When Nick ignored him, Aj stared at him intently as if maybe his staring would do the trick.

"What's all the commotion?" Brian asked, coming into the room from out in the hall. He'd been headed towards the stage when he'd heard AJ yelling and decided he'd better intervene quickly or risk the two of them killing one another.

"Oh nothing Brian, it's just Frack over here refuses to hang up the phone and he's been on there for HOURS!"

Nick calmly took the phone away from his ear and placed his hand over the mouthpiece, ignoring AJ as he motioned towards where Brian was standing, "I'm talking to your sister," he mouthed as if that simple fact would make all the difference in the world.

"Oh. I see," Brian nodded at Nick and gave AJ a sharp look that said to the man, "Have a little compassion ya ass!" before turning back to Nick and replying, "Tell her I said hi and I love her."

Nick placed the phone back up to his ear and relayed Brian's message.

"She loves you too." He whispered after a moment.

AJ groaned and rolled his eyes at the pair of them, shooting a dirty look Nick's way as he spat, "I love her too you know, but don't blame me when the fans get ticked off because we're an hour late to our OWN FRIGGIN' SHOW!"

And with those words he jumped up and stomped out the door, never looking back to see Nick shoot him the finger behind his back.

Brian chuckled at his best friend and sighed, turning to walk out the door himself. He stopped short instead, turning quickly and shaking his head at the sight of Nick with the phone still to his ear. "Nick... we really do have a concert to put on you know?"

Nick shot Brian the finger too and both of them laughed.

"I'm on my way! GEEZ!."

He put the phone back to his ear for the third time in about five minutes.

"You still there babe?"

"Of course!"

"Well, I have a feeling if I don't get off this phone and out on stage you'll have to find yourself a new fiance."

He listened for a few moments as Gracie told him that she loved him and that she missed him and as the two of them said their goodbyes.

He hated telling her goodbye.

He hung up the phone and walked to the mirror where he put the finishing touches on his wardrobe before heading out of his dressing room to meet the guys backstage. Once there he handed his cellphone off to Howie's wife Leigh as he had every night for the past four weeks. It had become the unspoken backstage ritual... Leigh took the phone without any questions or hesitations, knowing the reason he gave it to her without even having to ask. He never wanted to leave it unattended. He didn't want to take any chances. Didn't want to miss any calls.

He couldn't wait to get home and hold her in his arms again. Just two more weeks... two more weeks.

I rolled over in bed, setting the phone gently on its reciever as I glanced at the clock on the bedside stand.

7:15 am.

God how I hated mornings.

I had just gotten off the phone with Nick and as was always the case after one of our long chats, I wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and crawl back under the covers to fall asleep and dream about holding him tight. Today, however, was not the day for that. It was the first day of my second to last round of chemotherapy and I needed to be at the hospital in less than two hours.

I stretched out on the bed and hung my head upside down over the side, my fingers dangling upon the floor beneath me. I watched the sun rise through the large picture window in our guest bedroom and said a silent prayer, asking God to help me through the day. The doctors were going to up the dosage of my medications for the last two rounds of chemo and I wasn't at all sure my body could handle a new routine.

I thought of Nick, oceans away in Australia and blinked back the tears that had formed in my eyes. I had to keep reminding myself that he would be home in two weeks. No, scratch that... I pulled myself back up onto the bed and took the calender from under the pillow next to mine, grabbing the pen and scratching off another day.

Now he would be home in just 12 days.

I climbed out of bed and dragged myself into the bathroom to shower. I slipped off my t-shirt and rubbed my hand across the now permanent bump on my left collarbone.

My port.

This tiny device the doctors had implanted beneath my skin nearly 6 months ago was my lifesaver. It had allowed the doctors and nurses to draw my blood and to give me chemo without constantly jabbing me with needles... I was terrified of needles. It was hard to believe that after all this time I could still be afraid of something I had to deal with on a nearly daily basis. It was also hard to believe that I would soon be coming to the end of this journey.

I hadn't talked much to my family and friends about my prognosis... not even to Nick. I knew it was something we'd eventually have to discuss but I kept putting it off, hoping that maybe, through some miracle, it would all just go away and I would never have to talk about it at all. And I continued to hope for that miracle even though my doctors were quick to remind me that while the treatments could lengthen my life, the prognosis was still poor.

Very poor.

I understood. Of course I understood. But I also believed in miracles and if nothing else, I wasn't ready to give up just yet.

I showered quickly and slipped into my jogging pants and Kentucky sweatshirt. I always went for comfort on chemo days and today I had a feeling I would need as much comfort as possible. I grabbed my "Life is Good" hat off of the dresser and headed down to the kitchen to wait on Kelly.

Kevin, Kristin, Kelly and Joey had all taken turns taking me to treatments and appointments while Nick was away, and today was her day.

I sat at the table and tried my best to choke down some pancakes and orange juice. I usually ate pretty well when I was off treatment but the mere thought of starting chemotherapy had set my stomach on edge. I had finally given up and was rinsing my plate off in the sink when I heard the doorbell ring and I went quickly to answer it.

I opened the door and was shocked to find Angel Carter, Nick's youngest sister, standing there at my door holding my morning paper.

"Good morning beautiful."

"Oh my GOD!" I screamed, louder than necessary I'm sure, taking her into a hug and squeezing her tight, "What in the world are you doing here?"

"Well..." Angel said holding me back at arms length and looking me up and down, "First off you look gorgeous! And secondly I thought you could use a little help planning the wedding. Besides I'd always wanted to come to Kentucky and see how you country folk lived," She winked and we laughed and we hugged again.

"I just can't believe you're here... oh gosh come in!" I exclaimed ushering her in out of the frosty morning air.

"Wow," She said looking around the house and taking it all in, "Nick wasn't lying, this place is beautiful."

"Isn't it though? I thought I'd seen every beautiful home in Kentucky... but this one takes the cake." I smiled as I showed her to the kitchen and pointed towards the back window at the view of the lake. "This is one of my most favorite spots in the entire house."

"It's amazing." She whispered, peering out the window as a flock of birds flew overhead.

There was another knock at the door and I excused myself to let Kelly in. We walked into the kitchen together and I introduced her to Angel. We all sat and chatted for a few minutes before I noticed that the clock on the wall showed it was time to head out to the hospital.

"Ugh," I groaned, not even wanting to think about the coming hours.

"I'll come with you," Angel offered as she stood and followed Kelly and I to the door.

"You don't have to, really. It's pretty boring," I assured her, positive that Angel would hate me after a long day of sitting in the hospital watching me marinate in chemotherapy treatments.

"No really, I want to... and hey, " She said looking towards Kelly with a wink, "I think we all have a wedding to plan."

Kelly nodded and smiled in agreement with Angel, hoping I'm sure that planning the wedding would help me get through the day. She ran to her car to grab a bunch of bridal catalogs she'd been carrying around for the past few weeks just for such a purpose, before we all climbed into my car and headed out to the hospital.

It would be a long day, no doubt, but at least now I knew that I would be in good company.