I'm not even gonna bother explaining all the crazy stuff that's been going on in my life since it would take forever. Just hope this chapter is long enough with enough happening that it somewhat makes up for it.

—The Absence—

Milo was waiting for Andy when she walked back in the door. She threw one look at him before making her way over to the kitchen with him hot on her heels. ''How did it go?'' Milo asked, though he could tell from her demeanor that it hadn't gone as planned.

''She didn't show.'' Andy said as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, her other hand clenched into a fist. She had sat in the diner for what seemed like an eternity, wracking her brain trying to figure out what had gone wrong. What had changed in the hours between they had spoken and the date they had made. Her head was hurting from trying not to break down during the ride home and she wanted to cry but was sick of crying over Lu. She was sick of trying her hardest to fix things between them and still get pushed away.

Milo wasn't sure what to say. He had fully expected for things to be resolved between them and wasn't sure what to make of this, ''I'm sorry,'' he said, grabbing Andy by the arm and pulling her in for a hug. He was surprised when Andy pulled away relatively quickly. ''So, what now?''

Andy shrugged, ''Nothing,'' she said. ''She didn't show up, didn't even bother to come up with a terrible excuse as to why she couldn't make it, so… I'm done.'' She downed the whole bottle of water in one go and could feel her hands shaking, as she threw the bottle away she bit her lip, turning her back to Milo 'cause she didn't want to face him. She knew that he would look at her with a look full of sympathy and she would just break.

Ever since they had broken up she had kept everything inside, so sure that it would all be okay, but now all the emotions were bubbling up all at once and she wasn't sure she could take it. The anger, the hurt, the sadness, how disappointed with herself she felt, how royally she had fucked up…

Milo wrapped his arms around her from behind, his head resting against hers. He could hear her draw in a shaky breath, could almost feel how much she restraining herself. He knew how much she wanted to yell at Lu, finally get out what she had been keeping in for weeks. Just fight with her until there was nothing left to fight about.

It was exactly how he had felt after he and Andy had broken up. He could still vividly remember the mix of emotions coming over him like a tsunami after they had called it quits. He knew he could never hate Andy but he had gotten pretty close then.

''It's going to be okay,'' he murmured into her hair.

Andy shook her head as the first tears started falling. She turned around in Milo's arms, needing him even closer, needed to hear his heartbeat as a reassurance that he was actually there, that he would always be there. She buried her face in his chest, trying desperately to draw a full breath. Her salty tears were leaving trails on his shirt and she was clenching the fabric so hard in her fists that her knuckles were white, just needing something to hang onto.

As she finally pulled away from Milo she quickly wiped the tears on her cheeks away, not wanting to spend anymore energy on it.

''Why don't you go take a bath or something huh?'' Milo suggested. Andy nodded and ran her hands through her hair, already picturing taking some pain reliever and going to bed. ''I'll go make dinner soon and-''

Andy interrupted him as she walked off, ''I'm not hungry.''

Andy walked into the clinic early the next morning. She didn't feel ready to face another week working alongside Lu and honestly couldn't imagine how their first conversation that week was going to go, or what their relationship looking forward would look like, but she wanted to get it all over as soon as possible. Even if it was just so she could start to move past it. For weeks she had been hanging on to the idea of them getting back together but now that that had been squashed she was just ready to move on.

She hadn't slept a wink and her eyes were red and puffy, but she was ready to put on her professional façade and work until she—even if it was just for a moment—forgot everything that was going on in her life. She was getting married in a few weeks. She was expecting a child. Andy knew that this was supposed to be the happiest time of her life but felt miserable.

''Good morning.'' It was a decent attempt at sounding cheerful but she knew that her co-workers would be able to look past it. Even despite her and Lu not officially coming out about their relationship it wasn't as if it had been a secret at all.

It was just Lana and Peter standing by the front desk, the waiting room was slowly filling up with people, and there were nurses finishing up their night shift.

Andy vaguely noticed Lana following her into her office and couldn't imagine what she—as Lu's best friend—had to say. She wondered if maybe Lu had confided in Lana about what was going on, if she had maybe sent Lana to say what she didn't or couldn't say to Andy.

''Hawkins.'' Andy acknowledged as she put down her briefcase and took off her coat.

