Tom is sleeping when Abby comes in.

Abby gives him a kiss, trying not to wake him, and takes a seat at his bedside.

Tom rolls over in his bed thinking he is at home and reaches for Abby, when he comes up empty handed he wakes up.

"Uh, where am....." Tom says and remembers.

"I'm right here, Tom," Abby says, and perches on the edge of the bed. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Oh Abby, sure. I am fine."

"That's what you would have said this morning, too," Abby frets.

"Honestly, I am feeling better." he says. "How are you?'

"If you're feeling better, then so am I."

"Really?"

"Really. I brought you a some things--your own pajamas for one. And Nicholas sent you a bed mate."

"I can make room for you," he tries to move over.

"No, you have to get better for the live version," Abby laughs and hands Tom the stuffed gorilla.

Tom chuckles. "Leave it to Nicholas. How is he anyway?"

"He's OK. I left him with Elizabeth," Abby says, deferring a discussion of what Nicholas had told her until Tom is stronger.

"Are you sure? He was freaking out before I left."

"I had a talk with him and now that he knows what's going on, he can deal with it. I told him I'd give him a call and let him talk to you so he hears that you're ok."

"Good."

After Abby leaves the house Elizabeth call David's apartment.

David answers the phone. "Hello."

"David, where have you been?" Elizabeth asks.

"Elizabeth I got my own place so I wouldn't have to answer that question."

"Well it would be nice to know where you are if we need you." she replies curtly.

"What's wrong?"

"Dad's in the hospital, he had a heart attack. He's going to be fine though." she says.

"He had what?!"

Elizabeth repeats her words.

"Oh sheesh. Should I go to the hospital or do you need me there?"

"No we got everything under control here, but I am worried about Abby. She went back there. She says she might spend the night."

"Ok I'll go there then. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just a little scared."

"Hey you said it yourself he'll be fine."

"I know."

"Elizabeth if you need me there I'll be there in two seconds, ok not two seconds but as soon as I can."

"That's ok, Nicholas, Susan and Tommy are here. Besides I think I just heard a car drive up." She looks out the window. "Here are the rest of them now. You can come over if you want too," not wanting him to think he isn't welcome.

"I'll be over later after I check on Abby."

"OK." Elizabeth says. "Bye."

"See you later." David hangs up and heads for the hospital.

"If you're up to it, I'll call now, so he can get to bed at a decent hour," Abby says to Tom.

"Sure." he replies.

Abby picks up the phone and starts to dial, and while it is ringing she takes Tom's hand. "I love you."

"I love you too." he whispers back.

Abby gives Tom's hand a squeeze.

Elizabeth answers. :"Hello."

"Hi, Elizabeth. I have a man here who'd like to talk to his kids--but only for a little," Abby warns them both, "I don't want to tire him out."

Tom shakes his head. ~Worry wart.~ "Hi Elizabeth."

"Dad, you OK?" she asks. "I was so worried."

"I am fine and dont worry." he says. "May I speak with Nicholas?"

"Nicholas, Dad is on the phone."

Nicholas grabs the phone. "Dad?"

"Hi Champ, how are you doing?' he asks.

"I'm better now that you are." he says.

Tom smiles. "Thanks for the gorilla."

"I wanted to send more, but Abby said you might be coming home tomorrow."

"That's right." he says. They continue talking awhile longer.

Abby starts to fidget, afraid Tom is exhausting himself.

"I think Abby would like to talk to you." Tom says and hands the phone to her.

Abby takes the phone. "Nicholas? It's bedtime now."

"Already?" he says.

"Tell you what. You can read in your bed for a half hour, and then lights out."

Nicholas sighs. "OK."

"Don't give your brothers and sisters any trouble, OK? Tomorrow Dad and I should be home."

"OK" he says and hands the phone back to Elizabeth.

"You managing there?" Abby asks.

"Yeah, no problem." she says trying to forget the days events with the plea bargaining and heart attack.

"OK. If you need me, just call."

"Don't worry, just take care of Dad."

"I will. Don't worry about that."

"Take care, Bye." Liz says

"Anyone hungry?" Nancy asked as they walk in the house.

Nicholas runs down the stairs. "Me."

Nancy picks him up and hugs him and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Well let's feed you then." She makes him a plate and puts him down so he can eat at the table.

Elizabeth and Tommy come in after they smell the pizza. "Great, now we don't have to eat Elizabeth's cooking."

"Hey." Elizabeth says.

"Hey one day you're going to miss your sister's cooking when you're out on your own so be nice to her." Nancy says.

"Thanks Nancy." Elizabeth says.

"No problem, hey are you guys ok?" She asks getting back to her normal well not normal, she is a Bradford after all, self.

"Yeah, just can't believe Dad had a heart attack." Elizabeth says.

She gives her a hug. "Yeah neither can I, but he's going to be all right, and he's going to need our help for awhile."

"Like not bugging him." Tommy says.

"No not that, if we don't bug him he'll really worry. Like helping him with things, if he needs the paper, a blanket, am I making sense?"

They nod.

"Good." She yawns.

"Go to bed." Liz says.

"Ok ok." Nancy goes upstairs to bed.

Susan comes into the room "Is that pizza I smell?"

"It sure is, help yourself."

When David gets to the hospital he asks the nurse which room his father is in.

The nurse gives him the room number.

"Thank you." He heads for Tom's hospital room.

By the time David gets there, Tom is asleep again. Abby smiles at David when he walks in and motions him to be quiet.

"How is he?" David whispers.

Abby stands and walks over to David. "He says he's better."

"How bout you, do you need anything?"

"For him to really be better."

"Which will happen in time."

"I know," Abby says, though she sounds uncertain. "He is going to get better, if I have to close down that grease pit myself."

"We can sneak out in the middle of the night and when no one is inside we can burn it down."

"Don't tempt me," Abby says, then turns away to hide the tears that are forming.

"If you're trying to be brave for me don't be. I'm a grown up I can take it."

"You're still his son."

"And you're his wife."

"I'm supposed to be strong for all of you."

"I'm the oldest. When Dad can't be strong for you then I'm supposed to be."

Abby thinks this over. "I was so scared, David. I knew I had to hold it together for the kids, but all I wanted to do was scream and scream."

He puts an arm around her and leads her to the waiting room and gets her some coffee. "I'll help with the kids now that I know about this and if you want to scream go ahead."

Instead, Abby starts to cry, and once she starts, she can't stop.

David holds her and tries to comfort her.

After a long time Abby starts to dry her eyes. "Thank you."

He hands her a tissue. "Not a problem."

"I'm glad you came, even if you haven't seen him yet."

"Thanks I am too."

"If you need someone not to be strong in front of..."

"Thank you but I'm all right."

"Why?"

"Because Dad will be fine that's why." David tells himself and Abby.

"If he watches himself. If he behaves. If he can keep from being stressed out. That's a lot of ifs in this family."

"Yeah I know, I'll come by more often and take over some of the load."

"If he thinks we're babysitting him, he'll just get worse. He'll bribe Nicholas to bring him chili dogs."

"Hmm, there has to be a way to keep an eye on him without him knowing it."

"None that I know of. I thought I noticed everything about him, but I missed this entirely."

"It's not easy to recognize symptoms unless you're a doctor."

"I just keep feeling like someone else would have noticed them."

"Like who?"

"Someone who knew your father longer and better. Someone who didn't pretend he was thirty something instead of almost 50." ~Joan~

"You mean my mom or Dr. Max? Of course he'd know he's a doctor. And who's to say that my mom would have known?"

Abby shrugs. "Just a feeling. I've spent so much time trying to change him into something he's not; maybe I've forgotten who he really is."

"Abby you're the best thing that's happened to him in a long time."

"So best thing he had a heart attack. And if it hadn't been minor? What if he'd..."

"Abby he had it because of what he'd been eating not because of you."

"Maybe your grandfather is right and if he had a wife who stayed home and cooked for him, he wouldn't need to be at the grease pit."

