A/N: I apologize for the delay, friends. I appreciate each and every one of you for sticking around and still reading this silly jumble of words I've put together. Special shoutout to Dorothy for the thoughtful messages you've left me on this story; it means a lot that this story has been a bright spot in your life. Sending virtual love to you.


In the months following her surgery, Lou had recovered, had some time to rest, and then gone back into the lion's den to begin her chemotherapy. Not only did she feel herself deteriorating, Lou also saw the effect it had on her daughters.

Katie had stopped coming in front of her. She could usually be found cooped up in her room, engrossed in her homework or studying. Lou wanted so many times to go to her daughter, and get her to come out of her bubble, but if she was the thing that Katie so feared, wouldn't that defeat the entire purpose?

Georgie, on the other hand, made herself available as much as she could, often at her own expense.

Lou just wanted it all to be over, to have a moment's peace with both her daughters, however brief.

She now stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring back into her face, the one with hollowed cheeks, the one with the sunken eyes whose lights had been dimmed, and the one that her youngest refused to look at.

I'm making the right decision, she told herself.

There was a knock at the bathroom door. "I'm going to go start the car. We should head out in a few."

Lou turned to the sound of Georgie's voice and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be right there."


As Georgie parked on the side of the road, she turned to see Lou peering over her phone, nervously biting her nail. "Mom?"

"Yeah, honey," she returned, her gaze still affixed to the screen.

"We're here."

Lou looked up, surprised. "I hadn't realized," she said, sliding her phone into her bag. "Okay, I should go."

"I can walk you inside."

"No, no. You don't have to."

"Okay, well, I'll be here when you're done."

Lou paused, her lips parting. "Why don't I just meet you at home?"

Georgie stared back at her mother, unsure what to make of this development. "What, you're going to take a taxi?"

Lou shrugged her shoulders. "Or maybe I'll get your grandpa to drive me."

"Okay."

Lou smiled and nodded, reaching out to place a hand on Georgie's cheek. "Alright. I'll see you."

After her mother disappeared into the building, Georgie stayed there for a bit, not quite ready to be out on the road again. She'd been feeling off the entire day, but now that she had said goodbye to Lou, there was almost a physical pain to their separation.

Eventually, Georgie turned off the ignition, locked the car and headed inside. She rounded the corner and headed toward the elevator, which took no less than five minutes to arrive.

By the time she arrived at the chemotherapy suite, Georgie was already crazed, her stomach beginning to do somersaults. She kept scanning the area in an attempt to find her mother. She walked around the room for a bit, wondering if maybe Lou had stepped away to go to the bathroom.

It wasn't until the nurse approached her, asking after Lou, that Georgie realized her mother wasn't there.


Lou stood at the back entrance of the hospital, her bag on the sidewalk by her feet. She turned as she heard the sound of gravel crunching under truck tires. A small smile crept onto her lips as she took a step forward.

Mitch exited the vehicle and shut the door. He came around and stopped inches away from her. He didn't let himself look at her for too long, because otherwise he would have crumbled.

He brought her into a hug as gently as he could, and the two of them stayed that way for a little while.

Mitch had enveloped her in that hug so diligently that when they broke apart, Lou was surprised at the breeze that brushed her cheek. She hadn't realized how chilly it was today.

"Hi," he finally said.

"Hi," she returned.

Mitch pressed his lips against her hair, breathing her in. "Let's go?" he asked, and she nodded.

They proceeded to climb into the truck, and Mitch tossed her bag into the backseat.

Then they drove off.


Mitch found a spot at the edge of town, and parked his truck. He turned off the ignition and grabbed hold of the steering wheel, unsure of how to proceed.

Finally, he asked, "Why did you want to meet outside the hospital?"

Lou grimaced. "It's a long story."

"I don't mind."

She sighed, not in the mood to tell on herself. "You know, I, uh…I'm not too sure why exactly I called you up. And I'm sorry if—"

"You're sorry, what're you sorry for? I'm glad you called me."

There was a pause before she asked, "You are?"

"Yeah. I mean, ever since I found out about your diagnosis, I—" he broke off, lowering his voice for some reason. "—I've been desperate to talk to you."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you myself. It must have been awful to find out the way that you did. On social media, of all places."

Mitch closed his eyes for a split second. He nodded.

"I just couldn't do it. I couldn't tell Katie, I couldn't tell Georgie, who will never let me live it down, by the way," she added, laughing a little. She turned to look at him. "And I couldn't tell you."

Tears were stinging his eyes as he readjusted his grip on the wheel, looking out over his dashboard. "Yeah, no, I know. You don't have to be sorry."

Lou nodded.

