This is my first WOWP story. I won't say which episode gave me the idea because I don't want to give anything away (though my summary might). It was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but got to long for that. at least, for me anyway. Hope you enjoy.
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE
I'll See You Again
Chapter One
Sunlight seeped in through the blinds, cascading a dim light into Alex Russo's bedroom. On any other day she would simply roll over in bed and pull the covers over her head. But this particular morning was a little different. Her older brother Justin had had surgery—nothing too serious—yesterday and she was eager to get there. So she could annoy him when he couldn't do much fighting back.
Alex hopped downstairs, a grin plastered on her face, and was met by her parents—two very confused parents.
"Alex, what are you doing up this early?"
She looked at her mom shocked at the tone in her voice. The tone that said "I know you're up to something." "Mother…. Can't a younger sister be eager to visit her beloved older brother who's in the hospital?"
Jerry and Teresa looked at their daughter with incredulity.
"Okay, fine." She smiled on the verge of laughter. "He's incapacitated. He's easier to annoy that way."
"Now that's more believable," her dad said.
"Okay, let's go. We can grab breakfast on the way." Both of her parents grimaced at her. "What?"
"Alex, we have to wait for Max," her mother said.
"Pfft…. Max can find his own way to the hospital."
"Alex," Jerry chided.
"Okay…." She groaned and flopped down on the couch.
Teresa looked at her husband. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think this was really sweet of Alex."
Jerry nodded. "But we know better."
Justin Russo was enjoying the solitude of his hospital room. Aside from the soreness—and the fact that he was still quite uncomfortable—from his surgery and the doctors and nurses coming in and out of his room, everything was quite all right. Then a sudden shiver ran up and down his spine.
"Oh, no," he said aloud. "My tranquility is about to end."
His younger sister bounded into his room. "Hey, Justin."
He pursed his lips. "And there it is." He looked at her. "Hi, Alex."
"How ya feelin'?" She sat down on the bed by his legs.
"I'm fine. Sore…but fine."
She stared at him, smiling.
"Please, stop doing that," he said, slightly unnerved. "It's very disconcerting."
Letting out a laugh, she said, "Oh, Justin, Justin, Justin. You know I have no idea what that means."
"And even if you did, you wouldn't care."
"No, not really."
"Alex, don't annoy your brother," Teresa said as she walked in.
"Yeah, save it for home," her dad added.
Teresa looked at him in a scolding manner. "Jerry…."
"What?"
"Oh, come on," Alex said. "I need new places to annoy him at."
"No, ya don't," Justin replied flatly.
"If Alex can't annoy him, can I?" Max piped.
He was met with a resounding "No." And then he shrugged.
Teresa quickly clicked into mother-mode and hurried over to her oldest child. "Oh, sweetie. How're feeling today?"
"Good. Sore but good."
She gave him a kiss.
Alex flopped into a chair and Max…continued to be Max while their parents oogled over Justin. She started to sing to herself, one of those songs that annoy everyone except for the person that's singing it.
"This is the song that doesn't end….Yes, it goes on and on my friend…" she sang, gradually getting louder.
Then Max joined in.
"Would you stop singing that," Justin growled.
"Can't. It doesn't end," Alex quipped.
Her parents grimaced.
"Yeah, okay…fine." She sat in silence for a moment. "Okay, I'm bored." Her stomach growled. "And hungry."
She looked at Max who was staring at the monitor, then heard her dad say, "Max, don't touch that."
"Yeah, that's my cue," she said, standing up. "I'm hungry, so I'm going down to the cafeteria…or whatever."
"Okay, sweetie," Teresa answered. "No magic. And be careful."
As she walked out she quipped, "I'm in a hospital. What does it matter?"
Justin looked at his parents. "She's gonna get lost."
"Oh, yeah."
"Definitely."
Max poked at something. "What's this do?"
"Max!"
Alex had heard Justin's comment. "I am not gonna get lost. I can read signs." She laughed at herself. "Who am I kidding? I don't read signs."
Lost in thought—mainly thinking of new ways to annoy Justin—she completely missed the signs pointing the way to the cafeteria and other food spots.
"Hospitals should have food courts," she said to herself as she wandered down the hallway towards the elevators. "Just because it's a hospital doesn't mean all the food has to be healthy. Hey, if you get sick, yer already at the hospital. You won't hafta go very far." She stepped onto the elevator. "Oh, I crack me up." And pressed a random button.
She was lost already, so what did it matter what button she pushed. It would be better if they were Justin's buttons she was pushing. Yep, she was on a roll.
When the doors opened she stepped out, having absolutely no idea what floor she was on, except for the number. Sort of. As she walked into the hallway she caught the sign on the wall.
