They arrived at the hospital. Her mother was there with her step-father, step-brother and the three sisters with their significant others. Kim let go of Gerald's hand. "What happened?"

Brian ran and held onto her leg. She cradled his leg. This had to be bad. "What happened?" Kim repeated.

"Dad was coughing and there was blood on his hand," Brian whispered.

"He called us, and we called 911," Twinkle added.

Kim's heart was beating. "Can we see him?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Kim's eyes blurred her vision. "What happened? Nothing; there was nothing wrong with him. Did anyone suspect anything?"

Gerald kept his silence. "Babe, let's just sit down." He guided both Kim and her brother over to the chairs.

Fifteen minutes. An hour. An hour twenty. Two hours. Three hours. No news yet.

"I'm hungry," Brian whispered.

Kim lifted him off of her stomach. "Okay, let's go."

"Stay. I'll take him." Gerald held out his hand and Brian willingly took it.

Twinkle got up with her husband. "We got to go too. I'm so sorry, we have meeting tomorrow with the lawyers and have to bring the girls to school."

Kim nodded. "Go, I'll stay. I'll call if anything happens." Lakam stood too. "Go. You have families. Take care of them. Dad would want you too. Mom, you should go. You look exhausted."

"Sweetheart, it's your Christmas vacation. Go home with your girlfriend."

"No, I'm just going to end up telling Gerald to go home. But I need to stay here. Mom, just go. It's okay."

As hard as it was, they all left Kim by herself in the waiting room. It was past midnight, past two in the morning if she recalled. Shouldn't there be some word. She did not leave her hotel room with nothin on but some lingerie and thank goodness she was wearing a long winter jacket that was just shy of her knees, just to wait all night with nothing to go on.

Kim stood up, reknotted her jacket and went looking for some answers. Her mind was racing. How could her father be coughing out blood. He ate right, exercised daily, had eight hours of sleep at night despite being a single parent with an six year old.

She grabbed the first doctor she saw, "Excuse me. I'm Kim Chiu. I've been waiting for hours for news about my dad."

The doctor looked through her chart. "William Chiu. I've should've known; you have his eyes, and smile. If you give me one second, I'm going to get his doctor. His room is actually around the corner, so you could wait outside until the doctor meets you in a couple of minutes."

Kim nodded and walked around. His door was closed, through the window, she could see him in that bed hooked up to IVs and his heart monitor. She covered and sobbed. This wasn't supposed to be happening. She hit her back against the wall, and tried to wish away the circumstances.

"Kim? Hi, I'm Dr. Niles, I've been working on your father for the past year."

She wiped her eyes, "Year? What are you talking about. This isn't his first walk-in?"

"How about we come in here and I'll tell you about his condition."

She felt incoherent. Was this doctor being serious? "What condition?"

Dr. Niles walked her into an office-looking room and took a seat behind the desk. Kim's entire body was trembling. "Okay, what condition?" She repeated, trying to still her nerves.

"Your father came last year, around summer time and told me that he was coughing up blood. It wasn't severe, but it was the first signs of the cancer."

"Cancer? As in...cancer; life-threatening, terminal cancer?"

The woman nodded. "We've run some tests, and he was in the second stage of stomach cancer. He refused chemo, and so I've been giving some painkillers and some medication to help with the pain. He knew that without chemo, his chances were slim."

"My father would never reject something that could fix him."

"Three months ago," the doctor continued. "He came into my office and asked me what would happen if he stopped the medication. I told him no, absolutely not. He had a family he needed to take care of, five children, one still a child. The medication were his only option since he refused chemo. But as a doctor, I can only guide, I can't make decisions."

Kim swallowed that lump in , threatening to explode. "He stopped the medications, didn't he?"

She nodded. "He said he wanted this time with you, spend it with the kids and be a family. He needed this time, without the worry and the panic. Kim, he spoke of all of you. He is so proud and happy. There is nothing he regrets."

"Tonight? What happened?"

"He coughed up a lot of blood."

Kim bit her bottom lip, "Stage? What stage now? He's still in the second stage?"

"He's at the end of stages, Kim. There's not much we can do, but to keep him confortable, and wait."

"Wait? For him to die?" She sobbed.

"Visiting hours are long over, but I think I can bend the rules tonight. You can stay in his room as long as you want."

Kim nodded. "How long? A year? Months?"

"We're looking at weeks. Possibly three, maybe a little more. Excuse me."

