After convincing Darcy to let me go in alone, I finally entered Clare's room. She ly on her hospital bed curled into a ball, facing the wall with a blank stare. This was a surprise to me, I hadn't recalled her treatment affecting her so fast and so drastically last time around. As I walked in her eyes averted to me, and a weak smile spread across her face. I sat down on her bed, slowly brushing her bangs out of her face. "How are you feeling baby?" I choked out.

She weakly shook her head no, tears trickling down her cheek. "It hurts Eli."

My breath caught, and my body began to tingle. The feeling in my legs began to fade away, and amid my many thoughts, I acknowledged the one in the back of my mind that I might pass out. I breathed out "It's going to be ok." So low that I wasn't sure if Clare could really hear me. Maybe I was saying it more for myself. She frowned, forcing herself to lift her arm so that she could caress my cheek with her thumb. I held my face tightly together to keep it from scrunching into an ugly cry face, but that only made it appear like I was half laughing. As the sobs finally escaped my mouth, they actually did sound like I was holding in a laughter. That caused Clare to raise an eye brow in confusion, but When a tear ran over Her thumb her eyes fell in understanding.

She dropped her hand from my cheek, and closed her eyes, "Eli it's ok. Please don't."

I dropped my face into my hands sobbing. It wasn't fair, God it was actually down right cruel. I knew that I was being weak, and that the only thing my tears were accomplishing was scaring Clare even further, but no matter what rational thought ran through my head, all I could do was cry. It was like the realization that my wife, the love of my life, was dying for no reason other than because, finally began to sink in, and I was destroyed by it. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders, slowly pulling me off of the bed. I let them drag me out of the room without protest, as I continued to cry. If Clare had called out for me to stay I wouldn't have known. My eyes were so clouded by tears, and my mind was so hazy I couldn't even decipher the person dragging me out. When the door shut behind me, I fell to my knees, letting my face fall back into my hands. I screamed into them, my words coming out muffled. "Why! God why her."

I felt the the same pair of arms wrap around me. "Eli, she's gonna be alright. Man stop it. Be strong for her, for Adam!"

I pushed off of his chest, I knew that voice anywhere, it was Zig. "What the hell are you doing here. Leave, leave now!" My chest was heaving, and I wiped the tears from my eyes. It was easy to gear my anger towards him, as long as I didn't have to focus on Clare. That was too painful.

"No. I'm not going anywhere. I want to help you and Clare Eli, I care about her too. Let me help."

I scoffed. "Help? Help with what, trying to take our son? Screw you, you don't need to be here at all right now."

Zig shook his head, "I'm not taking him."

The anger began to fade from my face as I began to comprehend his words. "What?"

Zig looked down at the floor, "I was wrong. The way I went about things wasn't right, I should have tried to work things out with you and Clare. Adam was frightened the night of the wedding, he was scared for his mother, and you were the only thing that could calm him down. In that moment I knew I had to stop this whole mess. He's going to need you more than ever now, who am I to take him away from you? He's your son." Zig looked back up at me, with tears threatening to fall. "I came to let Clare know, but I can see she isn't feeling well, so I'll let you tell her. Eli if you need anything. You know."

I stared at him, for what felt like hours, trying to find the words to express the respect I felt for him in that moment. Knowing I didn't have to worry about fighting for Adam, knowing that she didn't have to, it felt like a ton of bricks had been pulled off my chest. Even as Zig walked passed me, I still didn't know what to say. I turned around grabbing his arm, and his eyes widened in confusion. I opened my mouth to speak, but my words wouldn't come out. I pulled him into a hug, patting his back. "You don't have to say it, i know." He stated. Zig pulled away, his face free of emotion. "Tell Adam I'll see him soon, and that Uncle Zig loves him, very much. Please." I nodded. "And can you tell Clare I'm sorry for crashing the wedding, but congrats." I nodded again, watching him walk away.

Still in a bit of shock I turned back around to enter Clare's room, excited to give her some good news, but the nurse grabbed my attention. "Mr. Goldsworthy, may I speak to you a moment?"

I took a step toward her, putting my hands in my pockets. "Of course, is something wrong?"

She gave me a weak smile, that quickly turned to a frown. "Well, I just wanted to talk to you about your wife for a moment. I'm sure you noticed she's in a great amount of pain."

I nodded. "Yes, I don't understand. Clare wasn't sick like this before, at all."

The nurse put her hand on my shoulder, "This is a different cancer, a much stronger one. Not to mention she's in stage 3. The amount of treatment she needs is significantly greater than last time, and even that may not be enough. Sometimes these treatments do more harm than good"

I stepped back, shaking my head in anger. "She just started her treatment, no way in hell am I going to let you people start talking like that already. You don't know my wife, she's going to pull through no matter how much harder it's going to be than before."

The nurse clasped her hands together, "I just want you to be prepared for the likely outcome, for your sake and your lovely son's."

I looked down at the floor, and then back up at her. "Is it possible, that she can make it?"

She hesitantly responded. "Of course."

I half smiled, "Then you worry about your job, and leave the rest up to my wife."

I walked away from her and into Clare's room, practically throwing myself on her bed. She was sitting up watching Tv, her face paler than when I had left the room. "Eli, are you ok? What did Zig want?" She dryly asked.

I gently wrapped my arm around her, "Clare he's not going to try and take our son. Also, Darcy is here. She wanted to surprise you, so act surprised when she springs in here. I just wanted to give you fair warning, I need you stress free." Her shallow breathing began to pick up, concerning me. "I didn't mean to stress you out. Clare I'm so sorry, Should I get the nurse?"

She lightly laughed, "No, no. I'm very happy." As she said the words, her face told me another story.

I gently pulled her face towards me, pressing my forehead to hers. "Tell the truth."

She closed her eyes. "I don't want to die."

I winced in pain, but quickly shook her words off. "Hey." She slowly opened her eyes. "Where are you?"

She weakly smiled, "I'm right here, with you"

I kissed her nose, "As long as you're with me, it's going to be ok. I love you."

"I love you too." She breathed.