Max frowned. "Joan, I'm getting ready to walk out the door. I'm already late for my nephew's birthday party. Can you take a message and tell them to call back in the morning?"

"I would, Doctor, but she says it's an emergency."

Max sighed. "Okay. Who is it?"

"Theresa Bingham. You saw her the other day."

Max's heart stopped. That strange yet familiar woman's name echoed through his ears. He didn't have to work hard to recall her face, it was burned into his memory. "Um." He stuttered. "All right, put her through." He looked at the blinking light on the phone for a few moments before finally pushing it and picking up the receiver. "Hello?" He asked quietly.

"Hello, Dr. Evans, it's Theresa."

"Oh. Hi, Theresa. What can I do for you?" Max said with an uncomfortable tone. *Plenty.* Tess thought as she rubbed her finger across her moist lips. "Oh, I just had a question...about something."

"Sure, anything. What seems to be the problem?"

"Oh, I was just wondering. I've read conflicting reports, about drinking coffee and soda and things with caffeine in it while you're pregnant. I wanted to hear it straight from the doctor- will it harm my baby?" Tess asked, twirling the phone cord around her finger with frustration. She wanted so badly to reach through the phone lines and attack that beautiful man with a million kisses.

Max paused, clearing his throat, about to give his textbook lecture on caffeine. "Well, Theresa. As with anything, moderation is key. Too much caffeine causes your blood pressure to rise, which is extremely harmful to the baby. So it is okay to drink a soda every once in a while or to have a cup of coffee. But only one cup every day. Coffee has much more caffeine than soda, so you have to be careful with that."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Evans."

"Well, I'm glad I could help. Now, if you don't have anymore questions, I'm sorry, I really must go...I'm late for a family gathering..." Max said, pulling some papers into his briefcase and pulling his jacket out of the closet in his office, grabbing the car keys out of the front pocket.

"Oh, that's nice. Someone's birthday or something?" Tess asked, trying to pry for information.

Max paused, knowing he was uncomfortable with this line of questioning but not sure why that was the case. "Um, yes, my nephew is turning six."

"Aww, that's very sweet. Well I hope you have a good time, Doctor." Tess said sweetly, her saccharin voice send a chill up Max's spine.

Max paused. "Thank you, Theresa. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Dr. Evans." Tess said, hanging up the phone.

Max looked down at his hands after he placed the phone on its cradle again.

They were shaking.

* * * * *

Liz looked out of the window above the Whitmans' sink, pacing around the kitchen with Dylan cradled in her arms. "Where is he?"

Isabel Whitman walked into her kitchen, her two-year-old son Ryan slung over her shoulder enduring one of her famous tickle tortures. The sound of gleeful laughter coming from the little boy caused Liz to turn around.

"Liz, he'll be here." Isabel said firmly, placing a comforting hand on her sister-in-law's shoulder.

"I know, I'm just worried." Liz said, sighing.

"Stop worrying." Isabel said, smiling. "Come on, we can put Dylan down in Ryan's room before dinner."

"No, it's OK. I want to hold him for a while. Does Maria still have her eye on Matty?" Liz said, kissing the baby's head.

Isabel smiled. "Yeah, she's got him. Parker just loves him. She keeps giving him little kisses on his face."

Liz smiled at her and nodded. "She is adorable."

Isabel smiled back and nodded in agreement.

"Ryan, why don't you go see what Daddy's doing." Isabel said to Ryan as she put him on the floor to let him run freely through the house.

"Daddy!" Ryan cried, running out of the kitchen and through the living room, into Michaela's room where they had the computer set up. Evan Guerin and Alex were playing a new computer game he had just gotten and Ryan wanted to join the party. "Daddy! Daddy!" He cried, flying towards Alex Whitman with open arms.

"Hey, buddy. You wanna play the game with us?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" Ryan cried, clapping his hands as Alex picked him up and planted him in his lap. Evan sighed, secretly tired of all the babies running around the house. There really wasn't anyone his age in the family to talk to, and it was bumming him out.

