Dr. Richards's hesitation was enough that Lesley had a vague idea of what time she could have left " Everyone reacts differently with the chemotherapy. I recommend that we start you on chemo and radiation therapy as soon as possible and if we find it necessary a bone marrow transplant..."

" If you think it would be my best chance then we should try it... Jessie, what do you think.?" Lesley turned towards Jessie.

" I think it's worth a try but Lesley it's really up to you I can't decide for you." Jessie replied and looked towards Dr Richards.

" You said you recommend starting right away… As a mother I want to hear the facts what are the odds of Chemotherapy working" Jessie asked without a second thought

" Leukemia progresses fairly quickly and because we're dealing with a rare but an aggressive form to Leukemia that was not caught sooner, I want to start as early as first thing tomorrow morning and later we'll see how you respond from there."

" How much time could I have? Even with Chemo… 6 months? A year?" Lesley asked again

" Everyone is different in response to treatment. Should you respond to treatment, you could head for a complete remission where you could go back to a normal life where you were before. However, like any medical treatment Chemotherapy is no guarantee that you'll be able to go into remission. There are cases that this type of Leukemia has come back even with a bone marrow transplant or a stemcell transplant. At this point in time there are no guarantees that you'll survive. We can only try and start and hope for the best." Dr Richards answered Lesley's question as honestly as he could as she and Jessie got ready to head home

" And that brings back my original question… even with treatment, how long could I have…?"

" In most cases, with the severity such as yours,... You could very well be looking at a time of 5 to 6 months realistically."

Over the following week, Lesley was just finishing up the first week of her treatment when Rick called from Nevada to check in on her before he was to eventually leave later that week to return home

" I'm alright.. I'm ju-just... I'm just tired Jessie arranged to spend a few days to help with the kids until you get home.. how's Nevada? How's Jeff?" Lesley asked while pretending not to hear Rick's concerned tone

" Nevada's fine... Lesley, something told me to call you. Are you sure there isn't something that you're not telling me? I'm being serious now because I'm really starting to worry about you and not knowing what's wrong isn't helping to ease my mind."

" Rick, please don't... Please don't be so worried... I'm okay and Jessie is here to make sure things stay that way.." Lesley replied

" Lesley I don't want anything to happen to you and not knowing what is wrong it's not helping me to think everything is okay please sweetheart talk to me." Rick tried again to get Lesley to talk to him

" R-Rick I promise you when you come home... I hope that I can tell you everything... Just please sweetheart don't be so worried I'm okay..."

" I'll be coming home soon Les get some sleep I'll try to call you later to check on you... Please sweetheart get some rest you really don't sound like you're feeling good." Rick replied and got off the phone

" Come on Lesley, you need to get some rest. The girls can worry about doing their chores and picking up later when they get home..." Jessie insisted when Lesley tried to pick around the livingroom in spite of not feeling good

Lesley tried to rest as well as she could but she knew as well as anyone in her situation and was on chemotherapy it wouldn't be easy with being able to rest or relax and then having to try to control the vomiting.

After about another few hours after Jesslyn and Genesis got home from school Jessie made sure they did their chores and stayed on top of their school work but checked on Lesley periodically throughout the afternoon through early evening and noticed that Lesley was starting to develop a high fever and she also started to have slight difficulty with her breathing... Noting that with her treatment and the possible effects, Jessie didn't want to take chances when calling to have Lesley admitted into the hospital right away.

" Bobbi it's Jessie… I need you to alert medical right away and get an ambulance out to the Webber home and page Dr. Richards and Steve right away. Lesley may have contracted an infection or it could be pneumonia either way she's not doing good her fever is up to 104.5 and she could be in respiratory distress." Jessie urged when calling the hospital.

" I'll get on that and alert Steve and Dr. Richards right away." Bobbi hung up and alerted for an ambulance and paged the 2 doctors right then.

