" You must be Dr Rick Webber, why don't we talk in my office." Dr Strider replied and lead both Rick and Jessie to his office

" Please tell me that my wife is Alright… Tell me she's okay" Rick asked

" As Dr. Richards told your mother in law, we're doing everything we can to help her... Right now your wife is in very serious condition. Dr Richards and I almost lost her just as you had arrived." Dr. Strider started to explain

" Can I see her... Please?." Rick asked

" Of course the nurse will take you in just a moment.. our oncology committee is assessing the full extent of her condition to determine if we can effectively resume her treatment." Dr. Richards answered

" Cancer... Are you trying to tell me that my wife could have cancer again...?" Rick spoke up hoping his surprised response was convincing

" Given her condition and the aggression of the type of Leukemia, it is indicative that we are not able to continue treatment efficiently. We may have to consider stopping the Chemotherapy entirely" Dr Strider explained

" Rick... the important thing is Lesley is gonna be okay and we're gonna help her. " Jessie got out

" I need to see her please?.. I've got to see my wife."

Rick and Jessie followed the nurse where Lesley was moved to in the ICU and Jessie decided to stay back to give Rick alittle time alone with Lesley as she was on full ventilation.

Rick took a moment to get himself together before going in. " Jessie, she just looks so fragile..."

" Go and just sit with her and just talk to her.. even if she can't hear you right away she'll know you're by her side" Jessie suggested " I will be right here outside… this is the time that you need to have alone with her." Jessie added

Rick walked in and sat by Lesley's side hoping maybe she could hear him when he reached to hold her hand

" I'm right here Lesley I'm right by your side... And you're gonna be okay I'm gonna make sure you get better so I can take you home so don't leave me don't you try to go anywhere because I need you.. Lesley I don't know how to make it without you..."

Rick made arrangements to stay with Lesley while he had the chance and arranged for Monica to take his patients while he stayed at Lesley's side meanwhile, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why Lesley was so terrified to talk to him or to tell him she was sick at the same time he was slightly laughing at her thought that she was gonna hurt him because as he told Jessie she couldn't hurt anybody if she tried to. Still he couldn't help but feel like he should have been there because it wasn't just someone who was ill it was Lesley who was real sick. After a few hours and Rick fell asleep at Lesley's side, Jessie thought it would be a good idea that Rick should head home to get some sleep and take care of the kids.

" Rick... Why don't you go and get some sleep.. I'm gonna stay right here with Lesley. You need it and you need to make sure the kids are taken care of." Jessie suggested

" No Jessie that is nice of you to offer but I don't want to leave her I want to be here incase something changes or comes up." Rick replied.

" Alright I'll allow it tonight but tomorrow I am gonna insist that you head home come tomorrow evening you got that." Jessie replied and pointed a finger at Rick.

" Yes ma'am." Rick got out with a grin.

