AN: Since you guys seemed to have a great reaction to the first chapter, that honestly I wasn't expecting, I thought that I'd write the second before adding it to my list of 100 other active fics I have. I'm soon going to be changing my priorities from Skip Beat to Disney but I've got a rotation to complete before that. If you do want more Disney then I do have fics for the following: Aladdin, Aristocats, Bambi, Beauty and the Beast, Big Hero 6, Brother Bear, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, and I have a Lilo and Stitch idea centered around Nani and David that has been circling around my mind. Anyway, thank you and I hope you enjoy.
Chapter Two
After the back to back classes had finished, Andy made sure that the notes he had taken had been backed up and printed out a hard copy of them. He wanted to attend on site classes but because of his sickness had found it hard to keep up with regular attendance. At least when he was at home he could make the trip from the bed to the desk without issue.
As he stapled the pages together, his eyes went towards the cowboy doll that Claire had bought him. He had often told her stories about the particular Woody that he had had and how he had designed his room around Woody and how he had gone to cowboy camp. Those were precious memories of childhood. She had shared that she had a Bo Peep toy that unfortunately had shattered after her brother had played tricks on her and that they couldn't get her together again.
Somehow, finding the two toys together was something of a miracle especially since Andy had discovered how expensive and how much of a collectors item his favorite toy had been. Still, he was glad to have the cowboy again and he wouldn't sell him. He needed some kind of physical anchor, an object that he could have beside him during the harsher treatments.
Andy let his finger run down the side of the doll who appeared to be staring at him. This Woody had seen better days and was missing his sheriff badge but Andy wasn't going to throw him out. Throwing something away just because it seemed battered would be hypercritical of him. Turning to the side and coughing onto the back of his arm, Andy picked up the doll carefully and went back to the bed. He took his hat off to show his bald head as his eyes focused on the doll.
"You know," he said as he let the doll rest in his lap. "I used to have a toy that was just like you. He was…he was my best friend. I did everything with him. I…he meant a lot to me. I don't know what you've been through but I do know that I'll take care of you, okay?" he asked as if the toy could answer. He pushed a hand across his head remembering how his hair had been there in the past and put the hat back on.
"You like it?" Claire asked as she stood in the doorway.
"He's great, thank you," Andy nodded before placing him gently on the bedside table where he kept a bottle of water and some of the medicine just in case it was a bad day. "No, I'm serious, Claire. Thank you so much."
"Your doctor suggested having something tangible next to you, some type of good luck charm," Claire said before placing the Bo Peep next to Woody and let his arm wrap around her. Andy smiled at this more childlike nature. "See, they can stay together," she winked.
Andy tried to stand up from the bed, not realizing how much the class had taken out of him.
"Are you getting up?" Claire asked before moving over to him and helping him stand. "I made us lunch. I tried one of the new recipes for those with your sickness -"
"With AIDs," Andy said, trying to make that word part of the norm again. He had been battling with it for years and it was already partially in remission but he still had to work on it so that it wouldn't return.
"Okay," Claire sighed, "With AIDs. You should know that I've never judged you for that," she told him as they started to leave the room and Andy turned, kissing the top of Claire's head affectionately.
"Thank you for that," he replied honestly and Claire nodded, shutting the door behind them.
As soon as their footsteps couldn't be heard anymore, Woody looked around in shock. This was fate, right? To be found and owned by Andy again. Andy was the kid who had always treasured him the most and Woody had treasured memories of being played with in return. This was different from when Andy lost a toy in the past, it was even different than when he was in high school and fearing going to summer school for a class, or when the girl he had gone to prom with had started to date another guy. This was pretty serious stuff.
"I….uh…I…" he said and Bo looked to him, she knelt down in front of him as he stared around the room. This was fate. Andy needed him and they had both said that.
"You seem to have some unbreakable bond with him," Bo said as Woody still was attempting to come to term with the shock. "I mean, of all the people that -"
"He's sick," Woody commented, "Did you see that…that loss of hair…the harshness of that cough…."