After Lesley was admitted, Jessie did what she swore she wasn't gonna do after speaking to Steve on Lesley's condition…." Jeff... It's Jessie, is Rick nearby right now, it's about Lesley and it's not good they think it's pneumonia, and she may not make it through the night unless they sedate and put her into a medical induced coma..." Jessie said over the phone

" Ah yeah hold on..." Jeff turned towards Rick... " It's Jessie and she doesn't sound happy... She said it was concerning Lesley, she had to have Lesley rushed to General."

Rick didn't think twice when grabbing the phone " Jessie what is it what's wrong..."

" I'm waiting for Steve right now Rick to let me know if there's anything more but I think you should be here as soon as possible... If pneumonia is what she's got as well as an infection. Rick…... They're concerned that she may not make it through the night."

" Jessie I am gonna catch the first flight right now you just tell her I'm gonna be there as soon as I can and you don't leave her side.." Rick said quickly before getting off the phone and arranging for the next flight out.

" Rick, I'll drive you…" Jeff grabbed his keys

" Jeff, something really has to be wrong… Jessie never sounded like this before and Lesley has always been in good health other than her heart condition after the twins were born and she had to be out on the transplant list and later when she was diagnosed with breast cancer but after that she's always been okay..."

" Rick Lesley will be fine, you said it yourself, she's always been a little fighter. You call me as soon as you land and as soon as you hear about anything with Lesley's condition." Jeff said as he dropped Rick of to the airport

~~~

Jessie stayed at Lesley's side hoping to get through to her that she was gonna have to tell Rick that she wasn't just fighting a common cold or not just pneumonia that it was more serious than that.

" Lesley I know you want to keep it from Rick and you are scared to tell him but we have to because he needs to be here.. and he has to know how he can help you...''Jessie said to her just after she was put into a medically induced coma.

Jessie stepped out for alittle bit to catch a few minutes after Steve had Lesley placed into an induced coma just a few short hours ago when Rick had finally gotten back to the hospital.

" Jessie, where is she... Is Lesley alright?!"

" Rick Lesley is okay... Steve felt it was best to place her into a medically induced coma to get the pneumonia under control as well as the infection... I was on my way to check in with Jerry on another patient... Go and sit with Lesley Rick. She's not conscious but I'm sure she'll know that you are there..." Jessie headed up to see Richards's office.

" Are you sure those results were for the right patient?" Jerry asked while gesturing his hand for Jessie to sit down.. " yes that's two B's first name is Lesley... Thank you."

" Jerry, you've been straightforward with me... Just how bad is Lesley's condition...?" Jessie asked to the point

" Lesley's condition is serious... The cancer has stabilized where it hasn't spread as much as we initially thought it did; however, the pneumonia and the infection that she's contracted has complicated her treatment... We may have to make a choice between the Chemo or treating the pneumonia and infection." Jerry answered as gentle as possible

" I don't think I can make a choice like this ... I won't..." Jessie stood up and walked away but didn't leave the office

" There are risks... Yes delaying chemotherapy could put her at risk with the possibility of it spreading however ignoring the pneumonia and the infection that she's developed if the cancer doesn't kill her the pneumonia will because she has the cancer..." Dr Richards explained as gently as he could but Jessie didn't turn to face him

" I understand how hard it is... Of course I don't mean that we should just give up with her medical situation.. not when she still could have a chance to fight it and survive..."

" She has 3 children at home, one of them in which is still young enough that he still doesn't understand and her 2 daughters who know something isn't right... You still say Lesley has a chance, well I think it's worth continuing her treatment."

~~~

" Lesley I'm right here and I will not move until you get better... And we can plan to take that trip you've wanted to take for so long now..." Rick held Lesley's hand as he always has throughout the years.

Monica had just stopped in while Georgia had drawn blood to run.. " Georgia I'm gonna need those labs back as soon as possible."

Georgia left and Monica took the time to talk to Rick while he had just come back into town from his trip.

" Welcome back Rick I know it's hard with that when you came back to Lesley being ill and here in the hospital as a patient again."

" It's alright Monica because I know she's in good hands and you and Steve will get to the bottom of what's wrong." Rick sat back beside Lesley until Jessie had returned.