"Evan, is that OK if Ryan watches us play this game?" Alex asked him.

"Sure, if you think graphic violence is suitable for a two-year-old." Evan said flatly. Alex ignored the comment, realizing this was Michael's son he was dealing with. The apple didn't fall far from the tree as far as the eldest Guerin child was concerned.

"He doesn't understand any of that stuff, Evan... I think it will be OK." Alex said, gently nudging his nephew into agreement.

Evan's eyes grew big. "Fine, suit yourself. But if Aunt Isabel comes in here and throws a fit cause her baby's watching a bunch of people getting blown up, don't blame me."

Alex raised one of his eyebrows at Evan, realizing that he was right. "Evan my man, I think you have a point. I think I'm just going to take him back out in the living room with everyone. OK?"

"OK, but you're missing the best part...I'm about to shoot this arrow thing with this poison tip, I'm going to shoot him straight through the heart and his blood's going to splatter everywhere and..." Evan began, growing more excited about the prospect of video game anhilation with every word. "Typical eight-year-old boy behavior." Alex thought to himself as he smiled, picked up his son and walked towards the door to Michaela's room.

"I think I'll take a raincheck on that one buddy."

"Oh, and Uncle Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"When's dinner?" Evan asked, keeping his eyes focused on the game at hand.

"Whenever Max gets here." Alex said, sighing.

"I hope it's soon, I'm hungry like a mug."

Alex raised his eyebrow to his nephew. "'Hungry like a mug?'" He whispered under his breath. "OK, Evan, we'll call you when we're ready to eat."

"Sure." Evan said, too enthralled with his video game quest to notice his Uncle leaving the room.

While Evan played video games in Michaela's room, Michaela and Jordana were hanging out in Zachary's room, watching a video he had gotten from the Evanses for his birthday.

Zach turned around, tapping his sister on the shoulder as they sat on the floor of his room, lounging on beanbag chairs.

"Yeah, Zach?" Michaela asked him, signing the words with her hands.

"When will dinner be ready?" He signed to her, trying to vocalize the words as well.

"When will dinner be ready?" Michaela repeated, signing back to him. "When Uncle Max gets here." Zach nodded his head in understanding as they went back to watching the video. The TV was turned up to normal volume with closed captions on the bottom so Zach could understand.

Zachary Alexander Whitman was born with almost complete hearing loss. Isabel and Alex first noticed the signs when he was only a couple of months old. He wasn't responding when they called his name. They would snap their fingers next to his ear and he still wouldn't respond. One night, Michaela dropped a dish on accident and it shattered all over the floor, making an extremely loud noise.

Zachary didn't move a muscle. They took him to the doctor and had him tested for a hearing loss, and their worst fears were confirmed. The family immediately learned sign language so they could communicate with Zach once he began trying to speak. He isn't mute, so he can make some sounds, but it is nearly impossible for him to express himself without signing too. They've even started teaching Ryan some simple signs so he can communicate with Zachary.

"Michaela, can you ask him if he likes the movie?" Jordana asked, smiling at her sweet younger cousin.

"Sure." Michaela said, turning to Zachary. "Zach, Jordana wants to know if you're liking the movie they brought you for your birthday?"

Zach smiled at Jordana and nodded. Jordana smiled back at him. She knew he liked it and that made her happy. The girls and Zachary laid back and enjoyed the rest of the movie while a lot of hustle and bustle was going on outside his room. Isabel and Alex were working hard to make this a perfect party for him. They had the whole place decorated and had ordered a special cake for him. Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, his favorite.

"Michael, can you move that side of the banner up some?" Isabel asked, looking at the mantle above the fireplace where they had hung Zachary's birthday banner. Michael got up from the couch and carefully moved the banner slowly.

"How's that, Iz?" Michael asked, turning around to face her. She gave him a smile and a thumbs up.

