Before we commence the story, there are a few remarks I'd like to make:
Before we commence the story, there are a few remarks I'd like to make:
This story contains several references to sexual content, as well as some rather erotically tinted paragraphs – which are not viewable on , yet there are links you may follow on my profile page if you do wish to read the adult rated parts.
The pairing is Jet – the tanned freedom fighter – x Zuko – the firenation prince - , which means the story is all about gay romance. If you have a problem with such contents then leave now without making a fuss, please.
The characters in this story are strongly adjusted to fit the everyday life. Both head characters are now above the age of eighteen – legal, that means.
Genre: Romance, angst and gay-hate.
Full Summary: As the ignition of cancer down the depths of Zuko's veins survives, his body fails to handle the pressure of both chemo and life. And in their life-long relationship Jet and Zuko both choose to fight, each on their side of the storyline, yet is there really a way to cure the one disease which will drive humanity towards the abyss of extinction? Not every disease must be cured. Not every disease is a disease. And perhaps the mixture of lust and love between these two twined young men stands a chance against the loss of hope. Perhaps Jet is Zuko's one and only cure for cancer.
Rating: M on . R on .
Pairing: JetxZuko ('slash')
Cancer and gay-hate are both everyday subjects. And perhaps they are not suitable for every reader. Yet I do believe it wouldn't harm you at all if you read this and 'rewarded' me with at least one review/comment to give me your opinion.
With every four/five reviews a new chapter will be sent in. Yet this may also be infected by the current circumstances.
Even though this is most likely the most tragic fiction I've ever written, I do hope that you will take the time to enjoy this. There is plenty of lovey-dovey ZukoxJet action to your liking. :)
Everyone has lost someone to cancer. Everyone has been confronted with the harsh truth behind loss of a family member, a friend, an acquaintance, perhaps even a pet.
With this story I hope the point will be clear enough for everyone to understand.
Chapter 1
Cancer.
Breath refused to cooperate and got stuck somewhere down the depths of his throat as the doctor spoke the word he had least expected of all now. An awkward silence took hold of his heart as everyone else in the room gave him stares, looks, eyes wide open and mouth lightly parted, making all of this even worse than it already was. Cancer… Blood cancer! Leukaemia! Impossible. Cancer is something you can only find in books, something that happens to other people, old people, not him. Not to him.
'You're lying.' He brought out quietly, in desperation, as he actually knew very well a doctor would never lie to its patients about something this serious. Hands folded up to fists trembled and his eyelids followed their example. Everything on his body was shaking uncontrollably, as if the disease which had been hiding for so many years now finally dared to meet the outside world and release its power over him.
Another heartbeat skipped as the doctor shook his head, folding his hands together in misery, sympathy, pity for the victim. 'I wish I was, Zuko. But I'm telling the truth.'
Zuko felt his face turn pale, paler than ever before, and was about to scream just when the doctor interrupted him. 'I know this is hard for you. But you're actually a very lucky person. Leukaemia is not so bad, with the right amount of chemo once in a while and a steady amount of doctor visits I know we can cure you, Zuko. Trust me.'
Cancer… Cancer…
Zuko kept his mouth shut and pressed his lips together, fighting an urge to scream. An urge to cry. His mind told him to say something yet his body refused to cooperate. He suffered… cancer. The one disease which was certain to drive humanity towards extinction. The one disease which was impossible to prevent, and almost as impossible to cure. A few moments of silence struck their hearts as a tear left his eyelids, his legs turning to nothing more than jelly, the room around him fading away and letting darkness in through something what felt like a burst in his eye. He was going to faint, the doctor noticed, and he quickly jumped up to catch the boy as he fell.
Doctor Huang knew very well this was not the time to approach a patient like this. This boy needed some time to let it all come to him, some time to cry, be alone, or perhaps just think. Yet no matter how much the patient needed all of this, Huang knew they barely had any time left. They had to hurry on if they wanted to safe this life. Because aside of everything he said, this boy was not exactly "lucky". He was rather cursed. The cells had been spreading quickly, and they had been just a bit too late to discover the disease now. They'd be needing twice the amount of chemo they usually gave to a patient suffering of leukaemia. Leukaemia, also known as blood cancer.
A sting of desperation hit him down his abdomen as he felt the boy's muscles tense. They could have saved him. They could have found out earlier. If only he had been more aware, he could have taken Zuko under research sooner and they would have been able to stop the cells from dividing through his body like this. It was his fault the teen was about to start a fight for life. His fault.
The doctor had to ban those thoughts away from his mind for he wanted to speak again.
