A/N: wow, finally an update. it's been quite a while, hasn't it? i'm a bit rusty, i must admit. note: this takes place after niles and daphne are married, hence why daphne calls everyone by their names rather than "dr. crane" or "mr. crane"

Frasier had just gotten out of bed on a Sunday morning and changed into his squash clothes when Niles and Daphne came knocking on his door. He opened the door for them and guided them over to the table where he had lain out breakfast and a pot of coffee.

"Is your father not up yet?" Daphne asked. "I was planning on helping him with his exercises while you and your brother go out for squash."

"You make it sound like we're going to some restaurant that only sells squash, darling,"
Niles joked.

"Yes, well, I wouldn't find myself surprised if that's actually what you two have been doing on Sundays for years now," she said. "Well, anyway, I'll be off to go wake your father up. It's quite late, isn't it?"

She gathered up her exercise mats and went down the hallway to Martin's room, her heels clacking against the hardwood floors as she walked.

Niles helped himself to a muffin and pulled out his tweezers from the pocket of his squash pants to perform his signature act of tweezing his breakfast.

Frasier glared at him. "As soon as you're done tweezing your muffin, we'll go. We don't want to lose our court."

The two brothers heard Daphne knocking on the door of Martin's room down the hall.

"Martin? It's time to do your exercises," she said.

She paused. There was no response.

"Are you all right in there?" She called out.

There was still no response.

At last, Daphne opened the door and let herself in.

Niles and Frasier heard a thump as Daphne's bundle of exercise mats hit the ground.

"Martin?!"

Niles and Frasier shared a look of fear and bolted down the hall.

When they arrived at Martin's room, where the door was ajar, they saw Daphne kneeling over a limp body on the ground.

"Oh my god!" Niles exclaimed.

"Dad? DAD!" Frasier yelled. He knelt down over Martin as well and pressed his fingers to Martin's neck to check his pulse.

"He's still breathing. He's just unconscious. Niles, call 911!"

Niles spun around, looking for a telephone. He kept spinning and spinning around desperately, as if he was hoping that if he turned at a certain angle a phone would materialize.

Then, he realized he had his cell phone
in his pocket.

Fumbling with it, he called 911.

"Yes? Our father, he's passed out. It might have been a heart attack or something, we're not sure...yes...thank you."

Niles hung up and said to Frasier and Daphne, "The most important thing is not to panic. Don't panic, okay?"

They nodded.

Niles began to suck in his breaths rapidly, clearly hyperventilating.

Frasier put his hand on Niles' arm to comfort him, one hand still resting on Martin. "It'll be alright, Niles."

•••

The four Cranes were now sat in the hospital, one unconscious and in a hospital bed. They had just been informed that Martin had a near lethal heart attack. If he did wake up, it would only be a matter of time before the next attack hit.

For the next few days, Niles, Daphne, and Frasier practically lived at the hospital. One sunny day, the machines next to Martin started slowly beeping, and then became more frequent and fast. The nurses rushed in.

Martin was waking up.

"Dad!" Frasier exclaimed. "You're awake."

Martin tried to groggily sit up, squinting his eyes.

"He'll be a bit disoriented at first," the nurse said.

Once Martin got his bearings and they gave him some food from the hospital cafeteria, they were able to talk with him.

The doctor came in and told Martin that it would be unwise to go home because the next heart attack could hit at any moment. It could be able to be treated by medical attention or it could be lethal, but there wasn't really a way to prevent it.

The doctor left the room to let the family reflect on the news on their own.

"Well, this is it, huh?" Martin said. "Your old man, dying. I knew this day would come."

The other three Cranes erupted in protest but the silenced them with a wave of his hand.

"Don't worry about it, just keep living your life without me. At least Frasier can get rid of my chair now. And I'm so proud of you all, and so happy for you and Daphne, Niles," he gave a sad smile, his blue eyes twinkling.

Niles, Daphne, and Frasier remained silent this time.

"Look, I'm not into all the mushy stuff. I just want you all to know that I love you."

"We love you too, Dad," Niles said. Frasier nodded.

Daphne burst into tears.

"Oh, Martin, what will we ever do without you?"

"Aw, geez, you'll get along just fine without me," Martin pulled Daphne into a hug and patted her back.

The Cranes spent the rest of the day sitting in the hospital room, thinking back on all the years they spent together, laughing and crying.

•••

It was hard for Niles, Daphne, and Frasier to leave Martin alone in that room but they had to so they could go back to work and their lives.

They made a habit over the next few weeks of visiting after work everyday, sometimes bringing some food from outside the hospital or bringing a photograph from their past.

One afternoon, they each got calls from the hospital saying that Martin had gone into cardiac arrest once again.

They rushed from their jobs to the hospital, where Martin lay in a bed, unconscious once again.

They all stood over him, their hearts beating eight times as fast as the beeps that the monitors portrayed.

Every beep was a little more spaced out, scaring them into thinking that he was gone until it finally beeped once again and reset the clock.

"Dad was right," Frasier said at last. "We all knew this day would come, but we were never prepared."

Daphne began to sob again, and Niles and Frasier did too, clinging to each other in a triangle.

The monitor gave one long, loud beep. Doctors and nurses rushed in. Martin was flatlining.

Panic fell over all of them. Frasier started yelling at the doctors to do something. Niles started hyperventilating once again. Daphne buried her face in her hands and tried to block out what was happening.

But nothing could be done. The beeping ceased to a stop altogether. The room was dead silent.

"I'm so sorry," a doctor said at last.

•••

Niles and Daphne had decided to stay at Frasier's for the night. They hugged him, teary-eyed, and left Frasier alone to go to Daphne's old bedroom and get some rest.

"We'll all feel a bit better in the morning," Frasier said not-so-confidently as he bid them goodnight.

He listened as they shuffled down the hallway, sniffling, and shut the door to her room.

Frasier was alone.

He squeezed his eyes shut, but couldn't get the images of his father dying out of his head.

At last, he opened them.

He was staring straight at Martin's chair.

He approached it carefully, and ran his fingers over the material.

He then sunk to his knees, buried his face in the chair, and began to sob.

A/N 2: well, that was sad to write. i apologize if the medical accuracy isn't perfect, i'm obviously not an expert of any of that stuff. see you all soon.