"Trey?  You didn't come in here to tell me that you had rediscovered your 
love for Retala?  That you were leaving me?" Diana asked with a tremble in 
her voice.

Trey looked up horrified.  "No, Diana.  Gods no!  I love you-- you and the 
girls-- with all my heart.  I lost control.  I don't know what happened.  I 
couldn't stop myself!"  He dropped his head in his hands again, sobbing.

"Trey, it's all right."  She pulled him into her arms.  He was amazed at 
her words.  She didn't hate him?  She wasn't going to leave him as Ophelia 
had done?  "Trey, we can have D'ssarian check you out, try to make sure the 
tumour isn't regrowing.  But, no matter what, I love you..."  She took his 
face in her hands, he met her green eyes through his tear-filled ones.  "We 
have a wonderful life ahead of us, and we are going to live it.  You have 
two new beautiful daughters, as well as your other children, who need you.  
You will pull yourself together.  I need you."  She said these last words 
softly.  "I love you, Trey, no matter what."

"You... you forgive me?"

"Yes, Trey."

He sobbed and pulled her closer.  "Oh, Diana, I was so afraid I was going 
to lose you.  I don't think I could live..."  His voice trailed off and he 
just held her.  His head pounded worse than ever, but it didn't seem to 
matter.  With Diana with him, he could withstand almost anything.

They just held each other in silence.  The door opened quietly and a 
staffer walked in a pulled open the curtains in the room.  Trey flinched as 
the light made his head pound.  "Ow!"

"Trey, have you got a headache?" Diana asked.

He nodded.

She looked suddenly more concerned.  She turned to the staffer.  "Could you 
have D'ssarian come here to look at Trey?"

The staffer nodded and stepped out.  A couple minutes later, D'ssarian 
arrived.  Trey sat and endured his questions and examination.  D'ssarian 
looked concerned.

"Did you ever suffer from migraines before the tumour?"

Trey shook his head.

Diana looked on with growing concern.

D'ssarian sighed.  "There's little we can tell from the outside.  It may be 
that with the remaining tumour, you're going to have an occasional 
migraine.  Or, it could be indicative of growth of the tumour.  At this 
point, I don't think it advisable to open you up and find out, but I want 
to keep a close eye on you."

Trey nodded.

D'ssarian stood and smiled reassuringly to Diana.  "It's nothing to panic 
about now.  It's a slow-moving process, if it is growing again.  We'll give 
him a prescription for a migraine medicine, which should handle the 
occasional headache."

"Thank you," Trey said.

D'ssarian stepped out and soon returned with the drug.  Another pill to 
take, Trey thought.

"Take these as soon as you feel a migraine coming on.  They're more 
effective then.  It's best to keep them with you at all times.  Two pills at 
the onset, one every hour thereafter, up to six a day.  Clear?"

Trey nodded.

"Repeat it to me."

Trey did.

"Good."  D'ssarian handed him two pills and a cup of water.  "I'll be going 
now."

Trey took the pills as D'ssarian left.

<Tr'etram?  Aura's rider would like to see you at the hatching cavern at 
your earliest convenience,> Koroth said.

<About what?>

There was silence.

<Roth, you didn't tell her, did you?>

<I had to.  You told me to, and I was worried.>

<But if you told Aura...>

His eyes met Diana's.  "Roth told Aura about what happened with Retala and 
I, since he was worried about it being a sign of a relapse.  I... I wonder 
how many other dragons she's told."

Respectfully submitted,
 Lynette R. F. Cowper
  Tr'etram and Koroth


---
|   Lynette R. F. Cowper  *  Official INWO Rules NetRep & Goddess    |
| http://www.io.com/~lcowper  *  lcowper@io.com  *  lcowper@indy.net |
|  "If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever |
|                   get done."  -- L. Wittgenstein                   |