liquid burnt its way down her throat.

By the time Glenda appeared in the office, having her the news from her great-granddaughter, Katy was slumped against the wall cradling the three-quarters empty bottle to her chest and sobbing quietly.

Gathering her in her arms, the older woman rocked her gently, running a hand through her hair and carefully extricating the bottle from her grip. She held her tightly, whispering soothingly into her hair and pressing their foreheads together.

"Come on, my darling, let's get you home. Mama Mia, coffee and an early night will sort you out." She murmured, helping her granddaughter to her feet. "It'll all be alright, I promise."

"We need to get rid of him, Dad." Katy told Jack firmly, two days later, folding her arms and perching on the edge of her desk. "While Dean's out there, I can't relax. How am I supposed to trust that he's just going to leave us alone?" She rubbed her forehead tiredly. "Look, can we do this another time? I've got a headache and a delivery in about ten minutes."

"This is just a reaction to Tyler's news." Jack tried to placate her. "You need to forget about Dean Parry."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"He won't find nothing on you, will he?" Her father said in a low voice. "There ain't nothing to link you to… it's been years since Nathan was–"

"Dad, I don't care about that. I don't want Dean anywhere near me or my kids."

Jack shook his head. "And he ain't, is he? He's gone."

"For now."

"So what're you suggesting?"

"I dunno yet… I'm working on it." She told him quietly, gripping the edge of the desk more tightly.

"You really need to think about this, Katy." Jack cautioned her. He turned and headed for the door. "I think you're taking on too much. You don't need to do this. You're absolutely exhausted; you keep getting headaches… something's gotta give, sweetheart. Maybe you need–"

He broke off immediately as a loud thump from behind him interrupted his sentence. Turning, he saw his daughter in a crumpled heap on the floor and rushed to her side. Dropping to his knees beside her, he checked her pulse before attempting to wake her up.

Panic coursed through him as Katy remained completely unresponsive. He pulled out his mobile and dialled an ambulance, still trying to wake her up, snapping at the voice on the other end in his panic. Reassured that help was on its way, he clamped the handset between his ear and shoulder and called Glenda to explain what was happening. A loud crash from her end told him that she had dropped something in shock, before she announced that she was coming straight over.

They waited together, still trying to wake Katy, until the ambulance arrived. Reluctantly Jack agreed to let Glenda accompany his daughter to the hospital, promising to get there as soon as he'd arranged for someone to collect the children from school.

Glenda bombarded the paramedics with questions; barely taking any notice of the questions they were asking her. Hearing that she was currently in remission, the man's ears pricked up and he attempted to redirect the conversation to get any useful information from the woman.

"Ms Mitchell?" Glenda glanced up as the doctor approached. "You're Katherine's grandmother?"

She'd been sitting in the waiting room for several hours. Jack had called to say he'd be there as soon as possible, but there was still no sign of him. Alternating between sitting on the hard plastic seats and pacing around the space, Glenda had considered all the possible outcomes of Katy's collapse. The most obvious was the one she was dreading the most. By the time the doctor appeared she was at the very end of her tether, desperate for information about her granddaughter's condition.

"Yes. What's happening?"

"I'm Doctor Metcalfe; I'll be in charge of your granddaughter's case. We've done quite a few tests but, worst case scenario, is that they'll confirm that Katherine is experiencing an AML relapse." He told her gently. When Glenda buried her head in her hands, he reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "Her notes indicate that she's strong and, hopefully, will respond just as well to treatment as she has in the past."

"Again?" Glenda almost whispered. "We thought she'd beaten it."

"She's otherwise very healthy, her age goes in her favour and she responded well to treatment last time."

"So what's the plan?"

"Depending on the results of the tests, it might be time to seriously consider a transplant; either bone marrow or stem cell."

"What would that entail?"

"The best bet would be a sibling match." He explained gently. "A half-matched transplant would be more risky, but a parent donor would possibly be our second choice."

"Katy's got a half-sister and two half-brothers." Glenda told him. "Surely that would be the same as using her dad as donor?"

The doctor nodded slowly. "A matched non-related donor is another option." Reaching out, he squeezed her hand again. "But we should wait until the test results are back before worrying about that."

"Can I see her?"

"Of course." He agreed instantly. "She's conscious, but a bit groggy."

He smiled and led the way to Katy's room, pushing the door open and standing back to let her in. Glenda rushed to her granddaughter's side, pushing her hair off her face and cupping her cheek gently. The younger blonde was drifting in and out of consciousness, but managed to smile weakly and attempting to pull herself into a seated position.

"Gran…"

"Shhh, darling." She told her gently, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead. "You gave us a right shock."

"Sor–"

Glenda almost scowled at her. "Don't you dare apologise. I've been trying to get you to slow down because I knew… I knew something wasn't right."

