I feel like I should apologize… Getting back to life, to work and having my girlfriend back from her semester abroad leaves little time to write. I wrote most of this chapter while I was still in Australia and it has taken three weeks to find the time to finish it and I'm still not happy with it.

On a more positive note – my girlfriend is my probably my greatest fan and therefore apparently does not have a problem with me spending an evening or two a week in writing mode! (Yay!) I really miss it and I can't wait to get back into it.

A big thank you to the new followers and to the reviewers – you guys really made it hard to ignore the little voice in my head that was telling me to get back to writing!

Just a slight forewarning - there is a lot of Katie's POV in this chapter. Also, I will stop babbling now.

Chapter 14 – Science is a Girl's Best Friend

Katie's POV

Effy had updated me on the phone and it didn't take much of a performance to convince Gina that I was part of her daughter's past. I was acquainted or related to the rest of the people in the room aside from Cook and once I saw him, a flare of recognition flashed before my eyes. I saw it mirrored in his but couldn't for the life of me remember how or why I we knew each other. Freddie had kept me separated from most of his friends, supposedly because he was scared they would mess up his little game, so I was more than certain I hadn't met him back in college. I smiled as he stood, all gentleman-like to shake my hand and I decided to let it go for now – there was no way to clear it all up now anyway without revealing the lies to Gina.

I gave Emily and Effy a quick peck and acknowledged James with a wink and a sly smirk before hoisting myself up into the unused bed. There were no available chairs and the bed provided an excellent viewing platform for what I was intending on being a massive study of Emily's newfound crush. Naomi was clearly a very attractive woman, even with the short, uneven hair, the sunken cheeks and dark lines under her eyes, she had a certain undeniable beauty. Her eyes reminded me of Effy's, not in color but in their sheer power. Even though Naomi looked to be in a constant state of exhaustion, her eyes were clear, bright and expressive – beautiful, really. My sister has surprisingly good taste in women.

I noticed that the room was still quiet following my interruption and opened my mouth to lighten the mood, when Gina beat me to it.

"I… I know it's getting late and you all probably have better things to do on a Sunday night but I just wanted to say – ", she paused and looked around the room, pausing at each one of us, oddly enough including me, "Just… Thank you." Tears formed in her eyes and it made me uncomfortable. I didn't know this woman well enough to be at ease with her crying and I certainly didn't deserve any of her thanks. I glanced in Effy's direction and to my surprise, saw Gina's tears mirrored in hers. Effy surprised me again by reaching for Gina's hand and giving it a squeeze while she wiped a tear from her cheek. I had a hard time grasping what was going on, because despite our little display of kinship and emotion, it was all for show – well at least for Effy, James and myself, but they both seemed so sincere and I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something.

"These past few months in and out of the hospital have been hard and it's…", she paused, swallowed a sob and collected herself, "It's wonderful to see Naomi smile again." Gina smiled warmly at Effy as she squeezed her hand again. "So thank you, all of you."

The only pair of dry eyes in the room belonged to me but I know how to fake emotion so I merely looked away and slumped slightly. I had assumed I would be spending the night watching my sister interact with Naomi, dissecting their body language and whatever else they were putting on display but the mood in the room was completely different from what I had been expecting. There was nothing light about the situation and I wasn't sure why I had expected it to be. This was no game they were playing, no fanciful love story with a romantic, happy ending. No, this was real life and life was being a bitch. I felt like a child scorned and decided to take an actual interest in understanding what was going on because Naomi and I go way back or whatever.

I cleared my throat and looked directly at Emily. "I'm sorry Ems, I shouldn't have interrupted you before." She gave me a curios look and I rolled my eyes at her. "What, is it so hard to fathom that I would take an interest in your work?"

"Honestly?", she asked sceptically. "Yes. You never have before."

I sighed and shot her a stern look. "Well, you've never had a patient I had a personal interest in before, have you?" She shrugged in agreement and I noticed Naomi smile shyly at her. That's more like it!

My brilliant sister relented and shifted a little in her seat at Naomi's feet. I noticed her drape a careless arm across her patient's legs before starting her lecture. Naomi's bright, blue eyes lit up at the touch and she did little to mask it.

"I'm not sure how much of this some of you will understand", Emily started and immediately shook her head in regret. "I don't mean to sound arrogant and I will explain to the best of my ability and keep it simple", she glanced in my direction, making it obvious that I was the cause of her having to dumb things down.

"All you need to understand is that Naomi's disease isn't responding to the traditional treatment and that her tumors can't be removed surgically." My sister turned her head in my direction and held my gaze as she continued, "She dying." Her eyes were pleading with me, desperate for me to understand her pain and give her strength. The sheer wretchedness written in her face and in Cook and Gina's, brought tears to my eyes and I suddenly understood what I had been missing. Oh, Emsy…

A deep breath brought her back to reality and away from the pain she was experiencing and projecting on me. When she spoke again, her voice was clear and matter-of-factly.

