The hospital was busy as always as Hank McCoy made his rounds. He'd spent so much time in the labs that once in a while he found it necessary to wander the halls to see his work in practice. Some patients looked shocked at the sight of a fury blue man in a lab coat wandering the halls but most smiled, grateful the famous Dr. McCoy was there to help them. He greeted everyone with a smile as he made his way to his office. Stacks of paper-work were neatly set in piles on his desk, carefully organized. Taking a pen out of his drawer he sat down to work. Soon he was so engaged with his work he didn't notice two men enter his office.

"Dr. McCoy?"

Hank looked up startled and smiled.

"Chris, what can I do for you?"

Dr. Christopher Andrews came closer and motioned for the man with him to follow. "Hank, I would like you to meet..."

"Dr. David Turner," Hank finished, stepping from behind him desk and extending his hand to the other doctor. "Your reputation precedes you."

David took his hand and forcefully shook it, "I could say the same for you Dr. McCoy."

"David has transferred to our labs to finish his research." Andrews explained.

"Ah yes, experimentation on the mutant genome continues," Hanks smiled questioningly. "Rumour has it that you are working on a mutation suppressant."

David laughed, "Was, That's old news McCoy. Not to be insensitive about your condition, but that project lost my interest. Mutation is so passé. It seems like everyone and their brother is doing it."

"Indeed" Hank calmly replied.

Dr. Andrews took his beeper from his pocket, "Emergency I have to run." Andrews quickly left the office leaving the other men alone.

"I'm glad we had this chat, Hank, but I've got to fly." David headed for the door but his briefcase caught on the edge of Hank's desk and its contents spilled across the floor. "Damn!"

Hank bent down to pick up some of the lose papers. A photograph caught his attention. He picked it up in disbelief.

"Isn't she a looker?" David called when he noticed Hank was distracted by the photo.

It couldn't be. Hank thought to himself, but the resemblance was uncanny. The woman in the photo wore a small bathing suit and sunglasses on her forehead. Her brown hair framed her face as she smiled for the camera. "Oh my stars and garters," he whispered to himself. There was no denying what the picture showed. The white streaks in her hair proved it. "Who is this?" he asked looking up.

"My ex-wife, Anna. Isn't she something?"

"Why would you be carrying around a picture of your ex-wife?"

"Common Hank, look at her. She's phenomenal. I might not be able to touch any more but I can still look."

Hank shook his head, "May I ask what happened?"

"The girl is crazy. She might be a sight but living with her is another story. One day everything was fine the next she's a blubbering mess. What kind of marriage is that? I swear she needs help. I'd have put her in some kind of program but she wouldn't go. Anyway," She said grabbing the photo from Hank's hands winking, "I have to get to work. Nice to meet you Hank, hope to see you around."

"Likewise," Hank responded as his colleague left the office. He sat down behind his desk and put his head in his hands. Dr. Turner was definitely an interesting man; he could see that much by his first encounter. He wondered how on earth Anna had ended up with a man like that. Trying to put it out of his mind, Hank re-emerged himself with papers and files. Soon his mind was consumed by numbers and problems as he calculated and organized his data. He was so engrossed in his study that he didn't realize the time until there was a knock on his office door. He looked up to see his wife laughing at him.

"Hank, did you realize your shift was over two and a half hours ago?"

Hank looked at his watch and shook his head, "I'm sorry, I was supposed to meet you wasn't I?"

Cecilia laughed and sat down in a chair in front of his desk, "It's alright. I had an interesting discussion with Dr. David Turner while I was waiting."

"Oh really?" Hank shuffled his papers into their respective piles and placed what he was working on inside his briefcase, "I'm sure it must have been stimulating."

"Actually I almost felt sorry for the guy; that was until he pinched my ass on his way out."

Hank looked up in surprise, "Felt sorry for him?"

"And his ex-wife. They seem to have been through a lot."

Hank was suspicious. She couldn't have heard the same story he did, "What did he tell you?"

"That they lost two children, both miscarriages. He said it tore his marriage apart. His poor wife was so upset she withdrew from everyone and everything. He said couldn't get through to her."

"So he left her."

"Well I guess it seems that way," She paused, "Hank, you look upset. What's wrong?"

Hank shook his head trying to sort out the new details. Anna had miscarried? If this was the case then she must have lost her... He stood in realization, "I think, my dear, that there is much more to this story then one would first think. Is that everything he said?"

"Pretty much."

"Hmm..." Hank thought to himself. David must have found a way to...

Cecilia took Hanks arm and looked at him questioningly. "Are you going to tell me what you're thinking or do I have to guess?"

He sighed, "Believe me, this ordeal is something you would never guess."