Carrie sat on the examination table as Mike looked carefully at her arm. She found her mind wandering to his hair as she munched on Mike's secret stash of chocolate-covered cashew nuts. It was a little bit rumpled and she felt the urge to grab a comb and make him look presentable. She giggled to herself, wondering what he must look like first thing in the morning, hair flying everywhere.

"And what is so funny, hmmm?"

Mike raised his eyes to look at her and she felt that strange, vaguely disquieting shock run through her body. She'd never noticed before how intense he could look without intending to.

She forgot herself as she answered absentmindedly.

"I was just wondering what you looked like getting out of. . . "

Carrie then realized how many ways what she was saying could be misconstrued and began to blush furiously. She'd seen Mike shirtless before, and the sight had been extraordinarily nice. She remembered that she once thought it was a shame that he had such an unexpectedly incredible body and he hid it beneath such conservative clothing.

"Surgery?" Mike prompted.

"What?"

"Surgery. You said you wondered what I would look like getting out of something."

Yeah, like your clothes. . . Carrie's blush intensified. Where did that come from?! she thought as she felt her scalp turning crimson. She suspected she was just hormonal, hence her fascination with the nearest available man with any sort of appeal. But the thought of Austin and his bare chest was failing to elicit anything more in her at the moment than a passing thought that he had a few more bruises lately that resembled those he used to get all the time when he was boxing.

"Are you feeling all right?"

Mike was peering at her closely now. Carrie sucked in a breath and shook her head as if to clear it of these odd and disjointed thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm okay. How's my arm?"

"You're going to be a little bruised, but it's nothing serious. What happened?"

"Austin tried to emphasize how much he wanted me to go to the wedding by grabbing my arm. Lucky thing Aunt Gus intervened when she did or he might have cut off my circulation. Sometimes he doesn't know his own strength," Carrie finished quickly, not liking the look in Mike's eyes.

Mike's tone was deliberately neutral as he chose his words with care.

"Has he ever done anything like this before?"

"No, never!" she answered hastily. "He's been different since this whole Sami and Lucas thing started. He can't understand why I can't stand to be around her. It's like she's trying to make everyone believe that she's all nice and sweet. At this moment, I'd trust her about as far as I could throw her!"

"Carrie," Mike said as he placed a hand on her shoulder gently, "you know if you ever need to talk about anything, I'll be here for you."

"I know, Mike," she replied, covering his hand with her own. "I guess I depend on you for more than I realize. You always go above and beyond the call of duty, and I'm afraid that I'm taking advantage of you sometimes."

"Hey, I like being taken advantage of," he said lightly. "Especially by lovely ladies who consider me their best friends."

Carrie's eyebrows arched. "And exactly how many of those are there?"

"I can count at least two," Gus said as she lounged against the doorway. She noticed with interest that Mike snatched his hand away hastily as soon as she'd made her presence known. There was something going on between the two of them, she was positive.

"How's your arm, sweet pea?" Gus asked as she sat down in an unoccupied chair.

"Mike says I'll have a few bruises, but nothing major."

"I may have to hurt that thing you call your husband after all. God, what did his mother feed him, Miracle-Gro?"

Mike was hard-pressed to stifle his laughter as Carrie rolled her eyes.

"I can always trust you to be blunt, can't I, Aunt Gus?"

"Most assuredly. Have I ever failed you?" Gus replied, fluttering her eyelashes in what she rightly assumed was an appealing manner.

"No," Carrie said, hiding a smile in her hand.

"I'll go get you some painkillers, Carrie," Mike said and left the two of them in his office.

There was a moment of tense silence.

Finally, Gus said: "I know I was probably out of line back there, Carrie, but I can't stand to see a man treating his wife like that, especially if she's any relative of mine."

Carrie shook her head. "No, I'm glad that you did what you did. Austin's never done anything like that before and he really scared me. I thought for a moment that he was going to crush my wrist."

Gus considered her words carefully before she said: "Is he the same man you married, Carrie?"

"What?" Carrie asked. "Of course he is! I have the ring to prove it. What kind of a question is that?"

Gus got up out of the chair and hopped up on the table next to Carrie. She put an arm around Carrie's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"What I mean is, what was he like when you first met?"

Carrie's eyes glazed over as she remembered. "Kind, gentle, sweet. He played the piano."

"You mean he doesn't anymore?"

"No. He's more concerned with looking after Will and Sami than thinking about me."

"Sounds like you need to do some thinking, sweet pea."

Carrie took a deep breath and let it out. Her chin dropped down and she looked at the floor.

"Aunt Gus, you've always given it to me straight. Tell me, what do you think of Austin?"

"Truth?"

"Unvarnished."

Gus drained her cup of coffee and tossed it into the wastebasket.

"He strikes me as inherently weak. I think you married the wrong man."

Carrie's head shot up and she looked at Gus like she was crazy. Does she know about the Kiss?!

"What are you talking about?"

Gus noticed Carrie's consternation and decided against what she felt she should say and chose a neutral answer.

