Yumi looked over at her husband sitting in the next room. Since he had gotten in from work last night he had hardly said a word.
"Ulrich honey, are you alright? I'm worried about you"
"I'm fine" Ulrich mumbled.
"No, I don't think you are; what are you hiding?"
"Not hiding a thing Yumi" Ulrich muttered.
"Ulrich, just tell me, you've hardly spoken a word to me since last night, now stop sending me to an early grave and tell what the problem is!" Yumi shouted.
Ulrich looked up into the face of his angry wife at her comments.
At the look on his face, Yumi calmed down and apologised.
"Are you going to work today?" Ulrich asked quietly.
"Yeah, Krystal isn't too well though so she and Kaiser are going to go round to Sam's today"
Ulrich nodded.
"I'll take them now"
Odd answered the door to his best friend.
"Hey Ulrich" Odd said cheerfully while bent down to greet Krystal.
"Hi" Ulrich uttered.
Odd looked up at Ulrich's sad voice.
"What's a matter?"
"Nothing, I'm fine. Here's Kaiser. Tell thanks to Sam for looking after them today. I've got to go, bye"
Ulrich left after handing Odd Kaiser.
"Hello?" Yumi answered her phone.
"Hi, it's Odd. Are you guys ok?"
"Um yeah I think so"
"What's happening over there Yumi?" Odd asked.
"I don't really know Odd"
Yumi told Odd what had happened last night and this morning and he become as confused as she was.
"Oh Odd, I've got to go, he's back. Bye"
"You ready?" Ulrich mumbled.
"Yeah babe let me just get my coat"
Ulrich and Yumi departed to their separate offices as soon as they got into the building.
Yumi looked at Ulrich walking away from her to his sector of the building and sighed sadly.
"What's up Yumi?" Sue, her colleague, asked her.
"It's probably nothing but Ulrich is being really distant with me."
"Yeah he was like that when I was talking to him last night before he left to collect Krystal"
"So, it's not just me then. But what is his problem?" Yumi groaned.
"Talk to him about it" Sue suggested
"I have done, but he just says he's fine"
Sue shrugged. "I've got to go Yumi, see you"
Yumi walked into Ulrich's office to hand him some papers and found him staring intently at the family picture that he kept on his desk. Yumi quietly and carefully slid the paperwork that she had been told to give him on the desk and went to leave the room.
"What are the papers for?" Ulrich asked her croakily
"New patients" Yumi said turning back towards the door "But I'm sure you'd prefer them to be our divorce papers"
"WHAT?" Ulrich shouted.
"You're hardly talking to me, hardly looking at me, choosing to go to bed rather than be in my company, what have I done?"
"Yumi, you haven't done anything, I love you remember?"
"So tell me what is wrong"
"I can't Yumi, its stupid"
"Oh whatever, see you at three" She scowled and slammed the door behind her.
Ulrich banged his fist on the desk in frustration.
He didn't want to cause that but he felt he was being childish. Being worried who was going to die first may be stupid but Ulrich couldn't think of life without Yumi. This wasn't just simple fickle love. This love had taken years and years to build ever since they were twelve and eleven.
Odd was walking from his help class when he walked into a crying Yumi.
"Yumi-what's wrong?" he asked immediately
"Ulrich still" she sobbed.
"Oh" was the only reply he could come up with.
"I'm scared Odd, I'm scared that this is going to end the relationship" she cried.
"What's his room number?" he asked her gently.
"214, but what are you going to do? If he won't talk to me I doubt he's going to talk to you"
"I have my ways" he winked slyly at her "No get back to work and I'll see you at the weekend"
"Ok, thanks Odd"
Odd searched for the room number and when he found it he took a deep breath before knocking and entering.
Odd saw a glimpse of what Ulrich was doing before he looked up at Odd's face.
"You alright buddy?"
"Yeah I'm fine. Are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm ok but I wish that you wouldn't lie to me. Before I walked in here, you had your head in your hands, you don't generally do that if you're fine and Yumi isn't fine crying her head off"
Ulrich looked down.
"What's wrong?" Odd said. He didn't ask more like commanded but it wasn't sternly done.
"It's nothing, just a stupid little comment"
"What did Yumi say?" Odd prodded gently.
"It wasn't Yumi"
Odd grew confused at that stage.
"So why are you hardly talking to Yumi?"
"I just have to work through this ok?" Ulrich said a final tone in his voice.
"No it isn't ok; your wife is crying, is that ok to you?" Odd said more loudly than he meant to.
"Of course it isn't pissing ok with me. She's my wife Odd, I love her, and I've loved her since I was eleven. So tell me how I'm supposed to say 'Oh by the way I'm scared of you dying first because Mr Stanley said "that he shouldn't be too surprised his wife died first because she was a year older than him" and that I really don't want to think about life without you'. Tell me how I explain that to her!" Ulrich practically shouted across the room.
Odd looked at him and smiled slightly at Ulrich's problem compared to theirs.
"Ulrich, you talk to her is what you do. Yumi, she is a good friend; a good wife; and a great listener. And I'm sure she'll understand"
Odd made his way to the door before turning to his friend.
"Do you want me to get her or are you going to her?"
Ulrich simply shrugged his head down as though he was ashamed to admit his 'stupid' concern.
Odd sighed and left the room.
Odd walked all the way to reception.
"Hi, I'm Yumi Stern's friend and need to talk to her about an urgent matter, would it be possible to know what room her office is in?"
"Certainly sir, room 376"
"Thank you"
Odd ran his way down to Yumi's office and told her to make her way down to his office. And he told her that as he was leaving the office he had heard quiet sobs coming from him.
Yumi stepped into the office and saw Ulrich with his head in his arms sprawled out on his desk. You could tell he was gently crying because his shoulders were gently jerking.
Yumi closed the door silently and walked to her husband.
"Talk to me honey"