Kim opened the door, seeing the light slowly invade the privacy. The light shone on her dad, and she noticed his eyes were opened.

"I could always hear my kids crying from a mile away," he whispered, coughing as he spoke.

Kim sat on the chair and pulled it beside the bed. She took her father's hand and brought it to her lips. "Daddy," she sobbed.

He cupped her cheek, "Sweetie, don't cry."

"How can you say that? How can you be so calm? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I'm fine."

"You're not fine," her voice rose. "You're not fine, Dad. Your doctor says a few weeks. Not years, not months, not even A month. Weeks, Dad. And you refused chemo when you knew it could've helped you. Stopping medication? Dad!"

"Shh," he her hair and struggled to sit up. "Shh, my sweet, sweet Kim. Look at me. Dry your eyes, and look at me," he instructed. "I'm fine. I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me."

She cried, bring his hand back to her face. "What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do without my Dad? Your hands to wipe my tears? Your voice to calm me down? Just you being there makes me smile."

It was his turn for his eyes to glisten, "Baby, you have Gerald for that now."

"I want you too," she said. "Dad...you're...you're....." There were no words to describe her father. The one who was always there. The only one who could make her laugh without saying a word. She felt so safe with him, even now, it didn't seem like all of this was for a limited time. "What about Ate? What about Brian? Who's going to take care of Brian?"

"Your mom and I discussed this already. Brian has an entire family behind him. He has Ate, both Ates, he has you, he has an entire army. He doesn't need me."

"You're wrong, we all need you. Maybe if you tried."

There was silence. "Watching all my kids grow up, watching you fall in love this year; just watching you was me trying. Sweetheart, not everything has a cure, but who needs medication, painkillers, when I've got you. That's why I'm okay." He cupped her face and leaned in so they were face to face. "You're why I'm okay."

"I love you," she whispered. "I love you so much, Daddy."

"Come here, baby." He pulled her up beside him and held her as she wept over his failing body.

The night was still dark and the hospital had an eery silence. She walked over to the coffee shop and found Brian leaning into Gerald struggling to keep his eyes open. She took a seat across from them, and reached for the open bag of cookies.

 "They're going to keep him overnight. Bri," she whispered, touching the side of his face. "Bri," he opened his eyes. "Come on, let's go home. You need to get some sleep."

"Your mom wanted to bring him home, but he wanted to be a big boy and stay with his sister."

She managed a smile, "And he is a big boy for staying. But even big boys need a lot of sleep. Dad's not going anywhere. We're going to come back tomorrow and you're going to get to talk to him. Let's go."

Brian knew he wasn't going to last, so he stood up and wobbled. Gerald boosted him up in his arms and held him, holding out his hand for the other Chiu.

She went willingly and snuggled in close. "I need to get some clothes on," she said to break the ice.

Gerald chuckled. "You're brave for coming in in almost nothing."

Kim sat in the back while Brian fell asleep on her lap. Gerald asked for his car to brought, and so he ended up driving. The roads were clear and empty. Everyone at home with their families. They arrived in front of Kim's house, and Gerald laid Brian in the guest bedroom, tucking him in.

He walked back into the kitchen and found Kim making a cup of hot chocolate.

"I'm sorry for ruining your Christmas," she said softly.

Gerald scoffed. "What? You didn't ruin anything."

"But the whole thing at the hotel. The tree, the candles, everything was perfect, and I walked out."

"Kim, listen. There are a lot of things that could've gone wrong, but tonight, everything was perfect. And so yeah, the night got cut off short, but that doesn't mean that we didn't have a great time together. Don't worry about tonight. We're going to have a lot of time to catch up," he promised, resting his hands on her hips, and kissing the tip of her nose.

"He's dying," she said. "I spoke to the doctor, and he's dying." Kim cried. "I don't know how! Everything tonight was perfect, and then I have this news and I can't swallow it. Everytime I try, it just comes right back up."

He led her to the couch. "I am so angry that he didn't tell me, but I can't be angry because I love him so much. He's my dad. What am I supposed to do?"

Gerald let her cry on his shoulder. "Nothing. Just tell him everyday what he means to you, and make sure you have no regrets. Kim you're his baby. He doesn't want you to fix him, he wants you to let him go. And I'm going to be here every step of the way. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Words that she needed to hear, and words she believed more than anything in the world. It would be Gerald who would get her through this. It would be the man she was in love with wo would get her through this.