“Seriously Kat? I thought we were done with all the fucking secrets!” AJ yelled.

 Brenda and Nick had taken Jake upstairs to clean him up and out him to bed. They figured giving Kat and AJ some time by themselves would be best.

 “This one doesn’t have anything to do with you or Jake.”

 “That’s crap! Since it affects you, then it affects Jake and me.”

“You don’t need to worry about it AJ. I can handle it on my own.”

 “Jesus Kat! Can’t you tell me what it is? I recognize the name on that bottle.”

 Tears started to well up in Kat’s eyes. “I have a VSD.”

 “What the hell is that?”

 “A ventricular septal defect.”

 “English Kat.”

 “A hole in my heart.”

 It finally clicked. He recognized the name from when Brian had his heart surgery.

 “Not a big deal? That’s a fucking huge deal! Brian almost died Kat! This is not something to fool around with!”

 “I know that!” Kat screamed at AJ.

 He was taken aback by the fact that Kat had raised her voice. She had never yelled at him and all of a sudden she was furious.

 “I get that it’s serious AJ! I’m not stupid.” Kat yelled again, storming upstairs and slamming her door.

 “What did you say to her?” Brenda asked angrily coming down from Jake’s room.

 “Calm down Brenda.” Nick said putting his hand on her arm.

 “I asked her why she was taking this seriously!” AJ snapped back.

 Brenda was pissed. “You have no fucking idea what she’s been through AJ. You think that she doesn’t get it? She almost died three times! She gets it!”

 AJ sank down into the couch. “She almost died?”

 Brenda took a deep breath. “Yes, once when she was little, another time when she was older and the last time was when she gave birth to Jake.”

 AJ’s mouth fell open.

 “I don’t understand what’s going on.” Nick said quietly.

 “Kat has a ventricular septal defect. It’s a hole in wall of her heart. She was born with it.”

 “That’s like what Brian had!” Nick exclaimed.

 “Except for Kat being diagnosed when she was born. She was so sick that she almost died.”

 “How did she know she was getting sick again?”

 “Kat’s been having symptoms of heart failure for a while. That’s why she’s been so tired and short of breath.”

 “What’s the medication for?”

 “It helps increases the strength of the heart muscle which makes it easier to deal with the greater blood volume being pumped through her heart.”

 “Exactly how sick is she?” Nick asked quietly.

 “Sick.” Brenda responded. “That’s why she came home after she had Jake. Her heart stopped during childbirth and it scared the hell out of her. She moved home so that if something happened, there would be someone around.”

 “So if something had happened, then I wouldn’t have even known about Jake, would I?” AJ asked.

 “That wouldn’t have happened.”

 “How do you know that?”

 “Kat made a will. She put in it that if something were to happen, I would bring Jake out here and explain everything to you.”

 The fact that Kat was so sick that she had to make a will made AJ sick to his stomach.

 “Why did she tell J herself then?” Nick asked quietly.

 “What she saw in July. She was petrified that something was going to happen to AJ and he would never get a chance to know Jake. She asked her doctors if she could move out here to be closer to you.”

 “Why didn’t she tell me right when she came out here?”

 “She was meeting with the doctors to figure out what could be done.”

 AJ’s head jerked up. “What can be done?”

 “She could have surgery. That’s about all that can be done right now.”

 “Why hasn’t she already done it?”

 “She wanted to make sure Jake was settled with you first.” Brenda paused. “You know, just in case.”

 AJ was starting to feel overwhelmed. Everything was coming at him all at once and he was struggling to deal with it.

 “What can we do?” Nick asked.

 “Just be there for her.” Brenda looked at AJ. “And not yell at her anymore.”

 “I won’t I promise.” AJ said. “Do you think I can go up and talk to her?”

 “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Brenda said. “Maybe you should give her some time.”

 AJ nodded. “Alright.” He got up and followed Nick to the door. “Can you tell her I said I was sorry?”

 “I will.”

 AJ and Nick drove home in silence. Nick asked if he wanted company but all AJ wanted was some time to think about what he was going to do next.