"Does Kenny know?" Jimmy asked, sounding a lot more calm then he felt.

Max shook her head. "He left before I could tell him. Now . . . I can't not tell him. I just have to find him first."

"You're having a baby," Jimmy replied. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure about anything anymore," Max said softly. "I'm having it though."

"Have you thought about this? You're going to be a single parent, Max. That is a big responsibility."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"Yes," Max insisted. "I'm not doing this lightly, Jimmy. I don't know anything about kids, or being a mother. I can learn though . . . whether it's by myself or not."

"You won't be alone in this," Jimmy promised, as he fought the urge to hug her.

"I don't even know where to find him," Max replied softly. "I've tried so many hospitals, and his parents aren't answering their phone."

Jimmy watched her, as she turned away from him. "Joey won't tell you where he went?"

"Doctor patient confidentiality," Max replied bitterly. "I'm not giving up on finding him though. I need to."

"It doesn't sound like he wants to be found," Jimmy offered. "Max, he walked out on you. Why would you want to?"

"Because it's Kenny," Max trailed off, swallowing back her tears. "And as pissed as I am at him . . . I love him. I've been in love with him for a long time, and I'm not going to give on us."

"You've only been dating for a few months," Jimmy countered. "He doesn't deserve you after what he has done."

"He has cancer."

"That isn't what made him walk out on you."

"He thought he was doing it for me. That it would make my life easier if I didn't have to deal with him being sick. I told him over and over that it wouldn't."

"Let's say you get back together," Jimmy stated. "And he pulls through this. What happens next time something horrible happens? Does the whole relationship fall apart again? And there would be a child involved too. Is that what you want for your baby, Max? Obviously something wasn't working for it to end like this."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Max shot back. "Just because your marriage fell apart, doesn't mean that my relationship is over too."

"Look around you! Your boyfriend left you alone and pregnant! That makes it look over to me!"

"He didn't know!"

"Would it have made a difference?"

Max paused, as her thoughts drifted back to her and Kenny's last conversation. "I don't know."

"Isn't better that he knows?"

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"I suppose," Jill agreed. "He was so mad though, not that I blame him. I never thought I would do something like this, and he apparently never did either. I need to talk to him."

"Do you think that he is going to want to talk?"

"No, but we need to figure out what we're going to tell the kids. They're old enough to understand, but it's still going to be a shock."

"Are you going to leave him? For me?"

"We can't go back now," Jill replied, as she wrapped the sheet more tightly around her body. "Can we make this work? In public, as a real relationship?"

"Oh Jill," she sighed, "This is all I ever wanted."

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"Max," Jimmy replied a bit more gently. "Listen, both of us have had some shocks lately. We should just forget this conversation ever happened."

"That's probably a good idea," she agreed. "Um, I'm going to get back to work."

"Wait. You may not be able to drink, but are you for some commiserating? Matthew and Zach are away at hockey camp, and Kim is visiting Lydia. I could use the company, and you shouldn't be alone either."

"Okay," she finally agreed. "I'll see you tonight."

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"This is nice," Kenny commented, as he looked around the clinic. "Uh, thanks for having me."

"We're here to help," Dr. Chalmers replied with a nod. "I've reviewed your charts and scans, and I've set up a treatment plan for you. We're going to start tomorrow, and I'll be by in an hour to go over it with you. Get yourself settled, and I'll be back."

"Thanks," Kenny replied, looking around the room. He pulled a picture out of his pocket, as he sunk down onto the hospital bed. It's for the best, he thought, as he looked down at the image of Max and himself. I couldn't do this to her . . . I would have lost her eventually anyway. She wouldn't have stayed, and she shouldn't have to. It's for the best . . . shit. I miss her. If I could just kiss her one more time, hold her . . . no. We're done, and she probably hates me anyway. Good, it'll make her move on faster.

"You look comfortable," Tom noted, as he joined his son. "What's that?"

"Nothing," Kenny insisted, as stuffed the picture back in his pocket. "Just getting comfortable."

