_

_

Mary closed the front door after Mrs. West and Billy walked out. Wilson's mother had come to pick up her grandson under Wilson's urging. Their phone call was strange and Wilson was very firm with her. To be honest, it kind of scared Mary a little. Wilson had a good amount of anger inside of him. She was just happy that none of it was directed at her.

Mary turned the deadbolt and then spun around to face Wilson who was standing behind her. "Now what?" She grabbed his hand and started playing with his fingers.

He laughed. When Mary had her heart set on something, there was basically nothing Wilson could do but give in. "OK, you win." He grasped her hand, stopping her fidgeting fingers, and pulled her over to the couch. She sat down next to him with her thigh brushing his. They had been much closer than this before, but the contact seemed to make him uneasy at the moment. He scouted away from her a little and looked at her knees, then up her face. "So…" he started, his voice shaking.

Mary took the reins and Wilson's hand. "I'm ready. I wasn't for a long time, and that was fine because there was no pressure or strong desire, but now I'm pressuring myself. I've been thinking about this a lot, since my radiation actually, and I know that it will bring us closer."

"Aren't we close enough?" he asked sheepishly.

She smiled. "You scared?"

"No, not exactly. But-"

Mary cut him off. "I don't feel like I can talk about my cancer with you- not really talk about it. The only thing we've said to each other about it was regarding my next radiation treatment. I want the conversations to go deeper. I think once you explore that part of me, we explore each other, that it will be less uncomfortable and embarrassing to discuss certain things." She lowered her head and her voice. "I want to talk about it now. I'm ready. And I want to be able to tell you what's going on with me, because keeping it inside really isn't helping any."

"Well then can't we just talk?" he offered. Mary glared at him so he clarified his statement. "I don't know Mary. I'm afraid I'll hurt you. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, especially in your sick condition. What if I do something and I make your sicker, or there are medical complications from something?"

"But what if none of that happens?"

"But what if it does?" he countered, thoroughly convinced that this was not a good idea. "It's not that I don't want you, Mary, but the radiation hurt you and that wasn't even supposed to hurt. I know that you'll probably be very, um, sensitive, and I don't want you to end up being completely turned off from the whole experience. It could be amazing if we wait. That's why I haven't pressured you or tried anything these past months; I was waiting until it was safe."

"I hate to tell you this, but waiting until it's 'safe', as you say, could be the rest of my life. There are long-term side effects from the radiation and everything that will never really go away." She squeezed his hand as tears welled up in her eyes. "Besides, I'm sick of waiting. I have today and I don't know about tomorrow. I want to enjoy life now, while I still have to opportunity to."

That was what did it for Wilson. He still though that he was right, but frankly she was too. He didn't want o be holding her back from experiencing everything there was to experience in her life. He wanted her to have full access to everything, even to himself. He leaned in and kissed Mary passionately, giving her the long awaited answer. A smile crept up on her lips as she kissed him full force. The wife always gets her way.

***

Wilson was as gentle with Mary as he could possibly be, but he was correct in her assumption after all. There were plenty of painful tears, whimpering, and sharp breaths, but everything leading up to that point was pure heaven for both of them. Mary never imagined anything could be that wonderful. This proved that true love was the most powerful aphrodisiac.

***

Mary lay in bed with Wilson spooned against her for hours, enjoying the feeling of having his skin on hers. His muscular chest was so soothing against her bare back.  She was sore for a long while, but as that slowly subsided she drifted off into a soothing slumber for the night. Wilson joined her; they were both tuckered out. Mary had given herself to Wilson and it was perfect beyond words, just like she had hoped it would be. In their sleep, Mary and Wilson held each other tightly. That day, that past weekend, all of their anxiety melted away in a total of forty-five exhausting yet pleasing minutes. Nothing could have been any better.

AT least, that was what they wanted to believe. When the phone rang in the middle of the night, Mary was worried. Phone calls that came after midnight were never good news. Wilson stepped out of the bedroom after he answered, then came back in quickly. Mary sat up when he came back in holding the comforter around her body. The look on his face only confirmed Mary's worst fears. His eyes bugged out of his head and he appeared to be overly calm, overly being the key word. "Overly calm" was never a good thing; everything in moderation.

"That was George," he said morosely. "My dad had another heart attack. He's in the hospital."

Mary sprang out of bed and rushed over to Wilson's side. She was still unclothed, but she didn't care. Mary wrapped Wilson in her tight embrace, putting a hand behind his head and stroking gently. "It'll be OK," she said, even though she had a feeling that it wouldn't be. Wilson pulled away from her and stared into her eyes, afraid to move. "Let's go," Mary commanded. She was forced to take the initiative in leading him out of the apartment and to his father's side- or at least as close as he would be allowed to get to his father.

Mary pulled away from him and Wilson sat on the edge of the bed staring at the blank wall. She went into the closet, got clothes for herself and Wilson. He was too out of it to find himself some pants and a shirt. She came out of the closet in a sweatshirt and sweatpants with Wilson's garments in her hand. She handed them to him and he pulled them on slowly.

Her heart broke as she watched him. One thing she knew, though, was that it was his turn for some nurturing now. He had been doing it for months three months, ever since they ran into each other at the hospital they were racing to get to at that moment. Mary knew all along that there would be a time when Wilson needed her to take care of him; she just never thought it would be this soon.

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

A/N: This chapter was a tad short, but here endeth all the sex stuff. I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted. No more direct talk about it, I don't think anyway. Maybe a little in the future, but I haven't written that far ahead yet. This chapter was OK. It was kind of hard to write, though, because I was trying not to be too explicit or anything while still getting my mature point across. I think  achieved that, though. At least, I hope I did.

Next chapter will be at the hospital. Maybe go a little bit beyond that. Story wise, I only have a few more major conflicts to go. I could see this reaching thirty chapters, though. I have this conflict, involving the hospital, then another one after that, then my "winding down" conflict, then the whole thing stemming off ending one. Then that'd be about it. It seems like a lot but in my head it's not. About three more big conflicts to go. This hospital thing is going to be a lot of Wilson- or maybe a lot of Mary reacting to Wilson.

Whatever, you probably all think I'm nuts now because you have no clue what I am talking about. It makes sense in my head, and sometimes that's all that matters.

_

_

_

Yes, I am a little crazy. Promise me you'll still review?

_