The short ride home was easy but trying to assure Lesley that Jesslyn was gonna be okay was another story when just 3 weeks ago she was in the hospital fighting for her life after attempting suicide.

" Lesley I promise you I am gonna get to the bottom of it all and I will see to it that no one is gonna threaten Jesslyn or her sister again. In the meantime I want to take care of my special little bug and make sure you're okay."

" I'm fighting as hard as I can…. And I'm okay when you're there at my side." Lesley leaned over to hug Rick when he was sitting at her side.

" Can I get anything for you… how can I help you feel more comfortable?"

" I'm okay… I ju...just need to try to rest and maybe the nausea will go away and I will feel better."

Rick waited until Lesley drifted out before he headed downstairs where Jessie was waiting to talk to him and later Lesley's homecare nurse had just arrived to do what she needed to do.

" She's more worried about Jesslyn than she is about herself and I don't know what to say to her… I keep saying that Jesslyn will be alright and I'll take care of it but Jessie I don't know how to keep her from getting worked up from the situation."

" Rick, she's a mother…. We're all gonna worry about our children….. I don't get to worry about mine. I lost my kids and my husband. Jesslyn is gonna be fine, she's a tough girl."

" Just like her mother." Rick smiled. " Jessie Lesley and I are very glad that you have been like a second parent to the kids. And I am grateful that you are there when Lesley needs someone and I'm stuck elsewhere like the hospital."

" I will be there whenever you or Lesley need me. Just as I will be there for the kids too." Jessie replied when answering the door. " Can we help you.?" Jessie asked

" Step aside lady, you are in my way." Jasper snickered

" Look I don't know what you want or what you think I have but I am only gonna ask you once to leave my home and now." Rick barked at a reasonable tone

" Are you telling me what to do.!" Jasper snickered as he held up his rifle in Rick's direction

" I was just asking, not telling. I think even you would know the difference in that. All I'm asking is to please leave and not hurt anybody that lives here, my kids especially as well as my wife and I. but most especially my wife as she's been very sick."

Lesley started to come downstairs hoping to try to relax when she caught a glimpse of the gun and tried to get back upstairs

" Don't you move or take another step. Come downstairs and slowly."

" Wh...what is this about…. Rick, what's going on here.?" Lesley tried to catch her breath

" Let's go Lady I don't have all day and night..." Jasper snickered when Rick spoke up " Hey lay off my wife she's very sick I told you and she has trouble with alot of things."

Jasper snickered then grabbed Lesley from behind when Rick snapped again. " let my wife go or so help me God I will make sure your life becomes a living hell!"

" Carl…. Jeffery take the woman out to the van…"

" You're not taking my wife again, you did it once already, I won't let you do it again." Rick yelled out

As luck had it Bert and his officers had just gotten there when Frank's men had tried to take Lesley and anything else they wanted

" Put the weapons down and unhand this young woman." Bert ordered

" Who the hell are you… I don't take orders from you." Jasper grawled

" Just let the Lady go, she's of no use to you nor to anyone else you claim to work for."

" Forget it cow, I have my orders and the boss is gonna get what the boss wants. Boys take the woman out to the van and keep her quiet. I'll be there when I'm done here."

" No I'm not gonna let you take my wife from me… you wanna take somebody from here then you go and take me but leave my wife out of it… she's been through enough." Rick demanded

Lesley reached for Rick, shocked. " Rick no the kids and I need you… Please don't go and leave us like this."

" Hey I'm gonna be fine and I promise you I will find my way home… just promise me you will focus and continue to get better… Can you do that for me."

Thinking that Rick was protecting Lesley and the kids, he thought they were safe after volunteering to be taken hostage only he never counted that Lesley was still taken from the house and the kids were also being held somewhere. After another 15 to 20 days of being held somewhere Rick had no idea what he had gotten himself into after trying to save his family at the expense of his own life except now he was about to face the Devil himself.

" I should've known you were still alive, Smith. I should've known not to trust someone like you to keep your word."

