Marie collapsed to her suddenly weak knees. Logan'd had a stroke. No, Jean had to be wrong. That didn't happen to vital men like Logan. It happened to old men in nursing homes who had lived their lives. Men who didn't have a wife, young daughter, and new son on the way.

Grandpa Morgan'd had a stroke when Marie was just seven. Momma had taken her to visit a couple of times, but he'd acted different and walked with a funny limp. A couple of times, he'd forgotten that they were even there. That couldn't happen to Logan!

"Rogue," that was Jean's voice. She felt Hank's strong hands lifting her up and helping her into a chair. All she could do was stare at Logan's still form on the bed before her as Hank returned to wrapping his wounded face and head. This couldn't be happening.

"Marie," Jean said.

That caught her attention. No one called her Marie but Logan. To everyone else, she had always been Rogue. She turned to look at the other woman's weary face.

"I won't lie to you," Jean continued. "This is a serious complication."

Jean looked so grim, but Marie felt a whisper of hope. "What about his healing factor? It's slowed down, but when it comes back, he'll be as good as new, right?"

"I honestly don't know. Normal humans are born with a set amount of brain cells. Once those cells die, they can't regenerate."

"But Logan's a mutant. He heals."

"I don't want to give you false hope, Rogue. We can't be certain that he can heal brain damage. You have to be prepared for the worst."

"I don't want to. I want to hope for the best."

"We all do, but Logan is going to need your help. You have to be prepared."

Marie nodded, trying to prepare herself to hear some harsh realities. "What do I need to know?"

"Logan has had a left-hemisphere stroke. He is exhibiting right hemiplegia, or paralysis on the right side of the body, because of it. You already noticed signs of that on his face, the way the right side seems to droop."

Marie was crying now, and Jean paused, walking to the supply cabinet to get her some tissues. Marie could tell she was uncertain if she should continue, "Don't stop, Jean. I have to know."

"Ok... He might have memory problems, especially with his short term memory. Also, he will probably develop aphasia, since the left side of the brain controls speech and language. This problem can be highly specific, affecting one or more language skills. His ability to talk might be impaired, but he might still be able to write, read, or understand speech. There is no way of knowing what's affected until he wakes up."

"He won't be able to talk?" Marie asked in a small voice. It was unimaginable. Logan was always so strong, so healthy. This couldn't be happening to him, to them. "When will he wake up?"

"He's still under sedation from the surgery, and his body will be demanding sleep to start his recovery. He probably won't wake up until late tonight or tomorrow morning. You should go get some sleep now, while he's resting."

The idea was ludicrous. "I can't sleep. I can't leave him."

Jean sighed, and looked around, obviously wanting to shoo Marie out of the Med Lab, if only for a little while. "What about Anna? Maybe you could go see her?"

'Anna!' Marie thought. "What time is it?" she asked.

Jean looked at her watch. "Almost noon."

In her worry over Logan, she hadn't noticed how much time had passed. Anna needed her. Logan would want her to go.

Pushing herself out of the chair, she shuffled over to his still body. She leaned over and kissed his bandaged brow, promising to return quickly, then she left the Med Lab to find their daughter.

"Anna-banana," Jubilee said in a teasing voice, "look who's here."

"Mommy!" Anna squealed running to her mother's arms, her hazel eyes sparkling under the wavy, dark brown hair. Everyone said she had her father's coloring and her mother's features, but as she ran across the room, all Marie saw was the Logan in her. It made her want to cry all over again.

"Hey, Anna," Marie said, giving her daughter a tight squeeze.

"Mommy, you're squishing me."

Marie half-smiled. "Sorry, sugah. I'm just real glad to see you."

"Where have you been all day, Mommy? Where's Daddy?"

"Daddy went on a mission, remember?" Anna nodded and Marie continued. "Well, Daddy got hurt, and Aunt Jean and Uncle Hank are making him better."

"But that was yesterday. Daddy's all better today," Anna replied, knowing how quickly her father could heal.

"No, sugah. Daddy got hurt real bad."

"Did you kiss it better?" Anna asked, confused as to why her father wasn't all right. He'd been hurt before in her short three years, but he'd always recovered almost immediately.

"Yeah, baby. But it's still gonna take some time to heal."

"I'll draw him a picture."

"I think that's a real good idea, honey. You draw him a picture, and I'll take it to him."

