I must say this is one of the hardest stories I've ever writen, it's a very personal subject in a way, so it was kind of sad. But at the same time it was hard because I had to find out a whole bunch of information on the topic while still keeping it at an easy to understand level. I enjoyed writing every minute of it though. I dedicate this story to my best friend since grade two, Leah, who I'm so glad is still around to read it.
Nessie's POV
I step out of the shower and reach over to grab a towel. I start drying my hair with one end and with the other wipe a spot of steam off the mirror so I can see my self. I turn around to grab another towel to dry my body when I notice something in the mirror out of the corner of my eye. I pause and look closer. it wasn't an optical illusion. I have a huge bruise on my shoulder. I look and see I have a couple on my arms to. and one of my knee.
It was probably from running in the woods yesterday. I fell once (that would explain the bruise on my knee) and the tree branches were whacking me pretty hard. But I shouldn't be bruised. Not like this anyway.
I dry off and put on my pyjamas again before going downstairs. On the couch mom and Jacob sit, talking about something. I go over to mom and hold out my arm.
"What happened?" She asks.
"I think its from running yesterday but I shouldn't be bruised." I explain.
"Maybe Carlisle can look at it when he gets home." Jacob suggests.
Grandpas been on call at the hospital for the past two days, he should be home any minute now.
I agree then I go upstairs to lay down. Lately I've been feeling very tired. Normally I have loads of energy, but these past few days I've been sleeping more and more and deeper to. After the run yesterday I don't think I moved for hours.
Maybe something's really wrong with me... or maybe I'm just blowing it out proportion.
When I come back downstairs, my eyes still stinging from sleep, I see the living room is clear of anyone so I go and lie down on the couch again. Behind me are footsteps. I turn my head and see Grandpa coming in through the dinning room door, still in his lab coat and scrubs. I like seeing him like that, its interesting. He seems like more then just my Grandpa, but a life saver and someone that people count on everyday. "Hey hun, your mom said you wanted to show me something."
"Yeah," I say, pushing up the sleeves of my sweat shirt.
Grandpa gasps. "Nessie, I-I think I need to... do some tests." Grandpa chokes out.
"What kind of tests?" I ask.
Then dad comes through the doorway to the living room, a look of pure horror on his face. "Is that even possible?" He insists, his voice strangled and distant.
"I don't know Edward. I need to do the tests." Grandpa tells him, looking at the floor.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"We aren't sure yet Ness. We'll tell you once we know. No point worrying you over nothing."
This annoys me. And scares me. Something's wrong -something's very wrong- and they aren't telling me!
"I wont go anywhere until you tell me what's going on!" I try to sound firm, like I mean it, but my voice shakes with the fear building inside me.
Grandpa sighs, pushing me back onto the couch before sitting down beside me. "Honey, I don't want you to freak out, but I need your cooperation. I guess if you really want to know I'll tell you." I nod. "For the past few days you've had this weird smell, but I thought I was just being playing tricks on my self, because we've had a lot of patients at the hospital coming in with it and they end up having... and then you have all these bruises, and you've been sleeping a lot. I think... I think you have cancer."
His words are meaningless after he says cancer. Its not possible. It cant be. This cant be happening. I'm not human, not fully anyway, I cant get cancer. I've only ever had colds.
But I guess if your human enough to have blood pumping through your veins and a heart beat and a breath. Your human enough to get cancer.
"Cancer?" I squeak.
Grandpas voice is solemn as he says "Possibly. Leukemia. Blood cancer."
It sinks in for real now. I've never seen Grandpas calm so shaken before. His voice cracking and wavering. His eyes scared and panicked. I have cancer. I'm going to die.
Suddenly dads icy hands are on either side of my face, his eyes boring into mine. "You are not going to die." he says sternly, having heard my thoughts.
"But I have cancer." I whisper.
"We cant know until we go run some tests. We need to go." Grandpa tells us quietly.
Dad instantly is running across the room, at the door, shoving his feet in his shoes and grabbing the car keys.
"Wait!" I practically yell. "Hold on!" I dart up the stairs. I need to get everyone. They need to come. They need to know. They need to know because I have cancer and I'm probably going to-
Stop! I yell at my self in my head. panicking isn't going to help anything. You need to calm down. I end up deciding to get mom and Jacob and that's it. I bang on Jacob's door with enough force I'm surprised the door doesn't fall in. The door opens and Jacob stands there with his new Ipad in hand, looking very confused. I grab his hand pull him into the hall.
"We have to go." I say as I fast walk towards the stairs.
"Where?" He asks.
I know its selfish, but I cant force the words out, I cant tell him about my own possible death. "Ask Grandpa. I'll be down in a minute." I say. I feel terrible about making Grandpa have to repeat the awful news. But I just cant. I cant say it without breaking down and becoming immobile.
I run up to the third floor then, leaving Jacob at the stairs to the living room. I open moms door without knocking this time.
"What's up?" She asks when she sees me.
"We're going."
"Where?" She asks the same thing Jacob did.
"Hospital." Is all I mutter.
"Why?"
"I... I cant say." She follows me downstairs without anymore explanation and in seconds we're all at dads Volvo, getting in.
On the way to the hospital Grandpa explains to mom and Jacob what's happening. What might be happening. Jacob's hand tightens around mine, at first its like he needs something to hold onto while his world is spinning out of control, then it slowly softens to a squeeze of reassurance and a promise that he's there for me. The drive to the hospital is probably the longest of my life, though its only a few minutes the way dad is speeding down the wet roads of Forks. Nothing compares to the wait for the results that will come.
