A.N.: Hi guys. Thanks for your reviews. I appreciate them a lot! Sorry for the delay in updating. Hope you like the nex chapter.

They had been sitting at the kitchen table in silence for a good ten minutes while Stephanie was fidgeting around, first with the coffeemaker, then with the fridge and finally with spoons and cups. She avoided them, every ounce of her was screaming to run away from the situation and leave them without the so much wanted answers they came here for. But finally she settled down, poured herself a cup of coffee, left it to Stu and Doug to do the same and had her gaze intently fixed on the table's wood in front of her. Her voice was low and shaky when she started, barely more than a whisper.

"It started nine days ago. The day before you wanted to go on your roadtrip to Mexico. Actually Phil had been a little out of it the whole week but on Thursday he came home from school complaining about aches and exhaustion. I put it on a rough day at school, nursed him a bit but I realized he was having a mild fever. With all that kids around I thought maybe it was the flu or something. I had no idea..."
She took a deep breath, trying to find her composure again and took another sip from the steaming coffee. She still didn't have the strength to look them in the eyes.

"On Friday morning he was worse. I know that now. But I was late for work and I thought he just wanted some compassion and for me to tell him that it was okay if he just called in sick and stayed at home. But I was in a hurry and I didn't listen and I pushed him..."

*Flashback*

"Seriously, Steph, I don't feel so good."

"I know, honey. I know you're feeling sick, but you can't just stay here. These kids are your responsibility. And don't tell me you might get them sick because whatever you have, you probably got it from one of them. Anyway, you have a pop quiz coming up today, have you not? Just think how disappointed they will all be if you won't show up to torture them with questions about stuff they forgot to learn anything about."

A small smile appeared on her husband's face now and - without much enthusiasm - he started to peel himself out of the warm blanket.

"Alright. I guess that's a plus... I'll go."

She nodded approvingly and turned back to the mirror to fix her hair and get her dress straightened up. She couldn't wait for Phil to get ready. The kids were already at school, Eli had taken good care of his little sister. But she was already late for her first client of the day. She had to go.

In the meantime Phil had managed himself to the edge of the bed and slowly got to his feet. He immediately regretted the action. The world seemed to be spinning around him, dark spots dancing in front of his eyes. He tried to grab a hold of the bed pole, missed, stumbled forward and managed to catch himself just before he fell. He looked up, tried to locate his wife and everything was somehow blurry.

"Steph..."

"Hon, stop it. I really have to go."

She didn't turn around when she told him and the next thing she heard was a shuffling step, a deep intake of air and then a loud thud. The silence that followed was deafening. It felt like she was standing there uselessly for at least a minute when in reality it was only seconds. Then she whirled around. Phil was on the floor, eyes closed, moaning softly, unable to form even one coherent word. Seconds later she crashed down next to him, her hands uselessly hovering over his prone form.

"Baby? Come on, hon, talk to me! What's wrong?! What happened?"

But she got no answer, not even the dimmest sign of recognition. Phil didn't reply, didn't wake. Finally Stephanie managed to stretch out a hand. The heat radiating from his body made her pull it back like she burned herself on him. Her thoughts were racing, panic ready to settle in. She willed herself to take a breath, then another and finally the fog in her head cleared and she grabbed her purse, yanked her cell phone out and called 911.

The operator that answered her call was blissfully calm and professional. he asked her name, asked her address, asked her what happened and in a tumble of words she was hardly able to comprehend herself, she explained it all or at least she hoped she did. The man on the other end of the line remained calm and patient, and it reassured her to an extent she couldn't even describe.

"Alright, Mrs. Wenneck. I got your name, I got your address. An ambulance has been dispatched. They will be with you within the next ten minutes. Now try and focus. Take a deep breath."
She did as she was told, not caring if she was treated like a child. She had to listen to this man who was trained for emergency situations. He could make it better.

"Now, Mam, I need you to tell me if your husband is still breathing."

She anxiously looked, held a hand over Phil's mouth and nose even though she could see his chest rising and falling and nodded. Seconds later she cursed herself for her stupidity. The operator couldn't see what she saw. So she had to tell him.

"He's breathing but... but it's very fast."

"Don't worry about that. It's the fever spiking the metabolism. It's perfectly normal. Now you said he fell. Is there any sign of injury? Any blood? Maybe his arms or legs in an awkward position like something might be broken?"

