"How is married life treating you?"

I grinned at Connie. "Amazingly. It's like being given a gift everyday."

"That's it. I'm talking to Guy."

I laughed. "I recommend it, definitely."

Connie smiled. "I'm so happy for you."

She handed me a bottle of water from the cooler beside her. It was a hot day, so Charlie, Averman, Fulton, Portman, Connie, Guy, Adam and I had retreated to the local playing field where the guys were currently debating loudly, what game they would play.

"No! Football!" Portman was shouting.

"Volleyball!" Guy retorted.

"I don't care!" Adam declared. "I'll just be umpire!"

"No! You need to play! Otherwise it won't be equal!" Charlie told Adam.

"How about we pick a goddamn game then?" Adam demanded.

"Well this dick wants to play volleyball!" Portman shouted.

I rolled my eyes and Connie laughed.

"So have you got your own place yet?"

"Not exactly," I told her. "We started looking last week, and I've fallen in love with one place, but you know Adam..."

"Let me guess, he wants the whole history of the house? Make sure it's foundation is sound and all that crap?"

"You got it."

Connie laughed. "Well, at least you know it's gonna be ok."

"Yes, because Mr. Banks the building inspector is on the job."

"And how is he going with chemo?"

"Good, he had a session yesterday, and it makes him really tired. But he's getting more and more energetic as the days go by." I took a sip of water.

"Oh, energetic, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "Funny."

"Are you working today?"

I nodded. "Unfortunately. I should head off, actually."

I got up and grabbed my bag with my work stuff in it.

"You off baby?" Adam asked, jogging over.

"Yeah, I better get to the hospital before they page me."

He gave me a kiss. "Have a good shift."

"Thanks. Be good, don't overdo it, ok?"

Adam nodded. "I'll be good. See you at home."

I nodded and waved to Connie and headed for the parking lot.

"Hello Dr. Banks."

"I will never get tired of hearing that," I told Naomi as I clipped my id badge onto the neckline of my scrubs.

"Reed!"

I turned around at the mention of my maiden name and greeted Dr. Marks with a smile. "Afternoon."

"You too," he said. "And I hear congratulations are in order."

"Thank you," I told him, and Naomi grabbed my left hand over the counter.

"Check this baby out," she commented, holding my hand out for Dr. Marks.

"Very nice. So what do we call you now?"

"Banks." I smiled. "Dr. Banks."

Dr. Marks smiled. "Ok Dr. Banks. You've hit the jackpot, you get to review charts and sign-off."

"Gee, thanks," I joked and rounded the counter to take a seat next to Naomi.

Dr. Marks dropped a pile of charts in front of me. "Page me if you need me."

I nodded and grabbed the first one.

"How does it feel?"

"Marvelous."

"Oh Scout, I'm so happy for you."

I grinned. "Thanks Naomi."

I got to work on my charts, signing my new name, and reading endless pages of medical jargon.

"This stuff hurts my brain."

"Take a break then sweetie," Naomi told me. "You've been at that for 2 hours now."

"2 hours? God, time flies."

I stood up and cracked my back. "I can hear the coffee machine calling my name."

"Go," Naomi told me. "Consider it my wedding present."

I laughed. "You're too generous."

She shoved me out from behind the bench. "I'll cover for you Scout."

I smiled and walked down the hall to the lunchroom and twisted my torso until some of the stiffness tapered.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and my discman from my locker. I sat down at the coffee table and let the relaxing sounds of Jack Johnson flow through my veins.

I hummed along to Taylor, and tapped my fingers on the table. There was something about music that always calmed me down.

"Scout!"

I sat bolt upright and pulled my headphones off. "You scared me!"

She shot me an apologetic smile. "We just got busy. Think you can cut your break short?"

I nodded and gulped down the rest of my coffee and shoved my cd player back into my locker and fetched a lab coat, shrugging it on as I followed Naomi back out into the hall.

"Dr. Wheeler has a pulmonary edema in trauma 1 and she needs your help."

I nodded and started at a slow jog down the busy halls of the emergency room.

"What's up?" I asked Dr. Wheeler as a nurse held out a sterile apron for me to slip my arms into.

"Pulmonary edema and malignant ventricular ectopy." Dr. Wheeler had her hands inside a young man's chest, furiously massaging his heart.

"Pulse is seventy-eight percent." A nurse announced.

"550 of Anaprox," I requested, and a nurse placed a syringe in my hand.

"Dakota!"

I whirled around at Naomi's voice.

"We need you! 26-year-old male. Multiple trauma, hypotensive, BP 90 over 60, heart rate 120. Patient is diaphoretic."

I stripped off my apron and shoved it into a bin and followed Naomi back down the hall, where I accepted yet another apron and a pair of gloves.

"What's the pulse?" I demanded of Naomi.

"Pulse is 150."

I nodded as three paramedics wheeled in a gurney from the emergency bay.

"His systolic blood pressure is down," a paramedic informed me.

"Ok, lets get him on Bolus 5000 heparin, at 1000 an hour."

They pushed the gurney up the hall into trauma 3, and instantly, nurses flocked to the young man's side.