''Did you talk to Lu? How is she?'' Lana asked, not bothering with formalities.

''I haven't talked to her,'' was Andy's simple response. It took a second for Lana's second question to sink in, '''How is she?'''

''She didn't call you?''

Andy looked back at Lana as she slipped into her white coat, her eyebrows knitted together. ''No,'' she said. She had gotten a couple of calls from an unknown number—that she hadn't felt like answering—but no calls or messages from Lu had shown up. ''Did you talk to her?'' She was starting to get worried, ''Did something happen?''

''Look, all Lana knows is that Lu called me last night asking for your number. Said something about that she had forgotten or lost her phone and that she needed to get in touch with you,'' Lana said. She thought back to Lu's call the previous evening, how frantic Lu had sounded. She could see the question on Andy's face, ''I gave her your cell number.''

''She didn't tell you anything else?'' Andy asked as she slowly sat down in her chair. Her anger at Lu was slowly fading and worry took its place. Her mind was racing trying to figure out what could possibly be going on but she was drawing a blank, and in that moment all she wanted was to hear Lu's voice.

It took a little while but eventually Andy did manage to get caught up in work and put Lu on the backburner. Every time something in her personal life was troubling her, work had been the best way to get her mind off of it and it didn't fail her this time either. It wasn't until lunch time that she sat back down at her desk and she didn't have a single thing to distract her.

She leaned back in her chair and sighed. A thousand different scenarios crossed her mind and she couldn't keep herself from thinking about the worst possible things that could have happened. She had been listening to Lana cancelling Lu's appointments all morning and with each mention of Lu's name, with each reminder that she had no idea what was going on, she got sicker and sicker with worry.

For a moment she considered going down to the cafeteria to get some lunch but knew she wouldn't be able to get anything down. She snapped out of her deep thoughts when her phone rang. Unknown number. She was just about to hang up before she remembered what Lana had told her.

She hesitantly accepted the call and brought the phone to her ear, not hearing anything on the other side. ''Campbell.'' It was a fairly formal greeting but even though she hoped it was Lu she wasn't too hopeful.

''Andy?!'' Lu asked, sighing a sigh of relief. ''Thank god I finally reached you; I've called you like a dozen times.'' She wasn't surprised when Andy didn't respond, she couldn't exactly blame her. ''Look, I'm sorry about yesterday-''

''What the hell happened?'' Andy asked, interrupting Lu. She wanted to hear a damn good excuse before deciding if she even wanted to continue this conversation. ''You called me, you asked me to come to lunch, and then you just don't show up?!''

''I know, I'm sorry,'' Lu said. ''I was getting ready to leave when I got a call from the hospital here, my grandmother, Isabel, she had a brain aneurysm and…'' she swallowed hard as she tried to make everything sound a bit more coherent, ''and it burst and…'' she slowly trailed off as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The last 24 hours for her had been chaos and she couldn't get the image of how small her grandmother had looked in her hospital bed out of her mind, the sight of how much her grandmother had aged in the couple of years they hadn't seen each other had shocked her.

Andy slumped back in her chair, feeling bad for her small outburst. ''Lu…''

''I went straight to the airport, took the first flight out here,'' Lu said, ''I forgot my phone, and by the time I landed here it was already dinner time and I just… I called Marc to get Lana's number and then I called her to get your number and then when I finally had it…'' She thought back to the previous evening when every moment she could she tried to call Andy but there was no response every time.

''I didn't pick up,'' Andy filled in the blanks. She had been too tired the previous night to think of all the calls coming from an unknown number and now felt bad for not figuring it out sooner.

''Yeah,'' Lu said quietly as she leaned against the wall. She had slept at the hospital next to her grandmother's bed and was now sat in the waiting room. ''Andy…'' she felt it difficult to talk as her pent up emotions threatened to all spill out at once, ''I really did want to come yesterday, wanted to see you, talk to you…'' she wrapped one arm around herself and wished Andy was there to do that instead.

Andy felt a lump in her throat and knew she wouldn't be able to say much without crying. She blamed the pregnancy hormones despite knowing they had little to do with it. ''Me too.''

