The next morning Danielle was improving, no doubt about that.

When Cassian entered the sealed lab at exactly 8 in the morning, he couldn't figure out who was talking. The curtain was pulled tight around Danielle's bed, it hadn't been the night before, and he was about to pull it aside when he decided to announce himself.

"Are you awake?" he called out.

"Just a sec."

It wasn't Danielle that answered. It was Edward.

Two seconds later he pulled the curtains aside and welcomed Doctor Cassian inside.

"What have you been up to?" he asked and looked at Danielle who was completely covered by a blanked.
"We were in the middle of administering a morning bath. Our patient woke up with a sudden urge to wash up."

Edward smiled at Danielle then he looked back at Cassian.

"Personally, I consider that very good news. Ebola patients rarely get consumed by personal hygiene issues."

"You're right," Cassian added:
"Usually they're too busy being sick."

He smiled at Danielle.

"I think I'll leave you to it then," he said and touched her arm:
"I'm glad you're feeling better."

She smiled.

"Thank you."

When Cassian pulled the curtains shut behind him she looked up at Edward again. Her eyes were still bloodshot, but her skin was beginning to return to a healthy pink color instead of the shaded black color it had before, and she looked wonderful in Edwards' eyes.

"Well," he said:
"Where were we?"

He rolled the blanket away from her legs and reached for the sponge that was soaking in hot soap water.

"Which leg did we do?" he asked.

"Are you checking my memory?" she said with a smile.

"Maybe."

He smiled at her.
"So?"

"We did the left leg – but only up to the knee."

Edward smiled.

"Then we better finish that leg before we start on the other one, won't we?"

She nodded and enjoyed the feeling of the hot sponge against her skin. This was by far the best bath she had ever gotten.

Edward was eating his breakfast in the conference room when Kimberly entered. She sat down at the other end of the table and looked at him. There was something in her smile, the expression on her face.

"What?" Edward finally uttered:
"I can see that you are dying to tell me something. So, what is it?"

Kimberly smiled even brighter.

"She's recovering."

She looked at Edward.

"The new batch of tests proves it. She is recovering."

Edward still didn't say anything.

"She's gonna make it Edward, do you understand?"

He raised his head and looked at her.

"I'm not stupid you know?"

"No," Kimberly replied:
"You're just a little hard of hearing some times."

They looked at each other for a second, then burst into a common laughter.

"I told you she was gonna make it. Of course she was gonna make it."

Edward sounded strange and Kimberly got up and walked to him. She sat down on the edge of the table and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What is it Edward?"

He shook his head.

"I can't stay here."

He pushed his half eaten breakfast away:
"If I stay here – with her – it will happen again. Only next time it won't be Ebola. It'll be something else, something I can't cure."

He looked at Kimberly.

"I will not watch her die. I won't."

Kimberly shook her head.

"Of course you won't. Something like this will never happen again."

Edward got up so abruptly that he knocked his chair over.

"You're damn right it won't. I'll make sure of that."

He walked out of the conference room and Kimberly hurried after him.

"What are you talking about Edward? You're not making any sense."

He looked at her.

"Oh, I'm making a lot of sense."

He pushed the elevator button.

"Edward, what are you doing?"

Kimberly stepped in front of him to get his attention.

"I'm gonna go upstairs, pack my things and drive home. The further away from Danielle I get, the greater chance she has of surviving."

"Edward, she's recovering from Ebola. She needs you to be here."

Edward sighed.

"Don't you think I know that? Don't you understand that I would be by her side every day for the rest of my life if I could? But I can't. Not when it means risking her life."

He walked into the elevator and pushed the up-button. He caught Kimberly's eyes just before the doors closed.

"I can't stay Kim. I want to but I can't."

Then the doors closed and Kimberly heard the elevator move up. She shook her head. What was going to happen to Danielle when she found out about Edwards' decision? How were they ever going to find a way to tell her? She walked down the hall. She had to find Doctor Cassian.

Doctor Cassian was pacing back and forth behind his desk when Michael entered the office. Kimberly who was sitting in one of the deep chairs in front of the desk turned her head and looked at him.

"Did you catch him?"

Michael shook his head.

"Sorry. He'd already left the compound."

He looked at Cassian.

"I can send a couple of agents to pick him up at home."

Cassian shook his head.
"That won't be necessary."

He sat down behind the desk and hid his face in his hands.

"What are we going to tell Danielle?" Michael said:
"She's not going to be happy about the news."

Cassian slammed his hands in the table.

"And that is precisely why we are not going to tell her anything."

"What?"

Kimberly looked at him, suddenly aware of what he was saying.