" I mean it Rick you need to make sure to take care of yourself too so you can be there when Lesley needs you." Jessie said with a stern look

~~~

2 months after Lesley was admitted to Mercy, and Rick stayed right at her side, but was about to find out if there was any change in her condition when Lesley started to close her grip on Rick's hand and started to open her eyes before Rick had a chance to talk with her doctors

" I'm right here Lesley... I'm right here. You're gonna be okay sweetheart and you're gonna get better... I'll make sure of that... I'm gonna go to get the doctor alright..." Rick kissed her on the forehead and stepped out to get Dr Richards.

Dr Richards and Dr Strider determined that Lesley was able to breathe on her own and removed the ventilator but put her on moderate oxygen as a precaution.

" Les sweetheart, can you hear me, it's Rick... Lesley..." Rick called out to Lesley

Lesley started to squeeze Rick's hand and started to look over to him when he called for her name but was hardly able to stay conscious to say anything as her breathing was still somewhat labored and she was still weak.

" Don't try to talk sweetheart just rest... I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere… I'm just gonna go and talk with the doctors but I'm coming back." Rick kissed Lesley on the forehead before stepping into the hallway where the oncology specialist was waiting beside Dr Richards

" Alright I'm a doctor the same as you and same as my wife we're all doctors, so give it to me straight with what we're dealing with. Don't beat around the table." Rick got right to the point where Lesley was of concern

" Lesley is a very lucky woman by this point… when she was admitted she had very little of a chance of making it through the night and I had no means to continue her treatment by that time. Seeing that she's continued to stabilize, both Richards and myself recommend she goes home into hospice care." Dr Strider answered

" I'm all for taking my wife home but you brought up treatment and I want her problem treated where she can get her life back together. Seeing that it's treatable I want my wife back into treatment and now and no later otherwise I'll find somebody else who will be willing to help her." Rick demanded before going back into Lesley's room to be at her side.

Going into the following couple of weeks, Rick was able to take Lesley home but made a few more arrangements to accommodate her treatment schedule where he was able to be there at least some of the time.

" R-Rick you don't have to go to all this trouble to be there with me..."

" Hey it is no trouble on my end.. you mean everything to me… I just.. I would give anything to take your place…"

" Rick, look at me…" Lesley took ahold of Rick's hand " I'm gonna be alright Rick I'm gonna fight this every step of the way I promise you. You know I won't give up without a fight."

" I'm gonna hold you to that… We have so much to do with the kids when you get better" Rick was about to step out for alittle bit but stopped as Lesley didn't let go of his hand.

" Rick, please wait..." Lesley called out

" Sweetheart what's wrong hey Les... Everything is okay..." Rick replied and wiped away the tears that started to slide

" No Rick, it's not okay... I lied to you and I kept my medical situation from you for months before I finally told you and I shouldn't have... I should've told you I wasn't okay and Jessie kept saying I should but I didn't listen to her... Rick I'm sorry..." Lesley started to cry

" Lesley everything is gonna be okay... Hey you have nothing to be sorry about, what's important is you're gonna get through this and you're gonna get better and Jessie and I will be there at your side every step of the way I'll never let you go through something by yourself..." Rick replied and had Lesley wrapped in his arms for a few moments.

" Will you be alright while I get Riley to school?" Rick asked

" I think so... Sometimes I wonder what I would do if I were to be without you... I think I would be lost if I didn't have someone like you to take care of me or look out for me when I need them.." Lesley sniffled but relaxed again for alittle while

" Well I don't think I will ever be going anywhere anytime soon or ever for that matter so don't you worry about that... You need to rest, and I'll be right back to be with you for a while before I take you to see Dr Richards for your progress report." Rick gave Lesley a kiss and headed to get Riley to school.

Rick didn't take too long when taking Riley to school but realized that he had forgotten to check the gas to the car and had broken down just 20 minutes from the house where it was gonna be difficult to get back to get Lesley to her appointment that morning

Rick managed to find a payphone to call the house first but started to feel like something could be wrong when Lesley didn't answer and he called Kelly's next

" Kelly's diner..." Rose answered

" Rose, it's Rick... Can you or you maybe can send someone to give me a ride? I am stuck down the road.. and Lesley is not picking up the phone and I am worried about her." Rick explained

" Rick I'll be right there, is Lesley alright? You're usually never this worried about her.." Rose asked

" I'll explain when I see you, please hurry, her life could depend on it..." Rick replied and hung up

Rick's worries that something was wrong went up more when she didn't answer the phone again and he had every right to be worried because with Jessie filling in at the hospital, and Alice was on vacation no one was there to help her incase something was wrong.