Andy stepped off the elevator into the dark corridor. Lu had explained how it would be at least a few weeks before she would come back, she first needed to see how things would go; whether her grandmother would be okay or pass away, she didn't know yet. Andy's first instinct was to fly out there too but knew that the clinic—one of the most important things in both her and Lu's life—could barely run with one doctor, she couldn't even imagine what would happen if they were both M.I.A..

She knocked on the apartment door and could hear some noises coming from inside before the door swung open to reveal Marc on the other side.

He seemed surprised to see her, ''Dr. Campbell?'' He hesitated for a second before taking a step back, silently inviting her inside. ''What're you doing here?''

''I talked to your mother earlier today; she told me what happened with Isabel. I wanted to see how you were doing,'' Andy said as she stood rather uncomfortably in the apartment, following Marc with her eyes as he went back to cooking dinner.

It had been a while since she had been in Lu's apartment and felt rather uncomfortable. Lu and she hadn't spent much time together at Lu's place, they usually just ended up back at Andy's house and with them being broken up Andy felt even more uncomfortable trying to make herself at home as Lu had invited her so many times to do. She knew that Julian lived just next door and was glad that she hadn't run into him in the hallway and couldn't help but wonder if he could hear her and Marc talking through the wall.

''I'm fine,'' Marc said with a shrug as he flipped his hamburger patty. ''I mean, I haven't seen her since she got sick a few years ago and I donated my bone marrow to her.'' That was the first time and last time he had seen her, the only other things he knew about her was stuff his mother had told him over the years.

''Did you talk to her today?'' Andy asked. She hadn't heard from Lu since their talk during her lunch break and wasn't sure if it was just because Lu knew Andy would be working or because all she wanted to do was apologize for the previous day and have that be it; no further calls necessary. With Lu not showing up she still had no idea where Lu now stood in regards to their relationship and didn't know if Lu would even call her anymore.

''Yeah she called me like an hour ago,'' Marc said as he grabbed a plate from the cupboard. ''She said that grandma isn't doing as well as they had expected and she asked me how the job search is going,'' it had been a brief conversation but he had been able to tell within seconds how taxing the whole ordeal was on his mother.

Andy nodded in acknowledgement, ''I'm surprised you didn't go with her,'' she said, sure that Lu could use the support.

Marc shrugged, ''She had already left when I came home yesterday.'' She hadn't even brought up him flying out there when they were on the phone the previous day. She had just briefly informed him what was going on and had asked for Lana's number.

''Maybe you should think about it,'' Andy urged him. She could tell that he was hesitant, ''Look, Marc, your grandmother is not doing well—she might make it, she might not. Maybe you should go so that if worse comes to worst you'll be able to say goodbye.''

Marc looked back at Andy as it slowly started to sink in what was going on. His mother hadn't been quite as upfront about the whole situation and he wasn't sure if it was because she wanted to shield him from that or because she didn't want to admit it to herself.

''I don't want you to have any regrets about this, and I'm sure your mom could use the support,'' Andy said as she watched him grab his utensils, seemingly deep in thought as he tried to process all of this. ''Look, if you need me to book you a flight or drive you to the airport or need anything else, just please let me know.''

It had taken a few days—and it had taken Isabel slipping into coma—for Marc to decide to go to Puerto Rico as well. Andy had been able to arrange everything and could relax a bit more now that she knew that Lu had Marc as support. It had been a little over two weeks and the situation seemed rather dire from what Andy had heard from Lana.

There had been radio silence from Lu since that first call and though Andy was eager to find out what was happening she had decided not to contact Lu. The last thing she wanted was for Lu to be reminded of their relationship drama whilst trying to take care of her grandmother.

The first few days had been spent trying to figure out how to run the clinic without Lu there but Andy had quickly decided to have a mix of her own patients as well as Lu's patients come in for appointments, starting earlier than usual every morning and staying later every night. She had been relying more on Peter and Lana than ever to keep things running as smoothly as possible. She had also opted to do Wednesday night clinic with Kayla's help for the time being. She had been able to settle into her new routine rather quickly though her pregnancy—despite it still being in the first trimester—wasn't making it easy.

Two and a half weeks after Lu had left, Wednesday night clinic had seemed even more hectic than the previous two Wednesdays and after following it up with a whole day of work on Thursday Andy was beat.

