Sally finds out Pippa is seriously ill. She has leukeamia. This brings out memorys of the past and sally loses it. How will she cope?
SALLY STORYLINE:
" So is my daughter healthy?" Sally wondered, grimacing at Rachael.
Rachael looked at her table and reached for the envelope. She was wishing, desperately hoping that the results for all the good. Hesitantly, Rachael began opening the envelope.
When Rachael saw the print, she gasped. The result was beyond her comprehension. Unfortunately it was her job to reveal the unpleasant news.
" I'm sorry." Rachael replied, looking grim, "But I'm afraid your daughter has leukeamia." Revealing the news broke her heart.
Sally stared at Rachael blankly, "Excuse me?"
Oh, please don't make me repeat this; Rachael thought; it makes the situation more real.
" Your daughter, she has leukemia." Rachael repeated, barely able to repeat the news.
Sally continued to stare. She wasn't even sure if she took in the information.
Rachael glanced away from the paper to see Sally's facial expression. It showed none.
" Leukeamia is cancer of the blood cells." Rachael explained, "According to this" Rachael waved the paper in front of Sally, "Your daughter has only a few months left."
Sally avoided eye contact by squeezing her eyes tight, " I don't understand. She is so young. Why is this happening?"
Rachael shrugged her shoulders, " I wish I could explain but life brings many mysteries."
Sally shook her head, " This isn't happening." Sally rested her head on the table and covered her face with her hands, " This is not happening." She repeated. Sally's eyes remained shut, her head shaking faster.
Rachael left her seat and lent down next to Sally, " You won't be facing this alone. I will be here for you."
" And Brad will be too." Rachael continued on, trying to make eye contact.
Rachael clasped her head on Sally's shoulder; " I will be here to support you as one of your best friends."
"I think we need to retest those results because this is not happening." Sally managed to choke out, looking up from the table.
Rachael shook her head; " We tested a number of times already. Unfortunately…"
Sally straightened up with a sigh, " You will retest those results and when we receive those results, everything will be fine."
" I can imagine this is hard for you." Rachael said with genuine compassion in her voice. "But these results are.."
Before Rachael had a chance to say final, Sally had already turned and pushed through the door, hurrying out of the hospital.
Late that day:
Kim watched silently as Rachael entered the house. He noticed a look of tiredness in her fiancés eyes- a sign of stress, " How was your day?" Kim asked, glancing over at Rachael.
Rachael placed her bag on the hanger and plopped herself on the coach, " The usual."
Kim walked to Rachael and flopped on the coach beside her, " You look stressed."
Rachael sighed and allowed herself to lie on Kim's chest, " What can I say? It's been a hard day."
From the corner of his eye, Kim noticed that Rachael had been crying, " Anything I need to know about?"
Rachael sighed, " Just something with one of the patients, I know."
Kim looked at Rachael and began to massage her shoulders.
" I found out one of my patients has cancer." Rachael added, hurting deeply for Sally and Pippa.
Kim was concerned, " I'm sorry to hear that."
Rachael looked at Kim, swallowed hard, then took a deep breath, " Yeah I'm just worried because this person has already been through so much."
Kim gave Rachael a cuddle, " I'm sure you be helping this person as much as you can."
Rachael nodded. That was what she liked most about her job.
As soon as Sally left the hospital, she knew she couldn't pick up Pippa. I don't want to face her, Sally thought. As far as Sally was concerned she didn't want to think about anything relating to Pippa. I can't, Sally thought to herself, she reminds me too much of Flynn. Leah will understand.
School next day:
Last night, Sally couldn't sleep. All night, she had thoughts of Flynn- her last moments together with him, including their last dance. She tried desperately to block them out, but she hadn't had any luck. Sally was determined to block those feelings.
As Brad appeared at the doorway of Sally's office, he noticed something strange. Sally wasn't herself. She was racing around the office, continuously working in havoc sorting out papers. It was also extremely early, 7'o clock in the morning. Sally didn't normally arrive until 8:30.
" Hey are you ok?" Brad asked as he knocked on the door.
" I'm fine." Sally replied, not bothering to turn around.
" Are you sure?" Brad questioned, peering at Sally closely.
Sally nodded. She was stacking her paperwork in a pile.
Brad frowned; he knew something was up.
Brad grabbed a chair from the corner, so that he could sit next to Sally, " We need to talk."
" Not now." Sally said bluntly. She raced to the file cabinet to grab more papers.
" I'm sure those papers can wait." Brad insisted, " Now could you please face me?"
" I have lots of work to do." Sally whined, " Have to keep busy."
" As your boss, I demand you to stop your work." Brad tapped the table to grab Sally's attention.
Sally jumped then turned around.
Finally I got her attention, Brad thought relieved.
" What's wrong, Sally?" Brad asked, looking at Sally with full concern.
" Nothing." Sally replied, fidgeting with her fingers.
" I know when something is wrong." Brad stated, " I can see something is wrong."
" Nothing is wrong." Sally attempted to convince. It was scary; she said it so many times to herself now, she starting to believe it.
Brad stepped up right in front of Sally and shook his head, " I am not merely convinced."
" Then that's your problem, isn't it?" Sally answered, trying her best to sound tough.
" I'm not the one with the problem here." Brad informed. " I'm only trying to help you."
Sally's body tensed up, " Well I don't need your help, because I have no problems."
