Susan pretended to look at a magazine. She'd turned pages blindly and she was half way through, looking up at the closed door with every other page. She looked up again as the door opened. She put the magazine on a table, her every movement tentatively controlled. She was struggling not to shake as she stood up. The doctor shook Mark's hand and headed back into his office.

Mark turned to face her and smiled slightly – entirely for her sake. He didn't want her to fear the worst, even if that was entirely reasonable.

She waited for him to come to her. He was the one with news. She would wait for him to tell her whatever he needed to tell her.

He took a deep breath and walked toward her reaching into a hug that he needed more than oxygen. What was he supposed to say? There were no words that would make this easier on either of them. There was no good way to say this. But he needed to tell her. He stood up straight, still resting his hands on her hips.

"Let's walk." She took one of his hands and they headed out of the waiting room. They took the elevator in silence.

Outside, they headed for the taxi stand. She knew it was bad news from his stalling.

He pulled her hand and stopped walking. "Susan."

She stopped walking and turned to him, looking up at his face. She smiled slightly… sadly…

He knew she'd figured it out and he smiled back, so glad he wasn't alone here… so glad she was there, that she understood. "He said… five months." He took a deep breath.

Her expression didn't change at first – as though she hadn't heard him. She swallowed and took a deep breath then kissed him. It was a promise. What kind of promise? He wasn't sure, but she'd promised him something with that kiss.

"Let's go home." He whispered taking her hand.

She nodded and held his hand with both her own.

"Hi!" Rachel sing-songed, letting herself into the apartment.

"Hey." Susan headed to meet her, "Your dad's taking a nap."

"Oh, when did you guys get back?" she knew there was good or bad news she was about to receive and she wasn't ready for it.

"Just a couple of hours ago. How was school?"

Rachel shrugged and headed to the kitchen.

Susan followed and sat at the breakfast bar, watching her, waiting for her inevitable question.

"So, what did the doctor in New York say?"

And there it was. Susan had given the bad news hundreds of times. It didn't make this any easier. "Um," she looked down and took a deep breath before meeting Rachel's eyes again, "The tumour is back."

Rachel nodded, "Is there anything they can do?"

"Sort of," she didn't want to scare her unnecessarily, "but it doesn't look good."

Rachel's shoulders fell. "Oh." She understood. She didn't need the numbers, the prognosis, any of that. She met Susan's eyes boldly, only now recognizing the red stains under them.

Susan stood up. "I'm just gonna check on him."

"I'll do it." Rachel headed to the door but stopped. "Are you okay?"

Susan wasn't expecting that. She nodded speechless but totally unconvincing.