I'm really sorry for any mistakes in this chapter. My computer crashed while in the middle of this chapter forcing me to write it on my phone. I hope I was able to get them all. Also to the guest reviewer I do understand where you're coming from and I want to say that this story has been in the works since Holiday Cheer had been wrapped up. This story and Unexpected are my main focus right now. But please don't fear the others will get updated, I'm not abandoning any of my stories.
Lastly Lisa isn't a character I wanted people to like, as we all know she takes off on them and for everyone to see that Jesse has a bigger connection with Noelle than Lisa ever has, and I will touch on that in a later chapter along with why she leaves the way she does, even though I know it's not realistic the way it is now, but please just stick with it because it will be explained. So hating her is okay, because after this chapter I'm not very fond of her either. Enough from me and enjoy!
After having a long talk with his girlfriend on the current behavior of their daughter, he was convinced that something was going on with her and when Monday rolled around he was taking her to the doctor. The only way he wouldn't have done so is if she would have pulled out of this funk she had been in, but over the course of Saturday night and Sunday little Noelle didn't get any better and he along with Lisa were worried about their daughter's well-being.
Monday afternoon saw them sitting in the clinic's waiting room. Noelle was sitting on Jesse's lap, curled into a little ball. He'd find himself kissing the top of her head every few minutes. What felt like a lifetime later they were called back. They answered the questions the nurse asked. They remained quiet as they waited an eternity for the doctor to walk into the room.
When he did enter the room and ran a few tests he did everything in his power to assure them she only had an illness that would only last for a few more days. But Jesse didn't like that answer, he wanted to know that his daughter was going to be okay but he had this feeling that it was worse than a random illness, he had yet to deal with or see anyone have an illness that made them tired and bruise. Not only that she didn't have a cough or a runny nose, her throat didn't hurt and she had yet to vomit so the doctor saying it was an illness screamed something was off with his daughter. The doctor sighed and referred them to another doctor to run tests that he felt like weren't necessary, but Jesse wanted to make sure that he could take the very idea of leukemia right out of his mind.
The sun was making its descent for the night when they finally made it home. With the promise of getting results back in just a few days. It didn't make Jesse feel any better that they now had to wait to see if his gut feeling was right and he was really hoping that he was wrong.
"Daddy I'm not dying," Noelle told him one night as he tucked her into bed. They still hadn't gotten the test results back and it was starting to worry him.
"Of course not munchkin," he smiled, grabbing the book from where he had sat it before tucking his little girl into bed. "I hate seeing you not yourself, is all," he told her, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I don't like not knowing what's wrong," he clarified opening the story book.
Softly he read the story to her, his own thoughts forgetting about the events around him as he let the fairytale take over. Long after Noelle had fallen asleep he kept reading until the very last word on the last page telling him the prince had found his princess. With a soft sigh he closed the book and sat there with his daughter curled up to him. Brushing the hair from her eyes, he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and slowly got up, placing Jolly in her arms. Turning the lights off he made sure her little night light was casting her room in a soft glow on his way out of her room.
"You do know she's a strong girl, she gets that from you," Lisa said, sitting behind her boyfriend on the bed, her fingers kneading into his shoulders to release the tension he held.
"I know she is, but Lisa, I don't like this," he sighed, dropping his head into his hands. "I'm her father, I should be able to do something for her and I can't do a thing because doctors know nothing and they refuse to get back to us, it's already been 4 days and nothing," he ranted into the palm of his hands.
"Whatever the results say, we're going to be okay, everything will be fine, we can't lose that faith, Jesse," she told him softly.
A part of him didn't want to believe a word his girlfriend was saying however he couldn't think about the negatives in life, he wanted to stay positive about whatever was going on. "I hope so," he replied, reaching to take her hand in his.
For the first time in a long time he just wanted to crawl into bed and hold his girlfriend, he was just too emotionally drained to do anything else but sleep, if he could call lying in bed his mind going to the dark spots on the situation they were in, sleeping, then he was getting plenty of sleep.
