I know this is super sad, but it kind of annoyed me that Deacon is waiting to tell Rayna and the girls so I thought I'd play with that idea of it being too late.

##

It was just over 24-hours later when Deacon woke up drenched in sweat. He'd barely been sleeping anyway, but now his vision was blurred and he felt like he was going to throw up. He managed to get himself out of bed and into the living room. All I need is some water, he said to himself. As he entered the kitchen he felt dizzy and before he knew it he was on the floor.

Scarlett heard the sound of his body hitting the wood and ran out of her room. "Uncle Deacon!" Scarlett rushed over to him before calling 911. He had come back around before they got him in the ambulance and Scarlett held his hand as they put him in the back of the truck. "Call Rayna," he mumbled in one of the weakest voices she'd ever heard. "You need to tell Rayna and Maddie."

Scarlett was devastated, but more than that she was furious. She couldn't believe that Deacon had left this for her to do…at this moment. "I will, when we get to the hospital I'll call her." The moment they reached the emergency room they wheeled Deacon to ICU, and Scarlett stood outside to make a call that she'd hoped she would never have to make. She dialed Rayna's number but it went straight to voicemail. "Rayna, it's Scarlett. Please call me as soon as you get this. It's an emergency."

##

Rayna was knee deep in demos and contracts at the Highway 65 office. She'd texted Deacon in the morning when she'd woken up saying "Can't wait to see you tonight," and was a little sad that she hadn't heard back from him yet. In between meetings she ran into her office to check to see if he had texted her back yet. When she saw she had a voicemail from Scarlett a little alarm went off inside of her. As she listened to the voicemail she started to panic. What if something had happened to him, what if that's why he hadn't texted her back?

She hit call back on her phone, breath held until Scarlett picked up.
"Hi Rayna."

"Scarlett, what's the emergency? Is Deacon alright? Where are you?"

"I'm actually at Vanderbilt Hospital."

"Was there an accident? Is he okay?"

"I think you just need to get down here as soon as possible, and bring Maddie."

Rayna stopped breathing. "Oh my god, is he gone, please just tell me now if he's gone, I can't…"

"He's alive Rayna, but get here soon."

Bucky walked in and saw the look on Rayna's face. "What's wrong?"

"It's Deacon, he's been in an accident, I have to go to the hospital. I have to get the girls, I have to…"

Rayna was frantic and wasn't sure what to do first. "Hey, calm down." Bucky took hold of Rayna's hand. "I'll drive you to the hospital and we can call Teddy on the way and he can get the girls okay?"

Rayna nodded her head slowly. "Alright."

Bucky didn't even have the car in park when Rayna jumped out and ran towards the emergency room. She approached the front desk like a ball of fire that was going to take down anything that stood in its way. "Deacon Claybourne, where is he?"

The nurse looked up at a frantic Rayna Jaymes and was taken back by the presence of the superstar. "Oh Ms. Jaymes, he's down the hall to the right."

Rayna ran down the hall before realizing she didn't know what room he was in. All of a sudden a tall man with kind eyes walked up to her. "Ms. Jaymes?"

"Yes." Rayna managed to get out.

"I'm Deacon's doctor. Dr. Rand."

"Is he okay? Was he badly hurt? Did the car flip?"

Dr. Rand shook his head. "I don't understand, he wasn't in an accident Ms. Jaymes."

Rayna was confused. "Oh, I thought…no accident? Then what's wrong, why is here?"

"Deacon never told you?" the doctor sighed.

Rayna shook her head. "He has cirrhosis of the liver which led to cancer." Rayna gasped when she heard the word cancer slip out of the doctor's mouth. "The cancer has spread. There's no hope. He has a day, maybe two."

Rayna stood frozen. She could barely believe what the doctor was telling her. "But, he was fine. Two days ago, he was fine." Even as she said it she knew it wasn't true. She'd picked up on the signs that he wasn't feeling well, but she couldn't have known what it all meant at the time. "How long has he known?"