" I could say the same for you Webber… I trusted you to save my daughter's life and you swore to me that she was gonna pull through and yet here we are and my daughter has been dead now for years while you get to have yours around."

" You want to come after me, come after me but you leave my wife and my kids alone. They had nothing to do with anything. Lesley is innocent as well as the kids. They weren't even born and you already killed Laura so why punish Lesley more."

" I would rather spit nails than to allow your spon live. But I think we can make a deal. In exchange of letting your mistakes live…. You will give up all of your rights to them over to me and in doing so you and your precious little wife will go free. Refuse to accept the deal she and the little brats will die."

" I'm not giving my kids to someone like you. I won't do that to my wife and I won't do that to my kids…" Rick shouted

" Very well Jasper, start with the little brats. But bring out his precious little wife first. I think they would enjoy this more if they were together."

" Sorry boss I cannot as I don't work for you. The plans have changed… so I'm gonna need you to turn around and put your hands behind your back..."

" You're gonna regret this Webber and when I'm through with you, you'll all be dead and buried.!"

Rick immediately went to find Lesley and was able to get to her before she later collapsed noting that she was without her treatment the entire time.

" Lesley I'm right here… I'm right here at your side and you're gonna be okay but you have to hang in there. You have to fight."

" Rick the paramedics are here." Jasper said

" She's got to pull through…. She just has to." Rick stepped aside reluctantly

" She will Rick… she will because something has always told me while undercover, that she's always been a strong fighter."

" I hope you're right because I took yet another gamble today and if she doesn't make it because I thought again that I could play hero, she will never forgive me and I just might lose her forever. And that isn't counting if her chemo and radiation will help her because she was off from it for awhile now when she wasn't supposed to be."

A few days after Lesley was stable enough to be moved to the ICU floor, Rick continued to stay at her side until he got the all clear to take her back home where he couldn't wait to surprise her with something that he had waiting for her as he worked hard with Jessie to get it together and Genesis chimed in as well to make sure she was comfortable when Rick brought her home to relax and rest until she had to go back to see Dr. Richards for her usual pet scan and blood work.

" Rick…. Wh-what happened.?" Lesley asked alittle confused as she was starting to come to again

" Nothing sweetheart everything is okay… you are officially safe as well as the kids and nothing is gonna ever happen to you again. Frank Smith is out of our lives this time for good." Rick sat at Lesley's side

" I ho-hope so…. He has cau-caused us so much trouble." Lesley started coughing but tried to stay awake in spite of her difficulty from the chemo.

" Easy sweetheart, take a deep breath and get some water." Rick handed her her water " Did that help you feel better bug?" Rick asked when he set the cup back on the side table for her.

" Yeah l'm okay I honestly just…. I am just so tired. I hope that I can go home soon."

" You will little bug… I actually am waiting for Steve and Jerry to get the green light so I could pick you up and carry you home where you belong. Riley misses his daily routine with his beautiful Mother…. Sure I can compensate temporarily but he doesn't really like it very much when it's me waking up with him… he likes it better with you."

" Oh Rick, you know he loves his Daddy… Riley is so much like you more than you think…. He's gonna grow up to be just like how you are…" Lesley reached and held onto Rick's hand.

Rick climbed in and layed with Lesley while waiting to hear back from Steve and Jerry when they were just getting Lesley scans back and wanted to go over her blood work and scans that came back. " She hasn't started to respond to the chemo Steve. At this rate if she doesn't start responding to the Chemotherapy by the end of the month then she could be looking at another 6months to a year."

" I think you're right… the Cancer had started to spread and has spread to her lungs…" Steve followed Jerry as they started to head to look over Lesley's vital signs.

" Lesley how are you feeling…?" Dr. Richards asked when he came in to look over her vitals.

