Thanks for all the great reviews! Here is the next installment, and real quick I wanted to thank my beta writergirl-11, she's amazing!
"Hello, Haley." Dr. Michaels said walking into the room, and shutting the door behind him. He reached out and shook her hand. She was seated in front of his desk, Nathan next to her.
"Hi Dr. Michaels, this is my ex-husband Nathan."
"Well hello there." He said reaching out to shake Nathan's hand as Nathan nodded. "Alright so how have you been dealing with the news?"
"I told Nathan so far, and after this appointment and when I find out more I will tell others. But I figured as the father of my children...and friend he should be told first."
"Okay, let me jump right into it and tell you what's going to happen. First, we are going to get you in for a biopsy and then go from there. If it's what we suspect, you will first undergo chemo for 3-6 months, hopefully that will stop the spreading of the cancer and keep it in the one region. Next, we will take you into surgery to remove it. If the chemo stops the growth it should just be a quadrantectomey or a lumpectomy. Next we will put you in radiation, and if all goes well we can perform a reconstructive surgery if you choose so. Then we just wait and see and hope it doesn't return."
"How soon will we start chemo?" Haley asked, at some point while Doctor Michaels spoke Nathan had reached over and held Haley's hand.
"As soon as possible."
"And if the chemo...what if...how..." Nathan stuttered.
"I think what he is trying to ask is, if the chemo doesn't work how long do I have?" Haley filled in.
"Approximately a year." The doctor said gently, looking in Haley's eyes as Nathan squeezed her hand. "But...we won't think about that...Let's talk over what comes next as far as the biopsy."
Nathan let out a deep breath as he took a seat in his car, Haley buckling her seat belt beside him. "You're going to do this Haley, you can fight this" He nearly whispered.
"Nathan..."
"You are going to kick cancer's ass you hear me? Because you are the strongest person I know Haley, you can do this."
"But what if I can't..."She whispered as her voice cracked.
"You can and you will because I cannot raise our children on my own. I won't. I won't." He insisted, a tear falling from his eye.
"You might have to." She said putting her hands over her face as she shook her head.
"No I won't, now stop talking like this because it doesn't help. It just makes you feel worse. You can do this, and you will."
"I can do this." She whispered raising her head and smiling at him.
"What was that?" He asked smirking slightly.
"You heard me, I am going to kick cancer's ass" She said loudly.
"With me by your side the entire time."
"I seriously cannot thank you enough..." Haley started before Nathan put his hand over her mouth.
"And you're gonna stop that too. There is nowhere else I would rather be, and if you say it again I am going to personally kick the cancer out of you so I don't have to hear 'thank you' anymore."
"Nathan." She laughed.
"No Hales, there is nowhere else I would rather be right now...well aside from the fact that I wish you didn't have this disease."
"I get what you mean." She said as he babbled.
"Good, now I will drop you off at the house, you go take a nice bath, read for a little bit, and when Brooke drops them off, play with the kids. Just have fun."
"Actually...I think I might tell Lucas."
"Okay" He nodded slowly.
Nathan dribbled the ball around the court as tears fell from his eyes. He grabbed the ball and threw it in the other direction as hard as he could. Running his hand through his hair he sighed. He was losing the woman he loved more than anything and he couldn't handle that.
He didn't know what to do, or how to help her, and it didn't help that every time he was around her he just wanted to scoop her up in his arms and never let go. He loved her. After his kids, she was his everything. How did things get like this, so broken?
"You put everything that shouldn't be above Haley above Haley, except for maybe your kids." Nathan thought to himself. "You want to try again with her...and even if there is a slight chance she wants the same you have to put her second in life. You have to try harder.
Kids
Haley
A million other things that are more important
Work
There that would be better but...Haley has cancer so you might have just lost every opportunity you ever had. You ruined it."
Haley needed to get better; she needed to because if not...he couldn't live on this earth without her.
"Why her?" He yelled moving to kick the basketball post as hard as possible. "Why fucking her! She is the best person I know, she never hurts anyone, she is the best mother, she never did anything wrong. She doesn't deserve this!"
As he finished yelling he noticed Lucas walking onto the court, bloodshot eyes and all. Nathan put a hand over his mouth shaking his head. No words were said as the brothers hugged each other. It was not an everyday occurrence that they hugged but...they were losing the person they both fell in love with at first sight. "She's going to be okay, right?" Lucas asked.
Nathan just stared at his older brother as he came undone. Both Scott's were at their weakest point.
"I can't lose her." Nathan said as his voice cracked looking out unto the river running his hand through his hair.
Friday night dinner was tonight, it was a night that everyone gathered together and enjoyed the night. Haley, Nathan, Lucas, Peyton, Brooke, Julian, baby Sawyer, Lydia, and Jamie. This tradition started just over a year ago as everyone grew busier, they wanted to have one night that they always had fun together and got to chat. At first it was a little awkward for Nathan and Haley and their friends but they soon grew past it and learned to respect each other as friends. Tonight everyone was gathered at Haley's house.
As the doorbell rang, Haley moved to get it but Lucas stopped her "Hales I'll get it, you sit."
All night he and Nathan had been treating her like a child, and doing everything for her. She wanted to shout as loudly as possible that she wasn't going to drop dead any second but knew she couldn't do that around Peyton, Brooke, and Julian who didn't know yet. When Lucas opened the door Deb walked in.
"I'm sorry." Nathan whispered to Haley who was seated next to him. "I had to tell someone."
"It's okay." She replied standing up, Deb hugged her son standing in front of her quickly and nearly pushed him out of the way to get to Haley.
"I had to come." She said.
Haley smiled and embraced the woman before looking over at Nathan "I guess now...?" She questioned, her voice cracking slightly, as he nodded. Haley was thankful that the kids were away from the table playing but wanted them completely out of the room when she said this "Deb, could you take the kids out back?"
"Sure." She said quickly moving out of the dining room. Haley could hear Jamie talking to her and as Deb convinced him to go outside she looked around the table at her best friends whose faces screamed of nervousness and pain. They picked up that something was wrong and their faces flushed pale. When Haley heard the back door shut she looked at the three unknowing people in front of her. "You guys...are my best friends, I have been blessed to have known you all for so long, and I love you." As a tear rolled down her cheek, she reached for Nathan's hand for support. She could feel him move to stand behind her as she continued to speak "But I have to tell you something."
Tears were already freely falling down Brooke's face when Haley uttered the words "I have stage 2 breast cancer." Brooke immediately threw a hand over her face in shock. Quickly tears were rolling down all three girls cheeks, Peyton specifically as she looked at her best friend who had the disease that killed her mother. Julian's face sobered out as he shook his head looking down. Haley heard a sniffle behind her from Nathan. No matter how many times he heard about it, it never got easier. Peyton and Brooke both moved out of their seats to hug Haley tightly.