I do not own White Collar in any way. All of it belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network.
Peter Burke walked down the steps, fully dressed in his usual suit and tie. It was a nice Sunday morning, the birds were singing there usual melody and the weather was beautiful, a perfect day.
Early in the morning when Peter had been up for a while, he got a call from Neal Caffrey, his partner also a con-man, saying that he was coming over to give Peter and Elizabeth some news. Peter didn't ask question and just simply said he could and went back to getting ready. Peter didn't know his world would come crashing down as fast as it did.
Peter sat at the table by Elizabeth and smiled, "What are you reading?" Elizabeth was reading an article in the paper, it had her full attention. Elizabeth laughed and looked up, "Comics." She put the paper down and asked, "How did you sleep last night?"
Peter nodded, "Very well, and yourself?" he grabbed a cup of coffee and drank it. Oh how I loved my coffee, Peter thought to himself and then Elizabeth replied, "Same, very well."
Elizabeth got up when they both heard a knock on the door. They already knew who it was, so she rushed to the door, anxious to hear what the news was. Peter couldn't lie, he was also anxious to what Neal had wanted to tell him. Was it good or bad? Peter didn't know and neither did Elizabeth, so when Neal was at the door, he didn't look happy.
Peter sighed instantly, "This isn't good, is it?" he asked Neal. Neal shook his head and then walked inside. Elizabeth looked at Peter, worried, and then pointed at the chair for Neal to sit down.
Neal smiled weakly his thanks and sighed as he sat down. He looked down at the floor and his feet as Elizabeth and Peter took there seats.
"What is it you wanted to tell me?" asked Peter, looking at Neal in his deep blues eyes, and now that he looked at them, they weren't as colorful as they usually were. There was something in them…fear?
Neal looked up at Peter and Elizabeth, "You know how lately I've been missing days of work?" Peter nodded and said, "You told me you just weren't feeling well. Is there another story behind it?" he started to stiffen. What if Neal was doing something that was illegal? Peter thought again.
Neal shrugged, "Its no lie. I haven't. I've discovered something…it was maybe a while back, but I finally decided to cowboy up and tell you." Peter's stomach kind of lurched. Oh no, this wasn't gonna be really bad, was it? He thought again. Elizabeth looked at Peter and grabbed his hand, she sighed.
Neal looked at them, his eyes were watery. Neal Caffrey was crying. This must be really horrible if it had made him cry. Peter looked away so he didn't have to embarrass Neal. He swallowed deeply and Neal finally came out and said it, "Peter, Elizabeth, I have stomach cancer."
Peter swore in that moment that his heart dropped. He could die from cancer. "How long?" Peter asked.
Neal just looked at him, "If I told you, you'd really yell at me." He blinked the tears away, he was okay again. Well, emotionally. Physically, he may not be okay. Elizabeth couldn't help it; she got up and wrapped her arms around Neal into a hug. Neal hugged her back, it's probably something he really needed right now.
When Elizabeth sat back down on the couch, Neal immediately got up. He was flushed and turning towards the hallway. Peter got up immediately after he ran out of the room. Peter looked at Elizabeth, confused, and she shrugged and then sighed, "He may not feel well, he may not want anyone to see his emotions, he also may not want to be around us right now."
There was this sickening noise in the background that made Elizabeth and Peter wince so he was getting sick. I had never noticed the odd behavior but now it all fell into place. No wonder he looked so thin and pale and no wonder he complained often of stomach aches, he would just brush them off though.
A few minutes later, Neal emerged from the bathroom, he was cleaned up. His breath had a nasty odor and Peter handed him some mouth watch and it didn't offend him at all because he was gonna ask for some anyways. After ten minuets, they acted like it had never happened. Neal fell awkward and silent though, staring off into space while Peter sat there, reading a book. Elizabeth had wandered off to go do some work for her catering business.
Neal and Peter sat there awkwardly, just doing there thing. Peter finally broke the silence by saying, "How does it feel?" Neal just looked at him, flatly and blank, and then replied to his question, "It feels horrible, someday its really hard to swallow. It kind of feels like my throat is closed off."
Peter nodded and then said, "Chemotherapy? What do you do in chemotherapy?" he looked at Neal, curious for an answer. Neal opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, and then spoke again, "They usually inject drugs into the veins, and it causes me to feel really tired. Vomiting, poor appetite, nausea, skin rash, tingling feeling all over your hands and feet, mouth sores…it all depends on the drugs they use."
Neal choked a little on what he was about to say, "I might lose my hair." He looked away. Everyone knew how much Neal loved style and how he looked, he always wore something that he liked and made a bold statement. He didn't care what others thought about him or what he wore, it was all him and liked what he wore. He loved occasionally playing around with his hair too.
"It's a lot to take in…" he said, blankly. The blue in his eyes was gone completely now. Peter nodded and then sighed, "It is."
