A/N: This is a bit of an odd chapter, mainly because it's nearly 3am and I've only just finished writing it. And I've got to go to the pub with my colleagues at 12. KILL ME. Anyway, thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed so far!

Sarah x

Jac watched Ric struggle to tell Serena what was going on. That said something, because Jac knew Ric well enough by now to know he did not often struggle with facing people like Serena, no matter how terrifying they were capable of being. She felt an air of panic emanate from Serena. "Look, don't fly off the handle, Serena," Edward said, and there was an almost pleading tone to his voice.

"But..." Serena trailed away, waiting for them to finish that sentence for her.

"Mrs. Munro is refusing treatment," Edward said.

"What?!" Serena demanded. She stood up, mug still in her hand. She pushed it into Ric's grasp and strode out the room before Edward caught up with her and grabbed her wrist before she could get past the nurses' station. "Let me go, Edward," she growled at him. "I can talk her round. She'll listen to me."

"She won't," Ric said. "Believe me, Serena. She won't." Jac watched Serena stare at Ric, her face frozen between the emotions of shock and fear. Edward reluctantly let go of Serena but let a hand fall onto her shoulder, just in case he would need to stop her moving again. Ric stepped forward and gently put a hand on Serena's back, her mug still in his left hand, ready to guide her where he needed her to go; Jac just stood there helpless, unable to do anything in that moment that was remotely helpful, and she felt useless. "Just come back into the office and we'll explain."

Serena glanced between her friends and her ex-husband, and Jac internally hurt for her. She had been through enough today. It seemed everything was coming at her at once, and even Serena Campbell wasn't unbreakable. She was taking the blows as they knocked her to the floor, and every time she got up again, weakened and in pain. It was clear in the murky depths of the dark eyes Jac was staring into for answers and assurances.

Her expression bitterly grudging and conflicted, Serena walked past Jac and the men and into the office. She waited until all four were in the confines of the four walls before she slammed the door impatiently.

"What is so complicated about it, then?" she demanded hotly.

"Calm down," Edward ordered her firmly. Jac remained silent but watched Serena's tension rise. The fury and fear where radiating from her; Jac could almost see a mist of blood red around the woman, clouding her vision and her judgement. Where had clear-headed Serena Campbell gone? Who was the woman Jac was staring at just now.

"Just tell me," growled Serena.

"I'm not telling you anything until you're calm," Ric chipped in. Jac saw the danger of telling a wound up Serena whatever it was that was going on. She had cracked once today, and Jac didn't know if she could handle another push. What worried her was that it could have been anything – they were still chasing up Mrs. Munro's notes from another hospital. They had worked almost blindly with her today, relying on the information she gave them to treat her effectively.

Ric handed Serena her hot chocolate, and she glared at it like it had personally offended her, as if the fact her world was cracking around her could be blamed on a mug and its contents. She unwillingly took it with a look of defiance in her eyes, and Jac recognised the need to keep control that was plaguing her as she failed to do so – she had been there many times herself, and she did not envy Serena.

Ric sat on the sofa and pulled Serena down with him, Jac and Edward sitting on an arm each of the settee. "You've got to listen to me," he warned her. "Right. We got her notes through an hour ago. She's got terminal pancreatic cancer. She says she didn't want to go through with the procedure in the first place but she couldn't tell you."

"Why couldn't she tell me? She knows wouldn't have kicked off at her! It's not her fault she's dying, is it?!" Serena challenged. Ric's hand fell onto Serena's shoulder and Jac exchanged a dark glance with Edward; was he seeing the cracks and holes that she was?

"She says she doesn't want to cause you any more pain than you're already in," Edward explained. "Whatever the hell that means," he added in a low mutter. Jac glared at him for his input though she did understand his frustrations. It was obvious Serena was seeking love and comfort in him but keeping her hands clean of him at the same time, and it had to be driving him up the wall. "She's not got long, Serena. A day, maybe two or three."

Jac heard Serena clear her throat and say, her voice strangled and broken, "When was she diagnosed?"

"Seven weeks ago," Ric stated. "The oncology unit at Ninewells were dealing with her until a week ago. She missed her last appointment."

"She was being treated in Dundee?!" Jac demanded. "That's a long hike for a dying woman to be taking, isn't it?"

"She always was a stubborn woman," Serena sighed. "Why is she here?"

It was a question none of the four of them knew the answer to, though Jac had her own suspicions about why Mrs. Munro was here. It was Jac's belief that, in the knowledge she was dying and that Serena's issues were far from resolved, Mrs. Munro had made the effort and journey to find her former pupil. It was reckless and irrational, but Jac could not help but recognise the kindness and selflessness of a woman willing to do that.

"That's something you'll have to ask her yourself," Ric told her gently. "But do you understand now why she refuses to be treated? It's not fair to ask her to prolong her pain."

