As I sat in the back seat of the car, my anger grew.
Caleb, Pogue, Reid and Brittany were all visibly confused because I mentioned Tyler. I mean, I told them that I saved his ass from a major beating, I didn't tell them anything that happened after that.
Alex was standing there with a look of pure rage on his face. He knew exactly what I did to his car to get in, and I had promised him when he got it that I wouldn't do it. And I just did.
Caleb knocked on the car window. "What do you mean ask Tyler. He doesn't even know you."
My anger grew more at this. Brittany spoke. "Tyler, why is she being like this?"
I watched as everyone turned and faced Tyler. He spoke now. "I don't know. I don't even really know her."
"Really?" Caleb.
"Well I met her when me, mom, and dad went up to visit my grandma because she was dying. I got into a little dispute at the bar there, and she saved me from getting the crap beat out of me. Other than that I don't know her."
My anger peaked. In the back of my mind I heard a violent hiss from Aurora. I got out of the car very quickly and I got up into Tyler's face.
"You don't know me?" my voice was quiet, but it was filled with the power of pure rage and hurt. I poked his chest as I continued foreword. "After I saved your ass we hung out that entire week. We talked a lot. I told you everything about me and my family, just like you told me about you and your friends."
I heard several gasps behind me, but I ignored those and continued. "I trusted you, I fell for you and I gave you my heart. And on that last day, when we were supposed to say goodbye, you destroyed all trust that I had for men, and you destroyed my heart." if looks could kill, he would be dead from the looks that I was giving him. "Don't even bother lying about knowing me anymore, because all that will come from it is you being very, very hurt."
I was happy that all of the students were gone now, and that Alex had parked his car near a some trees. I heard Aurora's voice, and my entire body jerked towards the woods. I looked over in time to see Aurora's long body slither down a tree trunk. I quickly went over to her as she was halfway down the tree. When I got close enough, she slithered onto my shoulders and around my neck.
I was too tired to tell her to go home in my head, so I just spoke aloud. "Go home Aurora."
The Sons were looking at Aurora with fear. Aurora ignored my request, and slithered off of my shoulders. She made her way over to a terrified looking Tyler.
She reached his feet, and started to slowly slither up his body. I watched as Reid's eyes grew black. Brittany stepped in front of him with a dangerous look on her face. He took one look at her, and let the black leak out of his eyes.
As Aurora reached his waist, Pogue's eyes turned black, but Alex stepped in front of him, with a serene look on his face. He was an inch or so taller than Pogue, so the black in his eyes faded almost immediately.
As Aurora reached Tyler's chest, I saw Caleb's eyes turn black. I didn't move to stand in front of him. I just spoke calmly. "If you do that Caleb, I will have to kill you." my voice was so calm and serious that he just glanced at me and the black bled from his eyes.
The six of us watched as Aurora made her way to wind loosely around his neck. I could see that Tyler was straining to stay upright. His upper body muscles, arm muscles, and leg muscles were all bunched up, trying to hold him upright. As Aurora wrapped loosely around his shoulders, her tail end left the ground, and it wrapped around his upper leg.
She positioned herself properly, and then just sat there her face three inches away from Tyler's.
Tyler stood like that for a few minutes until his legs gave out from the weight of her. He fell to his hands and knees, Aurora's face still only a few inches from his.
I walked over and kneeled down in front of him. I lifted his chin up so he would look at me. "I trusted you, and you destroyed that. If you ever pretend like that again, I may not be able to control my anger. I may not like you a whole hell of a lot right now, but I don't want to hurt you."
Aurora slithered from his shoulders, to mine. When her weight was finally off of him, his muscles un-bunched, and he almost fell to his stomach. I easily stood with Aurora, and walked over too Alex and Brittany.
As I opened the car door, Tyler spoke. "How can you walk around with that snake on your shoulders like that?"
His voice was quiet, and a little shaky. "Her name is Aurora. And I've had her since I was six. I'm strong."
I climbed into the Mercedes-Benz. As I shut the door, Aurora left my shoulders to coil up onto the seat beside me.
Alex and Brittany climbed in a minute later, and we left the school.
We pulled into our garage, and as I got out I thought that Alex and Brittany would stop me, but they didn't. Aurora followed me to my bedroom.