Lesley tried to wait for Rick to come back but felt like she needed to head for the bathroom... sitting up was the easy part but Lesley knew it was gonna be a challenge to get up by herself while she had difficulty throughout the day on her own but she attempted anyway and took a fall hitting her head.. after about 5 minutes Lesley tried as hard as she could to crawl herself to make it to the bathroom but started to feel lightheaded enough until she lost consciousness near the bathroom door

" Rick... I have never seen you this worried about Lesley... What's wrong with Lesley" Rose asked

" It's not good, Rose... Tomorrow I have to take her back to Mercy for a few scans... And after that we may know if she is responding to treatment effectively from the oncology specialist… Or if the specialist's choice would come to be that they stop it all and they let her get worse until she loses an ongoing battle" Rick replied

" Rick, how bad is Lesley's condition?" Rose asked

" Lesley's cancer is back… She has AML2. Acute Myeloid Lymphocytic Leukemia and it's possible that the cancer may continue to spread unless she's responded to the Chemotherapy treatment that's she's been on for awhile now" Rick finally said it but tried to hide the fear he had

" Tell Lesley my prayers are with her... And if you both need anything, I'll be there." Rose replied after pulling up in front of the house.

" Thanks Rose." Rick said and headed inside fast

" Lesley?!" Rick called out when heading upstairs

Rick stepped inside and nearly panicked when he found Lesley on the floor near the bathroom door " Lesley?!" Rick hesitated at first not sure what was wrong or if he should move her but then picked Lesley up after a few minutes and brought her back to the bed but was reluctant on letting her go.

" Les, sweetheart, can you hear me, it's Rick... Can you try and open your eyes for me? Les sweetheart I'm right here.. you just have to stay with me. You have to keep fighting" Rick tried talking to her and went to check for her pulse hoping she still had one.

Seeming to last forever to Rick, Lesley started to come around and relief flooded back into his mind but it didn't stay long as Rick wished it would

" Les, everything is gonna be okay I promise you and you're gonna be okay... Here come on, sit up alittle bit and try to get something to drink… You've got to try…" Rick tried as best as he could in spite of his fears that Lesley's condition was gonna take a turn to the worst

" Lesley I'm not gonna let you die this way not now not ever not like this because I need you… I need you to try for me."

Rick waited for about an hour before he called Lesley's pain management doctor while waiting for Dr Richards to come by

" The problem with that is she's a transplant patient... Yes she's also a cancer patient... Thank you. I appreciate this because it's important that my wife is able to relax while she's home after she goes for treatment.." Rick just got off the phone when Dr Richards knocked on the front door

" Thanks for stopping by Jerry... I'm really concerned about Lesley."

" I would think that's understandable Rick, you love your wife. How's Lesley doing this morning any problems?" Dr Richards asked

" Not very much but she's having more difficulty getting up on her own as well as walking without assistance as a matter of fact when I called a couple times after taking our son to school, she wasn't picking up the phone and just as I got back I found her on the floor near the bathroom she seems to be okay after I brought her back to bed but I'm starting to see that she's starting to have a real difficulty with her breathing I had to help her sit up so she could even just say something like my name. She also had difficulty with holding things or even trying to stand up."

" Any fever or loss of appetite?" Dr Richards asked

" Her appetite is smaller than what it used to be but she hasn't developed any fevers or any infections that I know of." Rick replied and lead Dr Richards upstairs

" Les sweetheart it's me.. it's Rick.. Dr Richards is here to see you..."

" Lesley, how are you feeling today?" Dr Richards asked

" I've had bet-better days…" Lesley replied as best as she could in spite of her difficulty with her breathing..

" She's had alot of trouble mostly at night… and then occasionally through the mornings and the day. I had a hard time getting her to come back when she took a fall just before I got home from dropping our son off to school.."

" Well that's to be expected given the situation and what you have and as we discussed before we changed your treatment the Leukemia has spread to your respiratory system and has compromised your lungs at the manner in which I may have to recommend that we do an emergency tracheostomy. Tomorrow morning if your blood work comes back good enough we can move for usual treatment other than that, what I would like you to do is just rest as much as you can and try to keep your weight up. That is very important" Dr. Richards said while checking in on Lesley

" Thank you Jerry for coming by to see and to check on her.. that fall had me really worried about her."

" Rick, don't misunderstand the situation because the cancer has in fact compromised her respiratory system. There's a chance we may not be able to do much if this chemotherapy has not taken effect. You want it given straight, we may have to consider treatment termination if her body has not responded to this Chemo." Dr Richards explained when pulling Rick to the side

