(Okay, I'm not stopping New Beginnings, partially because my self-appointed bodyguard threatens to kill me if I do. I'm writing this because if I don't, I never will and I'll always wonder why I didn't! (/angst)
The title? I was listening to the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. Go buy it. It's amazing.
This story is like, uber angsty and kinda... strange. But hey, when have I ever written anything normal?
NEVER! Good answer:D
If you can guess the pairing before the end of the chapter... good for you!
Characters © Nintendo
Cancer © ...nature?)
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My Sunshine
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He hung his coat up as he entered room 113. There was only one occupied bed in the room; he sat in the chair that was set up beside it.
He had heard about the first time she had become ill... but that was treated quickly. One operation, a simple test to make sure the infection was cured... she was back to work in less than a week.
But no, not this.
Cancer was now curable, yes; but treatment was still hell on the patient's body. She had been perfectly healthy- aside from the cancer- before they started curing her. Now... now was so much different... He couldn't believe that this was her on the hospital bed, pale, unconscious, after having undergone chemotherapy and surgery...
"She'll be fine soon... we're pretty sure we got all of the cancer, definitely positive we got most of it."
The visitor couldn't help but smile grimly. Fine... what did fine mean? Now, it was used to say that someone was doing well, but in ancient Greece- or was it Rome? He could never remember- fine meant you were diseased, a crook, a murderer...
Sometimes, it even meant you were out of your fucking mind.
Yes, "fine" would hardly be the word he would want to use to describe her.
-The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping,
I dreamt I held you in my arms...-
He remembered when he first learned that she was sick. First he had dropped his cell phone. His emotions then ruled him as he swore angrily for nearly five minutes, cursing whatever came to his mind that he could blame it on.
Finally, he had picked up the phone again, asking what she had been diagnosed with.
"Cancer... it's in her lungs."
The phone had been dropped again.
The happy memories he had had of her were instantly replaced by horrifying thoughts of what the future might be like. Radiation, which could make her hair fall out and weaken her... chemotherapy, which more than likely would make her sicker than she'd ever been before... and surgery.
Surgery would make it all too real... a permanent scar, to remind them all of the disease that was trying to claim her life...
"Hey, are you still there?!"
He had hesitated before picking up the phone again.
"I'm here... sorry. What... treatment will she be receiving?"
"I've got to admit," the voice on the other end of the line sighed, "it's spreading pretty fast, especially for only being stage two. We're going to put her through chemo to stop it before it hits the mediastinum... if the chemo works well enough, we may just do surgery to remove the rest."
-But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken...-
"Alright... thank you for telling me, Victor.."
He'd hung up the phone.
-And I hung my head and I cried.-
But he couldn't afford to cry now, not like he had then; not until she was well again. Then, if there were any at all, they would be tears of relief and joy, not sadness and hopelessness.
-You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...-
She was a little sick from the chemotherapy the first time he saw her, but she was upbeat, smiling.
"They said the chemo's working better than expected," she had informed him. "That's made them happy... not as happy as it's made me, of course!"
There was laughter then, when she was stronger. But the next time he saw her, she was not so well.
The chemo started making her throw up everything she ate; as a result, her already thin frame became little more than skin and bones. She barely had the strength to sit up; nevertheless, she did so when she saw him enter the room.
"I'll be fine," she brushed off his concern. "Just as long as you keep coming to see me, I'll be alright."
"You do know what fine means, don't you?"
She had smiled.
"Yes, I do... I'll keep fighting if you keep visiting. How's that?"
"A better definition." He too had grinned slightly, pushing back his worry at that time...
She did fight. He heard that the operation was very far from smooth... there had been tumors that they had missed when the did the CT scan. She had been under the knife nearly two times longer than they had expected.
"...but she's a tough one. She'll recover soon."
He couldn't help but wonder if it would come back... he hoped it wouldn't. Slowly, he wrapped his hand around her thin, pale one...
For a long while, he sat, thinking about all that had happened...
"...nh..."
He snapped out of his daze, watching her...
Her eyes slowly opened, still heavy with sleep. She blinked several times, trying to clear her foggy vision.
"Ah... you're awake."
She turned her head to locate the source of the voice. When she saw who it was, a small, tired smile graced her gaunt, pale face.
"You're here..."
Her voice was weak, but expressed her happiness.
Her visitor slowly picked up her hand, gently pressing her knuckles to his lips.
"Of course I'm here," he replied softly. "I wasn't going to leave you alone... not through this. I would have hated myself for doing it."
-You'll never know, dear,
how much I love you...-
"Thank you... for being here..." she sighed, lightly curling her fingers around her visitor's hand.
"You're welcome," he smiled gently. "I'll always be here for you..."
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An hour later, Sidney Kasal was walking down the halls of the recovery ward of Caduceus USA.
107.
The bed was empty.
109.
A middle-aged man who had come in for a kidney transplant. He would be fine.
111.
A child who needed a heart valve transplant. The operation had gone smoothly; she would be leaving in a day or two.
Sidney stopped in front of room 113.
After a slight hesitation, he opened the door and looked in...
What he saw certainly wasn't what he was expecting to see.
The patient had fallen asleep again; however, so had the visitor, still holding onto the patient's hand.
Sidney almost smiled; he didn't want to wake the visitor, but he had no choice. Visiting hours had ended...
The visitor was brought back to the realm of consciousness when Sidney quietly called his name.
"Mngh... oh, hello, Sidney..."
"Hello," Sidney responded in kind as the visitor let go of the patient's hand, slowly stretching his arms. "Visiting hours are over, you know..."
"...oh, they are? ...is it okay if I stay tonight? She... asked me to, Sidney."
Sidney paused, thinking...
-...so please don't take my sunshine away...-
"Alright, Greg. I'll make sure the people on staff know you're here so they don't give you a hard time."
Sidney left, leaving Greg Kasal alone with the peacefully sleeping Cybil Myers.
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(End the oneshot!
Wasn't that sweet? GregCybil is just... when it's written perfectly, it's SO ADORABLE. It makes me happy inside.
And I forgot a line of the song. I KNOW THAT; PLEASE DO NOT POINT IT OUT. You have no idea how fast I typed this silly thing. XD
Alright, back on track! New Beginnings will be updated by Labor Day... woo!
Review please!)