" Rick for what it's worth... I hope she does get better... and I mean that." Monica said before stepping out to finish rounds

Monica had just stepped out when Jessie was sitting in the lounge trying to keep herself calm and together

" Jessie, is something wrong?" Monica asked

" It's nothing too important... I saw that you had just came from Lesley... How is she?"

" Lesley is gonna be okay Jessie... In a couple of days Steve and myself are gonna try to bring her out of the medical induced coma at least that's our hope." Monica answered

" Thank you Monica... I appreciate that you have been here to help her get better."

Over the following week Lesley's vital signs started to improve and Rick stayed by her side at least 65% of the time he stayed nearby incase something was to change but thanked God that Lesley had continued to stabilize or so Rick thought one afternoon when Lesley suddenly stopped breathing as Jessie was attending nearby on the 5th floor and Rick was in surgery with a patient.

" I need a crash cart in here stat!" Dr Richards shouted as he immediately had a nurse start CPR and he then moved around to intubate Lesley. " Start 1mg Epi and charge to 200."

It took Dr Richards at least twice to shock and get Lesley to respond " She's back into normal sinus rhythm. Let's get her moved to intensive care stat and we need to find where Rick is." Jerry Richards requested as Lesley was being moved to the ICU.

Jessie went right up to the 10th floor to wait for Rick as he had no idea of Lesley's setback yet and that she was on her way back to the ICU.

" Jessie…. Why do I get the feeling you're about to tell me something happened and by the way you're looking at me it's nothing good.?"

" Lesley is being moved back here to the ICU. She went into full Respiratory arrest just as Dr Richards had looked in on her condition." Jessie replied

Rick hightailed as fast as he could to be at Lesley's side as she was back in the intensive care unit on a ventilator.

" Lesley I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere… Lesley please hear me… I can't do this by myself without you. I need you to fight like hell to come back to me" Rick pleaded while holding her hand.

" Dad, she's gonna get better, we have to believe that. We can't let ourselves think otherwise." Genesis stood next to Rick in the ICU at Lesley's side.

" Genesis is right Daddy…. We have to believe that whatever this is, Momma will get through it and come back to us.." Jesslyn pointed out

~~~

Lesley started to get better and eventually Rick was able to take her home and after about another couple of weeks and her appointments to see Dr Richards while Rick continued to worry that something was wrong as Lesley still had yet to tell him that she was diagnosed with cancer again, nevermind that she felt like she wasn't getting better like she was hoping she would.

" I don't want to stop the treatment not unless I have to... Jerry, I have to keep trying. I can't just quit not when I still haven't worked up the courage to tell my husband Rick about this..." Lesley got out

" Lesley so far you've had no change with the Chemo... Looking at your blood work.. your body just hasn't started to respond to the Chemotherapy like I had hoped it would and looking with your recent scans, Lesley I'm not gonna lie to you or sugarcoat it in spite of the Chemo, the Leukemia has started to spread further into your spinal nerves and because it has spread that far you cannot be a candidate for a bone marrow or a stemcell transplant..." Dr Richards explained as easy as he could

" But there's other ways to go about it other wa-ways to... to treat this..." Lesley spoke up in spite that she was in alittle pain from the Chemo

" Lesley, we're gonna do everything we can. I have a meeting with Respiratory Care and oncology regarding your case and where you stand.. Right now it is paramount that you make sure to keep your strength up and you try to keep your weight up as well and it's critical that you avoid infections because of the stronger Chemotherapy that you're gonna be on starting in the morning… "

" Jerry, just how bad has it gotten? You said it had spread on into my spinal nerves… Does that mean paralysis?"

" That is possible you could be likely to lose mobility.. As I said before, everybody is different with every case. Should you start to have trouble with, say lifting or picking up something like a glass or something as simple as a pen or even trouble with balancing and walking, I want you to come back immediately." Dr. Richards replied

Jessie helped Lesley up to lay down shortly before Rick was to have gotten home and just after both Jesslyn and Genesis had gotten out of school.

" Lesley, is there anything that you need me to do before Rick gets home?" Jessie asked

" No i'm alright but I thank you for asking Jessie… I think i'm just gonna try to get some rest while I have a chance to for awhile." Lesley answered

Jessie assured Lesley that if she needed anything that she was gonna be downstairs and Rick would also be home shortly. Thinking about what both her and Lesley were told and what Dr. Richards had to say, Jessie was worried but she knew how to mask it while Rick was home because Lesley still had alot of trouble trying to tell him that she was sick and the fact had remained that at that moment in time, Lesley wasn't improving or getting better and the thought that she had to tell Rick of all people she loved that there was a higher possibility she was gonna lose this battle, it Scared Lesley the most not because she didn't want to tell him, it scared her because she loved him the most above everyone else other than their kids.

" Jessie I can see that you have something that you want to say to me about what's wrong..."

" Rick, I wish I could tell you what you need to know... But it's just not my place to.. what I can tell you is she's hanging in there. I've made sure that she's not gonna give up." Jessie replied

" I wish she would come to me... It's like she's afraid to tell me what is wrong like it's gonna hurt me or something... Or like it would be enough that I would decide to leave her and I will never do that I could never leave her side.." Rick said.

" Rick Lesley will be fine, there's no reason to think otherwise unless one turns up."

