-----THREE WEEKS LATER-----

"Come on, Silk. You can do this!"

"No I can't," Silk sobbed from where she had fallen to the floor.

He pulled her back to her feet. "You've got to, Silk!" he snapped.

"It's no use Spot."

"We've been at this for three weeks now. We're making progress."

She pushed away from him and fell to the floor again.

"Lessa," he said, dropping to his knees beside her.

"Please Spot," she whispered, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "I can't push myself any harder." The tears rolled down her cheeks. "Just go! The only reason you're pushing me so hard is so that you can leave as soon as I can take care of myself again. Well, it's impossible. So just go ahead and leave me now!" She hung her head.

Spot stared at her for a moment before he stood and walked out of the room with a sigh.

Silk pulled her pillow off the couch and buried her face in it as she sobbed. She had hated to say that to him, but she knew if he stayed she would end up falling in love with him and then he would leave her. It was just the way he was. He had charmed countless girls all over the city and had left them as soon as he had gotten what he wanted.

As she lay there sobbing an idea came to her. Maybe if she could walk, he would love her. Just maybe he wouldn't leave her like he had all those other girls. They were married after all. But it was no use. She had told him to leave. And he had!

----------

He was drunk. He knew he shouldn't have taken that first drink, especially since it had been more than three months since he'd had anything to drink. Add to that the fact that he'd never been one to have just one drink. Yep, he was drunk.

He closed the door and turned around. He tried to cross the room, but tripped over the kitten. "Dumb cat," he slurred as he fell to the floor.

He was surprised to see Silk still on the floor, but then he remembered that when he walked out she had been laying there. He rolled onto his side and sat up, so that he could light the lamp on the table beside the couch. Once he could see, he noticed tears still on her eyelashes and her tear-stained cheeks. That was enough to sober him up instantly.

He leaned back against the couch and stared at her. Perhaps he had been pushing her too hard to learn to walk again. He really did care for her and he just wanted what was best for her. But as he watched her sleep he wondered if maybe walking wasn't what was best for her.

----------

"But I want to do this, Spot…" Silk protested the next night.

"No. You just aren't ready to try to walk yet."

She sighed. "Just last night you were pushing me beyond my limit. Now you don't want me to even try! What happened?"

"I realized last night that I was pushing you too hard, Silk. You aren't ready."

"Please, Spot…I'm begging you…help me to learn to walk again…"

-----THREE WEEKS LATER-----

Spot woke to the sound of a thump and the sound of someone vomiting. It took him a moment to realize that Silk was sick and she had tried to rush to the bathroom. She had only managed to stand by herself last night for just a minute, but she must have forgotten that she still couldn't walk.

He rolled out of bed and carried her to the washroom, where he set her on the floor next to the toilet. Feeling that she might not want him in there, he pulled the door closed and cleaned up the mess on the floor.

Maybe they were still trying to hard to get her to walk again. She hadn't been feeling well the last few weeks and had had very little energy. Once finished cleaning up the floor, he knocked softly on the door. "Silk?"

"Come on in," she replied weakly.

He leaned against the doorway and looked down at her. "I think we should go see a doctor, Silk."

She looked up at him with fear in her eyes. "No more doctors, Spot…please no more doctors…"

"But I'm worried about you…"

"I'm fine. It's just something I ate…"

"I guess I'm gonna have to put my foot down about this…"

"Please don't make me see another doctor," she cried, putting her face in her hands and sobbing.

He lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the bed. "Alright, Lessa, you win. No more doctors."

----------

Silk opened her eyes and glanced up when China Gainsworth entered the flat. China had been the leader of the Brooklyn newsies before handing them over to Spot to become Dr. Trent's wife and work as his nurse. "Did Spot ask you to come by?" Silk asked.

"Rae did…" China answered. "Spot's really worried about you, but he did as you asked and didn't talk to a doctor."

Silk sighed. "Actually, I'm kinda glad you came…I'm getting a little worried myself…"

"So tell me what's wrong." China listened as Silk talked, stopping every now and then for a few questions.

"Am I gonna die?" Silk finally asked.

China chuckled. "No, honey, nothing like that…although Spot might when he finds out…"