Part Two

The fourth floor was a bit more comfortable looking than the emergency room. The walls were all painted that cool sea green that Leo and Piper saw before and the floors were carpeted in a thin, cheap dark gray. A plump nurse sat behind a desk. Her scrubs were decorated with the characters of Winnie the Pooh and she had a large grin on her face. "Hello, and how may I help you today?" she greeted.

"Um, we were told to come up here from the E.R. We're supposed to see Doctor Chang." Piper explained.

"Oh!" realizations sparked in the nurse's hazel eyes, "Yes, if you please just take a seat behind you, I'll let her know you're up here."

"Thank you," Leo said before he steered his family towards a small collection of chairs.

Chris nervously wrung his hands together. He glanced at his mother, her eyes were still wet with unshed tears and her shoulders quivered as she tried to keep them in. His father couldn't sit still, his anxiety making him pace and nibble at his fingernails. He looked at his older brother and frowned. Wyatt was unnaturally quiet. Curled up in the small chair, he looked like young boy rather than the seventeen-year-old man he really was. "Wy?" Chris whispered.

Blue eyes slowly drifted towards him. "You okay?" Chris inquired.

Wyatt chuckled mirthlessly, "I'm pretty sure I should be asking you that, Kit."

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that ridiculous nickname." Chris said lightly, pushing his brother's knee in mock anger.

"Oh, you know that's never gonna happen," Wyatt answered.

Chris rolled his eyes but settled back into the chair. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Are you okay?" Chris repeated.

"Yes, I'm fine, Chris. I find out that my baby brother could have cancer, yep, perfectly fine."

Chris narrowed his eyes, "I'm not a baby."

"Out of that, you pick that? Chris, you could have cancer and you don't seem fazed!"

Chris sighed, chuckling when he heard his mother hiss at Wyatt to be quiet, "But me falling apart now wouldn't do me any good, would it?" Chris ran a hand over his face, "I-I have to take this one step at a time. Just...one step at a time."

Wyatt frowned and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the nurse calling out his brother's name. The family stood as one and headed towards the smiling nurse. She led them down a short hallway and opened a door before announcing "Doctor Chang, the Halliwells."

"Ah, yes, thank you," A young woman swirled around in a computer chair. She had a small smile on her face as she stood and greeted Piper and Leo with a firm handshake. She was a couple inches shorter than Piper and had a short, cropped bob that framed her face. "Hello, I'm Doctor Jennifer Chang, but please call me Jen. I understand that this can be a stressful time and I know the past few hours have been some long ones," she said, "Now, with Chris's blood results and his symptoms, I would like to request to do a bone marrow biopsy today."

"What is that exactly?" Piper asked.

"What I would do is insert a needle into Chris's pelvis and withdraw a small amount of fluid from his bone marrow. I will then go in with a different kind of needle and withdraw a section of bone for further tests. There will be some discomfort and you'll probably lay in bed all day. I feel that we should figure out what we're dealing with as soon as possible."

Piper glanced at Chris, "Alright."

"Okay," Jen said as she turned back towards her desk and began taking out sheets of paper, "If you could please sign these papers and while you're doing that," twisting, she grabbed a paper hospital gown, "Can you please change into this, Chris?"

Chris took the gown, "Bathroom?"

"Three doors to the left, dear." She said, gesturing, "Also, go to the room right across from the bathroom. That's the examination room and that's where we'll do the biopsy."

Chris nodded and left. Piper looked up at the doctor, "What's the percentage of my son having cancer?"

Jen sat down in her seat and frowned, "Right now, Piper, your son most likely has leukemia. Right now, I'm merely trying to figure out what kind he has and what's the best way to combat it. But I will do everything in my power to get him into remission."

Piper let out a shaky breath and nodded before she bag scribbling her signature on each of the white pieces of paper.

The metal bed was icy beneath his chest, the thin hospital gown doing nothing to keep it out. "Now, Chris, this should help numb the area a bit," Jen said, and Chris winced when he felt a needle prick his lower back, "And this might feel a bit weird, it's the disinfectant."

Chris's face pulled into a frown as he felt his lower back slathered with a wet substance. "Kit, it looks like your back is bleeding." Wyatt stated.

Chris lifted his head so he could see. "That is just gross."

Jen laughed, "If you could, lay back down. Now, it's important that you lay still."

Chris nodded and settled again. He heard tools clanging together and the sharp snap of latex gloves being put on. He couldn't help but tense when he felt the doctor's hand on his back. "Relax, it will hurt less if you do."