'We will have to keep you here tonight, Zuko.' he whispered, not too quietly, as he helped the boy to stand on his own feet again. It took Zuko a clumsy sway of the arms and a startling bend for the floor, yet he managed to stand again. Huang patted his back with only half a smile across his face. 'If that's okay with your uncle.'
The boy's guardian – although Zuko had left his parentally wing years ago - got up from his seat and helped the doctor supporting the fresh cancer patient. Together they allowed Zuko to slide down a chair, slowly regaining consciousness, as Iroh looked up to meet the doctor's gaze. 'Of course, doctor. Do whatever it takes to cure him.'
Zuko could hardly believe how cool his uncle could be after all of this. As if he hardly even cared. Another tear dripped down his cheek as his thoughts took off the free run, ran down the path he had always forbid himself to go, to think words he wasn't allowed to think. Maybe he's sick of taking care of you all your life long? Maybe he's angry for all those years he had to share his food with a boy who wasn't even his son? Maybe he'd always wanted to use the money spent on taking care of this orphan on a long vacation? Maybe…
A cry escaped his throat.
Maybe this guardian wanted him to die.
'There, there…' Iroh soothed him, patting his back gently as his other hand stroke him over the back of his head, flattening his silken locks of hair. The kindness within the touch brought a form of peace to the paler man's heart and made it almost impossible for him to think these horrible thoughts. 'It's okay… you may cry if you want to…'
The warmth of his uncle's rather large body and comfort of his shoulder he offered to cry on got the paler man over the edge and he let it all go. He cried, tears flowing over the soft skin covering his cheek and dripping over the very tip of his chin, absorbed by the cloth of his guardian's vest. He was scared, afraid of what might happen next. Afraid of when and how he would be confronted with the truth and forced into telling everyone he knew; his friends, his family, his partner. What would they do to him in here? Would they take him under surgery? Would they scan him to check on him some more? Would they inject some sort of medicine to make him better right away? Or, would they just let him to die? Maybe the situation was already out of hand. Maybe that's what they wanted to keep him in for, just so they'd be able to report the exact time of dying in their fucking files!
A shot of anger stabbed him down the abdomen. Oh no. He would not let them do that. Grief had stricken on his heart, though now the combination of anger and a strange form of jealousy changed all of his usually calm behaviour. 'I'm not staying here…' Zuko whispered quietly yet firmly, squeezing his uncle's rather large shoulder. The uncle who might just wanted to kill him as well. 'I want to go home. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight.'
Iroh looked up at the doctor, his gaze questioning. Huang simply shrugged as he shook his head and tapped Zuko's shoulder to get his attention. Bending down to his knees to face him better, he wiped some of the tears away with a napkin he had pulled from a tissue-box. 'If that's what you want, then I'll let you.' Of course. Of course he'd let him. They had no right to keep him in here if the patient was not willing to cooperate.
Once he got up again all of them kept silent for at least an hour, while the doctor moved Tueseday's patient to make room for this one instead. After all, treating cancer was more important than just examining a child's broken arm. And he felt personally guilty for this all. If he would fail in saving this person's life, he might just reconsider his rather important position in this hospital. He knew he could not bare the burden of losing another patient due to his own stupidities. Not again.
Zuko's cries could be heard through all of the west wing of the building, and they would not be set silent until the sun sunk below the horizon.
- - - - - - -
The annoying little ring tone of Zuko's cell phone woke him out of his sleep late that night. He grasped for the ridiculously tiny device and tried to read the name appearing on the screen. Sokka. Probably waking him for nothing once more. Just to ask "Yo, you asleep yet?". No matter how much he enjoyed his best friend's company, sometimes Zuko found him rather annoying. Like now.
Annoyed he tossed the gear back on its place, on the pedestal cupboard right next to his bedding. He turned himself back on his back and stared up for the ceiling. White. Pale. Much like his own skin. His hand reached up to cup his cheek and he felt the skin turning warmer, a blush crawling over his face. Poking for the exact spot Jet had kissed, to kiss him goodbye just a few days ago. How many days had it been? Three? If that's so, then he should be back from his business out of town now.
His gaze floated mindlessly around the room he slept in, faint rays of moonlight slipping in through the curtains. A hospital's bed, hospital's covert, hospital's door. Even a hospital's smell. Stench. Crawling up through the tunnel of his nose and finding a way for his brain, making him feel light headed. Even how the large windows with dirty white curtains let in so little light despise their size reminded him of the fact that he was in the hospital right now.