" I'm ha-hanging in there… The best way I can, especially with Rick at my side… Is there something wrong…. I know that look." Lesley looked between Steve and Dr. Richards along with Rick

" Lesley, your blood work and Pet scans came back. And we just finished evaluating your situation… Because you missed alot of time in which you would've been on the right Chemo regimen… you would have continued to respond to the moderate chemo regimen that I originally had you on…" Dr. Richards started

" And this means what?" Rick spoke up while trying not to think of the worst case scenario. " It means that your body has stopped responding to the current chemo treatment and the cancer has spread into your lymph nodes and to your bronchioles of your lungs, and that explains your lack of oxygen and why you have had extreme trouble with your breathing which puts you at stage 4." Dr. Richards answered

" So then what do we do? End treatment? Consider that I go home with hospice? What is the next best option…" Lesley spoke up.

" I Want to start you right now on a stronger Chemotherapy and then see where we can go from there. Should you respond to that I would see no reason why you still can't head for remission." Dr. Richards answered.

" So going home…" Lesley started to ask " Because we would be starting you on a very strong Chemo, I will have to recommend that you will have to stay here for the duration. We have to minimize any chance and avoid any risk there is of you contracting an infection." Dr. Richards explained as easy as he could.

" I will give you some time for yourselves and i'll come back in alittle while to check on you and the nurse will come in to change your IV and all of that."

" Jerry, thank you for everything I know that you're doing your best to help me." Lesley called out in spite of her respiratory struggles.

Dr. Richards left to give Rick and Lesley some time before she was gonna expect him to head home to attend to the kids and relieve Jessie who would just end up coming up to stay at her side all night anyway. Rick wasn't sure but something chewed at him it was almost like warning signs were staring at him right in his face but he didn't want to dwell on any kind of fears when he knew that Lesley was always the same stubborn fighter that he knew her to be and soon stood up to crawl to lay with her for alittle while.

" Rick why don't you get ready to head home I'm sure that the girls want to see you and you know how Riley loves his daddy and son tuck in's that you do with him at night… Please don't push yourself to stay here just because you're scared that something may happen i'll be okay." Lesley pleaded for Rick to head home.

" Lesley….. I just don't know that I could leave you when you need me right now." Rick admitted

" Rick, I know you're scared… I am too but I am gonna fight this no matter what…. Rick please go and make sure the kids are okay. They need you just as much as I do." Lesley pleaded again.

Rick gave Lesley a long hug and waited for Jessie to show so he had left and went home to attend to the kids. " We thought mom was gonna be coming home." Genesis commented " So did we Genesis but right now she isn't well enough to be coming home and the doctor wants to keep her under precautionary reasons but she will be fine and when she gets better she will come home. In the meantime it's time that you and Jesslyn get up to bed because you have school and I have work so let's get to it and get to bed." Rick answered and picked up Riley after he was asleep in his playpen.

Jessie stayed the night with Lesley as she and Rick knew Jessie would but she made no effort to leave Lesley's side noting that Lesley's condition was next to near critical by that point.

" Jes...sie…" Lesley tried to call out and reach for Jessie's hand

" I'm right here Lesley…. You're not alone."

" I… need you to do something for me… I couldn't find it in my heart to put it on Rick he's been through enough..." Lesley pleaded, hoping Jessie would support what she was gonna want.

" Don't try to talk Lesley, just listen…. With everything that you've been through I'm not gonna ask you to fight… I will hope and I will pray that you will because you have those 3 kids that love you and depend on you to get better. I lost one daughter. I don't want to have to lose you too but I understand if you don't want to keep fighting." Jessie refused to step aside and just sat by Lesley's side throughout the entire night.

" Jes... Jessie please I need you to do this for me…. I know what I am asking of you and I'm sorry..."

Lesley wasn't able to get much more into what she wanted Jessie to do as her lungs were starting to fill up again and that time both Steve and Dr Richards felt it was necessary to put her into a medical induced coma to get in control of her condition.

" Are you sure you want to do this Jessie?" Steve asked while shocked

" It's what she wants… She wants to have a DNR order…. But she doesn't want Rick to be the one to do it when we all know he will never give it a thought."