We march into the hospital like an army. And we're all linked somehow. Grandpas hand is on moms shoulder, moms hand in dads, my hand linked through dads and my other around Jacobs. We walk with a purpose. with a determination to prove that Grandpas wrong, even Grandpa wants to be wrong. This is something none of us want for me.
As we walk down the halls towards the lab one of the nurses comes around the same corner we're headed for.
"Back so soon Dr. Cullen?" She asks with a smile.
"I wasn't planning to, but its kind of an emergency. Are you headed somewhere in a hurry?" Grandpa asks.
"Nope, just making my rounds."
"Could you possibly go to the blood lab and get us a room?"
She bites her lip and looks concerned "I think their all booked. But I can try."
"Say its for me, tell them we'll be quick."
"Okay." She says. She try's to smile again before going back the way she came.
We wait outside the blood lab for only a few minutes. The minutes are agonizing though. We all want to be in action, we all want to be doing something to know more about this. The nurse comes out this time her smiles genuine. "Room five is open for ten minutes. Your free to use it."
"Thank you Sue. You don't know how grateful I am." Grandpa says.
"Oh, its no problem. May I ask what's wrong?"
"We're not really sure. Renesmee has these weird bruises and she's been really tired as of late. It might be an infection or something else..."
"That doesn't sound good. Well, you better go find out." Grandpa nods in agreement before directing us through the doors.
Once in the room, with the door shut behind us, Grandpas in action. Rushing at vampire speed from cabinet to cabinet, instructing me to sit down.
It only takes seconds for him to have all the things he needs for a blood test. I would usually be very scared of the needle about to be stuck in my arm. But right now I don't have any fear left. I've used it all to dread what's going to happen to me if this test comes back positive.
I even watch the tip off the syringe poke into my skin, barely feeling the little pinch. I watch the blood pouring into the first vile, then the second.
Grandpa tells us to go to his office while he goes to the lab and looks at the blood cells under a microscope.
Dad leads the way, obviously knowing where the office is. Inside the office, we stand huddled together while we wait for Grandpa to come. Mom and dads hands on my shoulders and Jacobs hand in mine.
Only a few minutes -ten at the most- later the door swings open and Grandpa enters, his face unreadable. I'm frozen, I feel like I'm encased in ice. I'm still as stone as Grandpa looks at us all. This is it.
He opens his mouth and time unfreezes, his words breaking the spell. "Its cancer."
All the blood drains out of my face, out of my entire body, as if seeping into the carpeted floor beneath my feet. My head spins and the room spins with it. The next thing I know my knees buckle and I black out.
Jacob's POV.
I feel Nessies grip on my hand loosen, then she starts to fall, I go to grab her but Bella already has, Edward is a statue, stunned beyond the ability to move.
"Edward? Edward!" Bella tries -unsuccessfully- to get his attention.
"Give her to me." I whisper, holding out my arms for Nessie. I need to hold her, I need to have her in my arms where I know she's safe from all danger, because I will never let anything hurt her. Then I realize, this is not something that will get her from the outside, but destroy her from the inside. I can't do anything. But I still need her to be near me right now.
Bella willingly hands her over and I curl her close to my chest, kissing her forehead. I take her over to one of the big chairs in the corner and keep holding her while Carlisle convinces Edward to come back to us, then leads him out to the car.
I stare at Nessie in my arms, wondering how something so bad can be inside such a good person, such an amazing girl.
I hear Bella talking on the phone, I'm gussing to the other Cullens, but I don't listen to the words. I just focus on Renesmees beautiful face.
A few minutes later and Carlisle is back, he checks on Renesmee, making sure she's okay. He says that her paulse is a little low but that just because she passed out. Bella comes to sit in the chair beside mine, strocking Nessies hair gently. Bella looks up at me and brushes my cheek. I look at her questioningly.
She holds out her finger so I can see a teardrop. I reach up and find I'm crying. I quickly brush away the tears with my sleeve.
"She'll be okay Jacob." Carlisle promies.
"I know. I know, I'm just... scared." I mutter.
"We all are Jake." Bella tells me quietly.
Nessie stirs and I look back at her in time to see her eyes open. Looking confused as she comes back into consiocuness.
Nessie's POV
Hands. Cold fingers stroking my cheek. Someone taking my paulse on my neck.
Then voices. Mom, Grandpa, Jacob. Worried and scared.
My eyes flutter open. I'm curled in Jacobs arms, sitting in one of the plush chairs in Grandpas office. Moms sitting beside us, and Grandpas standing beside her.
"Hi sweetie." Jacob says gently. His cheeks are dry now, but their tear stained. He was crying. I've never seen Jacob cry.
Mom tries to smile but its a febel attempt. A ghost like impersination of her smile. I realize dads not in the room.
"Stop." I mutter, struggling to sit up, then Jacob helps me.
"What?" Mom asks confused.
I don't want to slowly be brought back to my life. I don't want them to pretend that nothing happened. That nothings wrong. I need information. I need to know what's going to happen.
"Stop acting. I didn't forget. Tell me what I need to know."
Grandpa explains everything, going so far into detail that I cant keep up, and we discuss what treatment we want to do. We're going to try chemo and if that doesn't work raidiation. And if that doesn't work, theres trials; but Grandpa really wants to avoid them, saying that some of them do more harm then good.
"Do the others know?" I ask.
Mom tells me that she phoned them while I was out.
"And where's dad?"
"He went into shock kind of, I was able to get him aware enough to drag him to the car." Grandpa says.
I nod, that sounds very much like dad.
Theres only one thing left to ask now:
"When do I start treatment?"
SSo tell me what you think in the comments. I love reading you opinions. I will probably post the second chapter tomorrow or later today.
Soss