A/N: This chapter contains rather graphic medical procedure descriptions. Some people might find this hard to hard, so please be advised.
Will Horton was sitting in the waiting room, waiting for his name to be called. He was alone. Okay, he wasn't exactly alone. There were a number of other patients waiting alongside him, but he didn't know any of them and he did not have anyone accompanying him. He hadn't wanted that. In fact, nobody he knew even knew that he was there.
He was taking a chance though, coming to a hospital that had been basically run by Hortons for, like, ever. But he had been in pain, serious abdominal pain for a while now. Sweating at night for no reason; fevers for no discernible reason. He'd lost weight and muscle mass, muscles that he had worked very hard to define. The clinic he had gone to while he was at Harvard University had sent his files back home, since the school year was over, and told him to see a specialist at Salem Memorial Hospital.
He had thought it was just stress. That he was fatigued because of the school workload. First year courses at Harvard, Pre-Med, weren't exactly a walk in the park. But it had persisted. Finally, His friends had told him that he would go to the University's Student Medical Clinic on his own accord, or they would drag him there themselves by his toes. He went. Alone.
And now he's here, sitting and waiting. Will had gone through a lot of testing before the doctors finally came up with a plausible explanation. He might have cancer. They wouldn't tell him more than that; they had biopsied his abdomen at the Student clinic; and now he was supposed to have a bone marrow biopsy. He was told on the phone that this procedure wasn't painful; which of course meant that it was.
He had brought his IPad, but was too nervous to use it. He spent some time thinking about what he was going to tell his family. He had a lot to tell. He had arrived back in Salem two days ago. He was staying at his Grandmother Marlena's apartment because there was no more room at his mother's house. Besides, he wasn't getting along with his mother, hardly ever had. His grandmother being a psychiatrist, he was relieved that he hadn't had to spend too much time with her, as yet anyway, because she would know something was up.
He decided to maybe do some people watching. He liked people watching. He had done a fair amount of it while at Harvard. He had finally admitted to himself that he was attracted to other guys, and what it meant. But he hadn't really acted on it. He went to the Student LGBT Centre, met a few people, made a few friends, but hadn't met anyone that he wanted to date, much less do anything else with. And he certainly hadn't told his family about himself. Another big thing to tell them, he supposed. Should he do it all at once?
Will glanced around the waiting room. Boy, there were a lot of sick people here. He started giggling to himself. And then he noticed a dark-eyed, rather pale, and thin, but still absolutely beautiful young man, about his age. It was hard to tell. The young man had a bandanna on his head, the colours of Pride. For someone going through cancer treatment he seemed to be rather confident.
Will noticed that the young man was looking at him, actually he was staring. And he wondered why, and then it hit him. Will didn't really look all that sick, not yet. It must be weird to see someone that looked relatively healthy, when you weren't.
Will was about to get up and walk over to the young man when a nurse came up to him and told him that the doctor would see him now. Oh well, he hoped he would see Bandanna Boy around, but that seemed doubtful. Will rose to follow the nurse.
Sonny Kiriakis was not feeling very well. He hadn't been feeling all that well for a while now. He had come back to Salem in September of last year, Labor Day actually, came out to his Uncle Vic, met a few close friends through his cousin Abigail, including Chad DeMira, with whom he eventually partnered with and opened up a coffee-house named Common Grounds. Thank goodness the business was going well without him, because he hadn't been able to manage it for the last month now, although he still kept close tabs.
Around about November, after a short bout of the flu, he noticed that he was developing a bump on his neck. He ignored it thinking it would go away. And when it didn't, he started to wear turtleneck jerseys. Eventually he started losing weight and started tiring easily. No one noticed much of anything not even his boyfriend Ethan, sorry…ex-boyfriend, who didn't really seem to notice anything above the belt-line anyway.
Sonny thought that Ethan was a good guy. He wasn't. Sonny found out Ethan was cheating on him, and Sonny got understandably upset. So upset, he became violently ill. So ill, Chad, of all people, had to help him off the floor. And that is when Chad noticed the bump and practically threw him in the car and drove him to the hospital.
He went through all the tests and got the results: cancer, a lymphoma to be more specific. They started his treatment right away; apparently Sonny had waited so long that the tumor was blocking his right-side carotid artery; so much so that Sonny had been in serious danger of a stroke or heart attack.
The treatment, Chop-R, consisted of an intravenous drip, every three weeks of a mix of four powerful drugs and a daily pill taken for five days, every three weeks, of another drug. And then there were the drugs to counteract the effects of those drugs and some more, to counter the effects of counter-effect drugs.
The effects on Sonny's body were maddening: constipation, constant pain and tiredness, muscle stiffness, severe lack of energy, susceptibility to common bacterial infections and viruses. Then there was his mother.
He told his parents right away. And his mother kind of took over his life. She made him move back into the Kiriakis Mansion. She was constantly by his side, checking his temperature, screening any visitors, to make sure that Sonny didn't catch anything, or become upset. She was getting annoying, and yet he wouldn't want to have to do this on his own.
He was here with his mother, Adrienne Kiriakis, for his check-up before his third treatment was to start, in a few days; third of a possible eight treatment: fun, NOT. His mother was like a shadow, hovering over him, so he liked to send her on errands. This one was to get him some apple juice and Jello. Sonny was having trouble keeping things down. He was also having trouble digesting what he could keep down. He wasn't allowed to eat nuts for instance. So his mom got him some juice and Jello.