~~~

Over the next few hours, Lesley was still asleep while Rick was downstairs with the kids which later, he headed up to see if she wanted anything after he fed the kids and then moved to make sure that the girls got their homework finished along with their chores before they get ready for bed.

" Lesley sweetheart, I thought maybe you could use something to eat even if it's something alittle small… I know you're not feeling good but you have to get something in your system." Rick said gently and later helped Lesley to sit up..

" Rick… I… I'm sorry but I just don't feel good right now." Lesley started to reply while trying to fight the urge to keep down the nausea.

" I know sweetheart, but you have to try, it's gonna do you more harm than to not try…"

Rick quickly helped Lesley to get to the bathroom when she started to feel like she was gonna be throwing up again and shortly after Lesley started to feel alittle bit of relief all Rick thought to do was hold her tight to him when she started shaking.

" Everything is okay Les, I'm not gonna go anywhere I'm gonna stay right by your side… just take a deep breath." Rick said softly while sitting on the floor with her in his arms and was rubbing her back

" I… I'm s-sorry R-Rick I wish you didn't have to see me this way…" Lesley tried to relax but she felt like it was gonna be more difficult because she had started to feel like she was starting to suffocate as she hadn't been put on a stronger Chemotherapy yet.

" Lesley don't ever be sorry for anything I'm gonna spend the rest of my life trying to make sure you're alright and taken care of. Tomorrow I'm gonna have someone see you because this has gone on for too long and I can't let it continue." Rick stated and started to move to get up and carry Lesley back to lay down for the night.

" Jessie was already ahead of you for that…. I promise you I will be alright.. I will get better w-with you l always seem to feel better."

" Everything is gonna be okay I promise you.. I'll be right here right by your side." Rick pulled up the comforter shortly after Lesley had gone to sleep so he could try to get some sleep himself even though as time continued he was more concerned that Lesley wasn't okay.

Over the following week, Lesley was started on a stronger Chemotherapy and Rick continued to get more worried about her as he couldn't for the life of him figure out just how serious her condition was though he started to suspect when something wasn't sitting right with his intuition as Lesley felt fine one moment but the next she felt sicker than she had before.

" Rick, I would love to give you the answers you're looking for, but it's just not my place… What I can tell you is when she is ready she'll go to you."

" Jessie what scares me the most is I may lose her and I don't know what I can do to help her she won't open up to me or tell me what's wrong and every time I mention i'm gonna make an appointment she begs me to not do its like she's scared for me to know what's going on." Rick hangs his coat in the front hall closet

" Rick why don't you come and sit down we need to talk for alittle bit before I head home for the night." Jessie gestured to have Rick sit on the couch with her.

" Jessie I don't like the way you said that…. What is it! what's got Lesley this sick?"