"You fell in love with this guy when you were very young, Carrie. You've stood by him as he's made mistakes time and again, and it shows that you have staying power. I really admire that about you, sweet pea. But I think that somewhere along the way, too many people told you that the two of you were 'meant to be,' and you never questioned that. What you should be asking yourself now is, 'Why did I marry him?' If you can honestly say that love was the only reason, then you did the right thing. But if there's something else that colored your decision, you might have potentially made a mistake."

Gus let that sink in for a moment before she hopped down from the table and said:

"I've messed with your life enough for one day. I think it's time I have my talk with Mike and get ready for the Brat's wedding."

"'The Brat'?"

"You know, your half-sister Sami."

"You're going to her wedding?!" Carrie was just a bit shocked, unable to comprehend why Gus would want to go.

"Of course. Roman invited me and so I combined the trip with other business. It'll give me a chance to see the whole Brady family all at the same time."

"I see. Well, I hope you have a good time." Carrie held out the jar of chocolate-covered cashew nuts.

Gus took one and popped it into her mouth. "God, these are good! How did he know they were my favorite?" An odd sort of emotion flitted across Carrie's face at that and Gus deliberately mistook it for a different reaction. "I fully intend to enjoy seeing somebody getting hitched to the Brat, so don't you worry about me."

Carrie hopped down from the table, and put her bag over her shoulder. "I think I should warn you that Dad's been keeping company with Austin's sister, Billie."

Gus snorted in a most unladylike fashion and adopted a melodramatic pose. "Oh, horrors, now I can't go and make him fall madly in love with me."

"Don't even think about it, Gus," Mike said in a warm tone full of mirth as he walked into the room carrying a painkiller and a glass of water. "You don't need to put out any effort for most guys in Salem to fall in love with you."

Gus noticed that Carrie didn't seem pleased at all by his words. She made a mental note to see if she could find out more about this.

"Mike, I'll wait for you in your office."

"Sure thing, Gus."

As Gus exited the room, Carrie felt the first really deep stirrings of jealousy that she'd ever experienced for her aunt. Augusta Fredericks had been like a big sister to Carrie while she'd been growing up in Europe. Carrie had wanted to be like Gus more than anything when she was younger. She now found herself envying Gus her poise and her acerbic wit. Was it because Mike seemed to like her so much?

Maybe Mike is in love with her, a little voice in the back of her head suggested. Carrie's gut twisted as she thought of Mike and her aunt together. They'd make a perfect couple, but Carrie refused to even think of that. What was she doing butting into Mike's life anyway? He could love who he wanted!

"Carrie?"

"What?" she asked sharply and realized that he'd been standing there patiently waiting for her to take the prescription he'd brought her. She took the glass and downed the pill.

"Are you sure you're all right? You've been spacing out a lot today."

"I'm fine, Mike," she replied. He didn't look like he agreed and she added: "Really. I've just had too many shocks for one day."

"Understandable. Why don't you go home and get some rest?"

"I think I'll nap on my couch. Home is not home right now, thanks to Austin."

Mike kissed her forehead. "You take care of yourself, okay, Princess?"

"Yes, Dr. Mike," she responded as she smiled at him. Carrie gave him a big smile and hopped down off of the table. "I'll see you at the wedding."

"So you're going?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about what you said, about how I may not want to, but I may regret it later. Gus also knocked some sense into me." At the lift of Mike's eyebrow, Carrie explained. "I have to do the right thing for the right reason, and not going to Sami's wedding because I want to spite her is a pretty poor reason not to go."

Mike smiled at her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll be there for you if you need support."

To his surprise, Carrie hugged him tightly and said: "Thanks, Mike. I didn't know how to ask you for that, but you read my mind anyway. I don't think I could face her horrid, smirking face without you."

Mike put his arms around her carefully and rested his cheek on her head.

"I'm always here for you, Carrie. I hope you know that."

"I do," she whispered. She snuggled deeper into his arms and sighed softly as he stroked her hair.

It was a bittersweet moment for Mike. He felt like such a coward and an opportunist at the same time as he imagined her reaction if he just decided to bite the bullet and blurt out what was in his heart. Thankfully, Carrie detached herself from his arms and yawned slightly, breaking the mood.

"I think I need a nap."

"No less than an hour, young lady. Doctor's orders," Mike admonished, shaking his finger at her.

She made as if to bite it, but another yawn stopped her from doing so.

"I'll see you when I get up," she said and left the room.

Mike followed her and found Gus sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine, looking as innocent as could be.

"See you later, Aunt Gus," Carrie said and waved before she exited.

"Bye, sweet pea."

Mike closed the door behind Carrie and turned around slowly to face Gus.

She had put down the magazine and that unholy gleam he knew well lit up her eyes.

"So, tell me, Horton, how long have you been in love with my niece."

"You certainly are direct, Gus."

He sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands, rubbing his cheeks vigorously.

"It's one of my best qualities, Mike. It saves me from dealing with a lot of useless chit-chat. So, answer the question. How long?"

Mike took a sip of coffee and didn't look at her as he replied: "Over a year."

"I guessed as much," Gus said and went for her purse. She opened it up and handed Mike an envelope.

"What's this?" he asked, examining it. The envelope was plain, nondescript and bulging.

"Good news, bad news, or worse news first?"

"Give me the worst. That way we can end on a positive note."

"Robin has cancer. She's dying."

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