"Any man who would neglect his grandchildren can't be right about anything."

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day."

"Yeah but he's still wrong."

"It's nice of you to say that."

"What would you tell one of the kids if one of them came to you thinking it was their fault?"

"But I'm not one of the kids," Abby says. "I should get back in there. He's been nodding off and waking--I don't want him to wake up alone."

"Ok, and it's not your fault."

"Drop it, David," Abby advises. "You want to wait with me?"

"Yeah for a little while."

"OK." They head back to Tom's room.

"David, what are you doing here so late."

"My Dad is in the hospital what do you think I'm doing here?" He gently hugs him.

"That's nice, but I am sure you have a girl or two waiting for you at home."

"Actually five of them." David says meaning his sisters since he's going to the house after this.

"Huh, 5?" he is shocked.

"Yeah Mary, Joannie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth. I'm going to keep an eye on things after our visit."

Tom sighs. "I thought...well never mind what I thought. Good I appreciate that."

"Not a problem."

Tom starts to doze.

"I'll be at the house if you need me." David says to Abby.

"Thanks. Oh--could you tell Tommy and Elizabeth I'll meet them at school tomorrow? I'll go straight from here."

"Sure."

Nancy has a bad dream about her dad dying which wakes her a few hours later. She's still catching her breath and trying to calm down when she hears tapping at the window.  She gets out of bed and sees Noah in the front yard. She gets dressed and meets him there.

He wraps his arms around her and hugs her while she cries in his arms. After she's settled down.

"Hey he's going to be fine." He assures her.

"I know but it was so scary."

"Do you want to go back to the hospital and see him?"

"I don't think I'd be able to stay awake long enough." She tells him about the medication increase.

"Want me to take you tomorrow then?" He asks.

She nods. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kisses her and makes sure she gets back inside ok before he heads back home.

The next morning Nancy wakes up to find David cooking breakfast. "Did you take out insurance policies out on us or something." She says.

He mock glares at her. "Ha ha very funny. So how many pancakes do you want?"

"I can't eat I'm going to the hospital. Noah's taking me to see Dad."

"Yeah yeah I know how it is. Your boyfriend means more to you than your big brother's pancakes."

"Hey I'm too young to eat those pancakes." Nancy says and then leaves with Noah when he shows up.

When they get there they find Abby in the hallway that Tom's room is on.

"Is Dad up to visitors yet?" Nancy asks.

"Max is with him now, running tests."

"Oh, I'll wait, have you eaten yet?"

Abby tries to remember. "Not yet. I didn't want to leave the room until Max kicked me out."

"We brought you some food and coffee." Noah says.

"Thank you." She turns to Nancy. "I like him--you can keep him."

"Believe me I plan to."

Dr. Max comes out and let's Nancy go in to see Tom. "Abby can I talk to you for a minute?"

Abby follows Max, and as soon as she's out of Nancy's hearing asks, "What's wrong?"

"He can go home today. However I'm putting him on a strict diet and bedrest the first couple of days." He hands her a diet chart.

"Is there anything else I need to know? Warning signs if it's happening again? What exactly you mean by bedrest, so he doesn't try to do too much, whether I should keep the kids from bothering him..."

"If the kids have major news then we should keep that from him for the next few days but don't keep them from bothering him with little things otherwise he'll really worry. By bedrest, he's only allowed to go to the bathroom." He also tells her the warning signs.

"And I assume..." Abby tries to figure out a way of asking what she means to ask without embarrassing herself.

"Not for awhile anyway." Greg says catching on to her meaning.

"That may be something he needs to hear from his doctor to believe."

"I already told him."

"Humph. He could have told me, then, and spared me having to ask."

Greg smiles. "I believe you were talking to Nancy and her hunk at the time."

"Let's not go there, Greg. He's better than some of the boys Nancy's been with."

"Yeah that Rick guy was a psycho." He says completely leaving out the fact that his son Brad was one of those boys.

"Among others. So I can take Tom home now?"

"It'll be a few minutes I have some paperwork to fill out." ~Be careful about the names you mention. You promised Nancy in confidence that you wouldn't say anything.~

"I'll go make sure he's ready. And Max? Thank you."

"No problem." He goes to fill out the paperwork.

Meanwhile Nancy kisses her Dad and then sits down in a chair by his bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine Honey, how are you?"

"I'm fine Dad, nothing a slight medicine adjustment couldn't cure, do you need anything?"

"Yeah, something besides what they are feeding me." He shows her the powdered  egg whites.

She cringes. "I'm sorry Dad, but it is for your own good. I want you in my life not out of it ok."

Tom sighs. "I am going to starve."

"I know it looks that way but no you're not. It'll get easier I promise you. Remember that friend I had in High School who had Diabetes. He went through a tough time to with not being able to eat the things he really likes to eat, but he developed a strategy to it. And we can help you do that."

"It's not going to be easy."

"I know but things could be a lot worse right now."

"Yeah. are you sure you are OK."

"Yeah I'm fine Dad."

"OK, if you say so."

"I am really."

Tom sighs and looks at his breakfast. "Would you like some."

She's about to say no but then changes her mind. "Maybe a bite or two."

"It's all yours." he pushes the tray over to her.

"How bout what ever I eat you match me?"

"That's what your mother and I used to do to get you kids to eat."

"You see I was paying attention."

Tom manages to take one bite. "Ugh."

~Poor guy.~

"Your turn."

Nancy takes a bite and tries her best not to make a sour face.

"Brave soul." Tom says.

"Thank you."

Tom takes another bite. "Ok, Enough. They could spackle the walls with this  stuff." He pushes the tray away.

"I'm sorry you have to eat that stuff Dad."

"It's ok." he says. "Maybe later we can pick something up on the way home."

~Uh uh, you're the only father I have.~ She thinks still shook about his heart attack.

They talk some more until Abby gets back.

"I've snuck in the file, so if you want to escape..." Abby offers.

"Good, lets get out of here." he gets out of bed.

"Slowly."

Tom rolls his eyes. "Now, you aren't going to treat me like an invalid are you?"

"No, but I don't plan to pick you up off the floor, either."

"Fine, I'll slow down." Tom concedes.  "Let's get home, I have calls to make."

"No, you have a bed to keep warm. Give me your list and I'll make your calls, or Donna will."

"Abby, I have work to do."

"Max said best rest, so bed rest it is. Elliot Randolph will understand."

Tom sighs. "I hate being sick."

"I hate you being sick," Abby agrees. "That's why you're going to do whatever Max tells you to and get better."

"Fine you win." Tom says. "But who's going to write my column?" he worries.

Nancy's about to say she'll write it but she doesn't want to scare him. So she says. "I'll give you two some time alone. I kind of left Noah all by himself out there."

"You don't want to do that with all the candy stripers around here. Why do you think I stayed all night?" Abby jokes.

"Uh oh." Nancy laughs.

Tom laughs. "I wonder how you would look in one of those outfits."

"Tom!" Abby blushes.

"What?!? Just thinking aloud."

Abby shakes her head, but smiles.

He smiles back.

"Noah oh Noah." Nancy goes to find him.

"They can print 'The Greatest Columns of Tom Bradford' while you're recuperating," Abby tells Tom.

"That'll take two days." he says.

"Tom," Abby chides.

"Ok, Ok. We will do it your way; I'll let you handle Randolph or better yet let Donna handle him." he chuckles.

"I think Donna's just been waiting for the chance."

Tom gets his things together.

"You take it easy. I'll pack up for you."

Tom reluctantly sits back on the bed and hands some things to his wife.

"Hey, enjoy it. How often am I willing to serve you hand and foot?" Abby jokes.

"I don't want it to be this way." he says still a little scared.

Abby stops packing and sits next to Tom. "I know. And it won't be this way again, I promise."

"What do you mean this way again?" Tom is perplexed.

"You sick. I'm going to take good care of you from now on."

"You've always taken care of me nothing should change."

"Some things are going to change, but not the important things."

"Abby, I don't know what you are talking about."

"We're going to have to change what you eat--and especially where--and get you some exercise besides tennis with Max. But some things won't change, like that the kids and I love you and want you healthy."

"As long as it is tasty." He says. "Because I promise you, I am not going to eat the stuff they tried to serve me this morning."

"I may not be the world's best cook, but whatever I make has to be better than hospital food."

"Honey, no offence but anything is better than this hospital food."

Abby finishes the packing. "I'll remember that. You ready?"

"No not yet, one thing I need to do first."

"What?"

Tom pulls her close and kisses her. "Now I am ready."

"I love you. You know, I think I might just take you home with me, you're so cute."

"I feel like a puppy in a pet store window." he jokes.

"My parents never let me have a puppy," Abby says. "They knew I'd let him sleep in my bed."

Tom plays along. "Do I have to sleep at the end of the bed?"

"It's your house. You can sleep anywhere you want to."

"Correction, its our house." he reaffirms.

"Then I guess I can let you follow me home. Come on," Abby says, and leans over to help him stand.

Tom starts to stand and realizes he is still a little weak. "I guess I need to lean on you for awhile."

"For as long as you want to," Abby says, slipping an arm around his waist.

"We're going to follow you." Nancy says.

"Do you need help getting him to the car?" Noah asks.

"No thanks. I've got him."

They finally leave the hospital.

Nancy leaves with Noah and Abby takes Tom home. "Are you up to climbing the steps," she asks when the pull into the driveway, "or do you want to rest downstairs first for a while?"

"I hate to succumb to this but I think I'll go upstairs and take a nap." Tom resigns himself.

"I'll help you up the stairs," Abby says, and helps him up the steps to the house and in the front door.

Tom looks around. "It looks different somehow."

"A little messier, maybe."

Joannie peeks out from the kitchen where she's waiting with her siblings. "I want to go in there and hug him," she says, "but I know I should let him go rest."

"He probably needs that hug more." Nancy says.

Tom sees a face. "Joannie?"

"Hi, Dad. I'm glad you're back, but shouldn't you go rest?"

"I will once I see all of you."

Joannie relays this to her waiting siblings and they all pour out of the kitchen.

He hugs them all.

Abby watches for the smallest sign it's getting to be too much on Tom.

"Don't you guys have school?" he says looking at his watch.

The kids start to protest, but after a few looks at Abby and Tom, they go and get their books and begin leaving.

Tom looks at Abby. "That means you too."

"Who's going to stay with you?"

"I'll manage."

"Your first day out of the hospital? Without calling for take out?" Abby scoffs, knowing she should go to work, but not wanting to leave Tom. "Wait--I've got it. If it doesn't give you another heart attack... Dotty was still here, last I checked. She'll stay with you."

"Abby, I don't need a babysitter."

"No, but you need someone to run and fetch. If you get hungry, you'll go downstairs? Then back upstairs when you want to lie down? I don't want to worry about you all day."

Tom shakes his head. "Fine, I don't want to argue with you."

"Thank you."

"You better get going then or you aren't going to set a good example for your students."

"I don't want to go. But OK. Just let me tell Dotty and let me get you upstairs."

"Well I don't want you to go either, we could take a nap together," he hints.

Abby starts helping him up the stairs. "I thought Max talked to you about that," she whispers to him.

"There's no law against snuggling with each other you know."

"Don't tempt me," Abby pleads. "It's only my second day there, and after the day Elizabeth had in school yesterday..."

Tom relents. "You are right."

"I'll be home as soon as I can. Tommy and Elizabeth can make their own way home."

"Promise?' Tom says. "I need to talk to you about something important."

"Of course I promise. I don't want to be away from you more than I have to," Abby says.

Tom smiles. "I am going to get a hold of an attorney while you are  gone."

"An attorney?" Abby asks, eyes wide with worry.

"Abby, get a move on," Dotty calls to her. "You'll be late to class. Teachers aren't allowed to be. I'll take care of him, now shoo."

"Dotty..."

"Go. You can talk to him all night. It's not like you should be doing anything else."

Reluctantly, Abby leaves for school.

The second the bell rings on her last class Abby rushes out of the school, ignoring a few teachers who try to speak to her. She breaks a few speed limits on her way home and then rushes up the stairs, looking for Tom, worried, as she has been all day, what important thing Tom needs to discuss with her. ~Did Max say something to him that he didn't say to me? Is it more serious than I think? I'm not going to lose him, am I?~

Quietly, in case Tom is napping, she opens the bedroom door.

Tom is working on a crossword puzzle. "Hi, I can never finish these things."

"And you a writer..." Abby laughs as she puts her books and purse down.

"How was your day?" Tom asks.

"Not too bad. How are you?"

"OK, considering." Tom says. "Abby, this heart attack really got me thinking."

"Thinking what?" Abby asks, worried.

"What if I had died?" Tom asks. "What would have happened to you and the kids?"

"Tom, you're going to be fine. You don't have to think like that."

"Abby, I know I will be fine." Tom says "I just want to protect you and the kids."

"This morning you said something about an attorney," Abby prompts, wanting this conversation over so she doesn't have to think about the prospect of Tom dying.

"Yes and I did." Tom says. "How would you feel about adopting Tommy,  Elizabeth and Nicholas?"

~Whoah.~ Mary thinks to herself upon overhearing. ~I hope no one reacts badly.~ She goes to her room to study.

"Why?" Abby asks. "We've already signed the papers to make me one of their guardians. I can do anything that needs to be done for them that way--medical forms, school things. Why do we need to do more than that?"

"In case Joan's parents or Vivian contest the guardianship." Tom says. "The attorney said that a lot of times, blood relations will win out over the  stepparent."

Abby nods, having grown up on miscarriage of justice horror stories. "Do you think they'll agree?"

"I haven't really thought about that, Right now I didn't know how you felt."

"I love those kids. You know I do. If you think this is best for them and they agree, why wouldn't I agree?"

Tom shrugs. "I don't know. But I do know that they love you too."

"Maybe you should talk to them about this. The older kids, too, because they may have something to say."

"Yeah, "We'll talk to the younger ones first. There is no point bringing it up to the older ones unless they agree."

"True," Abby says, and perches on the edge of Tom's chair.

"You OK?" Tom asks sensing his wife's nervousness.

Abby hugs his shoulders and gives the top of his head a kiss.

"Wow, what was that for?"

"Can't a woman express a little affection for her husband?"

"Of course." Tom says. "I'm sorry I can't reciprocate properly yet."

"Max never said you couldn't just hold me."

Tom smiles and holds his wife.

A knock on the door follows.

"Can we pretend we're not here?" Abby whispers.

"Unfortunately, they know I am in here." he says.

Abby frowns and tells whoever it is that's knocking to come in.

Tommy walks in with some papers in his hand. "Hi, Am I interrupting?"

Tom is about to say yes when Abby stops him. "What are those?" she asks, pointing to the papers.

"My essay, you said you would look it over?" Tommy reminds her.

"Oh. sure. Give it to me. I'll be downstairs in a little while and we'll talk it over, OK?"

"OK." Tommy says and leaves.

Tom tries to grab the report."

Abby grabs it back. "You know you're not supposed to do anything that'll make your heart race."

"Don't I get to read it? After all I am a journalist."

"You're also Tommy's overbearing perfectionist father. No, you don't get to read it."

"Oh and you're not a perfectionist?"

"Of course I'm not."

"Uh huh, I'll remind you of that statement in a few years when Nicholas takes Geometry."

"If I remember correctly, I did a pretty good job with Tommy on geometry. Especially since the person who said they'd coach him never got around to it."

Tom grimaces and picks up a book and hides behind the pages.

Until he picks up the book, Abby mistakes the grimace for pain, and gets up to start walking towards him. "You OK?"

Tom sneaks a peek from his book. "Yes, I just grimaced because...well...I forgot how to do geometry."

