heart strings

chapter 18

Jack's POV

I was in my recording room, trying to reply to comments without sounding mean. I knew I couldn't hold a grudge against my husband forever. But the fact that he was keeping something from me, something about his health, no less, really fucking pissed me off. I sighed heavily and leaned back in my chair. I scrubbed my eyes. And now he was leaving for a week. Brilliant.
"Sean?..." Mark's wary voice drifted upstairs. I rolled my eyes. "What?" I hollered back from my recording room. "I'm leaving!" I got up and swung open the door and walked to the stair landing. I folded my arms. "What were you expecting a good-party?" Mark looked flustered momentarily. "Uh, no...? I was just letting you know." "You're wasting my time." I snipped back. I looked up at Mark and he looked crushed. I spun around on my heels and walked away. I couldn't bear to look at his face. I knew it would break my heart.

Mark's POV

I felt like my entire body shattered. I loved this man so much and him walking away was like my heart being ripped out of my chest. He just didn't care anymore. It was probably good that I was leaving. It'd be best for everyone. I'm sorry Sean, I'm sorry Trina. I fucked up. Please forgive me.
I felt warm tears fill up my eyes as I grabbed my suit case and opened the door. I turned around, hoping that Jack would be there. Maybe, just maybe, he'd give me one of his winning smiles that always made me feel better. But no, I don't know what I was thinking. He wouldn't be there. Why would he?

Jack's POV

I heard the door shut and I quickly rubbed the tears that were forming out of my eyes. Time to figure out what the hell has been going on with Mark. I thought about where Mark would keep information about the hospital visit. Probably on his phone or something of that nature, but he had his phone. His computer, of course. I poked my head into Trina's room and she was sound asleep. Good. I walked quietly across the hall to Mark's recording room. I swung open the door and breathed in deeply. It smelled just like him. Like a mixture of clean clothes and a warm, cozy scent. I missed him already.
I sank down in his chair and turned on his computer. Shit. What was his login? I tried different password options before the hint came up. It read: 'The best day of my entire life'. Oh that couldn't be too hard. I tried the day we got Trina. That didn't work. Neither did her birthday. Ok, so our wedding day? Or the day he proposed? Neither of those either. By now, I was stumped. I didn't have the faintest idea of what it could be. Our first date? No. I was out of ideas. I guess I could try my birthday, I don't know what it would do but it's worth a shot. I typed in 2/7/90. 
It worked. I sat there, breathless. The best day of his life, was the day I came into existence. I felt crippled, guilty. I have been treating him like shit and this whole time, he's held out a torch for me. Mark hasn't given up on me. Or maybe he has. I couldn't stop the tears this time. They fell and dripped onto the desk.  Ok, pull yourself together Seán. I looked up and saw he had a new email. Alright. It was from the doctors office. The title said: 'Your appointment date'
So he had to go back. But for what? My stomach was churning and I could feel my heart sinking. Something was off. I slowly pulled the mouse over to it. I took a deep breath and clicked on it. The email read:
'Mr. Fischbach,
Here you can find your appointment date for this month: 3/18/16 at 3:30.
Please call our offices if you have any questions or would like to reschedule.
We would also ask for you to start considering a date when we can start chemotherapy.
Thank you,
The offices of Dr. Renicker, PhD.'