Rae swallowed thickly and turned her head to look at her boyfriend, feeling a couple of tears dripping from her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. The unwanted reality check smacked the rose colored glasses off Rae's face and made her see things for what they were. Her boyfriend, the love of her life, the father of her child... was dying right in front of her. And every moment she didn't acknowledge it was torturing him. She closed her eyes and turned her head, putting her hands on her protruding belly and trying to osmosis her thoughts into the baby. It's not that I don't want daddy to live, Little One. But he's in... so much pain. And it's only going to get worse. I've got to... let him go.
She turned to Evan again, swallowing the lump in her throat and looking at his blurry form through tear-filled eyes. “Can you do me a favor?” she asked him, and clearing her through when she nodded. “In mine and Elliot's bedroom, there's a yellow shoebox under the bed. And in that, there's a tape recorder. Bring it to me, please? Quickly?”
Evan nodded his head and turned to leave the room, and Rae turned her head to look back at the brothers; her boys, and she wiped her eyes with her arm. David promised they'd tell the baby all about him and Rae stroked a thumb along her tummy, choking a sob.
After Elliot told David how much he loved him, Rae listened to David's response, “I love you too, bro,” he said, voice thick with emotion. “Even back when you were a total dickhead,” he joked. “And even then, I never would've dreamed of asking for a better brother. I don't know what will happen... where you'll go... but I know that I've been the luckiest little brother in the world to have someone like you to look up to.”
They talked for another minute or so, before David signaled Rae to come back over. He reluctantly pulled his hand from Elliot's, and stood up. He and Rae exchanged a look, acknowledging that they both knew what this was, and Rae nodded, before she sat down in the empty space on the side of Elliot's bed, looking at him with a sad smile. “Hey, Steel,” she said, reaching down to place her hand gently on his cheek and trying to keep her voice level. “Not... doing so great, huh?” she asked arbitrarily.