A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Rachel (nocontextheartland on Instagram) for helping me with a HUGE chunk of this chapter. I basically battered her for fic help all night (till past midnight for her) and she came through like she always does. I love you!

The entire scene with the vacuum was her idea, so everybody say thank you to Rachel *claps because she's a genius*

Katie came out into the living room to see Lou struggling to move the coffee table, vacuum already running. The young girl hurried across the room in an attempt to help.

"Mom, don't," she began, but stopped at the look Lou gave her. "I just meant that—okay, well, then, just let me help."

Katie waited for Lou to step back before she took up the job. She lifted one end of the coffee table so the vacuum could gain access to the floor underneath.

Katie was trying to move the couch for Lou when her dad walked in. Her heart sank as she watched him take in the scene before him and set the bag of groceries down. Katie wanted to say something in her defence, but she could barely move, let alone speak. She'd reached her capacity to do anything, what with holding up one end of the couch.

Before Katie had a chance to put the couch back in its place, Peter had already unplugged the vacuum and was approaching them.

Lou spun around indignantly, and then seemed to deflate when she spotted the culprit. "Peter, hi," she said as brightly and casually as she could manage.

"Lou, are you kidding me right now?"

"The vacuuming needed to get done, okay? And I'm feeling just fine," she lied, her hand travelling up to rest just under her broken rib.

"I told you I would do it."

"You wouldn't have done it the way I needed—"

"What you need is to rest, alright?" Peter turned his attention to Katie, who had finally set the couch precisely where it was supposed to go. "Why didn't you stop her?"

Before Katie could protest that she was only trying to keep Lou from hurting herself, her mother cut in. "Nobody else vacuums under the furniture, Peter, okay, and there's a lot of dust."

Peter pinched the bridge of his nose, willing himself to keep his resolve. "You've told me a hundred times, Lou, I would've done it exactly how you said."

Lou sniffed. "You always miss the corners."

"Is this seriously why you sent me for groceries?" Peter asked as it finally hit him.

Lou avoided his eyes, remaining silent. Peter swung his arm to the side, frustrated. "The doctor told you to take it easy. Lou, you need to rest! You're not even trying—"

Katie ducked around behind her mother and made a break for the hallway. By the time she made it to her room and shut the door behind her, they'd gone several points deeper into the argument she'd already heard many times that week.

She sat on her bed, listening to Lou and Peter through the closed door. She could almost predict what would come next—how hard it was for Lou to take time off work, how much it worried Peter when she got tired of resting and tried doing housework, Peter insisting she needed to rest, Lou insisting that she was handling it.

It had now been six days since her mother had gone in for those other tests, and Katie was beginning to get worked up over the results not coming in. Did that mean it was bad news? Or was it good news and they'd put off telling them about it for that reason?

Katie sat there for several minutes, trying to block out her parents' raised voices. Finally, she picked up her phone, opened the messaging app and began typing.

Her finger hovered over the send button for a bit, but she eventually pressed it.

Yo can you come home? Mom's freaking out.

Georgie instantly came online. She couldn't help but smile when she read her sister's text.

Haha, what happened this time?

Another message whooshed in from Katie.

Don't tell anyone I told you this, but she went in for some tests.

Georgie picked up her phone and dialled Katie.

Katie answered almost right away. "H-hello?"

"Tests for what?" Georgie got straight to the point.

"Um—I'm not supposed to say anything and you can't tell anybody I told you—"

"KATIE. Tests for what?"

"She fell and broke a rib."

Georgie's stomach lurched. She sighed tightly, shutting her eyes. She paused a second. "And that's what the test was for," she said, hopeful.

"No." Katie let a beat pass before she went on. "They saw a shadow in one of her scans, and—" she broke off, realizing she could probably be quieter. "Well, I don't really know much. She went in for another test a few days ago. We're waiting to hear back."

Georgie didn't respond.

"Nobody's saying anything, but they're all super worried. And Mom, she's…freaking out."

Georgie held her breath.

"And they keep arguing because Mom won't quit moving around, and—maybe I shouldn't have bothered you with this, but I didn't know who else to tell. She's not listening to anybody around here." Katie took in a breath. "Everything's a mess right now, and I really don't know what I'm supposed to be doing, or saying…" she let herself go quiet for a few seconds.