"Since December."

"December?!" Rayna was incensed. December was five months ago. "Where is he?" Dr. Rand pointed to an open door down the hall. Rayna barged in noticing that Scarlett was sitting by Deacon's bedside holding his hand. "I am so mad at you Deacon Claybourne."

At the sound of her voice Deacon's eyes fluttered open. "Hey Ray," he managed to get out in a sound that was barely louder than a whisper.

"How could you not tell me this?"

Scarlett stood up from the chair and walked towards the door. "I'll give you two some time alone."

Rayna sat in the chair that Scarlett just vacated. "Five months, five months you've known this and you didn't tell me."

"I didn't want you to worry, I didn't want you to feel like you had to take care of me. You spent so much of our life together doing that."

"Are you kidding me?" Rayna asked. "That's why you didn't tell me, because you thought I'd taken care of you too much. I took care of you cause I loved you, and I would do it all over again Deacon, even the worst days of pulling you out of hotel rooms and dropping you off at rehab, I would do all of that again in a second if it meant I could have the last five months with you."

Deacon averted his eyes. He knew she'd be upset when he told her, but he thought he would be more sure that he'd done the right thing. "What am I supposed to tell Maddie? What am I supposed to tell our daughter?"

Deacon didn't reply. By now the tears were streaming from both Rayna and Deacon's eyes. Rayna grabbed his hand and lay her head down on the pillow next to his so her face was pressed up against his neck. Deacon turned his head to look at her and she slowly stroked his face as she kissed him. "I love you so much Deacon."

"I love you too Ray."

"Please don't leave me babe. Please."

"I wish I didn't have to."

"Are you really lying here telling me that this time next week you won't be here anymore, you'll be gone, and I'll never hold you again, never kiss you, never hear your voice, look in your eyes?" Rayna started to get hysterical. "I can't, I can't go on without you. You're a part of me. I can't imagine life without you, I don't even want to begin to imagine it." All of sudden Rayna went from crying to hyperventilating and it was clear that she couldn't breath. She sat up gulping for breath, but it wasn't coming and her flailing body was scaring the hell out of Deacon. He grabbed for his call button and pressed it furiously. The doctor came running in and found Rayna gasping for breath.

"Help her doc." Deacon yelled with as much force as he could currently get into his voice.

"Ms. Jaymes, Rayna. You're having a panic attack. You need to calm down. Put your head between your knees." The nurse rushed in and handed the doctor a needle. "I'm just going to give you a little sedative." The doctor injected the needle into Rayna's arm and her breathing slowly returned to normal. Watching the spectacle going on in front of him Deacon knew for sure that he had made the wrong decision. He should have told her months ago when he could have held her, comforted her with his still strong arms, kissed her tears away. That was so clear to him now.

"I'm sorry baby, I'm so sorry," Deacon muttered through his tears. When Rayna's breathing returned to normal she leaned back down once again resting her head next to his. Out in the waiting room Scarlett was drinking some watery coffee when the girls breezed in with Teddy in tow. "Scarlett!" Maddie yelled to her cousin. "What's wrong with Deacon?"

"Maybe I should get your mama to tell you." Scarlett walked into Deacon's room and gestured towards Rayna. "The girls are here."

Rayna nodded her head. "Alright, I'll be back in a minute Deacon." Rayna slowly got up and walked out into the waiting room. The moment she looked at the scared and confused faces on her daughters she cursed Deacon. "Damn him." This is the last conversation in the world she wanted to be having with her daughters. "What's wrong mom? Is Deacon going to be okay?" Daphne asked.

Rayna tried to hold it together, but she couldn't stop the tears from pouring out of her eyes. She shook her head. "Deacon has cancer, and he doesn't have much time left." She noticed the looks of confusion turn to utter shock and despair and she wondered if that's what her face looked like when the doctor had told her.

