3. Cwtch - a hug, the safe place provided by a loved one (Welsh)

Valentine's Day, 2004

Pam could hardly keep her eyes of the front desk phone as she ate lunch at her desk. Wednesday evening Roy's father suffered a heart attack. She and Roy both took Thursday off and spent the day at the hospital, but today Pam decided to come to in an attempt to take her mind off things. So far it hadn't work, her hand shook slightly each time she answered the phone and she knew her nervousness could be heard in her voice.

She glanced up to the clock, it was 12:50 and the doctor was supposed to go over test results with Roy's family around lunchtime. A ring sounded and she answered so fast she nearly dropped the receiver, sighing a little when it was just a client asking for Customer Service. She transferred the call and turned to Jim, who had kept a concerned eye on her the whole day, shrugging to signal there was still no news.

The phone rang a moment later and Pam lifted up the receiver. "Dunder Mifflin."

"Hey babe," Roy said in an unenthusiastic tone.

"Hey." She glanced at Jim before turning in her seat and lowering her head.

Roy sounded fairly calm as he recounted to Pam that although his dad's heart attack wasn't severe, the tests showed he had plaque buildup and the doctor wanted to perform bypass surgery within the next couple months.

"Pammy," Roy said, taking a deep breath, "I was thinking, helping with his recovery and trying to plan a wedding for summer..."

"Yeah, it might be too much," she said reluctantly.

"Maybe springtime would be good."

Pam bit her lip, "Maybe, let's talk about it later. You go be with your family."

"Okay, love you," Roy said.

"Love you too," Pam replied in small voice. She set down the receiver and blinked back the tears. There were a couple envelopes in the send box, and she grabbed them and stood up, not looking at the tall figure walking towards her desk. "I'm just gonna run these down," she said, ignoring Jim softly calling her name as she walked briskly to the door.

Pam had no idea how long she was in the stairwell before she heard a door creak open. She dabbed her eyes with her sleeve, then looked up to see Jim descending the stairs. He gave her a small smile, "Michael sent a search party. I suggested to Dwight he establish a 50-yard perimeter around the building while I sweep the inside."

She let out a soft chuckle, "Thank you." Jim took a seat next to her, and with one glance at his worried face, Pam no longer tried to hold back the tears. "Um, I guess they want to perform bypass surgery in the near future. It's a long recovery and Roy thinks it's best to delay the wedding," she let out a scoff, "again." Her chin then trembled and she lowered her head. A crumpled tissue appeared in her vision and she laughed and took it to wipe her nose. "I'm so mad at myself," she said after moment.

"Why?" Jim asked.

"Because Roy's dad needs major surgery and I'm more upset about a wedding that I've barely even started to plan."

"You're allowed to be upset about that," Jim said softly.

"And you know me, I get in my head and start to wonder how long he's been wanting to delay it and if it's really his dad's surgery or if he just don't want to marry me and why doesn't he want to marry me and..." she looked up to Jim, "and I just need someone to tell me to snap out of it."

Keeping his warm hazel eyes locked with hers, Jim raised his arm and put it around her shoulder. "Beesly, snap out of it," he said in a faux-serious tone that made Pam laugh softly, and his expression melted into a smile.

"You're my best friend, you know that?" Pam said quietly.

Jim gave her shoulder a squeeze, "You're my best friend too."

Pam lifted her arms and wrapped them around Jim's neck, resting her head on his shoulder. He embraced her around her middle and she smiled; Jim gave good hugs.

They sat back, her hands still on his shoulders and his still on her waist. Jim stared at her a moment, before he gave her a half-grin, "So, Dwight's probably still combing the grounds outside, you wanna come help me replace all of his office supplies with Valentine's candies?

She gave him a nod, and he stood and took her hand to help her up. "You should replace his post-it's with Valentine cards," she said as they climbed the stairs.

Jim opened the stairwell door, "One step ahead of you, Beesly, I have packs of SpongeBob, Hello Kitty and Looney Tunes valentines in my desk."

Pam giggled and she walked alongside Jim to the Dunder Mifflin entrance, nodding and smiling as he told her which supplies he wanted to replace with which candies. All the while she thought about how lucky she was to get to work with her best friend.