"Georgie?" Katie asked when her sister didn't answer for a while.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Georgie's voice came out small.

"Mom warned everybody not to, at least until the results came back. She said she didn't want to worry you over nothing."

"What, and you all just went with it?"

"Well, I'm telling you now."

Georgie blew out her breath, frustrated. "What's she doing right now?"

"I don't know, but she's out in the living room. Or the kitchen."

Georgie sighed quietly. "Shouldn't she be resting?"

"Yeah, and she has been. But it's been over a week since it happened, and she's over it, I guess. She thought her results were going to come back today, and they clearly haven't, so…"

"It's been over a week."

Katie stopped. This conversation felt like a landmine. "Look, I'm sorry. But at least I told you. Does that count for something?"

Georgie didn't feel right dumping her frustrations onto Katie. She decided to drop this.

Katie continued, needing to steer the conversation elsewhere. "And she hasn't sat still all day, and…I mean, Dad has a point, she needs to take it easy 'cause what if she messes up her—"

"Dad's there?"

"Yeah, he's been here since before this all started."

"Oh."

"What?"

"No, nothing."

Katie could now hear shuffling in the background, like Georgie was hurriedly moving things out of the way. "What are you doing?"

No answer from Georgie, just more commotion in the background. Katie let her sister do what she was doing, not wanting to interrupt.

"Georgie?" She called out after about a minute.

"Yeah." Georgie took in a sharp breath.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Just looking for a flight."

"You're coming home?"

"Well, yeah, I need to see her."

Katie breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, because I think you're the only one that can handle her right now. Because if Dad can't…"

"Look, just don't worry, okay? I'll be there soon. Just…just think of something to distract her with in the meantime."

"Distract her? With what?"

"I don't know. Something."

"That helps."

"Look, I'm sorry. We can figure it out once I'm there, alright?"

"Hey, just one thing. Um, could you not tell anybody that I was the one that called you? Mom would kill me if she found out."

Georgie bit down on her bottom lip. "Of course not. I won't say anything."

"Thank you." Katie felt embarrassed for having to ask. "Um, when are you getting here?"

"Tonight."

When Georgie finally arrived home, it was late. Well past eight o'clock. She could hear voices coming in from the living room as she stepped into the mud room. Before she could set her bag down, she spotted her mother. The sight of her was like a pacifier to Georgie's otherwise anxious heart. She sighed quietly, her shoulders slumping.

There she was, standing at the kitchen sink, washing the dishes that Peter had most likely tried to stop her from washing.

Nobody had yet spotted Georgie, and so she stood a moment in the stillness. She observed Lou, who looked like even the dishes weren't enough to keep her mind from going places she didn't want it going.

Katie stepped into the kitchen. "Georgie!" She exclaimed, making sure to sound surprised.

Lou's head turned at the unanticipated revelation. There Georgie stood, dressed in black from head to toe. Without turning to look at her mother, Georgie set down her bag, and moved to unbutton her coat that travelled past her knees.

"Georgie?" Lou whispered to herself and immediately turned off the tap.

Lou stepped forward as Georgie tossed her jacket on the bench behind her. "Honey, what are you doing here…?" She said louder this time.

When Georgie turned to look at her, Lou recognized the weary expression on her face. Her heart sank. "You didn't call." Lou gestured to the stove. "I would have made something nice if I had known you were coming."

Lou faltered when Georgie didn't answer. "Something wrong?"

Georgie crossed over to her mother and brought her arms around her.

Lou had been bracing herself for impact, but Georgie's arms went around Lou's shoulders and she held her mother so nimbly, so skillfully that the pain Lou was expecting never came.

If Georgie knew about her rib, what else did she know?

Over Georgie's shoulder, Lou saw Peter come into view. She shot him a murderous look.

"Honey," Lou said, putting pressure on Georgie's shoulder and moving her away from herself. "What's the matter? Why won't you say anything?"

Georgie scoffed, her eyes closing momentarily as she averted her gaze, but Lou brought her back to look at her, a hand resting on Georgie's cheek.

"What's the matter?" Lou asked, trying to gauge an answer simply by looking at Georgie.

"You went in for a biopsy and didn't bother telling me."