Maddie ran into Deacon's room flinging herself on top of him. "Daddy! Don't die, please." Daphne ran around to the other side of the bed. "I'm so sorry babies, I don't want to leave you. I love you so much."

"But you and I were going to play together at The Bluebird this summer. You promised." Rayna stood in the back of the room pressed flat against the wall for support as she watched the scene before her, and fully took in the devastation that had been dropped upon her family in the last few hours. She held her hand to her mouth and sobbed watching the tears fall down her daughters' faces.

"I know sweetheart. I know I said that, and I hoped that it would be true, but I only have a short time left." Both the girls and Deacon were bawling. "I want you to know that I love you more than life itself, and being your daddy, well that's been the best gift I could have ever gotten. No matter what life throws at you, I want you to know that you're a Claybourne, and Claybournes are fighters."

Maddie nodded her head and kissed his hand. Then the five of them spent the next couple of hours sitting together just enjoying what time they had left together. Rayna stood up and walked out of the room. She found Teddy sitting in the waiting room alone. "Thanks for staying."

"What else was I going to do Rayna? How long have you known?"

Rayna shook her head and sat down next to him. "I just found out today."

"He really didn't tell anyone? That's so Deacon."

"Will you take the girls home? There's going to be a fight getting them out of here, but they need their sleep."

"Of course. Whatever you need Rayna. I know I haven't always been the biggest fan of Deacon's, but I know how much you love him, and how much he means to you and Maddie. I'm really sorry Rayna."

"Thanks Teddy." Rayna kissed him on the forehead and headed back into Deacon's room. There was a fight getting the girls to leave, but there was a promise that they could come back first thing in the morning, and another promise by Deacon that he'd hold on until then.

Rayna looked at the clock. It read 1:30 am. Deacon was sleeping restlessly and Rayna was just staring at him in disbelief that this was really happening to them. She woke up that morning thinking they'd be spending the night together making love, that this would be the first of many nights spent that way. She could hardly believe that this could be their last night together ever.

Deacon stirred and Rayna reached out to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. "Ray."

"Yeah babe."

"I want you to promise me that you'll find someone else, that you won't spend the rest of your life alone."

Rayna started shaking her head vehemently. "No, don't you dare, don't saddle me with that. If I want to spend the rest of my life pining for you that's my right Deacon."

"Ray, you and the girls, you need to move on. You need to keep living. I want that for you."

"Damn you Deacon. This was supposed to be our life. This was supposed to be our time to finally get things right. We were supposed to grow old together. You promised me."

"When did I do that?"

"You know."

And he did. Deacon thought back to when Maddie was two when he and Rayna were touring.

They were on the road somewhere out west, Albuquerque if he remembered correctly. The concert the night before had been a disaster. The amp was shot, Rayna's ears weren't working right, and she'd nearly had a meltdown on stage. Luckily she'd saved the meltdown for today during the sound check. She'd gone off on the band about being unprofessional and then stormed out the door. Deacon had found her sitting on top of some steps looking out at the mountains. "I don't know why you're still here putting up with me Deacon. You should be out on your own with your own band."

Deacon took her hand in his. "I'll be here as long as you still need me. Do you still need me?"

"Always," Rayna said with the unshed tears of a woman who had cried them all out during the first year of her marriage to the wrong man lurking just behind her eyes. "I'll always need you."

"Then I'm not going anywhere. I'll never leave you Ray. I promise. You and I will be eighty sitting on the porch of the cabin, me playing the guitar, you still pretending like you know how to play."

Rayna laughed and pushed Deacon a little making him laugh too. "I like the sound of that Deacon. I promise too. That'll be our time. If nothing else, then."

Deacon wrapped his arm around Rayna and she lay her head on his shoulder as they both took comfort in their future.

"I really wanted to make it to eighty. I thought I would. Guess I didn't count on all the years of abusing my body. I guess we were wrong. I guess that was our time."