After a few minutes I got up and sent Aurora back to her room, and I went downstairs just in time to hear my mom call for me to come downstairs, I am brilliant. I walked into the kitchen and went straight to the basement. I walked over to my chair, and lit another one of the candles, just as my family did the same thing.
My mom looked at me. "What happened."
"After I helped Tyler out, we decided to meet and hang out for the next few days. We talked a lot about ourselves, our experiences. The day before he left, he kissed me." I heard two sharp intakes of breath from my brother and father. "We made plans to say goodbye the next day, but then, he never showed up. I saw him drive by, but he never stopped."
I had tears in my eyes from telling them the quick explanation. My dads and brothers eyes were practically bulging out of their heads. "He. Kissed. You?" my dad was shocked and mad.
You see, when the Phoenix are born, we have this thing in our souls that locks onto one guy or girl. If we find him or her, we are lucky. There are some of the Phoenix that never find their other half, and have to make due with someone else. But the funny thing about this thing is that sometimes, the pair can't stand each other, and they fight all the time, but deep down they still loved each other.
I sighed and looked at my dad. "Yes. He kissed me."
"And?" my moms eyes were sparkling. She had always wanted her three children to find their other halves.
I mind flicked to the feeling of his lips against mine, the shock that had seemed to reverberate through my body, through my very being. I smiled a small smile. "Yes." it was one simple word, but it sent my mom's heart through the roof, and my dad looked angrier than ever.
When my facial expression, still a little sad, stayed the same, mom looked confused. "Why aren't you happy?"
"Because he tried to lie about knowing me! He pretended that we had never talked after I saved his ass! It annoyed the hell outta me! And, I know, that deep down in my soul I belong with him, but all I can feel right now is anger and hurt! I almost wish it had never happened!"
I buried my face in my hands. I was getting depressed, which was so not good for my health. See, I have Leukemia. They found it about a month ago, and I refused chemo, because I hadn't wanted to live in the hospital. And along with the Leukemia, I also had diabetes, so I really had to watch what I ate, and my emotions. That is why I say getting depressed is not good for my health.
Brittany, who had been quiet all this time, spoke then. "Don't worry Casey. Sooner or later he'll come around." I looked at her, and she had a little bit of a far off look on her face.
That was one thing that bugged me about her. Whenever she said something smart or comforting like that, she was always thinking about something else at the same time. I glared daggers at her, and she seemed to snap out of it. "What was it that you just said sweety?" my mom asked.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Brittany always pretended that she didn't remember what she said. But whenever it happened she always looked like she just woke up from a nightmare. "I didn't say anything." she frowned.
Again, it pissed me off. "Ugh! You know what? Im tired, I'm going to bed. I'll figure things out tomorrow."
I stood and started towards the stairs, but not before I heard the very quiet, "Well she's pissy." from my dearest sister. I ignored her and went to bed.
I got upstairs and instantly lay down on my bed. A lot happened in this past week, and it was very tiring.
I lay in bed for hours attempting to sleep. Just before I fell into the welcoming darkness of sleep, the last thing I saw, was Tyler Simms face.
The week sped by: classes, swim practice, and ignoring the Son's as much as possible. Soon enough, it was Friday.
As I sat in my Advanced English, tapping my pencil against my desk, someone walked into the classroom. The Terrible Two and I looked up quickly. One of the girls we know named Becky handed a note to the teacher.
He read the note and looked up. "Samantha Wilson. You mother is here to pick you up." he said it in a bored tone.
At first I was confused as hell. Why was mom picking me up? Then I remembered; it was Friday. My doctor's appointment. "Shit!"
Most of the class either looked at me or laughed. "Watch your language in my classroom Miss. Wilson." Mr. What's-his-name (I forgot after the first five minutes of being in his class) scolded.
"Yes sir. Sorry." I picked up my books and filled my bag. As I hurried to the door, I could feel people staring at me. I glanced back into the classroom as I reached the door to see Tyler looking at me confused. I shut the door and ran out to the light blue 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible.
My mom smiled at me. She was perfect in this car. Short, curly black hair, thin but curvy figure, mid height. Warm blue eyes. I smiled back. "Don't worry sweety. I heard that Dr. Simms is very nice." her smile weakened a little bit.