She was heating up the spaghetti sauce Corrina had made earlier that day for dinner later than she was used to, stirring absentmindedly as she dreaded the sound of her alarm the next morning. Milo came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back into his embrace resting her head against his chest and was tempted to close her eyes for just a moment.

''Take a seat,'' he said as he guided her to one of the barstools at the kitchen island, taking over the cooking. He looked at her with concern and knew that the past couple of weeks hadn't been easy for her. He wished he could help but there was only so much he could do, and he had never been gladder to have Corrina around to take care of Lizzy.

Andy propped her elbow up on the counter and rested her head on her hand, tempted to just close her eyes. ''How was work today?'' She asked Milo, needing something to keep her awake until dinner was ready though she wasn't hungry.

''It was okay,'' Milo said. He looked back at Andy who was trying to stretch her muscles, undoubtedly feeling a lot of tension. After a few seconds he walked over to her and started to massage her back and he could feel her relax under his touch. ''Can you believe we're getting married in a week?'' He asked somewhat absentmindedly. Time had flown by and after a lot of preparation there were only seven days left until they'd officially be wed.

''I can't wait,'' Andy said honestly though she couldn't muster sounding excited. She reached behind her and grabbed Milo's hand, wrapping his arm around her and leaning back against him. As soon as she let go of his hand he moved it down, reaching for the hem of her top and reaching under it to stroke her tummy. She was at the end of her first trimester and there was no bump yet but she knew it wouldn't take much longer. They had planned to tell everybody after they came back from their honeymoon.

Milo planted some soft kisses on the back of her neck as he unbuttoned some of the top buttons on her shirt, softly stroking the newly exposed skin. His other hand unzipped her skirt and he slipped his hand inside her panties, finding her wet for him already.

There sex life had died down so much since she had sat him down and told him what she had done. Not that they hadn't been intimate at all but it had taken him a while to be able to move past that enough that he wanted to be with her again. That, combined with how much she had been working the past few weeks, had left her very sensitive from lack of touch. She could feel his hot breath against the back of her neck, his soft lips against her skin and goose bumps formed immediately.

Though she was feeling very relaxed she also felt a lot more awake now.

His fingers dipped inside her and he started drawing slow circles around her clit, knowing this would drive her crazy. He could hear a soft moan coming from her and smiled, ''You like that?'' He asked. She nodded before laying her head back on his shoulder. His other hand pushed her bra down, massaging her breast and her eyes fluttered close.

''Mhm…'' Andy could feel him softly raking his nails over her nipples and she pushed her chest against his hand, not caring when he chuckled. ''Your hands are magic,'' she told him, pushing her ass back against his crotch.

He pulled on her taut nipple, knowing that they were even more sensitive now. He had to keep himself from moving faster, rubbing her clit harder. The slow movements would make the finish all the more intense. ''I want to bury my hard cock deep inside you,'' he whispered in her ear, ''I want to make you scream.''

''Fuck…'' It came out as a whisper as her eyebrows knitted together. She could feel tightening in her belly, a sure sign that she was close. Her hand, which had been holding on to the counter for support, found its way to Milo's thigh, trying to tap out. ''Stop,'' she said between moans as he showed no signs of stopping. It was getting to be too much.

He was sucking on her neck. Though he had no intention of taking this any further than getting her off he had grown hard and softly grinded his erection against her ass. ''You gonna come for me, baby?'' He asked, pushing up against her.

Her legs were shaking, ''No,'' she forced out as she pushed her thighs together, trying to take deep breaths to regain some control over her body. It was hard to resist this and it took all her strength to try to push his hand away. ''Oh god,'' he was unrelenting and it took her a moment to regain some of her faculties. ''We agreed that-''

''I don't care about that,'' Milo said. Yes, as punishment they had agreed that Andy wouldn't come until after they were married and though it had been weeks and he had wanted to deviate from that as pleasuring her was one of his favorite things to do, he now was completely sure he didn't care about that stupid agreement anymore. He tried to push her legs apart, giving his hand room to move, but she wouldn't let him.

''I do,'' Andy said, her hand on his wrist, not letting him move it but also not letting him pull it away. ''Look, I did the crime, I can do the time,'' she said, feeling a bit hazy. ''It's just one more week,'' she added quietly, mostly as a reminder to herself that that was how much longer she had to endure this torture. She wished that she didn't care; that she could have let Milo continue and feel okay about that, but it didn't feel right.