"Don't you dare patronise me," Serena snapped. Ric looked very much surprised at her reaction, and Jac had to admit she wasn't liking this new Serena Campbell very much. Edward, however, appeared less than shocked by her hostility. "Is there no way I can convince her?"

Edward shook his head. "Her mind's well and truly made up," he sighed. Serena looked close to tears again as she leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Jac felt no fight surrounding the deputy CEO – she was defeated. "I'm so sorry, darling," Edward added quietly. "I can see how much she means to you." Jac watched his hand fall into Serena's thick brown hair like they had never been apart.

It unnerved Jac to see Serena allow the physical contact her ex-husband had given her; as far as she had heard, Edward was usually not allowed near Serena with a barge pole and yet Jac had witnessed them passionately kissing each other, and now Edward was giving her the quiet comfort a husband should. Except he was not her husband anymore, was he? And that bothered Jac, because to retrace steps usually ended in heartache.

Serena stood up. "I'm going to see her." Ric opened his mouth to protest but he wasn't given the opportunity to say a single word. "I'm not going to try and talk her round. I just want..." she struggled for a moment for the right words for a moment. "I just want to sit with her. While I still can."

Jac watched powerless as the woman set her mug on Elliot's desk and walked away from them. As much as she wanted to help, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Jac to get her head around the way Serena had to be thinking. The strain and fear evident in those brown eyes had been almost haunting to see in a woman so strong. It shouldn't have been there at all.

"She can't take much more," Edward cautioned them quietly. "I can see it in the way she walks. She's exhausted. She's trying to give more than she can handle." Jac sat down where Serena had risen from, between Ric and Edward.

"Yeah, well, sticking your tongue down her throat's not the answer, Edward," Jac quipped. Ric shot her a questioning look. "Oh, didn't he tell you what he and Serena were up to in my office earlier?"

"She asked me to" Edward defended himself. "She asked me to kiss her, Jac."

"Because she's not thinking straight," Jac reminded him. "Maybe it's the only way you two know how to function, I don't know, but I can guarantee that if you confuse her feelings for you right now you'll make a mess of her."

Ric raised his hands to halt their debate. "What's done is done. How long do you think she can keep this up?"

"You mean before she does something stupid?" Edward asked. Ric nodded. "Not much longer. I mean, she's already took a chunk out of me. It would help if I had some clue what was actually going on in her head."

"I found her earlier," Ric admitted. "I had to get her to sit on a stair with me for a few minutes. She looked like she was about to pass out." Jac recalled finding Serena sitting alone on the stairs, muttering to herself about people she shouldn't have gone with and realised Ric must have found her and intervened. "I've only seen her lose her rag once and it was over her mother, but I've never thought she would hit someone."
Jac and Ric both looked at Edward and his injuries, and he just shrugged. "It's not the first time and it probably won't be the last. She doesn't mean to."

Jac sighed. There didn't seem to be any way they could help, and sitting here talking about it was about as useful as a colander with no holes in it. She couldn't get the image of Serena's tear stained face and frightened eyes out of her mind; she felt for Serena more than she expected was possible. "I was the one who held her when she was crying," Jac sighed. "I was the one who sat and listened to her. I have to try and keep her from doing anything stupid, like punching another colleague," she gestured with her hand to Edward's face. "The next person she hits won't be her ex-husband and might not be so understanding."

"What are you suggesting?" Ric asked. It was clear in his expression that he was as helpless as she was, and that Edward perhaps held the key to dealing with Serena. He had dealt with her before and, though Jac had trouble trusting the man, she knew that he could help show them how to deal with her. Because Jac knew she could hold and comfort Serena all she wanted, but until she could make her see the woman she really was, Serena was only going to sink further and further until there was no helping her back to her feet.

"I'm suggesting we keep an eye on her," Jac explained. "What else can we do?"

"Love her," Edward stated. Jac glared at him. He was over-simplifying matters. Serena couldn't do anything for herself with love. She needed logic and rationality and support.

"I have to agree with Jac on that one," Ric groaned. He had known what Jac was thinking without he even opening her mouth. "You can love Serena Campbell until you're blue in the face. She'll still do what she wants regardless. It's too hands-off."

"She doesn't listen to anyone, Ric!" Edward argued. "Surely you've noticed that by now?"

"Of course I have!" Ric said. "But I know if we just show her friendship she'll push it away!"

Groaning slightly, Jac stood up and stepped out onto her ward, glancing around until her eyes fell on the HDU room, seeing that Serena was once more sat next to Mrs. Munro. She was speaking in earnest, though Jac could not hear about what she spoke; she only hoped Serena had stuck to her word and was not trying to talk Mrs. Munro into an operating theatre.

Hope this is OK!
Please feel free to drop me a review and tell me what you think!
Sarah x