"NETs tend to have an overexpression of a certain receptor for something called Somatostatin. The use of analogs of Somatostatin labeled with radionuclides – radioactive isotopes – to treat NETs has been around for years, with promising results so far. Radioimmuno-therapy", she said and smiled warmly at Gina, who seemed nervous at the mention of radioactivity, "Is the future. Progress is being made all the time but it is not a curative treatment, yet. It simply prolongs the lives of patients and improves their quality of life significantly."

"The side-effects are quite mild as long as we control where the radioactivity accumulates and protect the kidneys and liver during catabolism." She turned to look at Naomi and I noticed her squeeze her legs slightly, once again making Naomi light up despite the horrendous presentation of what was in store for her. It all sounded scary as fuck to me.

"In our study, the major organs at risk are the kidneys. So each patient's kidneys have to be evaluated before we can start – we need to estimate how aggressive we can be."

"Oh, this I remember!", Gina interjected with enthusiasm. "That's what you came to tell us on Friday – Naomi's kidneys were fantastic!"

Emily simply smiled and nodded encouragingly. I felt like an idiot because despite 'dumbing' it down for me, she had already lost me somewhere between 'NET' and 'overexpression'.

"Exactly, Gina! Naomi's biopsies actually showed a very high overexpression and her kidneys are in great shape. Most of our patients are well above fifty and since our kidney deter with age, theirs are more sensitive to further damage. We don't want to help people fight cancer only to put them in acute renal failure." Emily giggled and continued, " It would sort of defeat the purpose!" My genius of a sister giggled again at her pun but noticing that none of us had found it funny, she quickly recovered, cleared her throat and continued.

"Right, well, what we plan to do is take things one step further. We are going to treat each patient with a radiosensitizer that should, in theory, make sure the tumors are susceptible to radiation, despite them being unresponsive previously." She paused to give everyone a chance to take it in and I noticed James nodding to himself and Cook shifting in his chair, bending forward as if trying to hear better. The room was completely silent and everyone but me seemed spellbound by Emily's lecture. Even Effy was leaning forward, her head in her hands and watching Emily with a dreamy yet focused expression.

"Now, the radiosensitizer we are working with targets a specific protein that, among other things, can force the cells to commit suicide if the radiation has damaged them significantly. It's called p53 and is incredibly important for tumor suppression and is often mutated or isn't present at all in cancer patients. So we tested Naomi's status to make sure her p53 wasn't mutated or knocked out. Thankfully, Naomi once again proved to be the perfect patient." I noticed Naomi smile shyly and bite her lip. Emily beamed when she noticed and it was absolutely endearing. And utterly heartbreaking. Shit, Emily…

Without taking her eyes off Naomi, she started rounding up her lecture, "The only problem has been to administer this radiosensitizer to the tumors and not the rest of the body. If it ended up in Naomi's kidneys for example, we would literally fry them before finishing the first cycle of therapy."

"And that's where the conundrum James asked about plays in." She turned her neck and nodded at our younger brother. "We have been testing different methods to deliver the sensitizer to the tumors and decided on nanoparticles." James looked thoughtful before nodding to himself although I doubted he actually knew what nanoparticles were. But then again, I might be underestimating him simply because I didn't have a clue.

Apparently, Emily felt her explanation was sufficient and when, after a few minutes of silence, it became clear that she wasn't going to continue, Cook finally broke the silence.

"So how will the nanoparticles get into the tumors? Without damaging anything else?" He was frowning with concern as Emily's speech had obviously not set his mind at rest.

"Good question, Cook – " Emily started looking slightly uncomfortable and hesitated before answering him. "We aren't actually, ah, sure yet…" The entire room seemed to frown in unison and Emily held up her hands in defense, hindering any outbursts until she had had a chance to explain herself. "All of our tests have proven that the sensitizer does accumulate in the tumors and my theory is that since the blood vessels in tumors are damaged, the nanoparticles are able to pass through."

Cook started shaking his head in rejection but Naomi interrupted before he could vent his objections. "It's alright, Cook. I trust her. And Kieran. Besides, I can hardly get worse than I already am, can I?" Her smile was warm but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Cook turned to face her and I had a clear view of the pain registering on his face at her last statement. Naomi held out a hand in his direction and he jumped to his feet in order to take it. His posture was that of a child scorned and whatever reservations he might have had, he kept to himself.

The room once again fell silent and everyone was motionless. An eerie, overpowering feeling of suddenly being surrounded by the promise of death and heartache took hold of me and I saw it mirrored in Effy's eyes. She and I share a connection, not unlike the one I have with Emily, and when I caught her eye, I immediately knew she needed to leave – and quickly.