"Cancer ward." She shrugged and decided to go ahead and wander around for a bit. She wasn't that hungry, anyway. Besides, she swore something was pulling her there.
Alex wandered down the hallway, occasionally stopping to talk to a patient who was out of their room, wandering around. None of the doctors or nurses seemed to be bothered by her presence. In fact, she even talked to a nurse or two.
She passed a few rooms that were brightly lit by sunlight, including one whose occupant was seated in a wheelchair in the doorway. They exchanged pleasantries and she continued on her way. Two rooms down, Alex was stopped by an open door to a dimly lit room; shades obviously drawn. She looked up at the name card.
"Moriarty. Dean?" She stared at the name card. "No way. It can't be. It's another Dean Moriarty."
She started to walk away but stopped short. Something was tugging at her. Something was telling her to go back. She turned around and stared at the doorway of the room. Taking a tedious step forward, she walked back to the room and stared in.
"You know him?"
Alex jumped. Turning her head she saw the young man in the wheelchair now next to her. "Oh, my gosh. You scared me."
"Sorry," he said with an apologetic grin.
After she gathered her composure she said, "It's okay. Uh…what did you ask?"
"Do you know him? Dean."
"Uhm…I'm not sure. I mean I knew a Dean Moriarty in high school, but…I don't know if that's him. We haven't talked to each other in almost a year."
"Well, Dean and me have talked a bit. Uh…what school did you go to?"
"Tribeca Prep," she answered, folding her arms across her chest.
"That's one of the schools he said he went to."
Alex kept her shock inside. "It can't be him. There's no way. Not Dean."
"Why don't you go in and see," the young man said. "He's prob'ly asleep. I'm sure you'll recognize him when you see him."
"Yeah." She glanced at the young man and then tentatively walked into the room.
Over whelmed by the fear that it would be him, she slowed her pace, stopping a few feet from the bed. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "No…."
It was him. Her Dean Moriarty. She didn't know what to do. Walk over there. Leave. He was asleep after all. Maybe she'd come back later. As she turned to leave, she heard a familiar voice.
"Russo?"
Alex slowly turned around. "Dean?"
"Hey. What're you doin' here?" his voice sounded weak. Probably because he had just woken up. Or so she hoped.
"Got a little lost," she said softly.
"You in a hurry ta find yer way?"
She shook her head. "No."
A small smile appeared on his face. "Then, uh, why don't ya come have a seat for awhile. I ain't goin' anywhere."
She smiled softly. "Sure."
"Let me get the shades. Shed a little light." He slid of the bed and walked over to the window. "How's that?" he said, opening the blinds.
"Better."
"I suppose I coulda just turned on the lights," he added, sitting back down on the bed. "So what brings you out here? To the hospital, I mean."
"Justin had surgery yesterday."
"Yeah? How's he doin'?"
"He's still annoying. Figured they could remove what causes that, but they didn't."
He let out a small laugh as she gave him that smile; that smile he loved. The one that always made him smile.
"So how's the rest of the family?"
"Oh…they're…them."
He chuckled. "They're them?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." She tossed her hair back.
"What about your boyfriend? London bridges."
She grimaced. "Oh, Mason. Yeah…." She looked away as she spoke, then looked back at him. "I broke up with him."
"Sorry ta hear that."
"No, yer not," she said, gently pushing him with her shoulder.
"I'm serious. I am."
"Yeah, well…it's what he gets for believing an edited interview over me."
Dean grinned. "That officially makes him dumber than me."
A sly smile crossed her lips. "Yes, it does."
"Hey…. You're supposed ta say 'no, that makes you smarter than him.'"
She looked at him as if she were contemplating what he had just said, then smiled broadly. "Nah…."
"Oh, thank you so much."
"What?" she replied, trying not to laugh…too much.
Dean couldn't help smiling. He hadn't felt this happy in months. "Okay, now yer laughing at me."
"No…of course I'm not."
His expression suddenly turned sober.
"What's wrong, Dean?" she asked, concern in her voice.
"I'm just glad ya got lost and ended up here." His gaze fell to the floor for a moment. "I don't get alotta visitors other than my family." He looked back up at her.
There was an expression of sadness on Alex's face. "Oh, my gosh…Dean…."
"It's okay," he said, giving her a soft smile. "It's no big deal."
"Of course, it's a big deal," she insisted.
He shook his head. "Nah…. I really don't mind."
Dean couldn't help laughing when Alex suddenly switched gears. "You know, you look really cute with that do-rag on."
He smiled softly at her. "You would, too."
She smiled back at him. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything," he replied. The mood in his room suddenly changed from a light-hearted ambience to a solemn air.
She hesitated for a moment. "What kind of cancer do you have?"
"Leukemia. Acute myeloid leukemia," he answered. "High risk…apparently." He paused. "Not exactly sure what that means, except that it's not good."