Rayna nodded her head through the tears. "Yeah, you and me on the road. Those years you were sober. Even if we weren't together, we were together, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I wish I could have appreciated how lucky I was back then. I was happy Ray. I know I didn't show it very often, but when we were touring all those years. I was happy."

"Me too babe." Rayna kissed him lightly on both cheeks and then on the lips. She lay her head back down next to him. She was so tired, but she didn't want to miss a moment that he was still with her, and she could take comfort in the rise and fall of his chest signifying that he was alive.

Somewhere in the middle of the night she must have drifted off because she was awoken by the sound of the girls running it. She startled awake, immediately checking to make sure Deacon was still alive. He was and he was looking at her, but she could see the haze starting to creep in. "Come here girls." The girls walked over and took his hands. "I don't think I can hold on much longer, but I wanted to say goodbye." The girls were crying and Rayna was trying to commit everything about him to memory.

"We love you daddy," Maddie managed to get out between sobs.

"I love you too." And with that he was gone. The machines flatlined and the doctors rushed in. The girls were ushered out of the room while they unplugged all of the machines that had been keeping Deacon alive for the past couple of days. Rayna just stood there holding his hand. The doctor stood in the doorway pausing for a moment. "We'll leave you with him for a few minutes, take your time saying a proper goodbye."

Rayna lay down in the bed with him and pulled him close. She rained kisses on his neck and face tasting him for the very last time. He was still warm, but it already felt like he wasn't Deacon anymore. The life that made him special had run out of him, and with it a good portion of Rayna. She lay there holding him tight a few minutes more until the doctor came to get her, escorting her out to be with her family.

##

The next few days were a blur. Rayna felt like she was sleepwalking as preparations were made for the funeral and then all of a sudden she was in a church with hundreds of friends, family members, and fans who all came to pay their respects. Maddie had gotten up and played a song. Rayna wasn't sure how she even had the strength for that. All she felt like doing was getting into bed and sleeping.

Afterwards, the girls went home with Teddy and Rayna took Scarlett home. "Is it alright if I stay a while? I just want to be near his things."

"Of course," Scarlett replied. She went into her room leaving Rayna alone. Rayna stood in the doorway of his bedroom. For a moment it almost felt like she was intruding being there without him, but it was her house, and her bedroom at one time, and she knew he'd want her there. She closed the oak door and took off her high heels. She wandered over to the closet and brushed her fingers over the soft flannels that hung within. She leaned in catching a whiff of is scent before slowly unzipping her dress and letting it pool on the floor. Then she took one of the flannels off of the hanger and put it on, wrapping it around herself tightly.

Rayna looked over at the bed that they had shared and remembered all the times he'd held her through the night, and all the times he'd woken her up at 3:00am to make love to her. She smiled through her tears as she climbed under the covers and let the smell and feeling of him surround her.

Her heart ached so much that all she could do was cry until there wasn't an ounce of moisture left in her body, and finally enveloped in a memory of him she drifted off to sleep.

##

Deacon startled awake, looking around a bit disoriented. He touched his face and his chest to make sure he was still alive. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Oh, so you finally decided to wake up," Rayna said. "We're at the cabin."

Deacon looked over and saw her lying on her stomach on the bearskin rug in front of the fireplace, mug of hot chocolate in her hand, flipping through some old photographs.

"You must have been really tired from collecting all that firewood, you've been passed out for the last hour on the couch. Or maybe it was from all that energy you expended ignoring me."

Rayna gave him a look and Deacon laughed quietly to himself. "Come here Ray."

"Oh, so now you're speaking to me?"

"Come here Ray." Deacon said a little more forcefully as he patted the couch.

"Alright, I'm coming." Rayna put the mug on the table and took a seat next to Deacon on the couch. She could tell something was bothering him and it worried her.

Deacon put his hand to her face brushing away the hair that blocked it. He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "I've got something I have to tell you Ray…"

The End