My eyes were popping out of my head. "WHAT? DR. SIMMS? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT MY NEW DOCTOR WAS GOING TO BE TYLER'S DAD?" I didn't usually yell, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
My mom gave me a deadly look. Never mess with a woman that can communicate with bears. "Look. You needed a doctor! And when I went to the hospital, I talked to Dr. Simms and he seems like a very nice and talented man. He's the best doctor there, and that's without Using. You need to trust my judgement. All we're doing today, is talking to him about your medical history, and then a quick check up to make sure that the leukemia hasn't spread. Okay?"
I huffed. "Fine. But Tyler finds out anything about my medical condition, I'm going to send Aurora after him while he sleeps, okay?"
"No you wont. We will talk to him and make sure everything is confidential."
"Mhmm." I set myself to ignoring her until we got to the hospital.
We reached the hospital and as I looked up at it, I realized that I wasn't mad about my doctor being Tyler's dad. I was nervous that they would find that the cancer spread.
We got out of the car and made our way into the hospital. We walked up to the desk and the nurse told us where to go.
"You ready?" my mom asked as we stood outside the office door.
I looked at her. "No." I said it without emotion. My mom sighed and knocked on the office door.
After a few seconds the door was opened to reveal Doctor Simms. I was gaping at him because he was so familiar. He had the same messy dark brown hair, the same blue eyes, and the same nose as his son. It made me want to cry.
After a long introduction and discussion about my medical history, I was led to dozens of rooms so I could get a CAT scan, an ultrasound and tons of other things to check for any new tumors, that weren't in my left lung.
After a good half-hour of waiting, Dr. Simms came back into the waiting room where my mom and I were. He had a sad look on his face. "I am really sorry to tell you this, but, you have another tumor, about the size of a grape, nestled beside your heart." I stopped breathing. " We aren't sure wether it is benign or malignant so we would like to do some tests–"
He droned on for another minute about the tumor and about papers me and mum needed to sign, but I wasn't paying any attention. I was thinking about other things: my family, friends, Tyler. I couldn't keep that last one out if I wanted to.
"Check it!" I almost yelled it.
"What?" Dr. Simms was confused.
"Are you stupid? Check the tumor! I don't want to have more leukemia." I was almost in tears.
He sighed. "After you sign those papers I can check the tumor." he said this to my mom, but I knew there was a spot that I needed to sign as well. I jerked them away from my mom and signed the spot. After an agonizing minute, Dr. Simms finally said. "This way please."
I followed him into the room, and went straight to the bathroom with the gown and got changed. I went back into the room to wait for the doctor and nurse.
After ten minutes, I was on the operating table, with a stick in my mouth. See they couldn't numb the part that they needed to stick the needle in fear of stopping my heart, so I had to bear the pain. I had been through enough pain sticking myself in the finger every day, so I figured this wouldn't be too bad.
I clamped my teeth onto the stick as the needle made its way in. He pushed that damn thing in so far I thought it would go right through me. When he finally removed it, I let out the breath I had been holding in. And I wasn't stupid. I knew that he had been Using to make sure he hit the tumor and nothing else.
My only though right now though: HOLY MOTHER FUCKER THAT HURT!
I was still gritting my teeth when I changed back into my clothes.
"You may go home now. We are sending the test to the lab, we will call you in when we have the results." Dr. Simms seemed a little bit depressed about this.
We went home and I lay in bed, not even going downstairs for dinner.
I spent the entire weekend stressing out about the results of my tests. Monday came around and I had a shower in the morning. When I looked in the mirror, I almost cried because I had a big purple and black bruise on my left breast. "Awe shit."
We made our way to school and went through our first three classes without any news. When lunch rolled around, we made our way to the cafeteria. We looked at our usual table, only to see it occupied.
We started to make our way over to the doors to eat outside when a voice called, "Alex! Brittany! Casey! Come sit over here."
We turned around and saw Reid Garwin motioning for us to sit with him. Of course the other Son's were with him. Meaning Tyler.
Oh joy. Note the sarcasm.
My siblings looked over at me, asking for permission almost. I sighed and walked over, them smiling in sympathy at me. I took a seat across from Pogue, because he was the furthest from Tyler. Everyone at the table noticed, but didn't say anything. Reid decided to speak then. "So. How have you Wilson's been lately?"
