Lara ”I’m calling the Doctor.  You’re burning up.”

Lara makes the call as Alice checks on Dana.  Lara looks Alice and suddenly, Alice has a feeling of guilt.

She was never supposed to know.

Shane, Carmen, and Mark’s apartment.

Mark can hear Shane and Carmen arguing from his room.  He tries to zone it out.  From what Mark can tell, things did not go well for Shane and Carmen’s get-together with Carmen’s family.  He cannot just be a listener in another room.  He leaves his bedroom.  Shane and Carmen are in the kitchen, arguing.

Shane ”I don’t wanna lose your family!  Okay???  I don’t want them to hate me!  I think it would be really fucked if they sat there and they blamed me for this…which…I am so sure they already have.”

Carmen ”What do you know about family?”

Mark ”Guys.”

Shane and Carmen look at Mark.

Mark ”Stop this.  Please.”

Carmen ”Mark, now is not-”

The phone rings.

Mark ”I’ll get it.”

Shane feels the sting from Carmen’s statement.  Carmen places her left hand over her face, knowing she went too far with that statement.  Mark answers the phone.

Mark ”Hello?”

Mark listens.

Mark ”Yeah, they’re both here.  What’s up?”

Mark listens.  His face becomes grim as Shane now looks at Mark, curious as to what is going on and still trying to get past Carmen’s words.

Mark ”Yeah…um…we’ll be right there.  We’re on our way now.”

Mark hangs up the phone.

Mark ”Both of you…please get the fuck over your issues.”

Shane ”Who was that?”

Mark ”That was Alice.  …Dana.”

Mark’s face grimaces into a twitch, trying to contain the emotions.

Mark ”Dana’s…in the hospital.”

Carmen ”What happened?”

Mark ”The chemo…breaking down…um…the immune system.  She has an infection.  And uh…it’s…bad.  She was crying the whole time she told me this.  We’re going to the hospital.  Come on.”

Hospital.

Alice and Lara can only watch as Dana is rolled away for tests.

Lara ”It was because she loves you.  Right?”

Alice ”She loves us both, Lara.  She loves you the most.  …She always will.”

Alice wraps her arms around Lara’s waist, placing her head against Lara’s right shoulder.  Lara crosses her arms, burying her face into her left palm.  She can feel Alice’s tears running down her right bicep.

Alice ”She needs us…she needs us.”

Alice cannot keep the crying in.  Lara ignores her own anguish for now.  She faces Alice, wrapping her arms around Alice’s shoulders.  As Alice cries against Lara’s chest, Lara’s eyes look off into nowhere.

She was never supposed to know.