Bo nodded, she turned to Woody who was still trying to figure out what had happened to him. She knew a little more of the illness than Woody seemed to and it would break his heart to learn the truth of what happened to his kid. "Good thing is that he has Sheriff Woody around," she winked.
"I'm just glad you're here, Bo," Woody gasped as he tried to relax. What had happened to Andy over the years they had been separated? This wasn't like when Woody had spent an entire day next to Andy in bed when he had had a cold as a kid. This didn't seem like the type of illness that would just go away with medicine. This was something different, something new.
"Woody," Bo said slowly, "I've seen this once before," she told him sadly and Woody put a hand to her cheek seeing that kind of regret. "This AIDs sickness, it's not something that can be cured but it can be helped. Andy can still live a good life but he's always going to be afflicted by it, which in one way is pretty good, he'll always need you to be there for him. It's what you've wanted, right? To be back with Andy and then I'm here too. We don't have to go back to the carnival," she told him and Woody nodded.
He closed his eyes as he attempted to steady himself. Playtime was the best for him when Andy was growing up and Woody knew that Andy would have taken him to college had he not wanted to stick with the other toys, his friends that he had gone separate ways from. Woody regretted that decision though. Bonnie hadn't truly wanted him and especially not in the same way that Andy had. Despite wanting to be played with, he had gone to the bottom of the basket but Andy would keep him on a shelf or on a bookcase or here on the table by the bed.
"So, there's no way of making him healthy again? I mean, human medicine really isn't my specialty but…there's nothing that I can do?" Woody asked desperately as he felt the pain of seeing the owner who had prioritized him succumb to something like this.
"You can be there for him," Bo said as she put a hand on his shoulder and then readjusted his hat. "That's what he needs. He's still a kid at heart," she smiled and Woody nodded before feeling himself falling. Andy was sick and nobody expected him to get better, there was nothing that he could do, especially as a toy. Was being there when he was needed really enough?
At least there was no place that he'd rather be than in this home, as his toy.
…..
…..
"Let's see," Andy pondered as he returned to the bedroom from the bathroom. He was wearing sweats again and had more of a knitted hat on than the cap he was wearing earlier. He shivered a little but as he came towards Woody, the cowboy made sure to remain calm and seem inanimate. "Where would be the best place to put you?" he asked before walking over to a bookshelf that had some of the books by John Steinbeck and Alfred Bertra on it. "Here, kind of thematic, new journeys and travels," he smiled before setting his backpack underneath.
Woody looked across to see a couple of cowboy items as Andy had his back to him. The backpack was open and Woody calculated that if he shifted a certain way, he could fall into it without Andy noticing. He needed to find out more about the illness.
"Are you nearly ready, my love?" Claire asked as she entered the room holding the car keys. "I think Doctor Reynolds said that he might finish early with the patient before you. The quicker we leave, the quicker we return."
"I'm just about done," Andy said before throwing something into the backpack on top of Woody and then put a notebook and pen and something to read in there as well. He picked up the bag, unaware of the toy that had snuck away inside. "I think we're only doing tests today."
"Bloodwork?" Claire asked and Andy flinched but nodded. "I know how much you hate that," Claire commented before kissing his cheek. "I believe in you," she said and Andy nodded before taking her hand and walked out to the front door.
"Wait just a moment," Andy commented as they got outside and he gently caressed Claire's cheek, kissing her only slightly on the lips. "You mean everything to me, baby" he said and Claire nuzzled his neck.
"You mean everything to me as well," she said and Andy pushed back her hair, his eyes not betraying the sentiment that she was most important to him. He needed someone to understand him and not be scared off by him. Hopefully he would continue to make progress. Maybe that Woody doll really was a good luck charm after all, how else would he have such a rare toy. He only hoped that the sacrifice of the original Woody had been worth it and Bonnie loved Woody and cared for him in the same way that he always had.
End of Chapter Two
Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated
Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter One
Alia, Holypride, Sam Watson, Wap 95