" Then why are you raising your voice?" Brad wondered, gazing at Sally.
" I'm not." Sally insisted, " But is it too much to be left alone?"
" No, it's not." Brad answered.
" Then do me a favour and leave me alone" Sally said gravely.
Brad started to walk out of the room. As soon as Brad turned his back on her, Sally began fiddling with papers.
A FEW DAYS LATER:
" I'm worried about her." Brad had said on the phone to Rachael.
" She won't even glance up at anyone." Brad continued, " It's like she's in a trance or something."
Rachael bit her lip; she knew exactly what was going on.
" Do you know something?" Brad wondered, partly knowing the answer.
Rachael took a deep breath; she had to think carefully about what to say.
" Well.." Rachael stammered.
" You do know." Brad realised, interrupting.
" As much as I'd like to say something, it's Sally's decision." Rachael exclaimed.
"I'm concerned about her, Rachael. She's very moody." Brad revealed, " I mean she even threw some books at me once."
" And as much as I hate to say this- I think she is taking some drug."
Brad added, " Because one minute she falls asleep on her table, the next she fiddles with papers non stop. I think it's obvious she needs help."
Rachael was surprised. Sally was handling it far worse than she expected. She also received a call from Leah the night before. Sally didn't pick up Pippa from her place. It was almost like she was abandoning and avoiding her.
" She has been avoiding Ric and Cassie. They came up to me wondering whether I knew something." Brad informed, struggling to come to terms with Sally.
" They haven't seen her for awhile." Brad added softly, " The only time they see her is when she's teaching the class like a zombie."
Rachael nodded, Sally definitely sounded like she was on drugs.
" And I…I hate to say this. But I can't continue to let her teach like this." Brad confessed.
Rachael understood.
" So, would you please tell what's going on? So I can understand?" Brad asked in deep concern.
Rachael sighed and took a deep breath. She knew in this situation she had to let her professional ethics aside, " Ok I'll tell you. Sally's daughter has leukaemia and she only has a few months to live."
Brad opened and closed his month. He felt all the sympathy in the world.
" So what do we do about this?" Brad asked in a small voice. The news gave him flashes of Emily and he was struggling to fight his tears.
" I think we both need to talk to her."
Brad agreed, " We do. So when can we do this?" He knew that it would be hard but he knew he owed her that much after she supported him.
" Well I'm free now." Rachael looked in her schedule, " So I'll see you there in a few."
A few minutes pass by…
" So how do we do this?" Brad asked when Rachael arrived at his office.
" I have a plan." Rachael assured. For a few minutes, Brad and Rachael discussed their plans. Finally, it was time to put the plan into action.
Brad knocked on Sally's door. Slowly he opened it. He was shocked to see the decline in Sally's progress. This time she wasn't sorting out papers but instead she was lying on top of the keyboard asleep. Brad stared at Sally confused.
Rachael noticed something different, she had noticed Sally's face was blue. Suddenly she raced to Sally and touched her pulse. She found it to be extremely weak. " Sally, can you hear me?" Rachael said, shaking her. There was no reply.
Rachael shook harder. After multiple attempts, she came to the conclusion that Sally was unconscious, " We need to take her to a hospital Brad."
Brad felt his pulse reaching, he was beginning to feel it was his fault he let her reach that far. " What's the matter with her?" Brad said slowly.
" Possibly alcohol poisoning." Rachael replied, as she smelt alcohol in her breath.
Brad held and shook his head. This was not the Sally he knew.
A day later- after hospital treatment.
Brad came to the door of Sally's room bringing in flowers.
Sally looked up, " If you are going to ask whether I'm fine, save it."
Brad placed the flowers on Sally's table, " Do you really define fine, laying on hospital on a bed?"
Sally shook her head and looked down at her bed.
Brad gave Sally a sad look, " Why did you poison yourself with alcohol Sally? This is not you."
Sally didn't feel like talking.
" You told me I was in denial, now I'm going to tell you exactly the same." Brad continued.
" I'm not in denial." Sally assured, staring into space." I need to tell myself I'm fine to cope."
Brad looked into Sally eyes full of hurt and concern, " That's what scares me. You are actually believing it now."
Sally hated to admit it but she knew he was right. Sally kept quiet.
" You can't continue acting like this." Brad said, feeling his eyes water, " Do you really want regret your life not being there for your daughter in the times that matter most? Do you really want to avoid the people, you know you desperately need?"
Sally looked up at Brad with fresh tears, " It's too hard. The flashes of Flynn are too painful. The flashes from Emily are too painful. Everything remains me of cancer. I can't stand it." Sally said crying hysterically now.
" I understand better than anyone how this feels." Brad stated, reaching for Sally for a hug.
" We are going to get through this together, alright?" Brad said. Sally slowly began to nod. She hated this situation but she knew with Brad around, she was going to be stronger than ever.
A happy alternative ending (if you like the story this way .)
Rachael walked in the room with glee she received very happy news.
As soon as Brad had saw her, he felt something had to be right, " What is it Rachael?" He asked.
Rachael had a broad grin on her face, " I received a call from a doctor. There is a new cure for leukaemia."
Sally couldn't believe her eyes, " You mean.."
Rachael nodded, " I believe your daughter will be healthy."
If there was one time Sally believed in miracles, it was definately then.
Rachael was relieved. It was the best thing Sally and Brad had deserved in their difficult times.
THE END