John became very involved in the lives of his children and their families. He always ate his lunch at the bar, even if he got the food somewhere else. Nora wasn't feeling well one day and called off work. She felt like she had the flu and woke up sweating. She decided to go to work on her next shift. She felt alright, but still not well. She had chills and her joints and muscles ached. Sam noticed that something wasn't quite right with his sister.

"Hey, why don't you have Frasier come pick you up?" he asked when Nora came to the bar for a drink order.

"I'm fine," Nora took the drinks to her table and went back to the bar. She placed a hand on her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

"Nora," Sam hopped over the bar, "come on, let's go in the office." Sam held onto his little sister as they slowly walked to the office. Once inside, he helped her to sit on the couch, "honey, you are not fine."

"I know," Nora was having trouble catching her breath.

"Why don't I take you to the hospital?"

"Can I just rest here and see if I feel better?"

Sam hesitated because he knew how stubborn his sister was, but also knew she needed to see a doctor. "Alright, but you have to get me if you don't feel any better or you feel worse."

"Okay," Sam helped Nora to lay down on the couch before going back to the bar.

Sam had called Frasier, John, and Martin to tell them about Nora. The three of them along with Niles, Daphne, Roz, and Diane came down to Cheers. They took up most of the stools at the bar. It was close to closing time and Nora finally came out of the office, "Hey, how are you feeling?" Sam asked.

"Sorry, I fell asleep," Nora slowly limped towards the bar. Everyone became concerned when they saw Nora's limp.

"Why don't I take you home?" Frasier walked over to his wife.

Nora nodded, "I can't take the stairs."

"That's alright, we'll take the elevator." Sam handed Nora's purse to Frasier as he helped Nora to the elevator. She had difficulty going up the two steps to the area where it was. "Tomorrow morning I'll call and make an appointment with your doctor," Frasier said as he held his wife in the elevator.

"Okay," Nora was having a hard time staying awake.

Frasier ended up carrying his wife up to bed. He kept trying to call the doctor the next day but was having trouble getting through. It was Monday, so everyone was calling from the weekend.

"Darling, just take it easy. Your father will be here soon to help," Frasier told his wife who was still in bed. Nora felt bad that she couldn't get her sons off to school this morning. She also wasn't able to lift her daughters. John stayed and helped the entire day with the children. He left after they were all asleep.

"Why do I have a feeling that you are still going to work tomorrow?"

"Because you know me so well," Nora said.

"I can't stop you, can I?"

"No, I'll be fine."

Frasier didn't believe his wife, but he knew that he couldn't stop her.

"Why are you here?" Sam asked his sister when she came in the door.

"I work today." Nora was still limping and looked a bit unsteady.

"You should be home resting and trying to get to your doctor's."

Nora ignored her brother and began working. About two hours into her shift, Nora was exhausted. "Sam, do you mind if I go lie down in the office for a little bit?"

"Sure, honey," Sam answered, "you want some help?"

"No, but can you call Frasier?"

"Yeah," Sam said and watched his sister until she had closed the door of the office before calling Frasier.

"Sam," Rebecca came into the bar, "I'm going to go work on payroll."

"Hey, Nora's laying down in there. Just try to let her rest," Sam said.

"She still not feeling well?"

"I called Frasier and he's coming to get her. Can you keep an eye on her?"

"Sure," Rebecca walked into the office but ran back out seconds later, "someone call 911!" Rebecca yelled and Sam ran to the office. He found his sister on the floor, unconscious. He tried to wake her up, but he couldn't. Frasier arrived just as Nora was being taken to the ambulance. He hopped in to ride with them and held his wife's hand the whole way there.

A few hours after Nora had arrived at the hospital, the doctor finally came out. "Family of Nora Crane," Frasier waved the doctor over.

"I'm Nora's husband," Frasier said as he shook the doctor's hand.

"Well, your wife is stable, but I have a few things I need to discuss with you."

"Everyone here is family, so you can speak to me in front of them."

The doctor took a seat opposite Frasier, "we ran several tests on Nora and found a couple of things. One, your wife has Endocarditis. That's when there is an infection in the heart's lining. In this case, it's in one of her heart valves. Now that valve needs to be replaced, and I have my staff working on getting a replacement ready. The reason Nora collapsed is that the infection in her heart wasn't treated early on, and so the infection traveled to her brain and caused a stroke. If her surgery goes well, then I expect that she will be able to recover with time." The doctor left the family in shock. Nora was only forty-seven years old. They ended up having to replace Nora's heart valve with a mechanical one. When the surgery was over, Frasier was taken to see his wife. She wasn't awake and was hooked up to machines and oxygen. She looked sickly and it made Frasier's stomach turn. Frasier sat by his wife and held her hand as he waited for her to wake up.