"We can't lie to her Doctor Cassian."

"Maybe not Kimberly. But we can't tell her the truth either."

Kimberly opened her mouth to respond but Cassian cut her off.

"Miss Campbell is still a very sick young woman. Any negative influence could set her recovery back or maybe even cause the Ebola to gain a stronghold again. She needs a strong will to survive and I know that telling her the truth about Edward will break that will."

Michael had decided to join the debate and looked at Cassian.

"We have to tell her something. Edward hasn't left her side since we got back. She's not stupid. She'll wonder where he's gone to."

Cassian nodded.

"You're right."

He leaned back in his chair.

"We'll have to tell her that he's on an assignment."

"That could work," Kimberly said to herself.

"If it's going to work," Michael said:
"Then Kimberly and I have to leave as well."

Both Cassian and Shiroma looked at Michael.

"She knows we are a team. There is no way she is going to believe that Edward left on assignment alone. But if only Cassian is left, then it really could work."

Cassian nodded.

"You're right. It has to be done that way."

He stood up.

"Michael, Kimberly, as of now the downstairs facility is off limits for the both of you."

He pointed to the door.

"I suggest you pack your things and go home for some downtime."

"What about our patient?" Kimberly said just before exiting the door.

"Don't worry about her," Cassian replied:
"I'll make sure she has the best care possible. She'll be back on her feet in no time."

Kimberly had paused in the door. She looked worried. Cassian shook his head.

"Doctor Shiroma. Go home. Leave the worrying to me."

She hesitated for a second; then she nodded farewell and left the office. Cassian sighed. Now it was up to him to make a white lie sound plausible in the ears of a sick young woman.

Half an hour later, Doctor Daniel Cassian went to check on Danielle. She seemed to be asleep but opened her eyes when he bent over her bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cassian said:
"I didn't mean to wake you."

Danielle smiled.

"That's alright. I wasn't really sleeping."

She looked at Cassian as he stood there in his bio-suit.

"How much longer will it be necessary for you to wear that?"

Cassian smiled.

"A couple of days, until we've made sure the Ebola is regressing. Then facemasks and surgical gloves will do for the remainder of the time."

"Which is?"

Cassian looked confused at the question.

"Which is what?" he said.

Danielle looked impatient.

"When am I going to be able to leave this place?"

Cassian was checking her eyes while answering.

"You're going to leave this place in a couple of weeks. We're going to put you up somewhere else for your physical rehabilitation."

"And how long will that take?"

Cassian stopped examining her vitals and concentrated on the conversation instead.

"We won't know for at least a week how weakened your physical state has gotten. But all things taken into consideration, I'd say you can expect at least two or three months of our hospitality."

Danielle leaned back against the pillow and sighed.

"God, I won't have a life to return to when you're done with me."

Cassian tried to comfort her.
"Try not to worry. We'll do everything we can to make sure you can return to your normal life when this is over."
"Nothing is ever going to be the same," she whispered:
"Not after this."

She stared into the ceiling for a second.
"Where is Edward?"

The question had come so suddenly that Cassian almost dropped what he was holding. He was lucky he had his back turned to Danielle, because at that very second she could have read his face like an open book.

He turned around and looked at her.

"Edward is on assignment with Michael and Kimberly. There is a crisis situation in Costa Rica we have to deal with."

"When will he be back?"

Cassian shook his head.

"I don't know. I'm going to join them in a couple of days to assess the danger."

Danielle stared at him.

"But if you're leaving, then what's going to happen to me?"

Doctor Cassian smiled.

"Don't you worry about that. I've called on a team of specialists, some of them have been my personal friends for years, and they are going to help you in any way they can."

"Do I really need an entire team to help me?"

Danielle looked surprised.

Cassian checked her pulse.

"Only the best for you Miss Campbell. We're all very determined to get you through this as smoothly as possible."

He looked at her.

"So," he said:
"How are you feeling?"

"I'm hungry," she replied.

Cassian laughed.

"Good. That's a good sign. That means your vitals are returning to normal."

Danielle smiled.

"As good as that sounds, it doesn't make me any less hungry."

"Sorry," Cassian said:
"I have to keep you on IV nutrition for a couple of days more. Your system is not ready for real food just yet."

Danielle leaned back.

"Then I'll just have to dream about food."

Cassian smiled.

"You do that. I'll come back and check on you later."

He touched her arm as he had done that same morning.

"Get some sleep," he whispered.

Then he left and Danielle was alone again.

Cassian watched Danielles transfer to the rehab facility from his car. He didn't have the nerve to announce himself.