Lou inhaled sharply, her hand automatically having to go to her rib. "Who called you?"

"Does it matter?" Georgie asked, looking her mother right in the eye, refusing to let her gaze follow Lou's hand.

Lou silenced for a moment, but then turned her attention to Peter. "Are you kidding me right now?"

"What!?" Peter asked, flabbergasted.

"You told her."

"No!"

"Well, look—she's—she's flown back!" Lou gestured to Georgie, as if Peter was having a hard time recognizing that she was standing right there in the kitchen.

Peter stopped himself from engaging with Lou. She was already wide-eyed, stricken, likely about to fall apart.

He sighed, turning his attention to Georgie. "You see? She's been standing at the sink ever since dinner was over. I told her she needs to rest, but, nope, she's not having it."

"Peter!" Lou scolded him for telling on her. She felt like an unruly child, especially when Georgie gave her a look of disapproval.

Peter felt ridiculous for dragging Georgie into this. He wouldn't normally dump their problems onto Georgie, but he hoped she appreciated that he was at the end of his rope.

"Katie, would you mind finishing up with the dishes?" Georgie delegated, realizing her sister had been right; Lou wasn't listening to anybody else around here.

Desperate to avoid being in the middle of all the chaos, Katie put her head down and rounded over to the sink.

Georgie turned to Lou, reaching for her mother's hand. "Let's get you inside."

Lou didn't protest. She let Georgie lead her to her room.

Once Lou and Georgie were out of earshot, Peter turned to look at Katie, a hand in his pocket. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Katie, seemingly engrossed in the dishes, didn't even look back. "It was me, what?"

"You called your sister." Peter said, a knowing smile on his face.

The dish Katie was washing clanged against the raised pile in the sink. She turned. "I did not."

Peter laughed. "I'll hand it to you. It was a smart move." He turned and headed back to the living room.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She called after him.

As Lou's body made contact with the mattress, she sighed. "God, my back was killing me."

Georgie wordlessly opened up Lou's blanket and brought it up to her mother's knees.

"Thank you."

Georgie nodded slightly. "You need anything else?"

"No," said Lou, patting the mattress beside her. "Just sit down with me, will you?"

Georgie walked over to the window side of Lou's bed, and sank into the mattress.

"How are your classes going?" Lou began.

"Are you for real?"

"Yes! I haven't seen you in two months and I demand an update."

Georgie shrugged. "They're fine."

"And training?"

"Same as before."

Georgie's short-clipped answers made Lou drop the slew of questions she was going to ask.

Georgie sighed. "Everything's fine. I just…I'm sorry."

"You must be tired." Lou acknowledged. "That flight must have been pretty long."

That's one way to put it. "I had no idea what to expect. And then I show up here, and you're…" She exhaled angrily. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."

The bitterness in Georgie's tone made Lou look up at her. "Honey, come on."

"Well, I'm sure you sat Katie down and told her!"

"I had to get your father to break the news to her."

Georgie deflated. Not sure what to say after that, she began picking at one of the loose threads in the bedsheet. "Okay, but you didn't want me to know."

"You have to understand that I didn't want to worry you until I was sure—"

"Yeah, no, I got that."

"You understand why I kept it from you, and you're still angry?"

It got quiet for a while, until Georgie simply said, "Yeah."

Neither of them spoke for what felt like a small eternity. Maybe they were both waiting for the other to say something.

Georgie knew that if they were to continue this conversation right now, she was going to end up saying something she couldn't take back. "I'm tired. Let's just turn in for the night."

Georgie stood and walked over to Lou's bedside table to switch off her lamp. Standing there, she paused, realizing she didn't want to leave Lou.

She bent over to pull the blanket further up, pressing it into her mother's hands.

"Honey," said Lou quietly into the dark. "Would you stay here, just until I fell asleep?"

Georgie, still at the level of the bed, caressed her mother's hairline and kissed her forehead lovingly. Her entire flight had gone by with her thinking of doing this, and now that she was here, she wanted to prolong this moment.

She planted another kiss in the same spot and then moved back. "Of course."

A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Do leave a review - it doesn't have to be much, just so that I know what I'm putting out there is clicking with you guys. Thanksss I appreciate it so much!