"Gran, please…"

Understanding that she wasn't in any state for a lecture or an argument, Glenda nodded and leant back in her seat, clutching Katy's hand as though it was a lifeline. They chatted about other things for a while, before Katy asked the inevitable questions about the children and Jack.

"Don't worry yourself about that." Glenda sighed deeply. "This is how you end up in this position in the first place."

"I know, Gran, but there's just so much to–"

"No, there isn't. Jack and I will manage together. Whitney and Stacey can help out at the bar if I can't do it all. The kids will be absolutely fine. They're–"

"They're used to it, I know."

"That's not what I was going to say." Glenda told her, rolling her eyes. "Stop being a brat."

Katy laughed, thankful for her attempt to lighten the mood. Reassured that everything was under control, trusting Glenda implicitly – something that would have been completely out of the question several years previously – the younger woman allowed her grandmother to tell her about whatever was going on with Jean at the moment.

"Katy… you alright, darlin'?"

Glenda rolled her eyes at her son-in-law. "Of course she's not alright."

"No, I know, I mean…"

"I'm fine, Dad." Katy took pity on him, accepting the kiss on her cheek. "How're the kids?"

"Fine… I haven't told them yet… I didn't want them to get upset."

"It's OK." She smiled weakly. "Hopefully I'll be out of here before too long."

"Katy…"

"Dad, seriously. I'm OK."

"We'll wait and see what the doctors have to say about that one, Ms Mitchell." Glenda interrupted, arching an eyebrow at her.

Huffing, Katy dropped her head back against the pillows, ignoring the slightly scared expression on her father's face at the movement. She suddenly remembered that he hadn't been present for any of her hospital stays in the past, but Glenda was more than used to her behaviour.

"You might as well go home." She muttered at last, glancing at the time. "They're not gonna come round and say anything useful now. The kids will be wondering what's going on."

"Katy, we're not just going to–" Jack started, but Glenda was already on her feet.

"We'll be back in the morning, my darling." She said, bending to press another kiss to her granddaughter's forehead. "Make the most of the peace and quiet and get some rest. Do not wind the nurses up."

Laughing softly, the younger blonde agreed. Jack still didn't look convinced, but he followed his mother-in-law out of the hospital room. Katy watched them, knowing that Glenda would be making her way to the nurses' station and demanding information on her condition. Smirking to herself, she scooted under the thin blanket and gave into the wave of exhaustion that had been creeping up on her for a long while.

The next morning, Glenda and Jack turned up with several other people in tow. Katy was less than impressed when Whitney and Stacey almost crashed into the room with her father and grandmother, Shirley bringing up the rear. They asked her all sorts of questions until Katy claimed that she was tired and they reluctantly said goodbye. Shirley sent her a knowing smirk as she left and Katy chuckled, ducking her head.

"So, how are you really feeling?" Glenda demanded once they were alone.

"I'm fine, Gran, I promise."

"This has got to be a wake up call, Katy." Jack warned her, leaning forward and shaking his head at her. "I keep telling you to calm down, to take a break every now and then. You need to start taking care of yourself."

"Yeah, OK, Dad. I get it, alright?"

He evidently had more to say, but the door opened at that very moment and the doctor poked his head inside. At once they were all on edge, knowing that whatever he had to say would drastically change things. Glenda moved closer to her granddaughter, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing reassuringly.

"It's good news!" Doctor Metcalfe smiled at the pair seated around Katy's bed. "It's not an AML relapse."

"It's not?"

"No, it's just a nasty infection. There are no signs that the leukaemia is back."

"You're serious?" Katy beamed at him. "It's really not back?"

"I'm serious. You're results are actually looking really positive." Still smiling round at them, he moved towards the door. "With some IV antibiotics and rest you should be home in a couple of days. I'll leave you to it."

As soon as he'd left the room, Katy's father and grandmother started talking at once. Glenda practically lay across Katy, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss to the side of her head. Jack was beaming, squeezing her hand tightly, unable to stop congratulating her on the outcome of the tests.

"This really has got to be a wake up call, though." Jack pointed out seriously. "You need to start letting other people help out a bit more."

"Dad, Gran has the kids most of the time and Whit's a massive help at the bar." Katy pointed out. "It's just an infection, I'll be fine."

"No. No!" He shook his head, frowning at her. "When you thought it was the AML you agreed that you need to stop doing everything on your own. Just because it's an infection–"

"Alright, alright." She sighed, shrugging. "Whatever you want, Dad."

The door opened again and all three turned, expecting to see the doctor or a nurse in the doorway. Instead, all three of them stared in open-mouthed confusion.

"Tyler… what the hell are you doing here?"

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Leah - although I wish it was more cheerful. Keep your head up, chick!

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