Chris let out a deep breath and clenched his eyes shut. His eyes opened when he felt another hand slip into his. Wyatt sent him a small smile before squeezing Chris's hand. "Thanks," Chris mouthed.

Wyatt didn't say anything, only tightened his grasp. Chris took one more deep breath before he felt the needle break skin. He clenched his hand, knowing that he was crushing Wyatt's hand in the process, but the pain was excruciating. It felt as if a knife was being plunged into his lower back.

"Just a few more minutes,"

Chris squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the needle slowly being withdrawn from his body. It was only mere seconds when he felt another, larger, needle enter his body. He gasped when he felt it dig into his pelvis. It twisted and twisted until he was deep into the bone. The needle was quickly withdrawn. "Okay, I'm going to press this gauze to your back then I'm going to need you to turn over to apply some pressure on it, okay?"

Chris weakly nodded. He gritted his teeth when Jen put the gauze on the insertion spot. "Okay, turn over now, dear."

Chris did so slowly. He hissed when his lower back hit the table. "That site is going to be sore for a few days," Jen explained, "Don't wash the site for 24 hours. There might be some discomfort but that can be eased with some Tylenol. Your back might hurt for a few days so just be easy but you should be able to do your normal day-to-day activities."

"When will the results be back?" Leo inquired.

"In a couple of days," Jen responded, "I'll call you when they do to set up a meeting to sit down and discuss what's going to happen. Okay, dear, you should be able to sit up."

Chris did so, a grimace painted on his face. Jen slowly pulled off the gauze and nodded when she saw no blood on it. "Okay, you can go and get changed dear. Maybe your brother should go with you just to be on the safe side."

Chris nodded and stood with his brother's aid. Slowly, the two Halliwell boys shuffled their way out of the examination room. "Expect a call within 24-48 hours," Jen said, "And hopefully when you come in again, I'll have answer for you and your children."

Piper smiled weakly, "Thank you, doctor."

"Go home and rest," Jen replied, shaking Piper's hand before shifting to Leo's, "It's going to be a long couple of days and possibly months, get the rest while you can. You can wait for your children by the restroom, you're done for today."

The call came 38 hours after the biopsy. Piper picked up the phone the second it rang, her knuckles white as she listened to Doctor Chang on the other side. Once the short call was done, she quickly ushered her family into the SUV to go back to the fourth floor of the hospital, and Chris had an uneasy feeling that it was going to become a place he would become quite familiar with shortly.

Jen was waiting for them in the lobby when they stepped off of the elevator. She welcomed them with a warm smile and for a fleeting moment Chris thought that she had good news behind the expression. They were crammed into an office room. A large desk was littered with books and paperwork. Two chairs sat in front of the desk and Chris could spot the two they threw into the room for him and his brother.

"Now," Jen started, taking her seat behind her desk and opening up a folder, "We got your test results back and, I'm sorry, but Chris has what we call A.L.L. or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia."

Chris felt his world shatter. He had been foolishly, childishly holding on to that thin thread of hope for the past day and half. Hell, even though he wasn't raised in the Wiccan lifestyle, he looked up and prayed to the Goddess that he didn't have cancer.

"This is a leukemia that is common with children, specifically children and caucasians. However, Chris is a bit out of the usual window that we see children with A.L.L, so with your permission, I would like to send a bit of blood to a doctor that looks at chromosome abnormalities for a few that we know that can trigger this kind of disease to show up in teens. I would also like to, at a later date, to do a lumbar puncture on your son to see if the disease has progressed to his spinal cord or brain."

"Oh God," Piper gasped, "What if it did?"

Jen lowered the folder, "To be frank, it wouldn't be good. It could result in seizures and other symptoms."

"What if he has these abnormalities?" Leo asked.

"Mattering on the abnormalities, it could change the way we fight it." Jen explained, "And the prognosis of the disease. If we know things might appear later on, we can prepare for it. By looking at Chris's blood counts and smear we've isolated the specific type of A.L.L we're dealing with. Chris's leukemia is isolated to his B-cell lymphoblasts."

"What does that mean?" Wyatt said.

Jen sent a small smile at Wyatt, the older brother had his arm wrapped around his stun brother's shoulder. "It merely means that your brother's body is producing too many B-cell lymphoblasts, which are kind of like white blood cells but they're premature, and since your brother's body is overproducing these cells, they're overcrowding his healthy ones and basically snuffing them out."

"How do we beat it?" Piper said.

