Disclaimer: I don't own all saints.
A/N: Italics = their thoughts.
"This is terrible" Adam said rubbing his head worried
"Did Jo say anything to you?" Mike asked concerned "She seemed pretty quiet and looked like she was about to break down again" Mike added
Steve shook his head "She said nothing, Jay was the one to tell me and Jo was pretty angry and upset that he did" they all walked back into the HQ and sat around sadly.
"Should we go see her?" Adam asked, he had no idea what to do about Jo and he knew that nothing he'd say would make her feel better
"No, she needs to spend time with Lacie" Steve said sadly
"Have they given her a prognosis?" Mike asked
"She's got weeks to one month to live. She's only three, she should not have to deal with all this" Steve said sadly. Mike and Adam were lost for words, they didn't know how to respond to it.
"She needs time off" Mike confessed
"You really think that she's going to take time off?" Steve asked knowing that Jo wouldn't accept taking time off
"No, but it's there if she wants to" Mike said
Jo was lying down with Lacie in her hospital bed; she had a huge room all to herself. Lacie had picked out the room that she wanted to stay in, it had blue sky and light green grass, there were unicorns and fairies painted as well they looked like they were dancing around in the clouds She liked the room because it made her feel like a princess in her own little world.
A doctor walked in shortly after, Jo looked up and knew it was time for Lacie's next treatment. She looked down at Lacie who was lying next to her oblivious to what was happening and to interested in reading her picture book. Jo gently pulled the hair of her face behind her ear resulting in Lacie looking up at her "We have to give you more medicine to make you better" Jo explained to Lacie
Lacie shook her head "I don't want it, it makes me feel sick" Lacie complained
Jo hopped of the bed and tried to hide the tears back "I know hun, but it will make you better" Jo said trying to smile and show Lacie there was nothing to be scared about
The doctor came over carrying a syringe in his hand "No" Lacie said crying squirming away from the doctor
"You're going to need to hold her" The doctor said to Jo
"I….I can't" Jo said hesitating to hold her young sister down against her will
"You need to now" The doctor said sternly. Jo wiped the tears from her eyes and climbed back into bed with Lacie; she held her in between her chest and her upper arm and began to soothingly rub her forehead. Lacie's crying started to die down and she softly started to become weaker as the medication progressed through her body.
A few hours later
"Hey" Jay said as he walked through the door carrying a bag of food. Jo looked up and showed a small smile "How is she?" he asked placing the food on a seat and moving closer to his sisters.
"She just had another dose a few hours ago" Jo said as she continued to rub Lacie's forehead
"Okay" Jay said smiling as he sat on the side of the bed next to Jo's body. "You need to go home, have a shower. Get a few hours sleep"
Jo shook her head "I need to stay here"
"No, you need to get out of this place for a few hours" Jay said sternly
"I can't" Jo said "I can't…What if I leave and she dies and I'm not here"
"Jo" Jay said sadly
She got up and took her bag with her "I'll go have a shower" she said as she walked out of the doors. She continued walking down the corridor and caught the lift to the HQ level. Walking inside she noticed no one inside, she breathed in relief and had a long hot shower. Walking out all fresh she was greeted by Steve and Mike, her heart sank. "I uh..I had to have a shower" she stumbled to say
"That's fine" Mike smiled. Jo let out a small smile in response
"How's Lacie?" Steve asked carefully
"She had her…her uh.." Jo was saying before she could feel herself falling against her will. Almost instantly she opened her eyes to find herself in Steve's arms. He carefully placed her on the couch; she took a deep breath and became familiar with her surroundings again.
"You okay?" Steve asked concerned as he checked her pulse
"Yeah" Jo said starting to sit up
"You know why you would have fainted?" Mike asked concerned
Jo nodded her head "I haven't eaten anything proper in a few days" Jo said rubbing her head
Steve sighed and Jo shot him a look "How am I supposed to eat Steve?" Jo asked "How can I eat when my little sister is dying right in front of me?" She asked shouting. Jo picked her bag up and stormed out of the room, Steve went to follow.
"Just leave her Steve" Mike said following Steve. Jo had arrived back up to Lacie's room, Jay was waiting for her.
"I got our food heated up" Jay said handing her a small container of Chinese food
"I can't eat" Jo said denying the food
"Eat" Jay said sternly. They both sat there in silence watching Lacie, Jo ate her food slowly but eventually she ate it all. "I'm going to bring one of those beds in here for you tonight" Jay said getting up
Jo shook her head "I'll sleep up with Lacie. She'll want me sleeping with her"
"You can't sleep up there. It's not comfortable" Jay said concerned
"Lacie's never comfortable anymore" Jo responded.