"So how was it that you found out?" he asked.

Lou took in a sharp breath. "You know how you set up the pond a couple years back for Katie's birthday," she began, nodding. "We did it up again this year, and I was skating with the kids, and I lost my footing."

"You hit your head?"

"No, I made sure not to," she said. "I protected my head, but that meant that my rib absorbed the impact."

Mitch's face contorted. "You broke it," he guessed.

Lou nodded. "And then I went into the ER, and they said they saw something on the scans, and…you know the rest."

Mitch took in her words, inhaling sharply. "Wow." That must have been terrifying, he stopped himself from saying.

"I was so scared," she said, as if reading his thoughts. "I still am. Sometimes, I wish I never found out."

He turned to look at her, not sure what to make of her choice of words. "And the kids? How are they with all of this?"

Lou leaned back against the headrest, exhaling noisily. "They're a mess. Georgie falls sick every other day with something or other. Katie never shows her face to me anymore."

"Georgie what?"

Lou looked toward him. The concern etched in his blue eyes made her melt a little. Maybe more than a little. "Sometimes she'll get nauseous, or fall sick with a fever, or…yesterday, her muscles were aching. I don't know what's wrong with her, and she refuses to see a doctor."

"Aren't those your symptoms?"

"What?"

"Side effects," he corrected. "With…chemo and everything."

Lou's eyebrows twitched. "Yeah."

He didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"What is it?"

"I…" he began, unsure of himself. "Well, I could be wrong, but I've seen this sort of thing before. I think what she's got are phantom symptoms."

"Phantom? Like she's imagining it?"

"No, she's definitely not imagining it. It's her body's way of coping with everything you're going through."

Lou was quiet for a moment. "So you're saying she's okay."

Mitch nodded. "I think so."

Lou shut her eyes, clearing away the tears. "She's okay," she repeated to herself.

They stayed in the truck for a while after that. She tried to tell him that she'd decided to quit chemo, but again, she was at a loss. If only she didn't love him so much. Maybe then she could have found the courage to say it.


When Mitch dropped her off later that evening, Lou was greeted by Katie as she entered the living room, tossing her bag on the floor.

"Where were you?" the young girl asked in a hushed voice, as if she were afraid that speaking too loud would break every piece of glass in the house.

Lou was at a loss. "What?"

"Georgie said you weren't at chemo. Where did you go?"

Lou's eyes widened in panic. "She knows? Where is she?"

Katie didn't respond.

"Honey, where's your sister?"

"She's in her room. She's not feeling well."

"What…?"

"Just tell her where you were. She said she was out looking for hours, that you didn't answer your phone."

"It was on silent. We're always told to turn the ringer off, so I just…" Dammit.

Katie nodded. "Okay."

They both stood there awhile until one of the bedroom doors opened and Georgie stepped out. She placed a hand on the frame and demanded, "Where were you?"

Lou could tell she wanted to be furious, but she seemed so drained of her energy that it was proving quite difficult. "Honey, look—" she began, stepping forward.

Georgie waved a hand, stopping Lou from coming any closer. "'Cause I know you weren't at the hospital."

Lou met Katie's gaze, who nodded ever so slightly. "I met up with a friend," she answered.

"I don't understand," said Georgie, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "Why would you do that?"

Katie knew she should probably keep her mouth shut, but she also knew that only she could move this conversation forward. "Mom's done with chemo."

Georgie seemed to forget she wasn't feeling well, because the next thing she did was move away from the wall and surge forward. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lou didn't have time to ask Katie how she could've possibly known because the anger blazing in Georgie's eyes drew its hooks into Lou. "Sweetheart, I—"

That's really all she had to say, because her daughter understood. "So you're done. Just like that."

Lou shook her head a little. "I didn't come to this decision lightly."

"No, I know. You're doing what's best for everyone, isn't that right?" Georgie offered, an indignant expression on her face.

Katie looked between her mother and sister. "Wait, so does that mean you're…going to do the other treatments?" she asked Lou. There had been many discussions in the last several weeks about adjuvant therapies, mostly headed by her sister.

"No, Katie, she's done," Georgie answered for their mother, her knee giving out.

"I'm doing this for you guys—" Lou began once Georgie had caught herself, but faltered. After a moment, "I see what this is doing to you two, and I can't stand it."

Her daughters were quiet for a few moments. And then, "Is that why Dad isn't here?" Georgie asked, knowing well enough what Lou's answer would be.

Lou took a step forward toward Georgie. "Look, I need to talk to you about something. It's important."

"Change your mind about chemo, and then we can talk."

Lou halted, her lips parted. She sighed tightly.