"I'm won't be able to draw up a specialized treatment plan until I do a spinal tap and get the results about the chromosomes as they could skew the treatment heavily if they come back with certain results. For now, I'm planning the usual chemotherapy. You will have the option to do it here at the hospital here on this floor, or if you have a clinic closer to your home, you may be able to do it there. There will also be chemo in the form of tablets that Chris will have to take every day. Sadly, with this being leukemia, we can't attack a mass in the body. Chris's cancer is literally all throughout his body. So weekly, I would like for him to come here to get chemotherapy specifically to attack the cells in his spinal cord and brain, regardless of the results from the spinal tap. I'm also going to prescribe radiation chemotherapy targeting on his head to make sure no leukemia cells escape the other forms of chemotherapy."

"When-" Leo paused and swallowed, "When do we need to come back in for the spinal tap?"

"In a few days?" Jen said, glancing at her desk calendar, "Maybe on this Thursday, the twenty-third at 2pm? I'll send out the results that day and we should get them on Monday so we'll schedule a follow-up then to set up treatment plans and go over the side effects and what to expect. Do you have any more questions?"

"What are my chances?" came the whispered question.

Jen looked at Chris, a sad smile on her face, "I wish I could give you an answer, dear, but I can't without the last few tests. Monday, I'll give you your chances, but regardless of them, you're going to fight this and you're going to beat it. Keep up the fight and you're eventually beat it, you just got to keep telling yourself that you're going to be victorious."

Chris mutely nodded, his hands nervously rubbing together in his lap. . "Anything else, doctor?" Piper inquired softly.

Jen smiled, "No. I'll see you all Thursday."

"Thank you," Leo said, holding his hand out to help his wife stand. He sent a thankful smile to Wyatt as he helped Chris out the door. "Oh Leo," Piper leaned against her husband, "Our baby boy."

"Everything will be okay," Leo reassured, "Everything is going to be okay," Leo said again; although, this time, he wasn't sure if he was speaking to Piper or himself.

Family gatherings were quite common within the Halliwell family. They always happened on Sunday; but also whenever they could find time in their busy schedules to see each other. The manor itself was a place of gathering within the family. All the children met there after school, excited to eat Piper's cookies and other baked goods as they doled through their homework. Cousins weren't merely cousins, they were siblings, and aunts and uncles were parents. So, when Piper called for everyone to meet up at the manor in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, they knew something was wrong.

Paige was the last to arrive, her twins and husband – Henry – joining Phoebe and Coop with their three daughters. "Do you?" She asked her sister.

Phoebe shook her head, "Maybe Chris's test results?" she guessed, "Penelope, please sit still," she scolded, attempting to still the small three-year-old on her lap.

"I wanna play, Momma," Penelope whined.

"Me too!" Helen – Paige's youngest – called out.

"Not now, your Aunt Piper will be here in a few seconds." Paige replied, "Sit on the couch with Patty and sit nicely."

Helen huffed, her dark brown eyes flashing with anger before stomping over to the couch and plopped down beside her sister. The last two children – Prudence and Palmyra – sat beside Coop's legs. His hands were gently weaving through his long brown hair, the two girls smiling and chatting with their father.

The conversation stopped though when the eerie, loud squeak of the front door was heard. "You can go upstairs if you want, Peanut." Piper was heard.

"I think I, uh, just go outside for a bit, if that's okay."

"That's fine. Can Wyatt sit with you?"

"Yeah."

The door clicked shut and everyone expected Piper and Leo to arrive in the living room; but it was a few minutes before they showed up. Piper's eyes were lined in red and Leo looked as if he aged twenty years in the matter of hours. "Oh honey, was it anemia?" Phoebe said, "At least we know what's wrong now."

"Phoebe," Piper collapsed into an armchair, "He has cancer, Phoebe. Cancer."

"What?" Paige exclaimed, her eyes wide, "Back up. Cancer?"

"Chris was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia." Leo said monotone, "He—" He cleared his throat, "He goes Thursday for a spinal tap and we get his treatment plan on Monday."

"No, no," Phoebe stammered, her eyes looking at her sisters, "He can't."

Piper held her hand over his mouth but nodded. "My baby boy has cancer…my baby boy could die."

Chris kept looking at his hands. He wasn't sure why. Perhaps he thought he could see the deadly disease that was pumping through his veins. "I guess our summer will have some excitement," muttered Chris.

Wyatt sighed, "Kit. Not funny."

"Got to find the silver line in this shit cloud," snorted Chris, shifting to lean against Wyatt, "Leukemia….why do I always get the end of the stick and you get candy and rainbows?"

"I don't count my little brother having a deadly disease as candy and rainbows."

"You're not the one with Death lingering over him."