He had decided to stay here after all. The sooner they'd pet scan him again the better, first thing in the morning they'd wake him up just to drag him over to the scan room – he called it the scan room for now – so he'd be the very first patient of the day to be making use of it. He had never been pet scanned before in his entire life. In fact, he had never spent the night in a hospital before in his entire life. A sigh escaped his trembling lips, as he hid his face to his pillow to find some comfort. First night in a hospital. And most likely, not his last.
Finally the beeping of his cell phone stopped. Just to make room for a new kind of beeping.
Zuko gasped and shot up from the sheets as he heard that, nearly throwing the night lamp off the pedestal board in his eager. The melody of that one romantic song he kept forgetting the name of played through his head and his heart seemed to jump. His cell phone only gave that exact tone when Jet was the one to call.
He grabbed the device off its place and pressed his thumb to the green button, putting it to his ear as he awaited the voice on the other side to speak first. Just because he had temporarily forgotten how to say "hello".
'Zuko? You there, hun?'
'Yes, Jet, it's me.' he replied, as for the first time in more than five hours, a smile played over his lips.
'Oh, good. I'm sorry I'm calling this late, baby, but I just had to hear your voice again.' Zuko eyed for the digital clock next to him on the cupboard as Jet's words flowed down his ears. It was even later than he had thought it was; exactly two AM. He smiled and shook his head as he replied again.
'That's okay, Jet, I wasn't asleep anyways.'
He could hear his boyfriend chuckle on the other side of the line. 'I didn't expect you to be either, darling.' Heart made a little jump in joy as he said that. Darling. Oh, how lovely that word could sound if Jet was the one to say it.
'I missed you, baby, when do you think you'll be out of the hospital?'
A gasp nearly escaped Zuko's lips yet he managed to swallow it back in just in time. How did he know about the hospital? Uncle? Could it be that his uncle had actually told him about his nephew suffering on cancer? And that Jet actually reacted this calm to that? Cancer. He was in here for cancer. He was in here for cancer and tomorrow would be his first pet-scan. Tomorrow they'd calculate how big his first dose of chemo will have to be. They'd check on his insides to see in what horrible state his cursed veins were, they'd know whether all the treatments would be of any use at all to save his life. Maybe-
'Zuko?' The smooth voice snapped him out of his sorrow right away. Zuko stuttered a while before he actually managed to reply. 'Ahh- I don't know, really…' He had to swallow the urge to cry away for he wanted to continue. 'I… I'll have to ask the doctor…'
Jet had most likely heard the little jump his voice made, before ending the sentence ever so quietly. 'What's wrong, baby? Are you alright?'
Are you alright?
Of course he wasn't all right! He was fucking dying!
Another gasp.
Cancer… Cancer was often accorded with death. Cancer led to death.
He really was… dying.
A tear dripped down his chin, eyes squinted to tight lines, several sobs found a way out. Sobs as they shot up from his midriff, straight towards the opening of his mouth. Sobs loud enough to be heard by the one listening to his words.
'You're crying.' the voice spoke, a slight hint of surprise yet pity as much. Zuko nodded, yet as he once again that realized Jet couldn't possibly see him, he spoke. 'Yes. I'm sorry, I'm just… Like… I just…' Another deep breath before he could speak again. 'I missed you so much.' It was a lie. Although of course, he had indeed missed his partner a lot, it was not the reason for his tears shed in fear for his future agony. Jet soothed him a bit with loving words, and for just a moment Zuko sunk away in daydreams, eyes closing and oddly tight grip on his cell phone softening. He calmed down just a bit. Thanks to Jet, of course.
'It's okay, baby, I'm here for you.' the rebel said as to end his series of soothing words eventually. 'You'll be fine.'
That got Zuko over the edge once again. He closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fingers around the cell phone once more, a sob finding its way through towards his mouth and whimpering. For he knew that Jet wasn't telling the truth there. 'I have to go now…' he spoke with trembling lips, shivering as he inhaled a deep breath, which got stuck somewhere down the back of his throat and caused him to release an odd kind of gasp.
He quickly flattened his thumb to the red button, putting a hold to the conversation. More sobs tortured his stomach as he cried, hiding his face to his pillow, the cell phone scattering down on the hospital's floor with a sharp whack. It was almost immediately after he had hung up on his partner, Jet called again. And again. And again. For the next two hours, non stop, leaving at least ten messages on his voicemail.
He would listen to them all later. Just not now.
Zuko dug his fingernails down the softness of his pillow as a cry in desperation was muffled down the cloth.
He… needed to be alone now.
This is my least favourite chapter. Obviously.
I do hope that you are eager to read more and leave a review to express your kindness. It will be of great influence to when the next chapter will be submitted.