Remy colored with Anna while Jubilee came over and sat by Marie. "Have you gotten any sleep, Rogue?"

"I can't, Jubes. I close my eyes, and all I can see is the blood. He's hurt so bad, Jubes. Jean doesn't think he'll recover."

"Then he'll get better just to prove her wrong. You know how Logan loves to do the unexpected."

"I just can't help thinking that this time yesterday, he was fine, life was great. How can everything change so quickly?"

"Life'll be good again. You'll make it through, Rogue."

"Daddy!"

Marie was awakened by Anna's cries in the adjoining room. Even though she had checked on Logan throughout the rest of the day, taping Anna's picture to one of the IV trees, she had finally been persuaded to go to her own room to sleep that night. Hank, who had taken the night shift, assured her that he would contact her if Logan started to wake up, but that he probably wouldn't until the next morning.

"Anna, what's wrong?" Marie asked, switching on the light.

"Where's Daddy?" Anna whined.

"He's hurt, sugah. I told you that."

"But I need Daddy."

Marie sat down on her daughter's bed, pulling her into a sideways hug and stroking her cheek with a bare hand. It had been a gift from God that Anna was immune to her deadly skin. She hadn't shown signs of any other mutation, but she had the mutant gene and would probably manifest in her teens.

"Why do you need Daddy, honey? Can't I help?"

"You can't growl," Anna replied.

"What?"

"When I have a bad dream, Daddy comes and growls all the monsters away."

Marie couldn't help but laugh at that mental image, then she started to cry when she thought of Logan now.

"What, Mommy?" Anna asked, noticing her mother's tears.

"Mommy's just a little worried about Daddy, honey." Marie replied, wiping her eyes. Then in a stronger voice, she said, "But don't you worry. He'll be ok. Now, let's scare some monsters."

"But you can't growl."

"What makes you think your momma can't growl?" Marie said. Pulling up the faded remains of Logan's personality that she'd absorbed a couple of times over the years, she let out a deep, rumbling growl.

Anna's face brightened with surprise and delight. "You can do it, Mommy!"

"Yes, now, what does Daddy do first?"

"Well, he sniffs around to find the monsters. They always hide in the closet first."

Marie took some quick whiffs and said, "Yep, they're in there now. What does Daddy do when he finds them?"

"He opens the door and growls and says, 'You better get outta there, monsters, 'cause I'm Anna's daddy, and I'll hurt you good if you don't.'"

Marie was really laughing now. "And what do the monsters do?"

"Then run and hide under the bed, 'cause Daddy can be real scary."

Marie followed her daughter's instructions and then asked, "What does Daddy do now?"

"Then he picks up the bed and drops it on 'em, and growls at 'em to go away before he gets really mad."

So that's the thumping sound she'd heard those late nights when Logan'd got up to check on Anna. She didn't really want to attempt bed-lifting when she was four months pregnant.

"Do you think Mommy could just growl at the monsters to scare them away?"

Anna thought about it for a moment. "Only if you growl really scary."

Marie tried and her efforts seemed to satisfy Anna. "Where do the monsters go after that?"

"Well, then they run outside with all the other monsters. Daddy growls and says they better stay out there if they're smart, and he shuts the window."

Marie completed the ritual and then tucked her daughter back into bed, kissing her forehead.

"Mommy, can I see Daddy tomorrow?"

"We'll see, sugah."

The ringing of the telephone woke her at 5 a.m. Still only half awake, she answered it.

"Rogue," Hank said, "he's waking up."

Marie dropped the phone and ran, stopping at Kitty's door on the way only long enough to ask her to watch Anna.

She was running so fast, she almost ran into the doors of the med lab before they had a chance to detect her presence.

Hank looked up and said, "He's not awake yet, but he's starting to move around."

Remembering what Jean had told her yesterday, she went to Logan's left side, and stroked one of the few small patches of undamaged skin she found there with a gloved hand.

"Logan, open your eyes, sugah. Wake up and open your eyes for me."

Logan moaned and she watched as his eyelids started to flutter. He finally managed to get both eyes open, but the right eyelid drooped, almost closed. When he focused on her face, recognition flashed in his eyes, and Marie could feel the tears forming in her own.

"Welcome back, sugah. I missed you."

"Mah... Mar..." he slurred, trying and failing to say her name.