Georgie smiled resignedly. "You're done, then so am I." She strode over to the kitchen and picked up her keys and phone.

Lou swallowed, resisting the temptation to ask where she was off to.

Katie seemed to read her mind. "Where are you going?" she asked her sister.

"Car needs fuel," answered Georgie, already halfway out the door.


Once Georgie had left, the house fell quiet again. Katie retreated to her room and curled up in bed while Lou fell into panic mode.

Everyone was away. Not only was Peter back in Vancouver, Jack was out for the day, Amy was working at the centre, and Tim was…well, she wasn't sure where he was.

Lou knew she had to go in and talk to Katie, but surely she was allowed a moment to collect herself? She made her way over to the couch and grabbed hold of the headrest, taking in heaps of air.

The front door opened, and Lisa's voice called out. At first calm and collected, it soon descended into a frenzy.

The older woman made her way over hurriedly, put a gentle hand around Lou's waist and asked her what the matter was.

"The kids know," said Lou, gripping Lisa's arm for support.

"They—" Lisa began, but then halted. "You told them?"

Lou shook her head. "Katie, she—she somehow already knew and she told Georgie, and now Georgie's gone off to God knows where."

As Lisa led her over to the couch, Lou continued on. "She took the car, said she needed to fill the gas tank."

Lisa nodded, helping Lou take a seat. "Well, then let's not panic just yet. She just needs a breather, right?"

Lou exhaled after holding in her breath for a second too long. "And Katie. I should really talk to her, she's probably—"

"No, wait," said Lisa, bringing Lou's hands back down, locking her in place. "If you go in there all panicked, it's not going to help Katie, is it?"

After some time, Lou went to check in on Katie, but she appeared to be asleep. Lou didn't attempt to find out if that was really the case, as not to disturb her.


By the time Katie awoke from her nap, the sun was close to setting. She sat up in bed, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. It took her a moment to register them, but Katie could hear Lou and Lisa's voices carrying in from the living room.

Georgie had not yet returned.

Grabbing her phone from her nightstand, Katie went out to the living room. "She's not back yet?"

Heads turned in her direction.

Lou exchanged a look with Lisa, who sat across from her in Jack's armchair. She faltered, not wanting to disappoint her other daughter, too.

Lisa understood and answered, "Uh, well, no. Not yet."

"Have you called her?"

"We're gearing up to it," returned Lisa.

Katie nodded. "Let me. I'll do it."

As the phone rang, Lou knit her hands together, wringing them out. Her anguish withered away when she heard Katie greet her sister.

"Yeah, Georgie, where are you?"

"I'm here."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Mom's asking for you. Are you still on the road?"

"Tell her I crashed and they're taking my body down to the morgue."

Katie's heart skipped a beat. She parted her lips, about ready to return a smartass response, but faltered when she saw Lou looking back at her expectantly. "Okay, well, you need to turn back," said Katie into the phone. "I'm gonna tell her you're on your way home."

Silence on the other end.

"Georgie?"

"Alright, fine. Is she okay?"

"As far as I can tell," said Katie, lowering her voice.

"Mm."

"Well, how long are you gonna be?" asked Katie. She needed something to report back to Lou.

"Shouldn't be more than an hour."

"Okay, I'll tell her. See you in a bit."

"Bye."

Once Katie had filled in Lou and Lisa, the latter got up and went to heat up dinner. "No excuses this time," she remarked to Lou.

Lou inhaled, preparing myself to talk to Katie. "Hey, honey, I just wanted to—"

"Um, I'm going to help out Lisa," interrupted Katie, a finger pointing toward the kitchen. "Just be a minute."


By the time Georgie had returned home, she was exhausted like a cry-all-day kind of exhausted. It was hard for her to even keep her eyes open, they were so heavy.

She turned off the ignition and sat there for a few minutes in the dark. When her phone began buzzing, she started at the noise. She knew who it was without even having to check.

Georgie pressed the answer key and brought the phone up to her ear. She sighed, "Yeah?"

"Honey, are you okay?"

Georgie had to bite her tongue. Why did Lou have to be so infuriating? "All good."

"Okay, okay. You should come inside, I'll heat something up for you."

"I can't come inside."

Silence on Lou's end.

"I can't have this conversation with you, not face to face."

"Oh…"

"You're making a mistake," said Georgie hurriedly, before Lou had the chance to hang up. If she let her off the hook now, they'd probably never figure this thing out. "Exiting chemo early is going to screw up your prognosis. You're on a good track right now, and you're just—you're taking it for granted!"

"And what if after everything, I'm still not okay?"

Georgie winced. "Then we'll deal with it."

