Lesly had somehow managed in a state of frenzy to get Sutton over to James’ parents’ house and left a frantic message on Chris’ phone on her way to the hospital. Chris had called her back as soon as she was rushing into the emergency room, telling her he was on his way.

The stroke had been so massive that Mr. Parsons was hooked up to life support. The doctors were open and honest with Lesly and Dane, letting them know that their father would only have a 20% chance and even if he did make it, he would more than likely require around the clock care. They were still going to run some tests, but all in all, things didn’t look good. Looking at him hooked up to all of those machines, Lesly couldn’t help but burst into tears. Dane seemed in a state of shock and could only lean against the wall of the hospital room and look straight ahead. Lesly meanwhile, stayed by her father’s side, holding his hand and kissing it every so often.

Chris stood outside of the hospital room, looking in on Lesly and feeling as though a piece of him was with her. He couldn’t tell her now. It was all too wrong. And he knew on Monday, he wasn’t going to leave her like this. There was no doubt about that. He watched her as she stroked her father’s arm, squeezing his hand and letting her tears fall onto the bed. He wasn’t allowed in because he wasn’t family-neither was Brianne, no matter how big of a fit she had thrown in the waiting room-and so he just waited outside and watched and wished he could hold her right then and there.

“Dane,” Lesly managed to say through tears. “What should we do?”

“I dunno,” Dane muttered, and took his ball cap off, running a hand through his hair. “They say it don’t look good. But I don’t wanna take him off in case he makes a turn or somethin’.”

Lesly slowly nodded and looked back at her father. She hadn’t seen him quite so peaceful in years. Not since their mother died. And he hadn’t been the same since then, she knew that for sure. Maybe in a way he had been begging for this all along so that he could finally be with his wife again. Lesly let out a shaky sigh and closed her eyes. She’d let the doctors tell them what other tests revealed and then she and Dane could make the decision together. She stood to her feet and walked outside, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Chris.

“Hey,” he didn’t have to say anything else. Lesly collapsed into his arms and let out a huge sob into his chest. Chris just held her and let her cry.

Two days later, the doctors entered Mr. Parsons room with grim expressions. Lesly hadn’t left her father’s side, even though Chris had tried to coerce her to at least go home and eat a decent meal and maybe take a nap. Lesly refused. Her reasoning was if something changed she wanted to be there. Dane, on the other hand, had left the night of the stroke and hadn’t been back. Brianne texted Lesly every so often to let her know he’d been taking it really hard and would try to get back as soon as possible.

“His condition hasn’t changed, Lesly. The decision is up to you and Dane. If he survives, he will basically need round the clock care and you would need to look into getting him into a nursing home or have a live-in nurse. He would need to be fed through a tube, have a catheter put in, and it looks like he might lose his ability to speak,” the doctor was sympathetic but was looking at Lesly with a serious expression on his face.

She cleared her throat then spoke. “So, what you’re telling me is that he’s going to be a vegetable, right?” she looked up at the doctor’s trying to gage his expression. “He’s not ever going to be the way he was? No matter how much time goes by?”

“The stroke was extremely massive. If he does make it, I don’t know how long he will last, given what I’ve just told you. But again, it’s up to you and Dane. You are his next of kin and you need to decide what you think is best. I encourage and urge you to think in light of all that you know and what you think your father would want,” the doctor went to leave, then turned to face Lesly. “I’m sorry, Lesly. I know this decision isn’t an easy one.”

Lesly shook her head, “No, it’s not. But you’ve given me a lot to decipher.” She picked up her phone and called her brother and told him to come to the hospital immediately. When he arrived, Dane was considerably disheveled and angry. He wanted to talk to the doctors himself. He wanted to hear from someone other than Lesly that there was really no hope anymore for his father. When the doctor came back and explained, Dane punched the wall and then sunk down in a chair.

“Dane,” Lesly’s voice was soft but critical. “I don’t want to-“

“Then don’t!” Dane snapped at her, causing Chris to look over at him.

“But-“ Lesly started again and Dane cut her off.

“No, Lesly. We can’t. I’m not ready to do this!” he started to cry. Lesly looked over at Chris, her entire body racked with guilt. He wanted nothing more than to take her away from all of it.

“I think we’re out of time, Dane. He’s not breathing without that machine hooked up to him and-“

“Dammit, Lesly, I know that!” Dane stood up abruptly and threw his ball cap on the floor. “But maybe it’ll change! Maybe tomorrow he will wake up and it’ll all be fine again!”

“He’s never going to be fine again!” Lesly snapped back. “Maybe if you had gone over and checked on him sooner, this wouldn’t have happened!” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and immediately she regretted saying it.

