This is the sequel to "Five Years Later," it does start off pretty sadly but it will get better! You will want to have read "Five Years Later" first. Please enjoy and review.

Years and Memories

Chapter 1

It had been three years since Grace, Ryan and Mikey had moved back home. Ryan had redeployed, Mikey was a busy three year old and Grace and Ryan had a four month old daughter, Hope. They had bought a small cottage in town that was just right for their small family. Ryan was back in Ireland and was still in Intelligence. Grace had opted not to go with him due to how young the kids were. It created a lot of hardships because she hated being apart from her husband and Mikey especially missed his daddy.

Hannah had moved into the apartment that Grace and Ryan vacated. She was student teaching and working at Maggie's restaurant. She had suddenly broke off her engagement to Sam, and refused to tell anyone why. Sam didn't even know why and was pretty broken up by it. She had even distanced herself from her family, not returning calls and Maggie couldn't get a read on what was wrong with her. Hannah still worked all of her shifts but didn't talk about what was going on. Mike and Polly were at a complete loss. Maggie had told Polly that Hannah didn't look well but didn't seem to be running a fever.

Hannah had stopped showing up for family dinners, church and any of the kid's events. Gabby, Tommy and Rebecca were completely heartbroken by her sudden distance and Matty and Max were angry at her. Mike had tried repeatedly to call her and had even showed up at her apartment. The door was locked and Hannah didn't answer it. Her car was there but the lock was changed and Maggie didn't have the new key.

It was really strange behavior for Hannah. She was in most ways, the heart and soul of their family. Her generosity, personality and just day to day presence were missed by every member, especially Mike. He had tried to figure out if he had done something to upset her that would cause her to distance herself so completely from her entire family, her fiancée and her friends. He still felt his relationship was delicate with Hannah and blamed himself for her distance.

Mike and Polly hadn't seen Hannah in over a month and hadn't talked to her in as long. The only member of the family that had had any contact with her was Maggie and she couldn't figure out what was going on. Mike had showed up at the restaurant one evening when Hannah was working but she made the busboy wait on him and didn't stop long enough to talk to Mike. He had noticed that she seemed to be in pain and was incredibly pale. All that Mike could fixate on was that she might be ill and he was terrified of losing her.

Maggie had noticed that Hannah seemed to be making a lot of trips to the nearby city and was drinking water constantly. Her long, dark hair was also falling out by the handfuls. She also seemed more despondent. For such a happy, upbeat person, it scared everyone who knew her.

Alec was patrolling and noticed a Ford Mustang that looked like Hannah's parked next to the road. The door was halfway open and he immediately stopped. He ran the license plate number but didn't wait to hear the return over the radio before he got out of the patrol car. He walked around the car and noticed that no one was inside. He was about to call it in to get an additional deputy there when he heard someone vomiting on the other side of the car. He walked around the car to see if he could be of any assistance when the girl in question rose up, just enough that Alec realized that it was Hannah. He immediately knelt down beside her and pulled her hair out of the way. He ended up with a handful of the hair which immediately scared him.

"Hannah, what's going on?"

"I'm fine."

"Throwing up next to the highway is no one's definition of fine. Do you need an ambulance? You look like death warmed over."

"Thank you for the compliment. An ambulance can't help with this."

"What exactly is this?"

"You can't tell my mom or dad, or Maggie. No one."

"What?"

"I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia six weeks ago. No one knows."

"Oh my God. How bad?"

"It isn't good."

"Why haven't you said anything to anyone? You need help."

"The doctor has only given me six months and so I pulled away from everyone I love. I figured it would be easier for them."

"Why are you telling me now?"

"Because you won't leave me alone until I told you. I'm just counting on you not saying anything to anyone. My family has lost enough."

"Even if you distance yourself and you die, they will have still lost you. And you've robbed them of precious time with you. Your dad needs the time with you. I'm saying this as a dad but if Ryan was as sick as you and he didn't tell me and died, I would be completely destroyed. Your dad has already lost a child who he didn't get to say goodbye to. Do you really want to put him through that again?"

"No. I don't but I also don't want to put him or anyone through taking care of me. That's always been my job. Taking care of people."

"And you expect me to keep this from your mom and dad? From your brothers and sisters, and from Maggie? We all love you and we need the ability to say goodbye to you when the time comes. Is there anything, medically, they can do?"

"They mentioned doing a stem cell transplant. I just can't ask Dad, Grace or Matty to put them through that. Since the twins are my half brother and sister, chances are their stem cells wouldn't work. I also have been doing chemotherapy and radiation at the same time; hence the vomiting, my hair falling out, and the sores in my mouth."

"If you die and your dad or your brother and sister find out that there was something that they could have done to help you but you didn't feel comfortable asking; they will have an even rougher time."

"You're going to tell them aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm telling your dad because you won't. I can't withhold this from him. I am going to make sure you're okay first and follow you home in case you decide to vomit next to the road again."

"I don't have any choice in this?"

"No. You have a family that absolutely adores you. You owe it to them."

"I think I can drive now."

"I'm still following you."

"That doesn't surprise me."

Hannah stood up but refused Alec's outstretched hand to help her. He noticed how pale she was, the sores at the corners of her mouth and how thin she was. As soon as Hannah was safely back at her apartment, he would be finding Mike. He hated being the barer of bad news.