"Perfect! Thank you." Isabel said, smiling with approval. Michael returned to the floor, where he was working on a puzzle with Parker. Maria was lying on the couch, admiring Matthew's general cuteness. Alex and Ryan pulled out some big Legos and were working on a castle, and Isabel returned to the kitchen to get the food situated for the party. She found Liz still pacing, a sleeping Dylan cradled in her arms.

"I think I see him." Liz said, beaming. She sighed. "Thank God."

"Liz, you really have to stop worrying about him everytime you're out of his sight. It's kind of...creepy." Isabel said, pulling aluminum foil off several plates of food before putting them on the table.

Liz paused before answering the comment. She needed to talk to Max before she told Isabel and the others about Adam-Michael's generally weird behavior and the Tess premonitions. "Well, excuse me for worrying about my family."

Isabel sighed, knowing that Liz and Max were a hopeless case. In their eyes, they only saw each other. She didn't quite understand their relationship, it was totally different than she and Alex's. "Here, let me take the baby and I'll put him down in Ryan's room. Then we can have dinner, OK?" Isabel asked Liz. Liz looked at her with a pained glance before handing Dylan over to her.

"All right." Liz said quietly. She gave Dylan a kiss on his soft head. He stirred a little bit as he felt himself leave the warmth of his mother's arms but was still again as Isabel laid his head on her shoulder.

"Hi, Dylan...you sweet little angel." Isabel cooed at him as she walked into Ryan's room, placing him in the playpen and closing the door behind her. Liz walked out the front door and ran down the driveway to meet Max, throwing her arms around him and kissing him.

"Wow. Hello to you too!" Max said, smiling.

"I was worried!" She replied, mock-hitting him on the arm.

"I'm sorry, baby. A patient called when I was getting ready to leave and that tied me up. Then the traffic out of there was awful. Did I miss anything?" Max asked as they walked back through the Whitmans' door hand-in-hand.

"Not a thing. We were waiting for you to come so we can eat." Liz said, pulling him into another hug. "We need to talk later. In private." She whispered in his ear.

He looked at her with alarm, but soon people were crowding around them.

As Max appeared at the door, a cheer rose from Michael and Alex's lips. "Yes! We're starving!" Alex cried. Jordana, Michaela, Zachary, and Evan filed in the living room from the bedrooms and greeted Max. Jordana ran into his arms, giving him a huge hug.

"Dad, you're late!" She cried, smiling.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry guys. Let's eat!" Max said, clapping his hands together and smiling.

Everyone agreed with that notion. He walked over to Zachary and kneeled down to his eye level. He pulled on Zachary's shirt and Zach turned around to see him. Max handed him a small Dragon figurine he had pulled out of his pocket and placed it in Zachary's tiny hand. Zachary had always loved when Isabel and Alex acted out the stories about valiant knights fighting evil dragons.

"This is for you." Max said and signed.

Zachary smiled, hugging Max. "Thank you, Uncle Max." He signed.

"You're welcome." Max signed. Max and Liz had learned a little bit of sign language so they could communicate with their nephew on a basic level. Max sweeped across the kitchen, walking up behind Liz and putting his arms around her waist. "Where are the boys?" He whispered in her ear.

"Maria's putting Matty down with Dylan. They're in Ryan's room, asleep." Liz said.

"What about Adam?" Max asked, looking around for his eldest son.

Liz paused, feeling her heart drop into her stomach at the mention of him. "He's..he's coming...later. He has a big paper due tomorrow. He was going to work on that...and then come over."

"Oh, OK." Max said, kissing her earlobe.

"All right, guys, the plates are on the end of the table...grab whatever you want, then come in the dining room so we can eat." Isabel said, pointing to the end of the table where there was a large stack of paper plates, utensils, and napkins. Next to the stack of napkins were several bottles of Tabasco sauce: one each for Isabel, Max, Michael, and Adam-Michael, and several for the rest of the kids to share as well. After all these years, Liz, Maria, and Alex still turned their noses up at the hot stuff. Liz grabbed her plate and felt a chill go down her spine. She instinctively turned around to look out of the window, hoping to see Adam-Michael's car pull up in the driveway. She silently cursed herself for letting him stay home alone.

