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Adam winced as he raised the dumbbell in his left hand. He was beginning to wonder why it was feeling increasingly difficult to do a simple bicep curl.

He and Amy were off today, and so they'd trekked to the local gym the blond man favored. The place was only a fifteen to twenty minute drive from their house, and they'd been here for nearly the last hour.

The tall blond man glanced across the way at his girlfriend. The redhead was currently stretching on the floor, as she'd been working out with free weights as well.

Adam grimaced as he felt a twinge of pain shoot up his neck. Damn it, he'd been trying his darndest to ignore this over the course of the last few weeks... but the pain wasn't going away - and even more scary, it wasn't even *lessening* over time.

"Shit..." he muttered softly. He could barely even feel the dumbbell in his left hand any longer. "Ames! Ames!"

From several feet away, Amy glanced up abruptly, her gaze instantly finding him. She frowned and rose up to make her way briskly over to him. Her lovely face was full of concern as she reached him.

"Adam? What's wrong? What is it, baby?"

The blond man winced. He tried to shake his head, actually seeing stars at the attempt.

"I can't... something's wrong. I can't feel my left arm...!"

The redhead's eyes widened with horror as she acted quickly, reaching for the dumbbells and setting them down on the floor. She felt a sickening sensation in her stomach as she led him to a nearby bench to sit.

Adam's handsome face was a mask of pain as he reached back with one hand, rubbing at the back of his neck.

Amy felt her heart hammering in her chest, the beginnings of panic creeping in. This was serious... She knew exactly what was going on, and it terrified her. Not Adam... Why Adam?

"Baby, it's your neck, isn't it?" she asked in a surprisingly calm voice.

He opened his eyes to fix them on hers, the pain all still too evident within.

"How did you know?"

She cocked her head to the side and gave him an incredulous, impatient look. However, that expression quickly transformed to one of hurt.

"How can you ask me that? Damn it, Adam - you need to see a doctor. I've been there and I know what's happening to you." She blinked with vast concern, her heart nearly stopping with her next words. "The neck pain, the tingling and then loss of sensation in your arm, the..." She sighed. "This is very serious - and you need to get checked out."

The blond man gazed at her wordlessly, a cold knot in his belly. He knew she was right. He'd been pretending over the last few weeks, pretending he hadn't been in constant pain. But never before now had he lost all sensation in any part of his body. His entire left arm - and hand - was numb. Amy was right - he couldn't dance around this thing any longer.

He nodded - or at least, *tried* to.

"You're right," he agreed glumly. He winced again, hating the shooting pain in his neck. It was becoming so bad, he was actually beginning to fear he might black out. "Let's get out of here." He decided that, the moment they returned home, he would call his doctor.

The redhead stood up first, and they briefly separated to grab their things in the locker rooms. She moved quickly, retrieving her bag and swiftly shutting the locker door afterward. Her breath caught, and she let it out slowly, emotion welling up inside and nearly overwhelming her. Oh, God... She didn't want to start crying right here and now. The most important thing at the moment was being strong for Adam. 'And besides,' she told herself, 'maybe his neck *isn't* broken.' But as soon as that thought came to her, she knew she was deluding herself with it. She'd been there, done that. His symptoms were completely identical to the ones she'd experienced last year after she'd filmed that episode of Dark Angel.

She took a deep breath, her eyes closing tightly as she prepared to leave. She couldn't afford to fall to pieces right now. Besides, what would Adam think?

She squared her shoulders and pushed her way out of the locker room, and returned to her hurting boyfriend.