“ Chad, I wondered if we could go over this report. There are some things that don’t look quite right.”, Ethan asked, as he entered Chad’s office.

When Chad didn’t respond, “ Chad? Chad?”

Chad looked up at Ethan. “ Um, sorry Ethan. What did you say?”

“ Chad, what’s wrong?”

Chad sighed. “ We got bad news, Ethan. Whitney’s in the hospital.”

” In the hospital? When did this happen?”

“ The other day. She collapsed at her tennis match. We took her to the hospital.”

” What’s wrong with her?”

” The doctor’s say she has leukemia.”

Ethan took that in and sat down. “ Cancer?”

” Yeah, cancer.”

” Chad, if she needs anything…”

” Thanks, Ethan. Dr. Russell made a list of the people she wanted on Whitney’s case, and she’s gotten them. But, thanks for the offer.”

“ Do you want to be somewhere else?”

” Actually, I need work. Something to do. Without it, I’m in the pits. I’ll look over the report, Ethan.”

” Chad, if you need to talk.”

“ Thanks.”

” Um, how’s Theresa? “

Chad looked at Ethan. “ Ethan..”

” Chad, I know how close she and Theresa are.”

” Yeah, well then you should know how upset she is.”

” I can imagine.”

” She’s always at the hospital. She’s driving Whitney nuts, to be honest. But, she means well.”

” Theresa always did.”

” Yeah.”

” Would Whitney mind if Gwen and I dropped by with some flowers?”

” I think that would be nice. “
 

Julian had dropped Penny off at the Physical Therapy Center of Harmony Hospital. He was walking by Eve’s office, when he heard tears inside. He opened the door to find Eve crying.

“ Eve?”

Eve looked up from her desk. “ Hi Julian.”

Julian closed, locked the door and went . “What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with Chad?”

Eve shook her head. “ No…Whitney.”

” Whitney? What could be wrong with her?”

” Oh Julian!” Eve cried in Julian’s arms. He held her for a few moments until the cries subsided.

Julian brought her over to the couch. He got her a drink of water. “ Drink this.”

Eve did as she was told. “ Now, tell me. What is wrong with that wonderful girl.”

” Julian, she has leukemia.”

” Cancer? She’s too young. She’s a true athlete. She’s..”

” Got cancer, Julian.”

” You’ve gotten a second opinion?”

” A third.”

” Are there any specialists that you need? All you need is to give me the names, and I’ll get them for her.”

” No, Julian. Everyone I want on her case is either here, or will be within the week.”

” What’s the course of action?”

” Right now, it’s looking for a bone marrow donor. “

” Well, that’s good. You can use family members, right?”

“ That is the usual course of action. But, it’s not that simple. Sometimes, family members don’t match, unfortunately. We’re also looking in the international registry. “

” If you need my jet to fly the donor in, don’t hesitate to ask. It is at your disposal.”

“ Thank you, Julian. It’s very kind.”

” How’s the family taking it?”

” Very hard on them. TC is totally distraught.”

” I can imagine. He adores Whitney.”

” That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said about him.”

” I have problems with TC, but I know that he’s a good father. I respect him for that. You don’t look like you’ve had anything to eat. When’s the last time you had a meal.”

Eve thought about it.

” If you have to pause to think about it, it hasn’t been recently. Why don’t I take you down to the Cafeteria and you get something to eat.”

” Julian, what will people say.”

Julian picked up a file off of Eve’s desk and waved it in front of Eve.

” They’ll say that Dr. Russell took a meeting with Board Member Mr. Crane when she could. “

Eve smiled and stroked Julian’s face. “ I wish others could see this side of you.”

” Then how would I get anything done? My reputation serves me well.”

Eve smiled. “ Then, it will be our little secret.”
 

TC sat in the park. He thought about his conversation this morning with Eve.
 
 

“ TC, I think it’s time we told Whitney the truth.”

” Eve, what are you talking about?”

” TC, I know we promised ourselves years ago that we wouldn’t tell her, but that was before.”

” Before?”

” TC, she’s DYING! And, we aren’t doing everything we can to help her!”

” Yes, we are.”

” TC, we’re not. She thinks that it was bad luck that none of us matched. We know why we didn’t match Whitney.”

” Eve..”

” TC, maybe we could go to the adoption agency and have her records unsealed. We could find her biological family, and there could be a match!”

” No!”

” TC. I know you’ve never wanted Whitney to know that she was adopted, and I accepted it, but now, I think she needs to know. She needs to know that there might be other people out there that could help her.”

” You heard the doctor. The chances of family members matching are low.”

” But, a low chance is better than none. TC, we have to contact the adoption agency.”

” I said, NO, Eve!”

” My God! I thought you loved Whitney!”

” I DO LOVE HER! More than my own life!”

” Then, prove it. We need to tell her, and to contact the agency, TC. Time is NOT on our side. If you don’t, then I will. In forty-eight hours. “

” Fine. She’ll find out the truth.”

TC shook his head. He honestly had never thought the time would come. He took out his cellphone and dialed.

” I need to speak with you. It’s a matter of life and death.”