"Call her," he suggested. "She's worried about you."

"Have you talked to her?"

"She's looking for you," Tom admitted. "She left a message at the house, but we didn't call her back. She won't give up on you."

"She has to," Kenny countered. "I'm not going to give her a choice. It's for Max's own good."

"You're in love with this woman."

"That isn't the point. I'm dying Dad, and I'm not taking her with me."

"You're not going to die. That's why we're here."

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

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"Thanks for nothing," Max replied, as she hung up the phone, "Argh. This is hopeless."

"Sit down," Jimmy ordered, pointing toward the couch. "You should be off your feet."

"I'm pregnant, not dead," she retorted, as she sunk down onto her couch. "I've been on the phone all day since I got home. I think I've called every hospital in the country by now."

"Take a break. You need to eat and rest. It's for the baby after all."

Max traced her fingers over her stomach. "It's hard to believe that there is actually a little person in there, and that it'll be coming out of me in less than six months. Shit. I'm going to need to get a bigger apartment."

"Don't worry about any of that now," Jimmy argued, as he joined her on the couch. "You have plenty of time for all of that. You just have to relax a bit, and concentrate on the good in your life right now."

"Is that what you're doing? You've had a rough few days too."

"It hasn't been easy. I don't know what I'm going to tell the kids when they get back."

"Do you know where she went?"

Jimmy shrugged. "No, but she's probably with him. Whoever that is."

"You still don't know? She didn't say?"

"No . . . Jill just walked out, and never looked back. After all of these years, I shouldn't be surprised. I walked out on Lydia."

"That was different."

"Was it?"

"I don't know what happened then," Max started, shifting on the couch so she could face him. "but wasn't that marriage over before you, uh, started things with Jill? This time . . . I was under the impression that everything was fine."

"It was, or at least I thought it was. She'd been accusing me of having an affair for a while now," Jimmy trailed off, very aware of her presence on the couch next to him. "I kept telling her I wasn't, but she didn't believe me."

"Maybe she was feeling guilty for her own discretion?" Max offered, glad to focus on something other than her own problems for the moment. "Do you think that the two of you can work it out?"

"I don't know," he replied, turning to face her. "She doesn't, and she was partly right. Max . . . I've been having these dreams lately. About another woman. It might not have been an affair, but my attention wasn't always focused on her."

"That isn't any reason for her to have an affair. Besides, everyone dreams, fantasizes. It's just a part of life."

"Do you?"

"I have," Max admitted. "Some of been more elaborate than others, but yeah. Before Kenny and me . . . well, there were some involving that."

"It's different when it's someone you know," Jimmy added. "It's almost like having an affair."

"It's a fantasy," Max argued. "It isn't real."

"It makes a difference," he insisted.

"Oh? Who have you been dreaming about then?"

"I don't want to get into this," Jimmy replied, standing up and knowing he had to move away from her now. "It isn't important."

Max smiled at him. "Okay, okay. Maybe we should just forget about both of them right now."

"You can do that?"

"Not really. It just hurts so much," she trailed off. "It's like I lost a part of myself. It's so stupid though. We were only together for six months before he got sick. It shouldn't hurt this much."

"You had been friends for long time," Jimmy offered, as he rejoined her on the couch. "And there was something between the two of you for a long time. Way before you started dating."

"Yeah."

"You're not going to stop looking?"

"No . . . I need to tell him about the baby. After that, I don't know."

"You don't think that you'll get back together?"

"Do you think that you and Jill will?"

"I don't know."

"Me either."

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"We should go out. There isn't anything to be afraid of."

"I'm the town doctor," Jill argued. "What are people going to think?"

"Did you care what people thought when you did all of those operations that you were ordered not to? When you stopped the bussing? Or when you were the mayor? Come on Jill, you've never been afraid of anything before."

"I need to tell my children first. I don't think that they're going to understand. They're going to hate me."

"They won't hate you, but they will need time to digest it. It's not going to be easy. You know that."

"I know."

"I love you, Jill, believe in that."

"I love you Rachel."