"As much as I enjoy you making me feel like an uneducated idiot, Emsy, Effy and I have an early meeting tomorrow and James probably has a class in the morning to be late for as well." A few smothered words of protest came from James' chair but I suspected they were focused on my insult and less on the fact that we were about to leave.

I got up from the bed and gestured to Effy, "Shall we?"

Effy was out of her chair quickly and started toward the coatrack before changing her mind. She turned and bent down to take hold of one of Mrs. Campbell's hands, gave it a quick squeeze followed by a sad smile before turning her attention on Naomi. "Take care, Campbell", she said as she gave Naomi a quick hug, effectively also hugging Cook, who was standing between her and Naomi, in the process. To my surprise, Cook put his free arm around Effy and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before she had a chance to recoil. I assumed this little display of curious affection between the two was part of the 'game' we had been playing but the sudden redness in Effy's cheeks told me something else entirely was going on. I smiled slyly when Effy glanced in my direction to make sure I hadn't noticed her blushing. No such luck, Elisabeth Stonem!

I headed for the door and turned to smile at my sister but caught sight of Naomi's glowing blue eyes instead. Despite having spent less than an hour in her company, I immediately understood what her pleading expression meant.

Emily's POV

Talking about my work excites me, it always has. I can't really explain it but it feels better than almost anything else. I suppose it's where I feel at home, a place I can fully comprehend and where I can manipulate each parameter to test my knowledge of the world. Getting lost in thought or discussion is a common everyday occurrence and tonight had been no different. As soon as James referred to the radiosensitizer, I forgot all about the earlier horrible and potentially life altering events, and dove head first into the thrill of lecturing the masses. I suppose spending most of your youth being overlooked or blatantly ignored makes you prone to overdoing it when people are actually willing to listen to you. Seeing everyone leave was making me sad but whether it was due to the fact that it meant they were done listening or because it meant that I would have to take my leave as well, I remained a little unsure of.

Katie was halfway out the door before she turned around and threw an almost unnoticeably raised eyebrow in my direction. I hadn't moved from Naomi's bed and neither had Cook, who was still standing next to her with a protective arm around her shoulders. My little speech had brought everyone back to the cruel and gloomy reality that was Naomi's illness and the mood had gotten quite dark, quite quickly. Cook's protective stance was just one of its manifestations, Gina's empty look another.

"Where are my manners?", Katie asked herself prudently as she turned and threw Gina an apologetic smile. "Mrs. Campbell, can I offer you a ride? And you Cook, of course", she said and nodded in Cook's direction. I noticed Cook's eyes interlock with my sister's for a few seconds before he hesitantly shook his head.

Following a slight nudge with a well-placed elbow, Cook coughed once and rubbed his eyes with two fingers. "Actually, I am feeling quite tired, Gina. Maybe I should take Katie up on her offer?"

"Mum, you can't let Katie take Cook home, she lives on the West End!", Naomi interjected before her mother had a chance to answer. Gina opened her mouth to protest but once again, Naomi beat her to it, her tone changing as she did. "I know you don't want to leave me, Mum, but you have to." Naomi turned her head and locked eyes with me. "Tomorrow Emily and Kieran will sweep me away and do scary things to me and frankly, I need some time to prepare for it."

"Are you scared?", I asked, slightly surprised but I didn't have to wait for her answer. Her fears were written with capital letters on her beautiful face.

"Of course I am", she answered and smiled shyly, "That's why I need you here tonight." The smile changed and her eyes were aglow with something quite different from fear. It set the butterflies in my stomach off and I once again wondered at Naomi's ability to cause the room to spin. "I need your reassurance and that brain of yours to help me understand everything I will be going through", she quickly added matter-of-factly but there was a slight blush in her otherwise pale cheeks.

"Right, Gina, that's it then", Cook said decisively and walked to her side. Gina started to protest as he took hold of her hands and pulled her to her feet. "Blondie is the patient, so she decides. Off we go." I felt my heart swell as Cook shot an unmistakable look over his shoulder at me while he ushered Gina out the door. "We'll open a bottle of red and discuss all of the embarrassing stories about Naomi we have to tell Katie and Effy next time we see them."

Katie had been waiting patiently by the door and mouthed "Call me" as she closed the door behind them. Seconds later, Gina came crashing through the door and launched herself into her daughter's open arms. Cook came in shortly after her and placed a quick kiss on Naomi's forehead before once again leading Gina away. He stopped and turned as he reached the door.