"What happened?" Dr. Taylor demanded as he entered the room.

"Collapsed with his friends. He's a cancer sufferer. Hodgkin's disease."

I froze as I heard the paramedic speak, and I approached the bed fearfully.

"Oh no...not Adam."

With that, I passed out.

"Scout. Sweetie, can you hear me?"

I groaned and rolled my head to the side and allowed my eyes to open slightly. "What's going on?" I asked groggily.

"You passed out, sweetie," Naomi told me, placing a cold cloth on my forehead.

"What? Why?" I demanded.

Then it hit me.

Adam, lying on the gurney, his eyes closed and his skin pasty.

"Oh God...Adam..."

"Shh, he's ok, Scout."

"What happened to him?" I asked, struggling into a sitting position.

"Your brother is here, I'll let him talk to you."

"Hey Dee."

"Fulton, what happened?" I asked, reaching out for him.

Fulton sat down beside me. "We were just talking after you left, and he said he didn't feel good, and started walking back towards Connie to sit down and he just...passed out."

"God...But he was fine..." I cried, tears rolling down on my cheeks. "What are the doctors doing for him?"

"His heart wasn't beating right, so they had to open him up. But he's fine, Dakota."

"Someone is not fine when doctors have to open them up!" I cried.

Fulton pulled me into his arms. "Dakota, shh. He's going to be fine."

"Why did this happen? I should've known that he wasn't ok. I should've known."

"How were you supposed to know?" Fulton asked.

"I'm a doctor, Fulton. It's my job."

"You're an emergency room doctor, not a cancer specialist."

"But I'm his wife, I should know when something isn't right," I let out a sob. "I need to see him."

Fulton nodded and helped me up. "He's next door. When you passed out, they bought you in here and put Adam in next door."

I nodded and let him lead me out into the hall and then one door along.

I pushed open the door and greeted Mr. and Mrs. Banks with a watery smile.

"I'm so sorry," I told them softly.

Melanie hugged me. "You had no way of knowing this would happen, Dakota."

I took a deep breath and let her go, and took a seat next to Adam.

"They're doing a lot of the same tests again," Mr. Banks explained. "To see what caused this."

I nodded and took my husband's hand. His face was pale, and he wasn't wearing a shirt, just had a gauze square on his chest and a bandage wrapped around his torso.

I reached out and ran my fingers over the gauze. I could only faintly feel Adam's heart beating.

"This is a nightmare," Melanie whispered.

I laid my head down on Adam's bed, my tears staining the bed sheets. "I'm sorry," I whispered into his side. "I failed you, Adam."

Mr. and Mrs. Banks filed out of the room and left me alone to cry.

"Dakota, wake up."

I opened my eyes and squinted. "Huh?" I demanded, sitting up.

"Hey baby," Adam greeted.

"Adam," I said softly, tears building yet again.

"Dakota," he said softly.

I took in a shaky breath. "I am so sorry for all this..."

He smiled. "What? This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is. I shouldn't have let you play with the guys, I shouldn't have taken you out yesterday, we shouldn't have been having sex...there was so much I could've done to make sure this didn't happen."

Adam pulled me close to him. "Don't talk like that. I don't regret anything we've done together, Dee. You should know that. If you don't, I haven't been a very good husband."

I shook my head. "No, you're perfect."

"I'm just a little weak. I guess I just pushed myself a little too hard."

"You're really ok?"

He reached over and grabbed his chart off the table beside him and handed it to me. "You tell me."

I flipped it open and read through all of the information. "Oh, you had Dr. Marks in the OR, he's good. It says here you had an irregular heart beat and they took some fluid from your spinal cord for tests."

"See," Adam pointed out. "I'm gonna be fine."

"But is this how it's gonna be? You passing out when you push yourself too hard?"

"I don't know," he said softly.

I nodded. "I'm just so scared..."

"I know you are baby," Adam said softly. "I am too."

A knock sounded at the door and Dr. Marks stuck his head in. "Dakota, may I have a word?"

I nodded and got up, but not before placing a soft kiss to Adam's fingertips. "I'll be right back."

I left the room and shut the door behind me, and Dr. Marks led me down the hall where we sat down on one of the benches.

"I just wanted to let you know what happened," Dr. Marks explained. "Adam's heartbeat was irregular, so we opened him up to find out what was causing it. It's alarming that Adam has had such a reaction to starting the chemo again. It's not good he's back in hospital."

I nodded.

"And we took some spinal cord fluid for tests, and some bone marrow, so we won't know anything concrete until we get the results."

"Ok," I told Dr. Marks.

He nodded. "I'm doing all I can, Dakota."

"When can he come home?"

"That's undetermined. It's best to keep in here for a little while, just so we can be sure nothing like this happens again." Dr. Marks stood up.

I followed suite. "Thanks sir. I really appreciate all the help."

He smiled again. "Just take care of him."

I nodded and he walked off, and I made my way back into Adam's room. "Doesn't look good," I said softly, my lower lip trembling.

Adam didn't say anything.

I sat back down in my chair and watched Adam's heart monitor as it dropped a number.

I said a silent prayer and took my husband's hand.

Now all we had to do was wait.