Goodbye

21

Pippa stared at her body in the mirror. She saw the faint stretch marks from when she had life in her. Her finger traced over the marks as she let out a sigh.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked her.

"Wondering what it would be like if I hadn't lost the baby." She frowned at him. "What do you think he would've looked like?" She asked.

"He would've been the most gorgeous baby you have ever laid eyes on." He said while walking over to her. It wasn't the first time they had talked about their unborn child. It seemed to be helping both of them every time they talked about it. "He probably would've looked like you." He said while placing his arms around her and holding her tightly.

"I think he would've looked more like you." She smiled softly.

"If you say so." Steven laughed quietly.

"I think we should name him... He deserves to have a name." She whispered.

"I think he does too." He agreed. "What did you have in mind?" He smiled at her.

"Jack." She breathed.

"Like Incredibles Jack? Or... Something else?" He frowned.

"Like Newsies Jack." She smiled. "He was my favorite." She whispered. Steve smiled and kissed Pippa's forehead.

"I'm sure Jack is smiling down at us from heaven about his name." He whispered. Pippa nodded slowly, her eyes beginning to tear up again. "It's okay." Steve whispered while holding her tighter.

"I just wish I could've had him." She sniffed. "We would've had the perfect family." She cried into his chest. Steve frowned, knowing that he could only hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

He just hoped everything would be okay for them.

===

Lin sat with his head in his hands during rehearsal breaks. His headaches coming and going in spurts. He didn't know what to think of it. But he was trying to take things easy. His mind not working properly... Remembering lines used to be so easy.

Why was it so hard now?

"You okay Lin?" Pippa frowned. When she didn't get a response, she ran over to him and knelt in front of him. Nothing seemed right with the picture in front of her. "Roger!" She yelled. Everyone in the rehearsal space stopped to look at who yelled their directors name.

"What?" Roger frowned at her, wondering why she had left her space.

"He doesn't look so good.." Pippa frowned. No one knew what to do really. They just stood and watched, knowing that if a main cast member was down... They had to wait a bit...

"Lin... Hey man. I need you to at least to respond to me." Roger said quietly. But nothing.

Lin was in too much pain to move or talk. Not even breathe. Every breath he took felt as if it was crushing everything in him. He felt sick and didn't want to move anymore than he had to.

"Go call an ambulance. Then his wife." Roger instructed Pippa. She nodded and ran over to her bag. She felt a sense of urgency and didn't really know what to say or do. When the emergency operators answered, she stated the address of the building, floor and room, then explained what had happened with Lin. Once she finished, immediately she dialed V's number. Leaving a message on her voicemail and shooting her a text explaining everything.

"Is he going to be okay?" One of the ensemble girls asked when the EMT workers showed up.

"I hope so." Pippa frowned.

===

Lin awoke the next day, feeling a little better but more on the awful side. He was allowed to leave that night and was able to sleep in his own bed. Of course, being told that his cancer was flaring back up wasn't always the best sign.

"What are you doing?" Vanessa asked him when she saw him walking out of the bedroom.

"I have rehearsals to get to." Lin muttered while walking over to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

"You can't be serious." She frowned.

"They're counting on me Vanessa. I can't just not go." He frowned.

"You should be resting. You had an episode yesterday. I'm sure they're going to understand if you miss one rehearsal." Vanessa frowned. "You created the dang thing anyway. You have a right to miss just one day." She was on the brink of tears. Afraid that this musical was going to kill him at this rate. Lin looked into his wife's eyes and saw the pain and suffering she was going through.

"I..." He frowned.

"Please. Just stay home. I'm begging.." Her voice was wavering as if she was holding back every urge to break out into a horrible sob.

"I'll stay home.." he whispered. Vanessa let a few tears fall as she went to hug him carefully. She didn't want to lose her husband. She didn't want to think of life like that. Life without her husband... What kind of life would that be?