Their house was lonely during the week without Jen. He was busy building a custom home and had two renovations.

In March, some lumber fell on his left hand. He'd had plenty of accidents through the years. He knew enough that something was probably broken. He got a ride to the emergency room. Despite the pain, he felt a surge of joy as he answered Jennifer Dixon as his contact person. He even gave her cell phone and office number. In the past, he would have given his mother's information, and that was plain sad at over thirty years old.

He went through the drill of x-rays and then the orthopedic surgeon came in. He explained he had a break and would need a cast. Alex wasn't surprised. He did, however, feel awkward because he knew the doctor. Finally, he said, "You're married to Cara."

"Have we met?" He asked looking again at Alex's name.

"I'm Kate's brother."

It was like bells went off in his brain. "Oh! The old boyfriend. I think I owe you some gratitude because you let her go and she found me."

"I let her go because she wasn't mine. We all have someone special and I didn't know it at eighteen, but we weren't really that person for each other."

Alex's someone special's name was entered in his hospital registration data. He would enjoy her sympathy when she came home on Friday.

Stuck at the hospital without his truck, he called Peter to come to get him. Both Megan and Kristi looked after him until Jen came home.

April came and brought spring to Manhattan. At home, the weather was still deciding what season it was. Jen marveled at how her life had changed. She and Alex were just becoming friends a year ago. Now their wedding was planned. She, Avery and Megan had their dresses. Alex's hand was out of the cast. He liked to get sympathy but wasn't a baby about his injury. Sterling would be. She had to stop comparing. The result was there was no comparison. Alex won every time.

She always found Mondays difficult because she missed Alex more having just been with him. She liked to be busy with clients on Monday so she could keep her mind off him. Tuesdays were hard, but by Wednesday, Friday was just around the corner. Some Fridays she worked at home which meant she flew out on Thursday night. Sometimes she told Sterling where she was going other times she didn't. He had no idea she went home every weekend. It took him months before Sterling found out she wasn't living with Avery.

One week in mid-April, Jen worked in the office both Monday and Tuesday. By lunch, on Tuesday she was in a mood. She was working on a big job when Lexi came rushing in. "A call. It's some hospital about someone... emergency contact..."

Jen felt her stomach turn and was lightheaded as she grabbed the phone. The caller identified herself from Maine Medical Center and said that Alex had been brought in unconscious. Although he was conscious, they didn't know what caused it. She remembered saying she'd be there as soon as she could. She threw things in her bag and shouted to Lexi.

"I have to go. It's an emergency. Cancel all my appointments this week."

She called Avery and calm as could be, Avery said, "Get in a cab and pick me up at my office. I have some favors that I can call in."

Avery and Tom were on the curb when the cab pulled up. They jumped in and headed to the airport. Avery's favor was a private jet ready and waiting.

Meanwhile, Tom was on the phone with his mother and Kate trying to get information. He only knew that he was alright for now, but he hit his head when he went down. "Tell him we're coming," Tom said into his phone.

Avery was trying hard, but nothing short of seeing Alex would make Jen calm down. She was frantic with scary thoughts running through her head. The scariest was that he could die. It took them very little time to fly north, and there was a car waiting for them. Avery must have made someone very wealthy to do this kind of favor. The ride straight down Congress Street was the longest ride in her life. She noticed nothing except the turnoff for the bath store where they had shopped together.

The minute the car pulled in front of the emergency room doors, she was out. She ran right into Alex's mother. Paula took her in her arms and held her. She explained they were running some tests, but as soon as they were ready she could go see him.

Kate appeared in her nurse's scrubs. "My relief came in early. I was useless upstairs." Turning to Jen she said, "Come with me."

Her heels clicked on the floor as she walked past various people in beds. She heard him first. He was laughing, so she relaxed a bit. When the curtain parted, she saw him looking pale especially against the white sheets - paler than she'd ever seen him. He had been laughing with the nurse who was attending to his IV. When he saw her, his expression changed to one of love.

"How did you get here so fast?"

She smiled. "Avery has friends." She was at his side with his face in her hands. "I've been so scared. Are you okay?"

"I am now with you." He whispered, and she kissed him before sitting down next to him. The nurse had watched their greeting, but quietly left.

"What happened?"

"I don't know one minute, I was talking to Will and the next I was in the ambulance and my head was killing me. I have staples in my head where I cracked it open." He showed her his head wound with his fingers. "The doctor said it's syncope which is different from fainting because there is no warning. You just go down hard."

She looked at him and he had wires on his chest monitoring his heart and the IV needle in the back of his hand. She clung to his hand as if to never let it go. Around them was the hustle and noise of the busy emergency department. She heard a child crying and staff talking. She asked him if he knew what caused it and he explained they were doing tests.

Kate popped in to say that Tom wanted to see him. Jen looked at him sadly, but Kate clarified. "Jen, you can stay."

Tom asked how he was and Alex said, "You shouldn't have come. You have work."

"And miss a chance to fly in a private jet, no way." He joked.

"We're just waiting on all the doctors. There is nothing to do, but wait," Alex said.

As Tom left the nurse said, "Hi Tommy."

Jen looked at Alex questioning. He said, "Cara..."

Jen squeezed his hand and whispered, "That was Cara and you didn't tell me. You were laughing with her."

"As soon as I saw your face, I forgot she was even here. I swear. Besides, I was just unconscious."

She kissed him. "I know I'm your only girl."

Alex whispered, "Except Sophie."

"Someday I want to give you a girl that will push Sophie aside."

"Do you promise?"

Jen answered yes, but she was still more concerned about his health than Cara being his nurse or Sophie. Thoughts of Sophie made her think of her parents. When she had more information, she'd need to call them.

Alex's mother came in with Cara, who said the cardiologist was coming soon. Jen debated introducing herself, but truthfully she couldn't let go of Alex's hand and she was too intent on him and how much she loved him. She had been more scared than she had ever been in her life and she was anxious about what the cardiologist had to say.

Cara asked, "How does the head feel?"

Alex said, "Better. I've got a hard head."

Jen smiled and squeezed his hand. She looked at Alex's mother who made a tsk at his joke and at Cara who laughed as she walked away. She was pretty, but she had more information than any of them and she seemed calm. However, it also hit her that Alex's mother was probably as concerned as she was. She offered for her to sit next to her son. She refused, but Jen said, "I think I need to stand."

She stood and walked to the other side of Alex and took that hand. He watched. "I love when you dress New York in your heels."

"I jumped on a plane because you're sick and you're flirting with me." She leaned down and kissed him.

"I'm fine. I just want to go home."

A doctor walked in and said, "Unfortunately we're not ready for you to go home yet. I'm Doctor Adams, a cardiologist. We're concerned with your rhythm. Is there any history of fainting in the family?"

"His grandmother would faint a lot. She died in her sleep, but she was only sixty-three," Paula said and she looked at Alex. "Grandma Goodwin."

"Any other sudden deaths in the family?"

"Her son died when he was in high school. It was tragic."

"No one else has any issues? Your husband? Other children?" the doctor asked.

"Ex-husband, but not that I know of. Why?"

"There is an arrhythmia condition called Long QT that causes sudden death. We saw an indication on the electrocardiogram taken in the ambulance. It can be hereditary. Have you ever had any fainting or syncope episode like this before?"

"No, never. What does it mean?"