Rachels headache had all but disappeared, but the memory of it still had her reeling. Between stepping out of the coroners office to the moment Jack parked in the Harbour lot, shed been waiting for those little white rockets of light to go blazing across her field of vision. Thankfully, that never happened but it reminded her that no matter how hard she tried, she could not outrun itany of it. Her marriage was ending, she had a serial killer somehow contacting people on the outside to torment her family; oh, and she was also slowly being killed by a tumor that was lurking in her brain. These were not the sorts of things you simply ran away from.

Plus, she thought as they entered the front doors of Harbour Medical Group, if Id been driving when that happened, the outcome could have been terrible. It could have hurt not only me, but Jack as well…and all because Im keeping him in the dark about my diagnosis.

It made her feel guilty, but she knew she couldnt tell Jack. Even if she had a huge change of heart and felt that it was hert responsibility to tell him, there was no way she could bring herself to do it…not after the way Peter had responded. What if Jack responded in the same way? As cliché as it sounded, Jack and her job were the only thing keeping her afloat right now. She couldnt lose him, too.

She wiped it all out of her mind as they approached the reception desk. There was a very petite blonde woman up front, no older than thirty, so Jack took the lead on it. Rachel listened as he introduced themselves and asked to speak to Dr. Fenton, but it all sounded far away, from some great distance.

Youre in luck, the cute receptionist said. Dr. Fenton took a few hours today to prepare for a lecture hes giving in D.C. in a few weeks. He should be in his office. She paged Fenton, waited a beat and then spoke into the phone. Dr. Fenton, there are two FBI agents here to speak with you….yes…yes, sir, Im sure….okay.

When she looked back up to them, Rachel wondered if the young woman thought they were still in luck. She pointed to her right and said, Take the elevator to the second floor. Dr. Fentons office is the third on the left.

They walked to the elevator and as they waited for it to come down, Rachel felt Jacks eyes on her.

What?

Hows the headache? he asked.

The elevator arrived, the doors slid open, and they stepped on. Much better, she said, still feeling guilty. It just sort of came out of nowhere. One of those things, you know?