When Shay and Jack returned to the house after looking for Deileia and Anna-Lynn, Shay laid down.

          “Shay, get your lazy ass up. What’s wrong with you?” Jack demanded.

          “I don’t know. I’ve had these migraines since before we went on the cruise. I think I’m really sick. Can you please get me some medicine?” Shay said.

          “I don’t have any medicine here. I don’t believe in medicine.” Jack said.

          “That is the craziest shit I’ve ever heard. Will you at least take me to the hospital?” Shay wondered.

          “No, I won’t. Don’t call me or what I believe in crazy.”

          “Please, Jack. I could die.”

          “So?”

          “Then you would be charged with murder because you knew I needed to see a doctor.”

          “Get in the car.” Jack said with a huff.

          Jack drove her to the hospital she works at and got her a room.

          “Shay, I haven’t seen you in a while. I definitely wasn’t looking forward to seeing you like this. We have a lot to catch up on, girl.” The doctor said.

          “Not now, Mary.” Shay replied.

          “I know, sweetheart. According to Linda, we’re going to run a few tests. We’ll check you for normal strep throat, first. We’ll do a MRI test next.”

          “Why are you going to do a MRI test?”

          “Just to see if you have anything wrong in the rest of your body, sweetheart.”

          “Oh, okay. Jack, you’ll need to step out of the room while she does this.”

          “No, he won’t.”

          “Yes, he will. Jack you need to step out of the room.” Shay said, glaring at Mary.

          “Jack, please step out of the room.”

          After Jack was out of the room and the door was shut, Mary said, “Who is that and what was all of that about?”

          “That’s Jack, my fiancé.”

          “You’re fiancé? What happened to Dan?”

          “Long story short, we broke up. Watch the news. You’ll know what’s going on.”

          “Honey, open your mouth.”

          Mary did the strep throat test and left the room. Mary returned moments later and wheeled Shay out of her room.

          “Jack, we’re doing the MRI test. I’ll be back soon.” Shay said.

          After a while, Shay and Doctor Mary returned to her hospital room. Jack was sitting in the chair watching TV.

          “So, when are we going to get the results?” He wondered.

          “She doesn’t have strep throat. We already know that. We’ll have to wait a little while for the MRI results.” Doctor Mary explained.

          “How long are we talking?”

          “I want to keep her overnight just to see if we can figure out what’s wrong with her.”

          “Jack, you can go home if you’d like. I know you must be tired.” Shay said.

          “Alright. Call me when you need me to pick you up.” Jack said, leaving the room.

          “What the heck?” Mary asked.

          “Listen, I’m in a bit of a pickle right now . . .” Shay said, explaining the whole situation.

*        *        *

          Shay got to go home later on the next day. Doctor Mary couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.

          “Hello?” Jack answered his phone.

          “Hello. This is Doctor Mary Maxwell at the hospital here in Shelby.”

          “What do you want?”

          “Is Shay there?”

          “Shay! The telephone is for you!”

          “Could you bring it to me?” Shay asked, too weak to get up.

          Jack handed her the cell phone.

          “Hello?” Shay said into the phone.

          “Shay, this is Mary. The MRI results are back and I’m afraid it isn’t good news, sweetheart.” Mary said.

          “Just lay it on me.”

          “You have a tumor on your liver. It’s about the size of a nickel. We want you to return to the hospital tomorrow morning at eight o’clock so we can run a few more tests and see what we can do for you.”

          “Oh, oh, I didn’t know it was going to be something as bad as that!” Shay said, starting to cry.

          “I’m sorry, dear, but I have to go.” Mary said, hanging up the phone.

          “Shay, what the hell is wrong with you?” Jack wondered.

          “I have a tumor in my stomach. It’s about the size of a nickel. I don’t know if it’s cancerous or not. I’m so scared.” Shay explained.

          “Oh, get over it. It’s not that big of a deal.” Jack said.

          “Jack, can I please have my phone back?” Shay asked, sobbing.

          “Why?”

          “I am going to call my mother and tell her. I also want to ask if there has been anymore clues found in Maylie’s case.”

          “If you call the police, they won’t believe you. Everyone loves me at the station and they will think you’re crazy.”

          “I’m not going to call the police about you. I just want to know about my daughter’s case.”

          “Here, take it.” Jack said, handing her her cell phone.

          Shay immediately called her mother and told her the news. Her mother was so upset. She wanted to see her daughter right then but Shay said she couldn’t. After a long talk with her mother, Shay hung up the phone.

          She dialed the police station’s number.

          “Hello. This is the Shelby Police Station. How may I help you?” A woman said over the phone.

          “This is Shay Marks. I would like to talk to one of the officers working on Maylie Marks’ case. That’s my daughter.” Shay explained.

          “We aren’t really allowed to give out that kind of information, dear.”

          “I’m her mother! Could you not do me a simple favor?”

          “I’ll transfer you over to Deputy Logan because Deputy Dunkin is off right now.”

          “I know.” Shay said, waiting to be transferred.

          “Deputy Chase Logan speaking. How may I help you?”

          “This is Shay Marks. I am Maylie Marks’ mother. I am to the understanding that you are helping work the case. Can you please tell me any details that you have on the case?”

          “We are not allowed to give out that kind of information.”

          “Can you please? I am her mother. You know my voice. You came and interviewed me. Actually, Deputy Dunkin did, but you were there. No one else would know that besides Dan Marks and my voice isn’t a male’s voice. Can you please help me out here?”