* * * * *

Adam-Michael pulled on a fresh shirt and walked over to the mirror on the wall in his bedroom. He studied his image for a few moments, but after a while, he finally had to turn away. Each millisecond of time he looked at his face in the mirror, the more his skin crawled, the more his eyes seemed to become something-- rather, someone else's...it was making him shiver.

"Stop it!" Adam screamed, covering his ears with his hands. "Leave me alone!" His eyes were shut so tight that tears were flowing from them. The phone rang then, and Adam slowly walked over to the phone in the corner of his room, his eyes still shut tight, his body curled tight into itself, like he was trying to hide from the world. He took a deep breath before answering it. "Hello?" His voice said, meekly. Deep down in a terrified part of his soul, he thought that it was his mother trying to contact him from beyond the grave...

"Adam-Michael? Is that you?" The voice was sweet like honey.

Adam's heart dropped. His eyes flew open, and for the first time in the entire horrifying episode, he smiled.

"Lauren." He said, his voice barely a whisper. It was more like an exhale, like he was too afraid to breathe, but now that she was with him, he could feel himself taking breaths again. "Hey. What's...up?"

"I just wanted to call...to see if, you know, you were OK and all? You had me worried, you left Bio and never came back, I thought maybe you were, you know, sick or something? I just *had* to make sure you were all right." Lauren asked.

Adam-Michael was shocked. She was actually worried about him! "Yeah, Lauren, I'm fine, everything's fine now, I was just a little...nauseous. Yeah, the dissection, it got to me I guess..."

"Not such a strong stomach after all?" She asked, giggling.

"Yeah, I guess not." He said, smiling. She laughed again and he thought he was in Heaven. She had the sweetest laugh.

"So..." Lauren began.

"So..." Adam-Michael added.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" Lauren asked.

Adam paused. This was monumental. Lauren Valenti enquiring about his personal plans. "Oh, I have this family party thing I have to go too...it's going to be lame though, a bunch of little kids..."

"Oh, well I don't have anything to do...I mean, my Dad's working late, so it's just me here, all alone...I'm pretty bored and MTV is showing endless reruns of 'Road Rules'. It's nauseating..." Lauren said, sighing.

Adam-Michael suddenly felt a burst of empowerment. "Do you want to go with me?"

Lauren paused, considering the offer, then smiling. "Well, I wouldn't want to impose..."

Adam-Michael smiled. "You wouldn't be imposing, I mean...you know my parents, right?"

"Yeah, they deliver babies, right? They went to high school with my Dad." Lauren said, twirling the phone cord around her finger.

Adam-Michael laughed. "Actually, my Mom told me today that she used to go out with your Dad before she met my Dad!"

Lauren laughed. "Really? Yikes! My Dad is so... well...he's my Dad..." She giggled again. Adam-Michael sighed. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"So, what do you say? Can I pick you up in like 20 minutes?" Adam-Michael asked hopefully. He had no idea where all this bravery was coming from.

Lauren paused. "Sure." She smiled. Spending time with Adam outside of Bio lab was something she'd wanted to for a while, but she'd never gotten up the courage to ask him. It could be fun to meet his family.

"Really?" He asked, his eyes lighting up. "Great!"

Lauren smiled. "OK, do you know where I live?"

Adam-Michael knew her address, but he lied so she wouldn't get freaked out. "No..can you give me directions?"

"Sure. I live on Oakmont Drive, it's the street across from St. Matthew's Church, I live in the house all the way at the end of the street on the right. 831."

"OK," Adam-Michael said, smiling. He knew exactly how to get there.

"Well, I'll see you soon then." Lauren said.

"Yeah, soon." Adam-Michael said, smiling.

"Bye, Adam."

"Bye, Lauren."

Adam-Michael hung up the phone, and he felt he could take on the world- and whatever spirit was haunting him. Then he heard the icy voice echoing through his mind again.

"Soon, Adam-Michael. Soon."