"You're not going to die, I won't allow it." Wyatt stated, wrapping an arm tightly around Chris.

Chris smiled sadly at his older brother, "You know if I do kick the can, there won't any Charmed Ones left…maybe one of the girls will take my place."

"No one is going to take your place." Wyatt replied hotly.

"Kind of have to if I'm six feet under,"

"Stop talking like you're going to die!"

"It's a possibility!" Chris yelled, standing up as he did "I could die. Plain and simple."

"No, you won't," argued Wyatt, "Damn it Chris, we will find a way whether it be magic or not, you will live."

Chris laughed mirthlessly, "Magic won't do anything, this is a mortal disease and has to be fought by mortal means."

"The Powers have to make an exception. You're Chris Halliwell, the next in line to be a Charmed One, they have to let you live."

"That don't have to do anything, Wy. Maybe this is part of this master plan. Perhaps I'm destined to die. We don't know what goes on in their damn minds." Chris said, "Instead of dying a few years by a demon, I merely die in a hospital bed as my own damn blood suffocates me!"

Wyatt stood up slowly and gently grasped Chris's arms, "Kit, stop. Just…stop."

"Why?" Chris hissed, "Why should I stop? For a month, I've dealt with nosebleeds, fatigue and random bruises, and instead of getting relief, I only get told that I have months of fucking pain and agony in front of me. Of getting poison pumped into my veins and going to bed every night not knowing if I'll wake up in the fucking morning!"

Wyatt tightened his hold on his little brother, "Chris, calm down."

Chris glared at Wyatt, his eyes narrowing to little slits, "I am calm. If I wasn't, I would be a little child and be weeping at your feet."

"Damn it Chris, you can cry, it won't damn you. You just found you have cancer for God sakes, a few tears are expected."

"Why? So Mom can start sobbing? So Dad can become all silent and tear up?" Chris sighed, his head falling to rest against Wyatt's shoulder, "So you can become all brooding and feel like your failed me for some unfathomable reason?"

Wyatt wrapped his arms tightly around his little brother but said nothing. There was nothing he could say. His brother was in a fight that he couldn't help in. All Wyatt could do is stand behind him and hope that his brother had enough determination, fight, energy and luck to come out on the other side whole.

He avoided his family by orbing into his bedroom via the backyard. Chris knew that his family was distraught and he should be down there; but, he couldn't. His head pounded and, since the doctor visit, his heart is racing and his stomach was churning. He knew that there was something wrong with him. He only hoped that it was something that was easily fixed and wouldn't take his life away.

Cancer was something that never came to his mind. He was a Halliwell. Their worries were demons and magic; not their blood cells. Illness was something that was thankfully few and far. Sniffles and coughs were yearly things, an influenza and strep throat infection from time to time, the usual that is with every family.

None of his ancestors, to his knowledge had contracted cancer, although Chris wasn't entirely sure any of them lived long enough for them to deal with it. Perhaps his family has carried a deadly gene that had activated in his body and no one knew.

Laying down on his bed, Chris looked up at the clean, crisp white ceiling. He felt as he has before. Tried and ready to slip into slumber, worried only to wake up to a blood covered pillow and new bruises on his arms. But now, it felt as if a weight was resting upon his chest – slowly suffocating him.

Closing his eyes, he turned on his side, his hands clutching the blue fabric beneath them. He felt the sharp sting of tears long before he felt them choke him. With a shaky fist, he lifted it to his mouth and bit into the soft flesh before releasing a scream that spoke of pain and of agony to come.

"Mommy, where's Chris?"

Phoebe looked down at her youngest child. At the age of three, Penelope Marie Halliwell was a surprise that Phoebe welcomed with open arms and lived with a hoard of older cousins and two older sisters; but yet, Penelope was always most enthusiastic going to the manor for only one person: Chris. The youngest Halliwell male was the one that had the privilege of watching most of his younger cousins as he wasn't as involved in sports like Wyatt was. Gifted with fingers that plucked strings beautifully, Chris somehow inherited the musical talents of his Aunt Paige. Musical talents that put smiles on the family's face as fingers play the old grand piano that put grins on the young girls' lips. While Wyatt was busy with football, baseball or basketball and the adults were at work or dealing with a demon, Chris sat in the manor overlooking five little girls were sisters in all but blood. Chris was his mother's son – watching over the family with no care to himself.

"He's –" Phoebe didn't have an answer for her daughter, no matter how much she wished she could give Penelope one.

