Owen's POV

This is a continuation of 'The Diagnosis'

Amelia has been acting rather weird lately. I know her well enough to know that something is up with her, and I know her well enough to not pester her about it.
She'll tell me in her own time. After all these years with her, I've learnt to give her space and time. She would come to me for support when she needs it, and I'll be there for her. But I would not intrude and force her to open up to me if she is not ready to do so.

The reason why I say she has been acting weird is because she has been avoiding me for the past few days. Every morning, I would wake up to an empty bed, with the indentation on her pillow indicating that she has just gotten out of bed not too long ago. When I approach her in the kitchen, she would busy herself with preparing breakfast or feeding Charlotte. She would barely look at me in the eye. She has been avoiding eye contact with me.

This morning, I am determined to get her to talk to me. This is my mission for today.
I slowly walk down the stairs to the kitchen, where Amelia is at the stove, already preparing waffles for us and some baby cereal for Charlotte. Charlotte is happily babbling to herself and banging her chubby hands on her baby chair beside the kitchen table.

' Hey princess' I coo, picking Charlotte up from her baby chair and lifting her high up in the air, causing her to coo and laugh happily. I repeat the process a few more times, eliciting more laughter from her.

I place Charlotte back in her chair and turn my attention to Amelia. She is still standing at the stove, busying herself with the waffles, her back towards me.
I slowly walk over to her and wrap my arms around her waist. She still does't respond, so I kiss the nape of her neck, her favourite spot. She still didn't buldge. Something is really wrong here.

' Mia' I ask ' Are you ok?'

' Yea I'm fine' Amelia replies curtly, her attention still focused on the chocolate waffles she was making.

' If there is anything wrong you can tell me you know'

' There's nothing wrong Owen' Amelia says, placing a slice of waffle in front of me.

The remaining breakfast time as a family was spent with Amelia busy feeding Charlotte and playing peek a boo with her. She didn't utter a single word to me.

' Mia- I know you well enough to know that something is wrong. I'm your husband, you can open up and tell me what is bothering you. We'll work it out together ok?' I am now pleading with her.
Just then, Charlotte accidentally slammed her right fist into the cereal bowl and sent the entire bowl flying to the other side of the table.

' Char!' Amelia exclaimed in exasperation, causing our daughter to giggle.

Oh well, the talk will have to wait for now.

I can barely focus on my work today. For the past few hours, all that is in my mind is Amelia and the fact that she is avoiding me for some reason. I am determined to get to the bottom of this. This silent treatment is killing me.

It's finally lunchtime, and I rush to her office. I know that she is usually there at lunchtime, to catch a quick break.

'Come in' I hear her melancholy voice as I knock on her door.

' What is it Owen?' she asks with a hint of frustration in her voice when I walk in.

' Mia, we need to talk' I say. ' You've been avoiding me for the past few days and I deserve to know why. Is it something I've done? Or said? Have I done anything to hurt you: Has anyone else hurt you? Please just let me know what's happening. It's killing me to see you like this. Please just let me share your burden'

It's true, the change in her attitude is killing me. For the past few days, her normally sparkling ocean blue eyes are dark dull blue. And she looks so crestfallen and downtrodden these past few days, and I can see dark eyebags under her eyes.

She continues swivelling around in her chair, not uttering a single word. She can be so stubborn sometimes, which could be both a good and a bad thing.

Just then, Amelia's pager beeps.

' I've gotta go now' Amelia says stopping to give me a quick peck on the cheek before leaving the room.

I sigh to myself. Mission failed. Again.

That night, I am home earlier than Amelia, as she got held up in a long surgery.
After feeding and putting Charlotte to bed, I take the baby monitor up to our bedroom.

After a refreshing shower, I rummage the bedroom drawers, searching for a journal or two to curl up in bed with while awaiting for Amelia to come home. I really need to have a proper conversation with my wife tonight.

I open one of the drawers to spot a big white envelope sitting in it. The envelope was never in the drawer before, it must have been a recent addition. Curious, I take the envelope out of the drawer and open it. It contains some lab results, of a patient.
Patient X. Is it a patient of Amelia's? Maybe she has been so preoccupied with this patient the past few days that she has no time or energy to talk to me. That makes sense.

I scan through the results. Acute myeloid leukaemia. Oh dear, I pity this patient, whoever it is. I was so absorbed with the results in front of me, that I didn't notice the front door or the bedroom door opening.

"Owen, what are you doing?' Amelia's voice startled me. She is now standing at the door of our bedroom, her hands on her hips.

' Mia, you scared me. I didn't hear you come back'. I say. ' These are your patient's?' I ask holding up the sheet of paper.

She remains silent for a moment . The atmosphere in the bedroom is now tense. She is biting her lower lip, a sign that she is in deep thought or contemplating something.

' It's mine' she says finally, in a casual manner.

My head jerks upwards to stare at her. Did I hear what she said correctly? Is there something wrong with my hearing? ' What?'

' It's mine' she repeats again calmly.

No wonder she has been avoiding me for the past few days.

The entire room is silent for a moment, so silent that you could hear crickets creaking outside.

' Mia, why didn't you tell me?' I ask, hint of hurt in my voice. ' This is such a huge thing, why are you keeping this from me? I deserve to know too! When did you find out?'

' Last week' she replied meekly, now focusing her attention on the squeaky clean tiles on the floor' ' I wanted to wait for the results of the bone marrow aspiration to come back first before telling you. I didn't want you to get hurt or upset unnecessarily.'

Before I could reply, she suddenly bolts to the bathroom and heaves her entire guts contents into the toilet bowl. I enter the bathroom and slowly rub circles around her back and pull her hair back, gestures which I would do when she had morning sickness with Charlotte. Except this time it isn't morning sickness.

After she rinses her mouth, I scoop her in my arms and carry her to our bed, and gently lay her down on her side of the bed. She suddenly feels so weak, fragile and light in my arms.

I then pull her close to me, so that her head is on my lap. I stroke her hair, the gesture which she loves and never fails to give her comfort. This is the least I can do for my wife to support her through the tough times which we are about to face. She looks up at me and finally smiles- a contented smile showing her dimples, and slowly closes her eyes drifting off to sleep.

I stare down at her for a long time, memorizing every feature of hers and soaking in the feeling of her in my arms. She looks so beautiful and peaceful sleeping like this. I am going to savor every single detail of every single moment I have with her from now on, as life is never guaranteed. I know very well from my time in the army that someone can be just brutally taken away from you in an instant. Amelia herself has almost been taken away from me once, during Charlotte's birth. I really cannot afford to lose her again.

I wonder why life is so cruel, and why the higher power above lets bad things happen to good people. And no, I am not going to let the higher power above take my beautiful, loving, compassionate, kind, smart wife away from me. No. I am going to make sure she gets all the treatment necessary to save her life - the appropriate regime of chemotherapy.
Because I need my wife and Charlotte needs her mother. How are both of us going to survive without her?

I find myself praying to God or whatever higher power above ( the first time being during Charlotte's birth when I almost lost both of them) to save my dear wife and not take her away from me. I am praying desperately for a miracle. Maybe a lab mixup, as ridiculous as it sounds. Or maybe it was just a cruel joke and it is actually a patient of Amelia's.
Or better still, it is just a nightmare. Please let it be a mistake or a cruel joke. Please let the bone marrow aspiration results be negative.

Author's note : I have left several hints throughout this part, of what will happen next. See whether you can detect them ;)

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