Dane didn’t say anything, just shook his head, grabbed Brianne’s hand and headed for the elevator. He turned to her just before they got on. “Call me if anything changes. That is if you aren’t too busy tryin’ to figure out if there’s anything else I managed to screw up.”

“Dane, no, wait. I didn’t mean-“ Lesly ran after him, but the door closed on her. She burst into tears and Chris came behind her and pulled her towards him. She sobbed once again into his chest and before she could protest, he led her out of the hospital and towards his car in the parking lot. She didn’t have the energy to argue with him about staying. She was too exhausted. She only heard his conversation on the phone with her father’s doctor.

“Hi, Doctor Paddimore? This is Chris Kirkpatrick. I’m a friend of the Parsons family and I’m taking Lesly home to rest for a bit. Could you please call us tomorrow morning, whether or not there’s been a change in Mr. Parsons condition? Thank you,” he hung up and looked over at Lesly, who was curled into a ball in his passenger seat. “We’re going to your house. I’m going to order us Chinese. You’re going to take a shower and go to sleep and I’ll stand by the phone tonight, ok? And don’t argue with me because you know for once I’m right.”

Lesly had no energy to respond. All of it had been taken up at the hospital with her father and that last encounter with Dane. She was quiet the whole ride home, until Chris pulled into her driveway. She looked over at him and he smiled at her.

“I know it’s not Dane’s fault,” Lesly nearly whispered. “I just…” she couldn’t finish her thought because the tears had started yet again. Chris reached over and covered both of her hands with his.

“Shh. It’s okay. Let’s go inside,” he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

After trying to force herself to eat a few bites of fried rice, Lesly had given up and put the rest of the Chinese food in the refrigerator. She walked back into the living room and settled next to Chris on the couch, snuggling up to him and feeling as though it was always this normal and easy when he was in town. He had taken care of her like never before.

“Thanks,” she whispered, reaching up to kiss his cheek. Chris looked down at her and kissed her back. She nestled her head on his chest and sighed, more content than she’d been in a long time, even with all of the craziness that was going on in her family. Chris had been wonderful through all of it.

He, on the other hand, was feeling as though lightening might strike him at any minute. He knew he had to be honest with her about Stephanie and the baby, but how could he at a time like this? He couldn’t risk causing Lesly any more grief and pain than she already was experiencing with her father’s impending death right on the horizon. So Chris just held her tighter and decided that when it had all settled, he’d tell her everything. But yet the more the evening went on, the more the pit in his stomach felt as if it could swallow him whole.

“Les,” he spoke softly, not knowing if she’d fallen asleep or not.

“Yeah?” she whispered back, not moving from her position cuddled next to him.

“Les, there’s something I need to tell you. I just need to get it out and I need you to-“

The phone rang right at that instant and Lesly dove for it. He watched her expression change immediately from a small glimmer of hope to devastation. Her father had died.

**

“Mommy!” James heard Sutton’s gleeful voice coming through on the other end of the line. She and JC had accessed the ship’s telephone and even though it was costing them more than James wanted to think about, she didn’t care. It had been a week and a half since she’d heard her little girl’s voice and right now it sounded like the most beautiful sound in the world.

They’d called their house, not getting an answer and then called Lesly’s cell phone. When Chris had answered and told them the news about Lesly’s father, James had been heartbroken for her friend. The funeral would be the day before she and JC were back and Chris promised James that he’d tell Lesly to take off as long as she needed and that she’d be over to see her as soon as she and JC were back home. When James had called her parents, Mrs. Ryan had filled her in on more of the details. Mr. Parsons had ultimately died of a massive stroke and heart failure.

“Hi, my sweet girl!” James responded. “How are you?!”

“I’m good. But did you hear about Lesly, Mommy?”

“I did, sweetie. You make sure the next time you see her to give her a big hug,”

“I miss you, Mommy. Are you and Daddy almost home? Can I talk to Daddy?”

James handed the phone over to JC, who’d been trying to listen in next to James. “Hi, baby girl. I miss you!” JC immediately said to Sutton.

“I miss you, too, Daddy. Hurry back, okay?...”

They talked to her for a few minutes more, then to James’ mom, who told them the twins were perfectly fine and that Olivia had slept all through the night, but Landon was up cutting a tooth. When James hung up, she could almost feel how exhausted her mother was. The cruise had been wonderful and extremely relaxing and as for making up for lost time, she knew she and JC had definitely caught up and then some. She also knew when they came home, it could be a long while before they were able to so freely make love like they had. She looked at him right then and there and said, “We have four days left. We better use them wisely.”

“Right behind you, babe,” JC replied, nearly sprinting back to their room.