1977 (#8) - The truth about Leslie's abortion and Brad's eye surgery

As the weeks go by, Brad notices more and more Leslie's distance and begins to worry about the consequences of the abortion on the woman. She, meanwhile, is less and less able to live with the burden of truth about abortion, and eventually confesses the episode to Brad, reassuring him that she is neither angry nor less in love with her husband, convinced that it's just a bad situation that sometimes happens to good people. Brad, however, is unable to find peace and takes the whole thing as a sign of destiny that he intended to send a clear message to the two of them. Suddenly, Brad begins to realize what he needs to do, even though it requires a great sacrifice. He realizes that he has caused, even if not voluntarily, only suffering to Leslie's gentle and delicate soul, first with secrets about her past, then with his illness and now with the abortion. He understands that his wife is giving up a lot to be with him and support him in all his troubles; all suffering that Leslie doesn't deserve to suffer. So he makes a drastic decision to try a difficult eye surgery and to stay married to Leslie just in case things go well. Leslie protests, encourages her husband to face the difficulties together and stay involved, and criticizes the decision; but in the end she can't do anything to change Brad's mind, so he books a visit and some tests in Chicago with his doctor in case of a possible dangerous eye surgery: he is now determined to face a high-risk surgery with no guarantee of success in the expectation that his visual capacity will be restored and thus start a new life with Leslie. The woman would like to follow her husband, but Brad stops her firmly, saying that he should take care of her and not the other way around.