"No... no blood and he... he looks fine. He just won't wake up."

"Alright then. Now can you be certain he didn't fall on his head?"

"No, no I can't. I didn't see. I only turned to him after I heard him fall."

"Good. Now listen. I don't want you to move him, okay?"

"But he's unconscious. What about his breathing?!"

"Don't worry about that. He's breathing on his own and that's a good sign. But there is a risk of a head injury and the paramedics will have to check that first. Just stay with him and wait for the medics, okay?"

"Okay..."

*End Flashback*

Stephanie stopped her little tale of horror and finally looked up at Doug and Stu. The reactions couldn't have been more different. While Stu was wearing an expression of utter horror on his face, Doug seemed almost stoic. His voice betrayed him though. He was just feigning not to be affected by this.

"What... what happened next?"

Stephanie looked him in the eyes, finally finding the courage to do so.

"The medics came, checked for head injuries, lifted him on a gurney and took him to the ambulance. They offered me a ride and they took us to the hospital. I didn't see Phil for over an hour, just sitting in that goddamn waiting room full of ill-tempered people and uncomfortable plastic chairs and I waited. Just sat there and waited. I didn't call his parents or mine, I didn't call the school or our work... I just sat there, waiting, worrying, trying hard not to go crazy. It worked for a while. Until the doctor came to talk to me."

*Flashback*

"Family to Mr. Wenneck?"

Stephanie almost jumped out of her skin, when the doctor - a young man obviously of Asian descent - entered the waiting room and announced her name. She stepped up to him, anxiously trying to read anything from the expression on his face but he was just one thing - professional. Stephanie took a deep breath and tried her best to steel herself for what was to come.

"I'm his wife. How is he?"

"I'm Dr. Amar, I treated your husband. We transferred him to the ICU. He hasn't woken up yet and his condition is still critical. His fever is still very high. We're trying a treatment with fever reducants and chilled saline. We will give it today, see how it progresses and adjust treatment from there. I won't lie to you. We have to get this under control quickly. He's prone to seizures and organ failure as long as his body temperature is this high. However that is not our main concern."

"Wait a second?! His organs may just fail him and that is NOT your concern?!"

Stephanie was taken aback by the doctors choice of words. She had a hard enough time coping with the very fact that what she had assumed was just a simple touch of the flu had turned into something that utterly serious that she had to take her husband to the hospital. Dr. Amar offered her a small smile. She was thankful for the gesture but it was futile. His next words hit her right to the core.

"No. It's the underlying cause that is truly worrisome. We did a first set of tests. The bloodwork just came back. Your husband has an unnaturally high white count. That along with other indicators points to pretty much just one conclusion. We will have to do another set of tests to confirm it but we should not do that before his condition hasn't stabilized."

"Would you just tell me what is happening here. What's wrong with him?!"

"Your husband is suffering from acute leukemia, Mrs. Wenneck. He has cancer."

*End Flashback*

Stephanie finished her coffee and let her gaze wander from Stu to Doug before she focused it back on the table. She felt tired. So unbelievably tired. She really wanted to just stop talking about this and throw the two out of her house. But now that she had started, she had to go through with it.

"Now you know... As you can obviously see they got the fever back under control and allowed him to go home again. But with the acute leukemia they had to start treatment right away. He is already on his first circle of chemotherapy and let me tell you he is not taking to it too well. It all happened so fast."

"Why didn't you tell us any of this before, Steph? Why would you keep this to yourself?"

"Because Phil asked me to."

A deafening silence fell between them. Stephanie probably could have used maybe just a little more tact and empathy but it was the simple truth. Phil had not asked her to keep it quiet, he had demanded it of her. She hadn't argued with him, had just nodded her agreement and had made the phone call to Doug's and Tracy's house. But it had backfired - big time. Next to her Stu breathed in deeply and loudly.

"Why... why the hell would he do that?!"

"Because out of the four of you, he has always been..."

"The strong one? That's pretty much true."

Doug had finished the sentence for her and Stephanie couldn't help but smile. It vanished the very instant she realized that she would have to talk to her husband about his friends' coming here, intervening on Phil's behalf. He wouldn't like it. Not at all...

"He wants it to stay that way. He doesn't want you to see him like this. But now it's too late for that. I have no idea how to tell him this... "