Going into week 7 of Lesley's treatment Rick was pleased to get the word he had been waiting for as Lesley's stats and vital signs improved drastically where she was out of the ICU and moved to the 7th floor..

" I can really take Lesley home? I'm not just hearing you differently.."

" Rick, these were her scans from 6 weeks ago… and this was from yesterday morning. Her blood work and everything else has improved drastically and it's within indication that she will be headed for remission very soon. She still has to see me until she is for sure Cancer free, but as of right now I'm officially discharging and sending Lesley home." Dr Richards said with pride when answering Rick's question

" Even more beautiful than I thought you would be." Rick smiled while he stood in the doorway

" Rick I look ridiculous… especially with no hair and everything else." Lesley barked

" Hey you will get your hair back… and even if you weren't going to, I would care less because you would still be the most beautiful little bug in the world to me." Rick wrapped his arms around Lesley

" I mean it Lesley… if I were to choose between you and someone with hair right now or in 2 weeks from now there's only one person I would ever choose and it's a no brainer." Rick rubbed Lesley's back before she pulled away to look up at him

" I love you Rick. I have no idea what I would do without you." Lesley squeezed Rick at his waist

" Hey little bug, you have to take an easy. I don't want you to strain yourself too far… besides I have some news for you. Actually I have just one question for you.."

" What did you do Richard… you did something." Lesley looked up at Rick with a look.

" Oh I didn't do anything except get these from both Steve and Dr. Richards." Rick held up her discharge paperwork.

" I can really go home? I'm really okay to be home with you and the kids?" Lesley asked

" Would I have these if you weren't my happy little bug." Rick kissed Lesley when answering her question.

Rick got ready to take Lesley home but had to make sure that her welcome home surprise was ready as he wanted to make sure she was comfortable even though that she would still have to go back and forth for chemo and also she had to make sure that she kept up with her follow up appointments as well.

" You can open your eye's now bug…" Rick helped her to take off her coat and to walk into the living room.

" WELCOME HOME LESLEY!!!" Lesley turned around to look at Rick who stood beside her as she was about to sit on the couch to relax.

" You di… you did this just for me?" Lesley took a moment to catch her breath so she was able to get a word out.

" Everything I do…. Everything Lesley is for you… I had to look again at what life could've turned out to be again for about the 50th time and I have never seen how it would be to where I would actually be able to cope without you. And that's because Lesley I can't make it without you and I won't speak for the girls but I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't be able to either because like me they love you too much."

Later in the evening, Rick made sure the kids were in bed before he and Lesley spent the night together since it was her first night home after having to go through intense treatment

" These last few weeks were very difficult… I really thought I was gonna lose this battle. You wouldn't let me give up and I have no words to tell you just how much you mean to me."

" you're right I didn't let you give up and I still won't…. Lesley you're the only woman in the world that could keep me grounded when I need to be… If I were to lose you, I'd lose everything."

" You're not gonna lose me… I am gonna be here Rick for a very long time to come. And I know I can't promise that indefinitely but I promise you Rick I'm gonna fight through whatever I have to." Lesley pushed up to look at Rick

" Hey you don't have to worry about that right now Les, what's important is you're home and you are safe and before we know it we'll be counting the days down to when the kids are all graduated and then later again when we're about to have our first grandchild." Rick started to rub Lesley's back

" I was thinking recently…. I would like to go and visit Laura… It's been quite a while and I'd like to visit the twins as well…. I miss them Rick, I miss them so much."

" I think that's a perfect idea for us to do. I think of Laura and the twins all the time just like I think about you… and I'm gonna say this once more Lesley it was not your fault and anything that happened it was nothing that you did."

Rick waited until Lesley was asleep before he went downstairs to set something aside for the following morning and shortly went back up to get some sleep while there was a chance.

" hmm." Lesley started to adjust and turned back into Rick's arm as Rick climbed to get into bed for the night

" I love you too little bug..." Rick wrapped Lesley and they slept throughout the night until Lesley's next appointment.