"That's just it. I don't want you to."

Georgie's throat tightened. "What?"

"I don't want what's happening to me to swallow you whole. I see already what it's doing to you, and…"

"What's it doing to me?"

"You need to get back to your life, sweetie. This has gone on long enough."

Georgie scoffed. "Yeah, right. You haven't even gotten through half of your sessions."

"Look, it's been a really long day. Just come inside, will you? I need to lay eyes on you and then I'll turn in."

Georgie shut her eyes. Lou wasn't in a listening mood. "Why are you doing this? I mean, what are you so afraid of all of a sudden?"

"It's not all of a sudden. This has been sixteen years coming."

It took her a few moments to piece together what Lou had meant, and once she did, Georgie could only sit in silence.

Marion's sixteenth death anniversary was coming up.

"Georgie, just come inside, will you?"

Clearing her throat, Georgie finally agreed.


Once inside, Georgie tried her best to walk past her mother and up to her room, but Lou managed to reel her in.

"Georgie, honey," said Lou, reaching for her daughter's shoulders. "Let me look at you."

Keeping her gaze low, Georgie didn't say much of anything. She tried to brush Lou off, but her mother was persistent.

"Where did you go? I was so worried."

Georgie chuckled dryly, pressing a finger to the corner of her eye.

When she didn't get an answer, Lou went on in an attempt to fill the silence. "Well, you're in one piece, so…" she trailed off, taking in Georgie's fragile form, letting her own arms fall to her side.

"Yeah."

Lou nodded. "Okay, I'll—I'm gonna get out of your hair," she said, gesturing toward her room.

Georgie just stood there. Her body was screaming at her to do something, to reach for Lou, or to say good night, but she refused it. Besides, she had other things on the forefront of her mind. Finally, the words flew out of her mouth before she even realized what she was saying. "You're not Marion."

Lou flinched.

"And I'm not you. I don't plan on losing my mom," shrugged Georgie. "I refuse it." When Lou tried to speak, she cut her off. "You're going back to chemo. You have a choice to make; we can either fight each other the whole time or we can get over ourselves and figure it out together."

With that, Georgie left Lou standing in the middle of the hall. When the door to Jack's room opened, she thought nothing of it at first, but the disquiet look on his face put her on high alert. "Grandpa, I thought you were asleep."

Jack twitched his mustache in acknowledgement as he stepped into the living room.

Lou inhaled, readying herself. "You know, don't you?" He seemed to wait for her to rectify her words, or to offer up an apology and say she was done with this whole quitting thing, but she never went on.

Jack crossed over to her, planted a kiss on her temple and continued over to the kitchen.

Lou didn't stay long after that.


Around mid morning the next day, Georgie and Katie were in the barn, tending to the horses. After brushing Phoenix, the older of the two sisters made her way over to the hay bales and took a seat.

Katie turned back to look at her. "What, are the other horses going to brush themselves?"

Georgie shrugged. She didn't feel like tending to the horses, let alone get on with this stupid day. "I can take over once you get bored."

I'm already bored, Katie mused to herself. But she returned to her task. After a moment, she said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Would it make a difference if I said no?"

"No."

Georgie smiled. "What is it?"

"Did the car really need fuel yesterday?"

"It did once I drove around in it for a few hours."

"You know, you didn't have to be such a jerk yesterday."

Georgie knit her brows together, but said nothing.

"With the morgue thing you said."

"It doesn't matter what I said. I would never do that."

"Well, good! 'Cause someone needs to keep this family in line."

Georgie laughed a little. "How am I supposed to keep any of these people in line?"

Katie stopped what she was doing and turned to face Georgie. "I mean the thing with Mom."

"Look, Katie…"

"You're going to fix it, right?"

"I'm trying my best," returned Georgie.

"Well, what're we gonna do if she refuses?" asked Katie.

"Wish I knew. We've only got a few days to convince her until she's in really big trouble."

Katie was silent a long time before she spoke next. She wasn't sure what really big trouble meant. "It's 'cause of me she's doing this, right? Since I stopped coming in front of her."

"This isn't your fault."

"Then what's her issue?"

"Her issue…is that she's never figured out how to be taken care of. She's a terrible patient."

Katie's stomach turned. "Yeah, she's the worst."

"Do you wanna head inside?" asked Georgie. "It's getting kind of cold."

Katie was about to answer when her sister leapt out of her seat and shot over to the back entrance of the barn. Katie's gaze followed. "What're you looking at?"

Georgie wordlessly made her way over to the front exit, staring in horror at the ambulance that was barrelling toward the Heartland gate.


A/N: Hmm. Thoughts? Prayers?