Lou resisted her urge to grab onto Caleb for support. Given what everyone was currently assuming about them, she didn't want to add fuel to the fire. Lou was feeling light headed as her composure was escaping her. She was craving the strength she gained from being around Caleb. She knew she was mentally stalling the inevitable conversation before her.

"Georgie, can you please take Katie to her room and play for a while?" Lou asked her daughter, fully expecting a tantrum about not being a child anymore.

"Sure." Georgie agreed, much to Lou and everyone's surprise. "I didn't want to hear about you and Caleb anyway" She added with a mixture of spite and disgust, while ushering her little sister away.

Lou heard the stifled sniggers of Amy and Ty, who tried to straighten their expressions when she glanced their way. She looked back towards Caleb, still standing by her side. She really felt for him, he was taking the brunt of this. He probably felt embarrassed or maybe even annoyed, Lou imagined. However to look at him, he showed no signs of either. He smiled at her, apparently unfazed but she knew him better than that. She briefly squeezed his forearm in acknowledgment of everything that was unsaid between them, before turning to face her now captive audience.

"Obviously I wasn't on a girl's night out in Calgary." Lou finally confirmed to her awaiting family, rather matter-of-factly.

"You don't say." Responded Jack dryly, while looking at Caleb, who made no move to react.

"I was in Calgary," Lou continued ignoring her Grandpa, "Yes with Caleb – but it's not what you're thinking. He was helping me out – as a friend. He took me to the hospital for an appointment that I had yesterday."

Lou had to admit she was feeling lighter as she began telling the truth, like a weight was really being lifted from her shoulders. She was feeling guilty about passing the burden to her family but she couldn't go through waiting for results on her own. It wasn't fair on Caleb either being the only other person that knew. This was going to be better for them both.

"Lou is everything okay?" Lisa asked, filled with concern.

"Not really." Lou admitted defeated. "The doctors suspect I have Cancer… Breast Cancer to be exact."

She could feel herself shaking but didn't want to cry. She wanted to remain strong in front of her family to make it easier on them. She could see the wide eyes around the room as what she said was gradually sinking in. It was a surreal moment. For a moment she felt like she was in someone else's life, it was like something out of a movie or TV show, only it wasn't – this was very real and it was her life.

There was a chorus of "Oh no, Lou" as both Amy and Lisa came to envelope her in a hug. Lou winced in pain from the contact, and protectively stepped back from the embrace.

"I'm sorry," apologised Lou, "I'm really sore from all the needles and the not-so-gentle examinations" She added in explanation, lowering her head, slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry Lou, I didn't think" Lisa offered sincerely, "What did the doctors say will happen now? How long until you receive the results?" She asked hoping to distract Lou from feeling awkward.

"They said I will get results from the biopsy in the next two weeks. The cell samples they took yesterday showed abnormal cells. He expects the results to come back positive though." Lou stated the facts trying to avoid feeling the emotions that were bubbling beneath the surface. It was beginning to get too much for her, reliving every emotion in her mind.

Caleb could sense her building tension as he had been quietly gauging how she was coping throughout the moment. He lightly touched her hand between his thumb and forefinger to let Lou know she could take it if she wanted to. He was fully prepared to face any further remarks about his closeness with her, if that's what it took to give her the support she needed. Lou smiled at his gesture and slid her hand fully into his. Entwining her fingers between Caleb's – immediately feeling more relaxed knowing he was near. Lou was fully aware of Jack watching the development but she was relieved to see he remained tight lipped, even if the struggle to do so was pretty obvious.

"I'm so sorry Grandpa," Lou apologised, through now unavoidable tears. "This must be so much worse for you, I was dreading telling you for all the memories it would bring up of Grandma."

"Now Lou, don't you be saying sorry for things you can't control" Jack lovingly scolded her "And don't you be worrying about me either."

The explanation to everyone began to pass in a blur. Lou felt like she kept repeating what the doctor said over and over, amongst her family insisting the doctors could be wrong about what they had said. She loved her family for the hope they were trying to give her but inside she felt frustrated, like no-one was listening to what she was trying to say. She was fighting to get them to hear that what the doctor didn't say was just as important as what he did. The tone he used, his careful selection of words and everything he did to imply without actually confirming it was Cancer. She knew the doctor couldn't do that without the biopsy results. She knew in her heart, that the moment he told her he suspected it, that between the lines he was really confirming it.

She had decided to accept that was the prognosis from that point onwards. It was somehow easier to believe it was true and have something to fight, than to be left in limbo. Lou didn't cope well when she didn't feel in control and this was something completely out of her hands. The closest thing to control she had - was to own it, to accept this was already decided. She could take charge of what happened next by planning around it. If she knew what was coming, she could be prepared and that gave Lou her control back. Her family couldn't see where she was coming from in that sense, she assumed they thought she had given up but that couldn't be further from the truth. Lou was preparing her battle plan before there was even a war to win.