"I'm right here, Aunt Phoebe,"

Phoebe looked up. Her nephew stood in the doorway, a wary, weary smile on his face as he gently hugged Helen – Paige's eldest at the age of nine. "Chris!" Penelope yelled from her lap.

Phoebe chuckled as Penelope struggled to get out of her hold. Gently, she placed the toddler on the floor, the young girl instantly running towards her cousin. Chris chuckled and easily picked her up and placed her on his hip. "Hi Penny, how are you today?"

"I can count up to a hundred now!' Penny exclaimed, obviously proud before she quickly became subdued, "Aunt Piper says you sick. You don't look sick."

Chris sighed, "Only slightly; although, I have a bit of a battle ahead of me to get better."

"Like with a demon?"

Chris smiled, "Yes, like a demon."

"Then, you should tell Aunt Piper to go find a spell to make it go boom!"

Chris glanced at his mother when he heard a muffled sob. Turning back towards Penelope, Chris frowned, "I wish it was that easy, Penny. But this is a demon only I can vanquish."

"Oh." Penelope laid her head on Chris's shoulder, "You'll win though. We always win."

Chris tried to smile but he knew it came across more as of a grimace. He clutched his cousin closer but chose not to say anything in fear of adding the pain of a promise broken along with his death.

The doctor's office nestled on the fourth floor of the County Hospital was become quaint and familiar to Chris. He shuffled in with his family in the early hours, the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon. His mother tried to keep them going as if this was just a quick pit stop before heading to school and not that Chris was going to get a needle inserted into his spinal cord.

"Good morning," Jen greeted, a tired smile on her face and a thermos clutched in her right hand, "Sadly, running a bit late this morning. If you want to go to the examination room, Chris honey, change into the gown that should be in there and I should be there by time you're done."

Chris walked down the small hallway and entered the examination room. The lights turned on by movement, the bright flash blinding him momentarily. With a grimace, he picked up the thin, sea-green paper gown and shuffled towards the bathroom. By time he got back, clutching the back of his new wardrobe to keep his modesty, Doctor Chang was standing there with a kind smile and a bit more awake.

"Come lay on your side over here, honey." Jen said, gesturing towards the long, metal bed.

Chris laid on his side, his hand cushioning his head from the harsh chill of the metal. "Curl up in a ball," Jen softly instructed, guiding Chris to the correct position.

"Now, I'm going to be inserting the needle into your spinal cord, do not move. You won't feel a thing, but you can't move, alright?"

Chris nodded and let out a deep breath. He felt the sharp prick of a needle breaking the skin and then blissfully nothing. His brows furrowed however when he felt an unusual sensation as Jen, he assumed, gathered the spinal fluid. "Alright, lay there, I'm going to inject a bit of a caffeine in. Drink caffeinated liquids throughout the day and tomorrow so you don't get a headache, if you do get one, just lay down and relax. You can go change now if you want."

"Anything else? Can he go to school today?" Piper asked as Chris scampered out of the room.

"He can, just take it easy. I'll give him a note to get out of P.E. for the rest of the week. He should carry a bottle of soda or tea and drink it, maybe stop at McDonalds on the way and grab a coffee before going to school. If he does that, he should be fine. This isn't as debilitating as the bone marrow biopsy." Jen explained, "Just come back if he starts experiencing pain or the insertion site starts leaking."

Piper nodded and stood, Chris's backpack in her hand. Chris slipped back into the room, black circles under his eyes as always and a tired smile on his lips. He took his backpack from his mother's hand and easily slung it over his shoulder, a hint of anxiety seeping into the action. Jen smiled, "I'll see you on Monday in the afternoon. 4pm good for you?"

"Yes, we'll come right over after they get out of school."

"That will be perfect," Jen said, "Have a good day, all of you. And remember Chris, if you get a headache, lay down. Here's your note to get you out of P.E."

Chris nodded as he took the note, "Thanks."

"You know, you don't have to go to school today," Piper whispered as they walked through the hallway.

Chris sighed as they entered the elevator, "I probably won't be able to go to school in a few days when I start chemo….I just…want to be normal as long as I can before this reality comes and shatters the small shred of fantasy that I'm clinging to."

"Peanut –"Piper frowned.

Chris sent this mother a small smile, "Who would've thought, I want to go to school. I only have a couple more weeks before school is done. And considering the fact that I will probably be part machine by time sophomore year comes about I probably won't be able to attend."

"Don't say that!" Piper hissed, "You could be done with it by time school starts."

The elevator dinged loudly as the doors slid open. Chris chuckled mirthlessly, "Now who's holding onto fantasy," he muttered before walking past his parents and headed towards the car without a backward glance.