          “Okay, ma’am. I believe you. I will do it for you. We found some fingerprints in the old house and a piece of hair on the hair bow. We are going to send it over to the lab first thing tomorrow morning. That’s when they said they could test it.” Deputy Logan explained.

          “That’s wonderful! Can you call me as soon as you get the results?”

          “Yes.”

          “My number is 564-8345. Thank you so much.”

          “You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you tomorrow or the next day. Goodbye.”

          “Bye.” Shay said and hung up the phone.

          “So, what did that dumbass of a cop say?” Jack wondered into the room.

          “He said they found fingerprints and a hair bow.” Shay said.

          “Oh, okay.”

*        *        *

          Shay was back at the hospital and Doctor Mary was talking to her.

          “Shay, we are going to run a few more tests. I’m going to roll you into the room down the hallway. Jack, you can go if you want.” Mary said.

          It took a while for all the tests to be done. Shay was tired and ready to go to sleep.

          “What are we going to do if it is cancer?” Shay wondered, sleepily.

          “We will treat it with chemo and hope for the best.” Mary responded.

          “I want to come back to work.”

          “You can’t, dear. You’re sick.”

          “I want to come back to work, Mary. I can’t stand being cooped up in that house all day.”

          “That’s just what you’re going to have to get used to. You can’t return to work like this. I’m sorry, honey, but you look awful.”

          “Thanks for the support, Mary.”

          “Dear, you know I always tell the truth.”

          “I know. I’m just messing with you. I hope I’m not going to die.”

          “We are going to do everything in our power to help you, Shay, and you know that.”

          “I know. Thank you for everything. Thank you for getting rid of Jack, too. I’m scared for my life just being with him. I haven’t seen my daughter in a week and a half. I haven’t seen Maylie in probably three weeks.”

          “Dear, you need to get out of that situation.”

          “I can’t call the police because they are all his buddies. Just let me figure it out, please. Don’t go calling the cops on him because that will just make things worse.”

          “I won’t, dear.”

          “Thank you.” Shay said, watching Mary walk out of the hospital room.

          Shay fell asleep soon after that, dreaming about her two daughters.

*        *        *

          “Jack, why don’t you let me drive you home?” Deputy Logan said.

          “I’m not done here. I wanna meet someone new.” Deputy Dunkin said.

          “You have a girlfriend. I heard it was Shay Marks.”

          “She’s actually my fiancée, but who cares?”

          “That’s all the reason to NOT meet someone new.”

          “She won’t find out. She’s in the hospital, anyways.”

          “Why is she in the hospital?”

          “They found a tumor on her liver or some shit like that.”

          “How are you going to stay here at this bar, drunk, looking for a new girl, when YOUR GIRL is lying in the hospital?”

          “Because I don’t care about MY GIRL!”

          “Dude, you’re terrible.”

          “Watch me and my terribleness.” Jack said, walking away towards some woman.

          “Hey, honey! You are a sexy looking cop!” A woman said to Jack.

          “You better believe it, baby! I get that a lot!” Jack exclaimed.

          “Do you wanna come sit with me and my friends?”

          “Hell yeah!”

          They walked over to a table full of trashy-looking women.

          “Oh, Lane, where did you pick up this hunk?” A woman asked.

          “From over there.” Lane said, pointing in the direction of which he came.

          “What’s your name?” The same woman asked.

          “I’m Deputy Jack Dunkin.”

          “How old are you?”

          “I’m thirty-three.”

          “An older man, Lane! SEXY!”

          “So, I take it you name’s Lane?” Jack asked.

          “Lane Lincoln. I’m twenty-five years old.” She replied.

          “Aren’t I a little old for you?”

          “Not at all, baby.” Lane said, pulling him in for a kiss.

          “Aren’t you going to introduce us to him?” Another woman from her table asked.

          “Oh, I forgot. Jack, this is Angelia, Colette, and Sabrina. We’ve all been friends forever.” Lane said.

          “Nice to meet you ladies.”

          Lane sat down, pulling Jack down to sit beside her.

          A man with greasy hair and stupid tattoos walked over to where the girls and Jack were sitting.

          “Who is this man, Lane?” He asked.

          “This is my new boyfriend, AJ.” Lane replied.

          “So now you’re cheating behind my back?”

          “I’m not cheating on you if we aren’t even going out!”

          “Lane, we’re still a couple whether you like it or not!”

          “Hey, man, back off! She doesn’t want you!” Jack spoke up.

          AJ punched Jack in the face and Jack started punching back. Deputy Logan came over to split the fight up.

          “STOP FIGHTING!” Deputy Logan said.

          He finally got AJ up against the wall and handcuffed him. He took him outside and waited for other cops to get there to take him down to the station.

          Jack let Lane drive his cop car back to his house. He picked her up and went to his bedroom with her.

*        *        *

          Jack picked Shay up from the hospital in the morning and headed back to his house.

          “So, what did the doctors say?” Jack asked.

          “They said they are pretty sure I have cancer, but they want to see the test results.” Shay explained.

          “Oh.”

          After a few minutes, they arrived at Jack’s house. Shay went into their bedroom and noticed some women’s clothing on the floor.

          “Whose are these?” Shay asked.

          “Don’t worry about it.” Jack said.

          “If we are going to act like we’re getting married then you have to act like a good husband. You can’t cheat on me day in and day out. That’s not how it works.”

          “Last time I checked, you weren’t the boss of me.”

          “I’m sorry. Even if we are really together or not, I don’t like the fact that you are cheating on me.”