He peered into the bedroom, breathing a slight sigh of relief as he saw her eyes still closed. At least she seemed to be getting some sleep and, according to the doctor, that was the best they could do for her at the moment. Phyllis had insisted on being released while they waited for the results of her most recent tests. Hospitals made her feel sick, she insisted, sicker than she was and he couldn't force himself to argue with her.

He'd talked to the doctors. They'd told him about all the options, the medications, the surgeries, the risks, the consequences of doing nothing … all of it sounded terrifying, but he couldn't tell her that. He had to be the strong one, the brave one, the one that helped her believe that they'd be fine, that they'd get through this.

The sound of the soft knock on the door was a welcome distraction and he pulled it open as he saw his brother's face. "Hey Jack," he breathed.

"Billy." Jack stepped into the penthouse apartment. When he'd received the voicemail from Billy, he'd known something was wrong, but even in his worst imaginings, he hadn't expected this. The moment he'd arrived at the hospital however, the moment he'd seen his face, he'd known it was something horrible. The small part of him that wanted to be self righteous, the part of him that wanted to say 'I told you so', that wanted to remind him that he'd been right all along, it all went out the window when he saw just how much his brother was hurting. None of that mattered anymore.

"How's she doing?" He handed him his coat as his eyes moved around the room. There was no sign of Phyllis. She had a way of making her presence known, even when you didn't see her. You could smell her perfume in the air, hear her voice as she'd yell from upstairs, see the trail of clothing she often left when she arrived in a room, but in this room today, there was nothing.

Billy gestured upstairs. "She's resting. The doctor said that's good for now. She needs to rest until they get the rest of the results and then we'll need to decide what to do." He paused for a moment as he looked at his brother. "Thanks for coming by today. I just need to run out for a minute. I've got to go pick up some stuff from Chancellor so I can work from home for the next few weeks, but I didn't want to leave her alone. She's probably just gonna sleep though."

"It's fine. I'm sure it'll be fine." Jack nodded.

"And it goes without saying that if she wakes and finds you here …"

Jack smiled. "I stopped by on my own and offered to stay so you could run out for a bit. You absolutely did not call and ask me to come by because you thought she needed a babysitter."

Billy couldn't help but laugh a bit at how easily he could be predicted. "Exactly."

Phyllis waited a moment, certain that the silence meant Billy had finally relented and gone back downstairs. She pulled the Ipad from under her pillow and pressed the screen again. Her eyes roamed the pages of words, each paragraph seemed to hold another potentially life threatening complication, each solution seemed to cause a myriad of additional problems.

The surgery, the one that was supposed to take care of the issue, came with risks that could end her life just as easily as the condition it was intended to correct. She heard the sound of footsteps again and quickly shoved the tablet back underneath the pillow. The sight of Jack's face startled her.

"Hey." His voice was quiet as he saw her opened eyes. "I just stopped by to see how you were doing and I told Billy if he wanted to run out that …"

She held up her hand. "Save it. I'm sure he called you. He's been hovering around me all day like he's afraid of what'll happen if he doesn't watch me every second."

Jack stepped into the room further. Talking to Phyllis about Billy wasn't the most comfortable of circumstances, but he couldn't just stand back and say nothing. "He's just worried about you. I know how that feels. Cut him some slack. He just wants to know you're okay."

"This is your chance," she said quietly as she struggled to push herself up against the pillows.

"My chance for what?"

"If you want to say it, now's the time to say it. I know you tried to tell me that something was wrong. I know you want to throw that in my face …"

Hearing the words come from her mouth hurt. With Billy, he could understand that he'd expect that sort of animosity, but he'd always hoped Phyllis would expect his care and concern for her to overrule any residual anger he had. Gently he took a seat at the end of the bed and looked at her. "Do you honestly think I want to say that? After everything we've gone through together, do you really think I want to sit here and throw that in your face?"

"No," she whispered. "I guess not."

"You do know that I was honestly worried about you don't you? I wasn't trying to insinuate myself into your life. I wasn't trying to mess things up with you and Billy. I just cared and I was trying to help."

"I guess I knew that … on some level, but I didn't want to admit that anything was wrong and now …." She felt her chest tighten, but she wasn't sure if it was the condition or her own guilt. "If I'd just …"

"Don't do that." He reached out and softly touched her arm. "No one thinks that. I don't and I'm sure Billy doesn't."

"How can he not? The doctors basically said as much … they said at this point surgery is pretty much the only option and that even then …" She shook her head, mindful of the words she'd read only minutes ago.

"What?" Billy hadn't given him much information about the condition, but from what little he'd said, it didn't sound good.

"The surgery is risky. I might not even …."

"Don't say that. I'm sure Billy has talked to the doctors and I'm sure he's calling in the best of the best to work on your case. If there's anything that can be done then …"

"That's just it, Jack. There might not be anything that can be done and even if there is, at what cost? If I have this surgery and then I'm basically useless for the rest of my life, what kind of life is that for him, for the kids, for …?"

"Stop that."

Jack turned towards the doorway as the sound of his brother's voice stopped the conversation suddenly. "Billy." He stood up quickly and moved towards him.

"What are you letting her talk like that for?" He stared into Jack's eyes, angry both at his brother for allowing such words to even be spoken and at the truth in the words themselves. "She's going through enough and you're gonna just sit there and let her call herself useless?"

He pulled the door closed, nudging Billy back a bit. "She doesn't need to hear us fighting," he said quietly. "And no, I wasn't gonna just sit there and let her talk like that. I was trying to tell her that you wouldn't think of it like that, but I didn't want to cut her off. She needs to talk about this, Billy. She needs to get this stuff out. If there's one thing I know about her it's that she'll keep stuff bottled up inside and if she's willing to talk, for the love of God, you need to let her. In the past, she never would have opened up like that. This is a side of her I haven't seen much of. She's changed and I think that's because of you."

"I didn't do anything, Jack." He leaned against the wall, the weight of the whole situation now weighing even heavier on him. "I don't know anything. I just want her to be okay and right now I've just got to get everything lined up so I can be here with her during the surgery recovery and …"

"Wait a minute …" Jack stopped him for a moment. "Have you talked with her about that?"

Billy looked at him. "About what? The surgery? The doctors were very clear. It's pretty much the only option. She's past the point of medications and therapies. The surgery is the only thing that has a chance of taking care of the problem and …"

"Okay, but did she agree to have the surgery?"

The question hung in the air for a moment as Billy considered the answer. "Well, she didn't really …" He swallowed hard as he looked at his brother. "What did she say to you?"

"I think you need to go talk to her," Jack said softly.

He moved towards the doorway but stopped as he felt his brother's hand gently grab his shoulder.

"Billy," Jack said quietly, "Just remember, she's just as scared as you are."