Emily stared at the door to her once welcoming house.
A place where she once felt safe and loved now held nothing but fear and dread.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Emily quietly made her way through the gate.
"Shh" she whispered to the neighbors dog barking her arrival to the whole world.

As she approached the house she glanced at the living room window and spotted Kade watching TV on the couch with his feet propped up on top of the coffee table.

Thanking God for Kade's distraction, she snuck inside and into her room without a sound.

With a sigh of relief she walked over to her little brother's crib.

"I don't know how much longer I can take this little guy" she whispered caressing his small pinkish head.

Taking a seat on her own bed she looked outside her window as it began to rain.

Thunder interrupted the peaceful sound of rain followed by lightning cutting through the sky.

Meantime in the hospital, Avery observed the picture frame on his nightstand turned downwards.
With a shaky hand he picked it up and put it in his lap observing the picture.

A man and son stood side by side, spitting images of each other.
The only difference being the eyes.

The mans were cold and distant while the little boys held pure joy, pride even. As he looked up at his father in admiration in all that he accomplished.
Just behind them stood a young and beautiful woman with long blonde hair ever so slightly curled framing her pale but cheery face.

Her eyes however held worry. A constant worry that she was running out of time. Worried that she might have passed on her illness to her one and only son. A son she loved so much that she would do anything for him.

There was a knock on the door and with a quick slam the picture was once again face down on his nightstand.

"Come in" Avery said trying to regain his composure.
"It's time for bed Avery. You need your rest." A stern voice scolded as the door opened to reveal the stern man in the photograph, Avery's father. Trailing behind him was his nurse Darlene.

"Yes sir" Avery looked down at his lap and rolled his wheelchair towards his bed so that Darlene could help him in.

"Make sure to keep up with your studies. No man inheriting a business should be uneducated."
"Yes sir" and with that Mr Miller turned on his heal and left.

Darlene hesitated at his bedside once he was in. Pondering the best way to ask about the lack of warmth between the two.

"I do not mean to intrude Avery but why is it you call him sir instead of father?"
"I have no father" and with this Avery closed his eyes and laid his head down on his pillow as Darlene muttered a small good night and left.

Avery had once admired his father, wanted to be his father. But that all changed once he saw his true colors. Once he realized how indifferently he treated his mother. Not once, had he visited her on her death bed. He would stay out late, sometimes for days on end. Whenever he was home, he would lock himself up in his office for hours on end. No one was allowed to disturb him during this time. Not the in house doctor trying to inform him of his wife's passing, not even his own son. Too young to understand what was going on, but was old enough to realize that the man he admired so much was the very same man that was never there. Even as he held his mother's limp cold hand, he never came.

It had been his aunt that dragged him away from his mother's corpse, his aunt that organized the funeral, his aunt that made sure he ate when all he wanted was to starve himself to death.

It was his aunt that called him an ambulance when she saw him passed out on the bathroom floor.

Not his father, aunt Deb. His father didn't even bother to look at him. The only time he said a word to him, was to bark orders about his studies and running the company once he was old enough.

But Averey knew he wouldn't live that long. All the treatment did was stop things from getting worse. It wouldn't make things better. No one knew how to cure him, because no one knew the cause. He had been in this hospital a month. And still no results.

He had been just about ready to take his own life when he met her, Emily.

Those big smiles that hid so much sadness. He wanted to be there for her, care for her. But he was dying... And had no idea how to stop it.