He hadn't talked to Danielle in two weeks, and he was sure she was more than a little curious about news from Edward. There had been an assignment in the time that had passed, but it had only lasted a couple of days, and the rest of the time, Edward had spent at home. Michael and Kimberly had tried to convince him to visit Danielle on more than one occasion and even Cassian had made an effort to turn Edward around. But Edward was not only a brilliant and gifted virologist, he was also terribly pig headed, and nothing they had said so far had managed to win him over. He was convinced that what he was doing was the only thing to do, the right thing to do.

Cassian had driven directly from his visit at Edwards' apartment to the Mansion to see if Danielle's transfer went without problems.

As he sat there in his car, his mind wandered and he thought about Edwards' reasons for staying away from Danielle. When he thought about them in a concentrated way they didn't make any sense, but when he added Edward to the equation it all made sense.

Edward truly knew the meaning of the saying, to have loved and to have lost.

He loved his parents as every child does, and he lost them both to one of man's most dreaded enemies, the plague for which there is no cure.

Then he lost his grandfather, the only family he had left in the world, the person who had returned the boys faith in love and happiness.

Edwards way of fighting back was to become a virologist and actively fight the plagues that caused other children to grow up without parents as he himself had been forced to.

And what happened next? He lost his best friend to the same plague. Doctor Allen Covell was Edwards's partner in crime, he was his Siamese twin. The two virologists had been friends for years and it was natural for Allen to follow Edward to Africa, a trip that Edward survived and Allen didn't. Edward felt guilty; a guilt that was multiplied when he first met Kimberly and realized that she had been Allen's fiancée.

And now, when he finally fell in love for real, what happened?

The woman he thought he would spend the rest of his life with was almost killed by the same disease that had killed all the loved ones in his life. Of course he was scared, it was natural.

The Ebola had been a part of Edwards' life since he first contracted it in Zaire in 1976. He knew it like an old travel companion. But he probably never thought that it would haunt the people surrounding him in his own private sphere. He never thought the disease would be that personal after his parents died.

When Cassian thought about it that way, the Ebola almost contracted a personality.

It became a powerful evil entity that only had one goal - to rob Edward of everything good in life, rob him of any love that could come his way.

When he thought about it that way, Edwards' actions made sense. But that didn't mean he had to agree with them. He felt sorry for Edward. Even more sorry than he did for the young woman who stared out of the rear window of the car that passed him outside the fence. Her face was empty, it had no expression. They still hadn't told her anything about Edwards' decision, but her expression told him she knew. She knew all to well.

It was sometime in December that the team was assembled in Cassians office to evaluate a previous mission and Cassian pulled Edward aside when the meeting was over. He showed him a videotape.

"There's something I want you to see."

Edward looked at him.

"I haven't heard anything about a new crisis."

"It isn't about a mission."

He bid Edward to sit down and put the tape in the VCR. He made sure that Edward was watching the TV, then he pressed the play button.

Edward froze when the image appeared on the screen. It was Danielle, doing her physiotherapy at the facility they had moved her to right outside Washington D.C. She was training, walking a line between two bars fighting to get her legs to move.

"Her legs don't seem to be improving," he whispered.

Cassian shook his head.

"She's trying. She's trying harder than you'd think, but without something to fight for, she's fighting a lost battle."

Edward looked at Cassian.

"She does have something to fight for. She has her life, her friends, her daily routines."

"But that's not what she wants Edward."

He looked at him.

"Won't you please go see her?"

Edward shook his head.

"I'm not the begging kind of man Doctor Marcase."

Cassian looked at him:
"But in this case I'll make an exception. She needs to see you."

Edward Marcase shook his head again.

"No," he whispered and got up.

"It's too dangerous."

Before Cassian could say another word Edward left the office. Michael was waiting for him outside.

"So?" he said.

Edward looked sad.

"I don't think she's ever gonna walk again. Not with the progress she's had."

"So he showed you the tape?"

"You knew about it?"

Michael nodded.

"Knew about it? I made it. We hoped it would win you over."

Edward started walking.

"Sorry you had to go through all that trouble."

He pulled out something from the inside pocket in his leatherjacket and handed it to Michael. It was a small square box wrapped in red paper.

"Would you get this to Danielle for me?"

Michael took the box.

"I would prefer if you gave it to her yourself."

He looked at Edward.

"But I guess that's not going to happen."

He looked at the box.

"Sure, I'll get it to her. Do you want me to wish her a merry Christmas as well?"

When he looked up again, Edward was gone. He had left without Michael noticing it. He looked out the window where he could see Edward hurry across the plaza. To Michael he looked like a running man. A running man without a clue as to what he was actually running from.