"When did you find out?"
"A few weeks after the last time I saw you." Alex saw sadness creep into his eyes, though what it was for exactly, she couldn't put her finger on. "Had all these bruises I couldn't figure out where they came from. I was gettin' sick a lot. I was always tired. Even before I saw you again."
"But you looked great when I saw you."
"Well, I felt great. At least, that day, anyway. Though I was startin' ta feel kinda lousy when I left the substation."
She looked at him wide-eyed, as if apologizing for her choice that day. In a small way, she did feel bad for it.
"I mean physically," he continued, seeing the expression on her face. "Though maybe a little disappointed." He refused to lie about how he felt about her choice that day; choosing Mason over him. "Anyway, my aunt called my parents and when they got here they took me to the hospital for some tests. That's when I found out I had leukemia." Alex put her arms around him. "The docs got me into remission pretty quickly, but a few weeks ago, when I came in for a check-up—they ran some blood and bone marrow tests—they told me and my parents that I relapsed. The cancer came back."
Dean was scared. She could see it in his eyes.
"Came back with a vengeance," he continued. "Docs aren't sure if a bone marrow transplant'll work. Or that stem cell thing." He slid of the bed and walked over to the window.
Alex sat on the bed for a few moments, trying to wrap everything she'd just heard around her brain. Sighing heavily, she hopped off the bed and joined him at the window. "Where are yer parents?" she asked.
"Mom's down in the cafeteria with the younger sibs and Dad went to pick up my older brother at the airport."
"Ah." She stared at their reflection in the window. A tear trickled down his cheek. "Dean?"
He wiped his eyes. "Sorry. I'm, uh, just…."
"Scared," she finished.
He looked at her. "Yeah. I'm scared. I've never been so scared in my life. I'm more scared now than I was when I first found out I had cancer." More tears fell as he spoke. He wiped them away furiously. "I can't believe I'm cryin' in front of you."
Alex smiled softly. "I don't mind."
Dean returned her smile with one of his own and walked back to his bed, tears still falling. He sat back down on the bed; Alex sat down next to him. They sat in silence for a moment as Dean continued to wipe away his tears.
"You know," Alex began, "the harder you wipe away your tears the redder your cheeks are gonna be." She pushed his hand away and gently wiped his tears away with her thumb.
"I don't wanna die, Alex."
"You're not, Dean. Yer gonna fight this and yer gonna win." Dean gave her a thin smile; fear was still visible in his eyes. She put her hands on his face. "Repeat after me," she continued. "I am going to fight this."
"I am going to fight this," he repeated.
"I'm going to win."
"I'm going to win."
"Good. Now don't forget that."
"I won't."
Her stomach growled.
The smile he gave her this time was genuine. All the fear in his eyes was gone. "Hungry?"
"Uh, yeah…just a little bit. I was on my way to the cafeteria when I got lost." She smiled sheepishly.
"Hey, I'll call my mom and she can bring somethin' up to us."
"Okay. Sounds good to me. That way I don't hafta move."
Dean laughed. "I really miss that."
"Miss what?"
"That attitude of yours."
"Oh, Dean. Stop…."
He laughed again. "So, uh, pick yer poison." He paused. "Wow. Mr. Laritate really did rub off on me."
It was Alex's turn to laugh. "Yeah, he has that affect on people."
While Dean talked to his mother, Alex looked around the room. There wasn't much. A few pictures were hanging on the wall by his bed. Two drawings in particular stood out to her. They were colored sketches. One was of a vine and roses swirling around a tabby cat. The other was also of a cat; white with brown patches, one patch around its left eye, lying on a log fence. Whoever drew those pictures was an incredible artist. She looked down at the table next to his bed. A tri-fold frame with a photo in each slot sat next to a Garfield desk calendar. The photo in the right slot had two cats that looked remarkably similar to the ones in the sketches.
"She'll be up here with our food in a minute," Dean said as he hung up the phone. "Whatcha lookin' at?" he followed her gaze to the photos on the table. "Ah. My folks, my sibs, my cats."
"Aww…. Who drew the pictures of the cats? They're really good."
"The twins drew those."
"Twins?"
"My youngest brother and sister. Believe it or not, they're only nine."
"That's amazing."
"Yeah. They're real talented."
"Okay, not that this isn't a good conversation, but I need ta use the restroom."
He grinned. "It's right down the hall on the left."
"I'll be right back."
"I'll be right here." He smiled. "Not goin' anywhere."
"Yeah, you better not. I better not come back to an empty room." She started laughing as she walked out. "I did that to Justin once."
Dean furrowed his brow in confusion. "How'd she do that?"
WWOP
And there it is. next chapter will be up soon. Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated.