She barely looked at him when he walked into the room, choosing instead to ask the simple question, "Is he gone?"

He could tell she was upset, but he wasn't sure if it was with something Jack had said, something about their conversation, or if her anger was directed towards him for having Jack there. "Yeah," he said quietly, taking a step hesitantly into the room. "Listen, Phyllis, about Jack …"

"Did you pay him?"

"What?"

"You're supposed to pay a sitter you know … at least if you ever want to be able to call them back again and I'm pretty sure this was short notice, so he probably deserves a bonus." She saw the look in his eyes and she immediately regretted her words. Billy didn't deserve all her frustration. She knew he was only trying to help.

"I wasn't … I didn't …" He stammered as he tried to think of something to say to her, something that would make what he did seem better. In truth, he had asked Jack to come, he had asked him to stay with her in an effort to ensure that she was okay. It wasn't about hurting her. It was the complete opposite. He'd do anything, including face her wrath if it meant keeping her safe.

"It's okay," she said quietly, choosing in that moment to let him off the hook. "I get it. You're just trying to help."

He smiled at her then, sitting down on the bed and letting his hand rest comfortably on her leg. "I am." His voice was a whisper as he looked at her. The thought of losing her was something he rarely allowed his mind to consider, but sometimes, when he saw her like this, it was hard not to think the worst. "Jack said you were upset. What did he say to you?"

She shook her head. "Jack didn't say anything wrong. We were just talking about everything and I don't think he really understood … I guess you haven't told him."

"Told him what? That you have a heart condition and that there's a surgery that can cure it and that the doctors are running some tests to determine when they can schedule it? I've told him all of that and that's all there is to tell. It's a pretty short story." He tried to force a smile, but he could see it on her face and he knew that Jack had been right. He definitely needed to talk to her.

"Hey." He touched her cheek softly and she turned away a bit, the warmth of his touch somehow too much for her to bear. "Why do I feel like there's more going on here," he asked?

"We haven't really talked about the surgery much. The doctors came in and gave us all this information and I think you just kind of assumed that we'd …"

He tried not to let his emotions get the better of him. He tried to keep his voice steady as he readied himself to speak. Her hand slipped under the pillow as she pulled out the iPad. "I've been looking at some stuff and …"

"What are you doing with that?" Billy's head dropped to his chest as he saw her fingertips tapping at the screen. "You're supposed to be up here resting not …"

"Billy … I just … We've got to talk about this. There's so much stuff that we haven't even …" She could barely comprehend it herself. There seemed to be no good solution.

"I guess I don't think there's anything to talk about." He could hear the frustration in his own voice and he tried to soften his face as he spoke again. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel as if he was arguing with her or that he was blaming her for anything. "You heard the doctor. You heard the statistics. There's not another viable option. If they don't do the surgery the chances of …"

"The medications will help. I'll feel better. I'll get better."

"For what? Five years? Ten years? And I'm supposed to be okay with that? That's supposed to be enough?" This wasn't a conversation he ever wanted to have, but he couldn't not say the words. He couldn't take the chance of her not hearing him, not understanding his point of view. "You want me to be okay with the fact that the life we've planned to have together might have to crammed into five or ten years. We're supposed to have a lifetime together and I …"

She turned away from him again, not able to look into the eyes that always seemed to be able to break her.

"Look at me," he said seriously, taking her chin in his hands and turning her back towards him. "I need you to talk to me … Please. Why? Why wouldn't do the surgery?"

"Look at this." She thrust the Ipad towards him. "Even if it works … best case scenario, it fixes everything and I'm fine and normal again, but that's not the typical outcome. Most people still have kind of complications even if the surgery is considered a success. And these complications, Billy they're …" She'd been trying to keep her mind busy, not wanting to allow the words she'd read on the screen to settle there for long. "If I had to choose between five or ten with you that we could spend living the way we'd planned or the rest of our lives with you taking care of me and finding people to check in on me and …"

"First of all, you don't know that. Everything could be fine, perfectly fine and if I have to wait on you for a while, I'm more than happy to do that. It just means we'll to spend more time together. I'm all for that, aren't you?" It was a desperate attempt to lighten the mood, one he already knew was a futile attempt.

"I'm serious, Billy. It's possible that I might never be able to have a normal life again even if the surgery works. All the plans we made, the trips we wanted to take, the vacations with the kids, all of it …"

"We'd make it work, however we had to because you'd be here and that would be enough. It would be more than enough. The kids adore you. They just want to spend time with you and if this gives you more time then …" He stopped for a moment, looking at her intently. "And what about me, what about us? We wasted so much time and now we have a chance to live the rest of our lives together. You can't ask me to be okay with giving that up."

"But you might be," she said sadly. "You fell in love with a woman that you called sexy and strong, a woman that used to be up for anything, that could meet you in the elevator during lunch or after work to jet off to New Orleans. Can you honestly tell me that you'd be happy with this woman?"

"I am happy with this woman." He was horrified to even hear her say the words. "Did I do something to make you think that I …"

"No. It's nothing like that, but God Billy … I don't even have the energy to climb the stairs without stopping. How are we ever going to have any kind of relationship like that … I don't want to become someone that you feel obligated to be with, someone that you love but don't feel passionate about anymore … I don't want …"

"Stop it …" He raised his hand in front of her, his voice breaking a bit, the tone almost a plea. He couldn't hear the words anymore. They hurt too much. He wasn't the best with words, but these might have been the most important ones he'd ever spoken. He took her hands in his and he stared directly into her eyes. "You listen to me. I want you here with me. I love you. I want a life with you. It's not about sex. It's not about vacations. It's not about spontaneity. It's about you and me getting to spend the rest of our lives together … however that happens. Things change. Life changes. People change. I'm sure as life goes on, I'll change too, but the one thing that I can promise you will never ever change is how much I love you and how much I want this life with you."

Silence seemed to scream in the room for what appeared to be forever. He couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, so I know I just made this huge speech about being okay with things changing, but I'm not sure I can get on board with the silent version of you. Come on now." He smiled at her, his entire body relaxing when he saw her smile at him in return. "What do you say? You willing to bet on us?"

"You're not supposed to gamble," she said softly as he ran his hand down her face, "but in this case, I guess I can make an exception. Yeah," she whispered, "I'm all in."