He loved his mom but she could be a pain. She wouldn't let anyone near him. And right now he could use some company; like that absolutely gorgeous blond hottie sitting across and to the right of him. He looked stunning; and Sonny couldn't help but stare. He looked too healthy to be going through any treatment, so he was either coming for an after-treatment follow-up or he hadn't started his treatment yet; most likely the latter, since Hottie seemed really nervous, like he hadn't gone through this before. Sonny also noticed that he seemed to be alone. That was a shame. He would need somebody, especially if he hadn't been given the bad news yet.
All of a sudden, Sonny noticed that Hottie's focus changed. He seemed calmer, and he started to look around; he started to look at Sonny. Sonny couldn't help himself, he continued to stare. Hottie seemed what…Interested? "Impossible", Sonny thought, "I look like death warmed over"
And then it looked like Hottie was getting up, to come and talk to him, maybe? Yes! But of course a nurse showed up and he' had to go. Sonny really hoped he could find a way to introduce himself to this hottie. It really looked like Hottie could use a friend.
The nurse led Will to a room with a hospital gurney in the middle of it. She asked him to sit down on the gurney. She took his temperature; she took his blood pressure. She asked Will to step on the scale and took his weight. She then handed him a hospital gown; asked him to put it on, told him the doctor would be there shortly, and then left.
Will undressed and then put on the hospital gown; it took him three tries to finally get it right. He sat back on the gurney and waited. And waited. And waited. He got his IPad out and tried to read an e-book. Then he tried playing a few games. Nothing was calming him down. He then thought of Bandanna Boy and he calmed down, enough anyway. He wondered what Bandanna Boy's story was; if he was okay; if Will would ever see him again. He wondered why he was so stuck on that guy; nerves, obviously.
The doctor, Dr. Roger Higgins, came in, introduced himself, verified who his patient was, and then got right down to business. The doctor wanted to know what Will had been told. Will explained that the doctors indicated that he had a strong possibility of cancer. He was interrupted by Dr. Higgins straight away:
"No Will, It is cancer…I'm surprised the doctors at Harvard didn't tell you that straight off, since you ARE pre-med, right?"
Will nodded and Dr. Higgins continued:
"The test today is to determine what kind of cancer you have. That will determine the best course of treatment. We will be giving you a prescription for Prednisone right away, along with some other drugs to counter some side-effects. You are to take them starting today. "
The doctor also confirmed that Will did not have an HIV infection, so that was good. He then walked Will through the procedure. Dr. Higgins would be making an incision at his hip, then insert a rather long needle that has a tiny sharp blade, to take a few very tiny pieces of marrow in order to study them. Will would be sedated but still conscious. He was to try to remain calm. The doctor stated that it will be difficult to do, but to try. After the procedure, he would need to go to the hospital lab and get a series of blood work done. These results would act as base-marks when he started treatment which wouldcommence in three days, so Thursday.
Before Dr. Higgins and a nurse, started the procedure, he asked Will if anyone was here to help him get home and to bring him to the lab, because he was going to be rather groggy. Will said that he was alone. Dr. Higgins asked if he should call Dr. Evans, Will's grandmother. Will said no, he'd get manage on his own.
Dr. Higgins looked at Will rather sternly: "I understand Will, but you need to tell your family. You can't go through this alone; someone needs to bring you to your appointments and take you back home. You can't drive. You won't be able to drive today…"
Will told the doctor that he would manage today. He just hadn't had the time to tell his family yet. He would.
After being given a sedative, Will laid down on his side , on the gurney, he felt a sting from a needle, the anesthetic . He felt pressure. The doctor had told him to keep calm, keep still and to breathe, but not too heavily. Will then felt more pressure. It was as if someone was reaching down and trying to scoop something from inside him; which was essentially what was happening. It didn't hurt, per say; it just felt extremely uncomfortable. Will continued to breathe. He thought of Bandanna Boy and calmed right down. He would be okay; at least for now.
Sonny had gone to his appointment. His doctor had felt his lymph nodes and they all seemed to be shrinking. That was good news. His eyesight was good. He didn't have any infections. His last blood work was fine. His doctor told Sonny that he would need to undergo another Catscan, which would be scheduled later. He would need to go and get more blood work done for his next treatment, which was next Thursday.
That was where he now was. Sitting , again; waiting in line to get poked by more needles. Fun. His mother was sitting beside him. She had draped a blanket on him, covering his legs. He was grateful for that. He had been getting a little chilled.
Sonny then noticed a rather handsome male nurse wheeling in an even more handsome patient, still in his hospital gown. It was Hottie and he looked rather groggy. And Sonny then understood. He had just undergone a procedure, probably a bone marrow biopsy, from the way Hottie was holding his side, and they were waiting for the anesthetic to wear off a little before sending him home. In the meantime the nurses sent him here for blood work.
Sonny stood up, and disregarding the rather loud protests from his mother, he walked over and talked to the nurse. The nurse hadn't wanted to leave Hottie all by himself, but it looked like Mr. Nurse had a lot of other things to do. So, Sonny told the nurse that if all that was needed was for someone to recognize this young man's name when it was called and possibly wheel him in the lab's direction, he would be glad to do it.
Sonny smirked when he heard Hottie let out a drug-drowsy annoyance-filled scoff and then Sonny heard Hottie speak: "I'm not asleep you know. I know my own name. I can take care of myself."
Sonny scrunched his body down, in order to be eye-level with Hottie and said:
"That's good to know. Just in case you fall asleep though, maybe you should tell me your name, so that Mr. Nurse here will feel good about leaving you. I'll do the same. My name is Sonny. Sonny Kiriakis…"
Will, although annoyed, finally focused enough to recognize Bandanna Boy . He smiled and said: "Will. My name is Will. Will Horton."
Sonny smiled and put a hand on Will's knee: "Well, nice to meet you Will Horton…"
Will also smiled as he felt the intimate pressure of Sonny's hand on his knee. All he could say was: "Likewise"