A meeting was scheduled straight away. They brought Robert into a private room so that they could talk confidentially. Just as Lee was about to enter the room to give him the devastating news, he found Carly standing by the door waiting for him.

"I'm not here to fight" She quickly got in before he could yell at her again. "I just figured he could use the both of us"

Lee didn't want to say, but he was glad she was here. This wasn't going to be easy. He simply thanked her and they headed in together.

"Finally! What took you so long? I'm missing my TV shows!" Robert complained, as upbeat as ever. It was only going to make this harder. Lee and Carly sat at opposite sides of the old man with gloomy faces. "Alright, just cut to the chase. You got me in a room by myself so I know something's up. Is because I kept complaining the other day?"

"I'm afraid so" Lee nodded.

"Fucking Phil. I knew he'd take it too far. What's the son of a bitch got me into now?" Sighed Robert.

"Well actually it's important that he did" Lee couldn't believe he was actually defending Phil. "We ran some blood tests and the results came in this morning"

"And?"

Lee shared a sad glance with Carly before telling Robert of his condition. The old man was quiet for a long time before he finally spoke.

"Is this a joke? I mean, surely you guys would've picked this up ages ago? I feel like you're never leaving me alone!"

"Sometimes the symptoms are pretty non specific. They could mean any number of things. It's estimated that one fifth of people with leukaemia haven't been diagnosed yet" Carly informed him when she saw that Lee was struggling to. Robert looked at them both back and forth as if waiting to see one of them crack a smile to let him know it was a joke, but it never came.

"Holy shit" He muttered, his situation finally dawning on him.

"We can give you plenty of medication, chemotherapy, radiotherapy – " Lee began but Robert waved him off.

"Fuck all that. How long have I got?"

"Robert" Carly sighed.

"How long?" He asked again, this time more forcefully.

"With the treatment, probably at least five years" Lee said. "But if you don't accept it then there's really no way to tell. Could be years, months or weeks"

"God dammit" Robert still seemed in shock.

"Do you want us to get in touch with your family?" Carly asked.

"No. Not yet. They never come visit anyway. I don't want a pity party. I want them all to remember me how I was before I lived in this shithole"

"I really recommend you take the treatment Mr. Alexander. I can't force you but the quicker you decide the better chance we have of catching this thing" Lee said sympathetically. He was desperate to convince him. He didn't want him to die.

"I'll think about it. Get back to you later on, ok?" He offered. "Just do me a favour and don't tell the boys" Meaning his roommates. "I want to be the one to give them the news". Lee nodded and stood up to go, as did Carly. "Hey doc, I got a few more questions about all this. You mind staying with me a while?" Robert asked just as Lee was half out the door. Lee looked at Carly before agreeing, although he wasn't sure why.

"I'll leave you gentlemen to it" Carly smiled before closing the door behind her.

"Alright, what can I help you with?" Lee asked, retaking his seat.

"Cut the crap doc. What's with all the tension between you and the cute nurse?" Robert asked.

"What!?" Lee was taken aback.

"I'm getting a weird vibe. What happened?"

"We just had a disagreement" He used the same lie that he had for his mother, hoping that this time he could make someone believe it.

"Holy shit, you went there didn't you?" Robert finally connected the dots.

"Shut up!" Said Lee, hoping that he wasn't blushing in front of the old man.

"Holy shit, you actually did! How was it? Were there fireworks? Did you float away into the clouds? Did a dolphin jump over your head?"

"I think someone's messed with your meds" Lee couldn't look at him.

"So you're together now right?"

"No we are not" Lee said, unable to hide his disappointment.

"You fucked up, didn't you?"

"This isn't the time to be discussing this" Lee the doctor reminded him.

"Of course it is. This is the perfect time. You've told me I'm probably going to die soon so I think it's time I had some fun, and actually helped you for once"

"You? Help me? Please! How on earth could you do that?" Lee laughed.

"Here's how. I'm going to do something that nobody else has ever had the balls to"

"Which is?"

"Tell you what a stupid prick you are, that's what!" Robert shouted, but not angrily. More out of frustration. Lee tried to retort back but couldn't come up with anything. He wasn't used to being spoken to like this.

"You know, for someone as smart as you, you do a lot of stupid shit. Do you know that?" Robert asked, before continuing his tirade. "Look at me. I'm 80 years old, living in a hospital, dying of cancer and haven't had a single visitor in two years. Now look at you. What have you got to be so down about? You're young, smart, good looking when you don't have those damn pubes on your face and you got a great job. You probably get well paid and you have a beautiful girl who clearly really likes you. Where's the bad in that?"

Lee tried to come up with an answer but once again found himself speechless. He assumed that this was how it felt when a young boy got a telling off from his father, something Lee hadn't really experienced.

"Putting it like that . . ." He managed to mumble.

"And why you always gotta act like you're better than everybody else huh?"

"I'm a doctor. I am better than everybody else"

"No. What you are is an asshole"

Lee once again remained hushed.

"Exactly! So do us all a favour. Stop walking around the place with a face like a slapped ass and enjoy yourself for Christ sakes! Go on holiday, buy a pet, have sex in your office for all I care, just live your god damn live! When you get to my age and have to spend 24 hours a day stuck in a room with a bunch of other old people, those are the things you're gonna remember. Not that time you picked up an extra shift because you didn't want to go home and clean your toilet"

That was definitely not the reason that Lee didn't ever want to go home but he let it slide. Robert was right. The only person that ever really stood in his way was himself. He had just accepted that life wasn't going the way that he had planned and so just decided that it never would.

"Well what do I do then? I've messed up so many good things. I don't even know where to start" Lee now cast his full attention to Robert. If he was going to do this, he would need all the help he could get.

"Well first of all you need to get your shit together. You clearly have some issues that you need to deal with. Talk to somebody. Someone you trust"

"Like you?"

"Fuck no! Do I look like a frickin' doctor to you?" Robert exclaimed. Lee couldn't help but laugh. This guy was amazing. "Secondly, you gotta fix things with the nurse. She's the only reason anybody's been able to put up with your crap these last few months. Be friends, take her on a date, do whatever. Just don't leave it like this. It's painful to watch"

"Thanks Robert. This really does mean a lot". And it did. This was the most sincere thing that Lee had said in months.

"No problem. Sometimes all you need is a kick in the ass"

Lee laughed again before preparing to leave. He reminded Robert once again that receiving treatment for his illness was the best option.

"Wait! Doctor Dawson, one more question"

"What is it?"

"Leukaemia is blood cancer right?"

"Right"

"Is it the same as HIV? Can I transmit it or can I keep making sweet love to the ladies?"

"Goodbye for now Robert"

This was one joke too many for Doctor Happy.