The best part of his job, he was able to do it from home when he had to and for the past few days he hasn't went into work. They were currently sitting on the couch watching a movie Noelle picked out. They had gone for a walk and Noelle had the energy to play at the park for a while. Before coming home they got some take out ready to enjoy the afternoon at home.
Half way through the movie the phone rang. With Noelle using her mom as a pillow and her father as a foot rest, so it made more sense for Jesse to get up and answer the phone.
That pit of dread in his stomach took over his whole body as he told the doctor he wanted the results over the phone, he couldn't wait any longer. His whole body felt numb the longer the doctor explained things to him. He heard the doctor referring the best pediatric cancer doctors in the area. But it went in one ear and out the other, it wasn't registering, nothing was.
It was hard to tell his girlfriend that their little girl had cancer, it was even harder to tell their daughter the news. He wanted to do nothing more than to take the look of horror right off her face, to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be okay, but he couldn't because he didn't know how it was going to play out and he didn't have the heart to lie to her, he had to be honest with her on what she would be going through and it broke him even more. The truth was as much as he wanted to walk away from this situation with his daughter 100 percent healthy it wasn't a guarantee and he had to be honest and open with his daughter.
Late into the night long after his girlfriend and daughter were sleeping as peaceful as they could be he was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee as he looked over the list of doctors that were in the top of their field for pediatric cancer. There was only a handful of them and after doing research on each one there was only one doctor that stuck out for him. A Dr. Zoe Hart.
He grabbed the phone and called the number provided. He knew that he would be getting an answering machine as it was late and the doctor would be at home in bed sleeping, like he should be doing. Surprise overtook him when someone answered the phone. Finding his voice he asked for Dr. Zoe Hart.
Getting put on hold while they transferred him he dared a look at the clock on the stove that read it was a few minutes past 7. A hand dragged across his face as the realization hit him that he had spent the better part of his night sitting in front of his laptop screen.
"Hello, this Dr. Hart." Hearing her voice he snapped himself out of his little funk.
"Hello, my name is Jesse and I've just learned that my daughter has Acute lymphoblastic leukemia and I was wondering if maybe you could see her," he pleaded with her.
After a long pause in which Jesse had thought she had hung up on him her voice was soft. "I'm very busy but I will take a meeting and discuss some options with you. How does 1 this afternoon sound for you?" She asked him.
"I'll be there," he told her releasing the breath he had been holding out. A meeting was better than nothing, he knew first hand that she had all the right in the world to turn him down.
"Okay and Jesse can I get the name of your daughter, so I know just a bit more about her, if that's okay with you."
"It's fine as long it well help her in the long run," he told her. "Her name is Noelle Kinsella."
After getting off the phone with the doctor Jesse walked upstairs to check on his daughter, seeing that she was still sleep he left her be and walked to his room. He stopped in the doorway seeing Lisa sitting on the bed a suitcase next her.
"Going somewhere?" Jesse asked.
"I'm not as strong as you, Jesse. I can't sit around here and watch her go through what is going to be hell, I can't," Lisa told him on the verge of tears. "I think it's best if I just go."
"In all the years that I've known you, I never thought you'd be a coward that ran when things got tough. You think this is going to be easy for me? For Noelle? Newsflash it's not. She's going to need her mom," he told her, trying to plead with her to stay. He couldn't do this alone, he needed to have his girlfriend, the love of his life by his side. "I'm going to need you," he pleaded with her.
"You'll both be fine," Lisa told him. "I need time Jesse. I know running like this isn't ideal but I have to go," she stated getting up. She gave him with a goodbye kiss. "I love you and I love Noelle, I can't deal with this situation," she told him, grabbing her suitcase and walking out the door. Jesse fell back on the bed, his eyes closing as they filled up with fresh tears.
He didn't remember falling asleep, but when he woke up his daughter was using him as a pillow as she watched the TV. He slipped a hand through her hair. She gave him a smile turning her attention back to the show. He glanced at the clock to see that it was nearing 11 in the morning.
"Why don't we go find some food then we need to get ready to go meet a doctor," he told her softly.
"Peanut butter and jelly?" She questioned with big hopeful eyes. Jesse smiled and nodded. He got up picking her up. He carried her to the kitchen where they made their sandwiches together.