Milo withdrew his hand but still held her close, his hands still underneath her shirt, spreading her wetness on her belly. When he finally pulled away just a little bit she spun around on the barstool.

She could still see the tent inside his slacks and reached for his belt, undoing it despite him starting to protest. ''Let me touch you,'' she said. He tried to tell her that it was okay and she didn't need to do this but she knew it was just because he knew how tired she was. She leaned back against the counter, unbuttoning her shirt all the way down and when she looked back at him she noticed him staring at her chest. So predictable.

He closed his eyes as her hand made its way inside his boxer shorts. When he looked back at her she licked her lips and he groaned. He could feel her hand closing around the base of his dick, stroking up and down slowly. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply, secretly glad when that stopped her movements. They were so close to each other… his mind wandered back to the wetness inside her panties and he briefly contemplated pushing them to the side and just fucking her right then and there.

In his mind he could picture them crossing that finish line together. With enough concentration he could conjure up the image… how she would moan his name, how she would feel around him, how she would curse quietly until it was too difficult to remain quiet… he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to resist.

Andy had pulled her hand out of his underwear and was softly pushing him away. Without thinking about it he pinned Andy's wrists behind her. He pushed their hips together. He knew that it would push her right over the edge if he entered her and she didn't want that, but she seemed eager to please and he just wanted her so bad. He could hear her whisper his name and kissed her again. When he pulled away she looked at him hungrily and knew that she too was contemplating just going for it.

Andy's skirt had moved up a bit when she had sat down and she could feel him thrust up against her underwear. She had been so set on waiting another week; she had lasted so long and was sure that she could manage. She didn't know how it had gotten so out of hand but the thought of pushing him down on the bed and riding him until she came undone was so enticing. It wouldn't take long anyway.

She sighed a sigh of relief when the phone rang—this distraction would safe her. She could feel Milo let go of her and she buttoned up her blouse as she quickly made her way over to the phone, trying to clear her mind a bit in the few steps it took. ''Campbell.''

Milo could see the look on her face change and he leaned back against the kitchen counter. She didn't say much. It was a short phone call and when Andy hung up he just looked at her questioningly.

''That was Marc,'' Andy said, looking a bit caught off guard. ''Ehm… I have to go,'' she said and turned on her heel, Milo following closely.

''Go? Go where?'' Milo asked as he followed her up the stairs and into their bedroom.

Andy pulled a suitcase from their closet. ''To Puerto Rico,'' she said, ''Isabel has taken a turn for the worst and… I need to be there.'' She looked around the room, grabbing things that she needed to take with her, trying to focus and not let her worry over how Lu was doing distract her.

Milo was a bit lost for words. ''We're getting married in a week,'' he reminded her, his gaze following her around.

This stopped Andy in her tracks for a second; it had completely slipped her mind. She closed the suitcase, only the bare essentials in them. She gave Milo a peck on the lips, ''I'll be back.''

Andy felt nervous as she walked down the hospital corridor; both feeling like she wasn't supposed to be there and knowing that she shouldn't be anywhere else. She saw Marc standing in the hallway, getting something from a vending machine. He didn't say anything, just pointed her to a door.

Andy stood outside the door for a second, it was partially open. She could see Isabel lying in the bed, still as the monitor next to her beeped in synchronicity with her heart. Lu was only partially in view, her hands holding onto her grandmother's hand as she sat facing the door, completely oblivious to Andy, her gaze focused on Isabel.

Andy quietly stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Lu finally looked up at the sound of the door closing, freezing in place when she saw Andy.

Andy wanted nothing more than to hold Lu, try to provide some comfort as she was sure that the last couple of weeks couldn't have been easy for her—but she stopped herself. Lu opened her mouth but Andy interrupted her before she could, knowing what she would ask. ''Marc called me,'' she said, it came out almost as a whisper.

Lu stood up, she looked at her grandmother before turning around, not wanting Andy to see the tears, trying to stay strong. She could hear Andy's footsteps behind her and after a moment of hesitation she turned around and broke down in Andy's arms.