Mark walked up the road to his girlfriend's house with a basket of a few groceries, after talking to Jim Shannon earlier that morning. He hadn't seen Maddy in a few days and was kind of worried. Jim had told him that Maddy was going to be watching Zoe today and that she needed a few groceries to make their lunch. Mark offered to go and pick it up and take them to her before his shift. Jim thought about it for a minute but then handed Mark the list and a few terras to buy it with.

Mark got to the door and knocked. He stood there for a few minutes and then heard feet run through the house, he was shocked to find that Zoe opened the door instead of his girlfriend. "Hey Zo. Where's Mads?" he asked curious. "She's laying down. I think she may have caught my cold, she's been throwing up all morning and hasn't ate or drank anything in almost 2 days. I kept telling her to call you and tell you but she just kept saying she didn't want to bother you with it and she would be fine. But I'm worried about her. She's getting worse, I think." The 5 year old said as she moved to the side to let him come in.

He went straight to Maddy and Zoe's bedroom when he heard Zoe close the door behind him. "Hey babe. How are you? Zo said that you were sick." He said concerned. "I'm fine real-" she was cut off by a cough and she ran toward the bathroom. He got up to help her but was stopped short when the door closed.

It was almost time for his shift, so he called Lieutenant Washington. "Wash..Licia! I need to talk to you call me back." Seconds later his phone was ringing. "Mark, hey, what's wrong?" worry evident in her voice. "It's Maddy she's sick and no one is here to take care of Z." he told her. "That's fine, I'll get Dunham or Reilly to cover your shift." "Thanks Licia." He said, hanging up the phone.

"Sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. I started feeling bad yesterday and it just kind of went downhill from there." She said walking back into the room. "It's not your fault you're sick." He said as he sat on her bed beside her rubbing circles onto her back soothing her. He just about broke when a wince came from her and she started crying. She hated being sick and she had told her parents she was fine and could take care of Zoe, but she was just too weak. And having Mark here comforting her she felt like she could finally break down and cry like she has been wanting to.

He pulled her in tight to him kissing her head when she buried her face into his neck. He could feel the tears soaking into his shirt and it was all he could do to not start crying. He has learned in these last few months that whenever Zoe or Maddy was crying he could barely control himself, he cant stand seeing them hurt or in pain. Zoe came over and stated rubbing her older sister's back trying to help too.

"Thanks you guys," Maddy finally said trying to stop her sobs, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to have a breakdown." Mark and Zoe shook their heads at this. "It's fine Mad, everyone needs to cry." The innocent little girl stated. "You need to quit saying your sorry Maddy. Don't be sorry for being sick or breaking down around us, especially me. Me and Zo are here for you and it's not like you can help being sick. Zoe is right everyone needs to cry, even you, you don't have to be strong all the time. Around me if you need to cry I'm going to be right here, holding you and helping you through it." Mark told her.

All Maddy could say to that was, "I love you." "I love you too." Mark said as he laid her down and laid down beside her so she could go to sleep. "Can I lay down too?" Zoe asked. "Why of course Miss Zoe." Mark said moving over more so she could lay on the other side of Maddy.

Maddy was fast asleep within 5 or 10 minutes. Zoe looked over Maddy's shoulder at Mark and he whispered, "Let's go and let her sleep." They both kissed her forehead and walked out, closing the door quietly behind them. "So what do you want to do Mark?" Zoe asked once they were clear of the bedroom so she wouldn't wake up her sister. "Hmm..well would you like to go to the market with me and we can go get some lunch?" he asked with a smile on his face. "Yes!" Zoe yelled. And with that they walked out the door and headed for the market.

They just started walking down the gravel road and Mark grabbed Zoe's hand so she wouldn't run off. "So do you want to eat or go shopping first?" Mark asked her. "Well why do we have to go to the market? If it will take a while then let's go eat, but if not we can go shopping first." She answered. "Well just to be on the safe side, let's go eat first." He told her. And they walked off to go get some food.

After their lunch, they started toward the market again. "Mark, you still haven't told me what we are going for the market for." Zoe stated, wanting to know. "Well I've been saving some money and I want to buy Maddy a present." He said, and the girl's face lit up. "What do you want to get her? How much money do you have? Do I get to help pick it out?"she asked excitedly, sounding so much like her sister it made Mark wish she wasn't sick and was here with them. "Calm down Zo. I want to get her a ring and maybe a necklace or bracelet. And of course you get to help pick it out!" he said trying to sound as excited as she had but failing.

"I think you should get her a ring and a necklace, with something kind of like your tags, where she can keep pictures and everything." Zoe said sounding like she knew what she was talking about. "Jeez Zo, that is actually really cool. I think that is what I'll do. You're so much help!" he said to her lifting her up and kissing her on the cheek. They made their way to the jewelry stand and started looking.

After about 30 minutes of looking at rings, they decided on one with a light blue jewel in the middle surrounded by little diamonds, going half way down the side of the band. "I think she will like this one, because it matches your eyes. And she loves your eyes-" Zoe said but stopped when she realized what she had just said. "Well then, this is the one we will get. While I pay for it how about you go look at the chains." He told her, and the little girl ran off to the other side of table.

Hope you liked this chapter. Review!