" Jerry, I appreciate how you're trying your best to help my wife. I just hope that you are wrong and we can avoid considering hospice care."

" I hope I'm wrong and we won't have to do that too. I want her brought in by the end of the week to see where we may stand."

Rick walked Dr. Richards out but not before he was told Rick to keep an eye on for anything that may be wrong and went to start a pot of tea for Lesley as well as something for her to get something to eat

" Here sweetheart… I thought you could use alittle something to eat…" Rick insisted

" Rick, aren't you supposed to be heading to the hospital… you have patients and surgery today don't you?" Lesley replied

" I had Monica and Cunningham cover and deal with that… My first concern, sweetheart, is you."

Lesley looked at Rick for a good solid minute trying to think if she heard him right or not as he answered her question. Rick knew she would be upset that he would turn something over to another surgeon and to think he was about to upset her scared him. " Rick… you know….. You know how I feel about you just turning your patients over to Monica or Cunningham because you're worried about me… you know I don't like that.."

Lesley waited for Rick to look back to her " Rick please look at me" Lesley started " Rick I know you're scared, maybe even terrified… I am scared too… It terrifies me that something is gonna happen and you won't be here…. But what terrifies me more is you're gonna blame yourself thinking that you should've known when right now the only thing I need from you is to be there when I need you." Lesley shifted slightly where Rick was able to wrap his arms around.

" Lesley I love you more than my own life… nothing matters more to me than you and it does terrify me that i'm gonna wake up one of these days or i'm gonna get a call from Jessie to come home or I would just plain come home only to find… Lesley I need you to get better and I know you will because I am gonna be there no matter what even when you're mad at me i'm gonna be there right by your side. Is there something else I can do for you?" Rick asked after he pulled back alittle bit to look at her.

" No, I think I'm alright for right now. I'm just tired. Would you stay with me just for alittle while?" Lesley asked

Now all Rick thought to do was laugh at Lesley's question because she knew it was dumb question to ask but she asked anyway. " Was that supposed to be a hard question to answer? Of course I'll stay for alittle while with you my little bug… I could never leave you not ever Les, that would be the hardest thing that I would have to do in my life." Rick moved and pulled up the blanket slightly when Lesley rested her head on his shoulder.

Rick spent a couple of hours just watching Lesley sleep but didn't ignore how he found her that morning by the bathroom. He tried so hard to think of anything else but the sight that she was unconscious on the floor. The relief that she didn't suffer any bleeding when she had fallen but the fact that she was on the floor that was what scared him the most.

Lesley woke up around 8:30 feeling like she had to go to the bathroom but didn't want to try to make it on her own incase she was to take another fall

" R-Rick… Rick, could you help me…" Lesley winced " I need you-your help"

" I'm right here Les, I'm right here sweetheart." Rick helped Lesley carefully to the bathroom.

" I'm thankful that you are the kind of man you are. I'm just sorry for keeping all of this from you."

" Don't be Lesley, my main priority is to take care of the woman I love. And I'm gonna be there to take care of you."

" I wanna go… go away I mean… like we did after we lost Laura… I just want it to be you and me without any doctors or the kids. Could we just go somewhere.?" Lesley leaned into Rick.

" I think I can maybe work on that, maybe take you up into the mountains. I'm gonna talk to your doctor tomorrow when you go in and we'll see what he has to say." Rick kissed Lesley on the forehead before bringing her downstairs with him for alittle bit while he picked up around the house after Riley and the girls were finished with dinner and they did their chores for the night.

Lesley wanted to tell him, she really did but she was afraid she was gonna hurt him if she told him the real reason she wanted to go away without anyone else. Truth of it all she wanted to go away without anyone because at that point in her mind, she felt like she was never gonna get better and she was only counting whatever time it was that she was gonna have left still Lesley never questioned about the way Rick went about her cares and how he handled things when it came to her health she knew better than anybody that Richard Webber meant business when it came to health and when it concerned her and the kids. After about an hour around 9:00 Rick noticed that Lesley had gone back to sleep and so he then decided to slightly wake her so he could carefully carry her back upstairs and they could both head to bed for the night except before Rick had a chance to, Lesley caught him off guard when she asked him about that morning and earlier that afternoon as she knew he had been upset where he tried to hide it but couldn't hide the note that he had cried during the time that she was asleep that afternoon.

" Rick, why were you so upset early this evening... ? and don't tell me it was nothing because you were in tears and I know you were because I saw it."