"Shit, I left my phone at home" Jay said realising when he went to pull it out to send a text to a friend
"Go, go get it" Jo said sitting beside Lacie
"I don't want to leave you alone again" Jay said concerned
"It's fine" Jo said quietly. Jay went and gave Lacie a kiss on the forehead and then Jo, he pulled her in close and held her tightly.
"It's going to be okay" he said rubbing her head soothingly. She nodded her head and pulled away. Jay left and Lacie started to wake, Lacie started vomiting and Jo had to help her through it. There was sweat dripping of her forehead, Jo's emotions started to play havoc with her again. An overwhelming amount of nausea hit Jo. She tried to take deep breaths and concentrate on Lacie. It got too much for Jo to handle and she could feel vomit rising to her throat as she watched Lacie throw up. She let go of the bowl in Lacie's lap and ran into the bathroom and started retching but nothing would come out. She held her hand to her head and took deep shaky breaths.
Steve walked in to check on Jo and saw Lacie still throwing up "Hey" he smiled as he approached her. She held the bowl in her lap, she was pale and her hands were shaking lightly. "You finished?" he asked her picking up the bowl. She nodded her head and Steve wiped her mouth. He heard the sound of someone dry-retching; he looked over to see the tiny ensuite door open. He walked in seeing Jo kneeling in front of the toilet trying to throw up.
"Hey" he said as he bent down beside her, he began to rub her back soothingly trying to comfort her. "Are you okay?" he asked her concerned
Jo shook her head and sat up staring at him "I feel so sick, I feel like I'm going to throw up, but nothing will come up"
"That'd be because you haven't eaten anything to throw up" Steve explained to Jo
She shook her head "I had Chinese for din-." She was explaining before she leant over the toilet throwing up the food inside her stomach. Steve was concerned as he sat there rubbing her back. "Please, don't worry about me, check on Lacie"
"She's okay. I need to make sure you're okay" Steve said helping her sit against the all
"I'm fine" Jo said unconvincing
"When was the last time you got a decent night sleep?" Steve asked concerned
"Last night" Jo lied
"So, how many hours did you get?" Steve asked
"2-3" Jo said quietly
"Why don't you go home for tonight?" Steve asked
"I'm scared to go home" Jo confessed
"Why?" Steve asked concerned as he sat beside her
"I want to be with her when she dies. I'm scared I'm not going to be here, when I'm at work I get scared every time I get a phone call it's going to be the hospital telling me she's gone and I'll never have gotten to say goodbye" Jo confessed. It took all her courage to let that out and Steve knew he was lucky that Jo was opening up to him
"It's going to be okay. You've got so many people who are here for you, all you have to do is call us and will come, it doesn't matter what time it is" Steve told Jo
Jo looked up and wiped the tears away with her hand "Thanks" she said as she began to get up and walk out with Steve following closely behind her
"Are you sick too?" Lacie asked Jo
"A little" Jo said as she placed her hand on her stomach. She cleared her throat "This is Steve, I work with him" Jo said pointing at Steve
"I'm Lacie and very sick" Lacie said playing around with the sheets. Jo put her hands up to her head and rubbed it worriedly
"Awh. That's no good, is it?" Steve asked her
"Nope. I'm always sick" Lacie admitted to Steve "And my sis is always here and so is my brother"
Steve looked over to Jo who had her head down "Well, you are a very brave girl aren't you?"
Lacie nodded her head up and down again "Do you save people, just like my sister does?"
"Yeah I do" Steve smiled. All of a sudden Lacie's heart rate started to increase higher than it should be and she started to close her eyes
"Lace" Jo shouted as tears began to fall from her eyes "Lace!" she shouted as she stood next to her bed. Steve quickly switched on and placed her bed into a straight angle and began to try and wake her up. Jo was crying and shouting Lacie's name, Steve was frantically pushing the call button that was beside the bed. Steve had to start compressions and Jo was trying to take over, a swarm of nurses and doctors came in one relieving Steve.
Jo was still hysterically crying "Jo" Steve said approaching her and trying to pull her out of the way
"Get of me!" Jo shouted and got out of Steve's grip and becoming in the way of the nurses and doctors and tried to take over
"Get her out of here!" One of the doctors shouted angered. Steve grabbed her and led her out of the room against her will.
"It's going to be okay" Steve said pulling her in tightly for a hug and gently stroking the back of her head.