"You'll take care of her?" he asked, but it was more of a statement. A few hours ago, he was ready to kill me for hurting Naomi's feelings and his words were now ridden with the promise of a terrible fate should I fail to do as he commanded. I swallowed harder than I meant to and managed a nod. Cook seemed satisfied and finally left, closing the door and hitting the lights as he did. The room fell dark and I was momentarily blinded.

I sat at the foot of her bed and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I relished in experiencing her face come into focus; the soft line of her jaw, the slender neck and the slight curve of her perfect lips. I was spellbound as her incandescent eyes that had the uncanny ability of paralyzing my brain cells while setting the rest of my body on fire finally came into focus. My face suddenly warmed as vivid memories of her warm lips pressing against my own entered my otherwise paralyzed brain. Naomi must have noticed my reaction and extended a hand in my direction. I started getting out of bed in order to walk to her side but quickly thought better of it. For some inexplicable reason, I found the courage and, might I add, audacity to simply stand up on all fours and quickly move to tower above her, effectively straddling her. I was careful not to place any weight across her stomach as I placed a knee on each side of her hips.

The suggestive look in Naomi's blue eyes as I towered above her was the only incentive necessary and I quickly covered her lips with mine. She placed both arms around my neck and I felt her smile into the kiss. A mental image of Naomi smiling flooded my thoughts and my body responded with a tingling sensation spreading down my spine before causing my heart to flutter. She pulled me closer and deepened the kiss but something wasn't quite right. After a few breathtaking kisses, I managed to force myself to pull away. Naomi tried to stop me by pulling at my neck and I feared I had misjudged the situation. I slid down next to her and rested my head on my elbow while Naomi regarded me with confusion and a slight frown.

"I know it's scary," I paused as her frown deepened and her expression changed from confusion to apprehension. "And if you have even the smallest of doubts and you don't want to go through with the first cycle tomorrow, I will understand." I tried my best to sound sincere and not the slightest bit disappointed. "Tomorrow, Kieran and JJ will ask each of the patients to sign off on the treatment, one last time – "

"Is that what you think I should do?", Naomi interrupted, fear ridden in her voice. "Jump off the trial?" I instantly placed a protective arm around her waist, careful not to put too much weight on it. Her abdomen was painfully sensitive and the last thing I wanted was to cause her pain.

"No! No." I shook my head and smiled, hoping she could see it even though my back was facing the window and thus, the only source of light.

"Then why even mention it?" She crossed her arms and I pulled my arm back. Her stubbornness both surprised and reminded me of the fact that despite her having such an enormous impact on my life, I hardly knew her. I sighed and contemplated getting out of bed but the look of fear and challenge beaming from her eyes kept me glued in place.

"Naomi, I only mentioned it because I sensed something was wrong. It wouldn't be the first time a patient has had second thoughts and I just wanted to make sure you understood that no one will be forcing you to go through with it. I want to make this perfectly clear to you…" Naomi slowly uncrossed her arms and turned her full attention to me. "I want you to go through with the first cycle, I hope and wish that you will go through a second, third, fourth and fifth cycle or more!"

I was no longer able to hide the frustration and desperation from my voice. "Naomi, I want the trial to work, I need it to work!" Painful tears were pressing into my eyes and I pushed myself off the bed. The last thing she needed was the addition of my pain on top of her own, her mother's and Cook's. A cool hand grabbed my wrist as I slid off the bed.

"Emily…" Naomi's tone was overbearing, reminiscent of the way she spoke to her mother or Cook whenever the subject of her impending mortality came up. I wiped a tear from my cheek before I turned to face her again. The sheer power of her speaking my name brought me back from the edge of the abyss and I regained my wits.

"I'm sorry." I took a deep breath and sent her the warmest smile I could muster while she squeezed my hand.

She suddenly smirked wickedly, an eyebrow raised in my direction, "What happened to acting professional?"

I laughed. "I think that particular ship sailed when I laid eyes on you!" The recollection of mesmerizing blue eyes and a room that seemed to spin made my face warm.

Naomi giggled before asking, "What, tonight?"

My laughter subsided and I moved towards her, cupping her stunning face in my hands in one smooth motion. I was more than confident that the passion I was feeling was visible even in silhouette, as I still had my back to the window. The amusement in Naomi's face disappeared and her stunning, blue eyes mirrored my emotions as I locked them in my gaze.

"No." I broke eye contact for a split second in order to place a sweet kiss on her wonderful lips. I waited until she opened her eyes again before continuing, "The first time I laid eyes on you."

Okay, first of all – thanks for reading if you made it all the way here! Second, I am aware that last line might be the cheesiest thing I have ever written but I don't even care… Third, I know there was a lot of science and a lot of Katie in this chapter but there is a point to her POV and you will see what that is soon…

I am going to try and update much sooner (maybe in a week?) and for those who follow my other story, I am working on an update there as well!