Abby laughs. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"I was trying to impress you."

"Impress me? With geometry? Did you really think I was that boring?"

"Are you kidding? The first time I saw you in that MG, boring was not the first thing I thought of."

"No? So what was?"

"Intriguing" he remembers.

"And now that you know me better?"

"Simply wonderful." he says.

"The feeling is mutual. But you're still not getting to see Tommy's paper."

Abby goes to her bag, gets a pencil, and then returns to her perch, sitting next to Tom while checking over Tommy's work.

Tom peeks at the paper as she is making corrections.

Abby doesn't notice and, in fact, leans closer to Tom, making it  easier for him to read.

Tom suddenly blurts out. "You missed that sentence construction right there," he points to the page.

Abby gets off the arm of the chair and clutches the paper to her chest. "You said you weren't going to look."

"I couldn't help it."

"Right. I'll just sit over here, then. No sense tempting you when you have no self-control."

"I wish you would let me help."

"Help, or find ammunition to use against Tommy next time you lecture him?"

"Abby, I love my son, I just want him to reach his potential."

"Then let him. With you, it's a fight to earn your love. With me, it's just an English composition."

Tom returns to his book defeated.

Tommy is downstairs waiting for Abby to return with his essay.

After she finally finishes reading over the essay, Abby comes downstairs. "Sorry it took so long," she tells Tommy.

"That bad?" he asks.

"Yes, but I love him," Abby says, referring to Tom.

"Huh?" Tommy asks and then gets it. "Oh. What about my essay?"

"Better than you used to be. But you've got to watch your sentence construction--sometimes you get so turned around I got lost trying to follow you."

Tommy sighs. "I got lost myself."

"Well, let's grab some ice cream and try to find you again."

"I thought you threw it all out when Dad came home."

"I kept a small stash," Abby admits. "The flavor he hates most. I did promise it to you, after all. And I hid it well."

"Cool." Tommy says as he grabs the bowls and spoons.

Abby dishes out the ice cream and the English advice.

They work on it an hour when Tom comes in. "Need any help?"

"What are you doing out of bed?" Abby says, glad the ice cream is long gone.

"I was bored." he says.

"Tom..." Abby chides. "Well, there's no point in you going straight back upstairs. You can rest on the couch a while, I suppose."

"Gee, thanks." Tom says and leaves.

"Boy he's cranky." Tommy remarks.

"Like son, like father."

"I'm not cranky." Tommy states. "Am I?"

"When you were in bed with a broken leg you were."

"I guess I should be more understanding," Tommy concedes.

"I guess you should," Abby agrees.

"It's hard not to think of dad anything but invincible."

Abby nods. "That's what parents are supposed to be. I guess it's always a shock when you have to remember they're not." She lowers her voice to a whisper. "But let's not let your father know you know he's not invincible."

Tommy smiles and returns to his essay.

After she gets home from work that night Nancy checks on her Dad.

"Hi Dad, how are you doing?"

"Oh, I am doing fine." he says. "How was your day?"

"Well my body was there but my mind and heart were at home. Is the food any better here than at the hospital?"

"At least it has taste, but I miss my other foods."

"It's hard changing something in your lifestyle. We'll get you through it Dad."

"But will my stomach?" he jokes.

She laughs. "That remains to be seen."

"Go in the kitchen, there are leftovers."

"That's ok Dad I'm not hungry."

"You ate out, right?" he asks suspiciously.

"I plead the fifth."

"Uh huh." Tom says. "For my stomach's sake. Don't tell me what it was."

"Don't worry I won't."

"I guess I'll go upstairs then and no I don't need any help." He says after  people all day been offering him help up and down the stairs.

"Dad please let me help you."

"Nancy, I appreciate the offer. But I am fine." he says and goes upstairs.

She shakes her head in frustration. She sees Abby in the kitchen and considers going in there to talk to her about it but decides against it. ~Naah she has enough on her mind. She doesn't need to hear how scared I was about losing my Dad one more time.~ She turns on the tv and pretends that she's paying attention to it.

Part 5