"Max, how could you not tell me?"

Again, silence was all she got in return. Max covered his face in his hands and rubbed up and down hoping this was not actually happening right now.

"Well, there is no conning you." He could not think you what to say to her that she would accept.

"How long have you known?" Helen traded her disapproving look for a caring one.

"Three months." No point in lying anymore.

"Three months?" It fit with his odd daycare drop off schedule. "That means…" She trailed off.

He waited for her to find her answer not wanting to be the one who told her the hard truth.

"Why didn't you come to me? Who have you been seeing?"

"Dr. Robbins." Helen fell silent this time. "Not like I was going to let Dr. Stauton kill me again and as good of a doctor as Valentina is, it just didn't feel right. I don't trust her."

"Clearly you don't trust me either." Helen sank back into the couch with her arms crossed.

"I do trust you. That's the thing, I trust you more than anyone in my life."

"Then, why not come to me Max? I'm your friend, aren't I?"

"You're more than just my friend—" He trailed off thinking he might've said too much. "It's just that last time… Last time you said I had to pick between you being my friend and deputy medical director and you being my doctor. You said I had to choose. So, I did. I didn't want to lose you again." Dr. Sharpe wasn't stopping him so he continued, "I thought if I kept it a secret, you could still be my friend and deputy medical director without burdening you with my treatment."

"But in doing so, we did lose our friendship, Max." She paused allowing for him to contemplate this. "You've been lying to me this whole time, keeping secrets, avoiding me. Friends do not do that."

"I'm sorry. I thought keeping this from you was protecting you and our friendship from the pain of cancer."

"I love you Max, I really do, but you really are clueless sometimes. You spend so much time helping others and yet when you're the one who needs help, you don't know how to ask for help…You know when you came here, I was scared to be a doctor. I was scared to see another one of my patients die. I was too high on my horse to ask for help, and yet you helped me anyway. You helped me see what truly matters and rekindled my passion for medicine. It is because of you that I am here today still saving lives instead of being Dr. Helen on every live gimmicky talk show. I have you to thank for that, Max."

Max smiled back at her but still did not speak.

She continued, "Now, it is mine turn to return the favor. You won't ask for help so I'm just going to help you whether you think you need it or not. Do you trust me?"

Max looked up again, "Of course I do."

"Good. Now, if you wish to have Dr. Robbins conduct your treatments going forward that is fine, I will however, be checking in with him because I can't have him kill our Medical Director, now can I?"

Finally, a laugh. Sharpe got Max to laugh.

"Second, you will not be running around in secret anymore. No more lies. If you're friends want to know what's wrong or want to help you, you will tell them and accept the help. Sorry to tell you, but you're no Captain America. You're a single father raising a one-year daughter without her mother while acting as Medical Director for one of the busiest hospitals in the country. Accept the help."

"Yes, doctor." Max saluted her.

"Can you do that? Can the great Max Goodwin ask for help?"

"I think I can. I'll try at the very least." She sighed but his charm smile could always get her feeling better.

"Come here," Helen stood up and opened her arms for a hug.

The two of them embraced for the first time in a long time. With that hug, she felt like she had her friend back and Max felt a weight so large drop from his shoulders. He had been fighting this war alone. Not anymore. Hugging Sharpe, he knew he would be okay. She would make everything be okay.

They parted from the hug and Max said, "You're wrong, though." Sharpe's jaw dropped, but he continued, "You once said I am all the above. I choose to save everyone and cannot say no. Though, the truth is you are all the above. No one, but you would have had the brains to figure out my secret and then the courage to stand up to me not to mention to shame a dying man into revealing his truth and pain all in an act to unburden himself."

"Hey, that doesn't sound very good," she said playfully hitting his arm.

"But it is." He grapsed both of her shoulders as he spoke, "Only you care enough to look out for the ones who care for others. I know I can lose myself in saving others. I am reminded all the time that we don't have enough money, resources, or manpower to save everyone, but I try. I try to push the boundaries because no one else has. Though in doing so, as you politely stated, I am clueless on how to ask for help myself. While I am busy saving others, you're the one saving me." He finished with a deep sigh and a smile. "I may be in charge, but I'd be nothing without you. You are all the above."

Dr. Sharpe used her pointer fingers to blot her teary eyes before those tears could escape. "Okay, okay. Before this gets any sappier, we need to hook you back up to your chemo. Can't have you say all those nice things and then die one me."

Max smiled as he showed her where he had hidden his chemo bag. She helped him reconnect his drip and situated himself back on the couch.

"You know I will forever hate myself for letting you think you were so smart in hiding all of this. Like really a heated eye mask? Mouthwash? 6am chemo treatment? I think I was subconsciously letting you get away with it hoping you didn't have cancer again."

"Whatever you say, Sherlock." Max closed his eyes and rested back on to the couch.

Sharpe covered him with the blanket and stood over him as he fell back into a slumber. She gazed at his sunken face and sallow skin, a victim of cancer yet again. She treated patients with cancer every day. They were the toughest people she had ever met. She just hoped Max's toughness did not extend to asking for help. Although he promised to embrace help, she still wasn't sure if he would. She loved him and couldn't imagine this hospital or her life without him. It was up to her, as he had said, to save him from himself.