Marshall waited a while before he left the party, after watching Regina leave with AJ. That was to be expected. But he trusted her. AJ was the one who made sure she didn’t get drunk, Marshall was grateful for that at the very least.

He walked into the hotel towards the bank of elevators, glancing towards the check in desk when he saw someone who looked vaguely familiar. He almost stopped, but then moved along.

“Look, just call up to the room and tell him that his ex-wife is here to see him,” at this Marshall turned around and looked back towards the desk. He took a few steps forward and then it hit him.

“Kim?” he asked stepping again. She turned and stared at him.

“Oh, Em, hey, I was looking for you,” Kim said with a nervous smile.

“What’s going on, is Hailie okay? Where is she?” Marshall asked worried.

“Oh, she’s fine, she’s at home, what I came here to talk about is Regina, and how you’re fucking it up with her,” Kim replied.

“What?” Marshall asked surprised.

“You’re not the only one Dre talks to. Come on, we’ll sit down and talk about this,” Kim said grabbing his wrist and dragging him into the lounge. When they were sitting down across from one another Kim gave him a long piercing stare.

“What!” Marshall said exasperated after a minute.

“Regina is the best thing you’ve ever found, and don’t you dare deny it. You think people are stupid, the magazines are picking up on it, the picture of you with that slut on the cover of Star, what the fuck is wrong with you,” Kim snapped.

“Hey, you lost the privilege to yell at me when we got divorced,” Marshall snarled.

“I could give a crap less about that Marshall, every time you get something good, you feel the need to destroy it. If she doesn’t love you, the only person’s fault that is, is yours,” Kim replied.

“Fuck you!” Marshall shouted.

“No Marshall, you need to listen. She’s gonna find someone who doesn’t treat her like a piece of crap and by the looks of it she already has. Marshall it’s only a matter of time before she is forced to do something she’ll regret,” Kim replied.

“Oh so you’re now saying that I forced you to cheat, right?” Marshall growled.

“After you get accused of doing it when your not, you might as well, but I take the blame for my own actions, and you need to take the blame for yours,” Kim replied with wide eyes.

“Regina wouldn’t cheat on me,” Marshall said quickly.

“Then don’t make her.” “I’m not making her do anything.”

“Yes you are Marshall. Dammit if you care about her, stop screwing her over, Hailie is worried about you, she said you sounded upset on the phone, and you wouldn’t talk to her about Regina.” Kim was way too concerned.

“Hailie?”

“Yes Hailie, but me too. Marshall, you were in with her family, she cares about you a lot. Why are you messing it up?”

“Because she won’t say it,” Marshall mumbled.

“Then you say it. Actions speak louder than words, you know that Marshall, and by the looks of it, you’re just saying that she means nothing to you.”

“Why the fuck do you care?”

“Because I do Marshall, I don’t want you to end up alone, like me,” Kim was suddenly quiet.

“What do you mean alone?”

“Erik and I were divorced two months ago. He said something about you, to Hailie, repeatedly, and I just couldn’t stand to live with a man who insulted my daughter,” Kim replied quickly.

“But you said it was about me?”

“When someone insults you, you who are half of Hailie, they are insulting her, and no part of Hailie is bad. I couldn’t be married to someone like him.”

“Couldn’t be married to someone like me either,” Marshall replied.

“We weren’t good for much save making Hailie, huh?” Kim laughed.

“Yeah, she’s the best thing we ever did,” Marshall laughed with a smile.

“You ever think what it might have been like, if I hadn’t screwed it up?”

“We screwed it up, and yeah, I think about it a lot. What it would be like to have a normal family life,” Marshall shook his head.

“Regina want kids?”

“Of course she does, she hasn’t said it, but I know she does,” Marshall replied, he felt exhausted.

“Do you want to marry her, do you want to have kids with her?”

“I don’t know,” he rubbed a hand over his face and looked up at Kim, “I don’t know.” “Are you in love with her?”

“I don’t know,” he shook his head and looked back at the floor.

“You’re doing an awful lot to prove something that you’re not even sure of, don’t you think?” Marshall shrugged noncommittally.

“Marshall, it’s okay, you know, if you two don’t click anymore, that’s fine, just don’t drag her through the mud, she’s stuck by you, through all this, and maybe it is better if she doesn’t say it, if you force her, Marshall, you’re being just like everyone else. Her father was abusive, right? Don’t be like him. Let her go if its over.” That was the second time someone had compared him to Regina’s father. Forcing her to do something that she wasn’t ready to do.

Was he really like that? Love through force turns into hate. He’d seen that a number of times. He’d been there. He cared about Regina, yes he did. But how could he hurt her over and over? Why did he hurt those he loved again and again? What about Hailie, why did he hurt her too?

His phone going off interrupted his musings.

“Sorry,” he muttered looking over at Kim and pulling out his cell phone.

“Hello?”

“Regina just collapsed in the hall, we’re taking her to the hospital.”

“What! Wait a minute where are you?” Marshall asked sitting bolt upright. EMT’s rushed through the lobby that second with a gurney.

“The EMT’s are on the way.” The line went dead.

“What’s wrong?” Kim asked immediately.

“Regina collapsed, upstairs,” Marshall said as he jumped up.

“What happened? Is she still breathing?” Kim asked.

“I don’t know, I don’t know.” He paced a few feet and then back.

“The EMT’s were for her?”

“Yeah, they’ll be back down in a minute.” He continued to pace until he walked back out in the lobby to wait for them. Kim followed quietly. A few minutes later the elevators opened and three EMT’s wheeled Regina out. AJ and Nick were right behind her.

“What happened?” Marshall asked immediately.

“She just collapsed, she’s still breathing, but they don’t know what’s wrong with her, shit, come on, you going?” AJ asked, looking out after Regina.

“Yeah, I’m gonna tell the guys first, their still at the party, I’ll be right there,” Marshall replied.

“Really?” AJ asked as he looked back at him, a confused look on his face.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” AJ nodded in understanding and dashed out of the building.

“Marshall, you dumb ass, go now!” Kim snapped pushing him slightly. He looked back at Kim, then AJ’s dashing form, and then at the floor.

“Marshall!” Kim pushed him again and he just picked his phone up out of his pocket and dialed Dre.

“Hey man, look, we got a problem, Regina’s in the hospital.”