"Fine." Alex.
"Decent." Brittany said this, but not without batting her eyelashes at him. This did not go unnoticed by him.
They all looked at me expectantly. "I've been better."
"Oh. Is it because I asked you to sit with us?" he asked motioning towards himself and the other Son's.
I smiled a little. "Not really. That is a small portion. But most of it has to do with my doctors appointment I had on Friday at Gloucester."
"Your appointment was at Gloucester?" Tyler was speaking. "Who's your doctor."
"Oh yeah. I met your dad Tyler. He's really nice compared to you." I gave him an icy glare that made him look down.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Caleb said. "Your saying that Tyler's dad is your new doctor?"
"Yes he is." I smiled. Then so quietly that they didn't hear, I said, "They should have gotten my test results back today."
"What was that?" Reid asked.
"Hmm?" I looked at him. "Oh nothing."
"Okay, well as I was saying–"
He was cut off by my cell phone ringing. We listened to John Lennon's song Imagine play as I fished it out of my pocket. "Hello?"
"Sweety. They got the test results back. I'm coming to pick you up." was my moms reply.
"Oh. Okay, your taking me to go and see what they are right?"
"Um. Yes of course." a shot of ice went through my body.
"You already know." It wasn't a question.
"I went by this morning to check out wether they got the results or not. They did so they told me."
I was breathing heavily now. My mom's voice wasn't happy or relieved. "Tell me."
"What?"
"Mom, tell me the results of that test right now or I swear to god I will jump off the cliffs."
She hesitated before answering. "The test came back positive. The tumor is made up of leukemic cells."
I stopped breathing and dropped my phone. It hit the floor with a bang. I looked at Britt and Alex's worried faces before running out of the cafeteria into the nearest bathroom.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a white ceiling. It was bright in the room. The nurses office.
"Oh my god! Casey are you okay?" Brittany saw my eyes open and was totally freaking.
"Casey? How are you feeling?" Alex had a really worried look on his face.
I opened my mouth to say that, yes, I was fine, when I remembered what happened. After going into the bathroom and throwing up everything that I had eaten that day, I must have passed out.
And then I remembered why I ran to the bathroom. I had more Leukemia. This time near my heart.
I felt my siblings hug me. I opened my eyes and tell them what happened when I heard a commotion start out in the hall. There was a door between us so I only heard clips of what was going on, but I knew who it was.
"Don't stop me I...if you try that I'll...LET ME IN!... Son of a..." Alex walked over to the door and opened it to see my mother standing five feet away from the door with two of the teachers between her and the door.
"Mom?" Alex said it as if he were seeing things.
"Oh my god! Alex! Is she okay? Is she awake?" seeing that she was a parent the two teachers moved aside and my mom hurried in and grabbed my hand. "Are you okay sweety? Are you hurt at all?"
I looked up at my mom's worried face, and the tears that I had been holding back started streaming down my face. "Mommy. I don't want it to be true. I don't want any more. Tell me it's not true." I reached up and hugged her hard.
I felt her tears in my hair. "I'm sorry sweety. I can't say it's not true. The tests came back positive."
I looked over to see that the door was closed and Alex and Brittany were hugging each other, crying because they finally caught on to what was going on. They realized that the leukemia was worse.
After an hour and a half of crying in the nurses office, me, my siblings and my mom made our way to the parking lot.
The Sons' saw us and they ran over. "Hey are you okay?" Caleb was actually worried.
I looked at him and simply shook my head.
The four of us got home and my mom explained to Alex and Britt about the tumor as we sat at the kitchen table. Then she told us about what would have to be done. "The doctors figure you have about three months to live. The tumor is in a spot that they can't remove it without the chance of destroying your heart. You need a transplant. And seeing as how you have a rare blood type, the chances of getting a heart in that amount of time is about twenty in a hundred. And since you refused chemo in the first place, they will either need to remove your left lung now. With or without a donor. So you're in the same boat with your lung and heart. I'm sorry sweetie."
I looked away from her face, and down to my hands. The tears were back. I felt Alex's hand rubbing my back and Brittany's rubbing my arm. They were afraid. I was too. "Please. Guys, please. Don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone to know."
I looked up into their eyes. All I saw was understanding. They knew that if I wanted someone to know, I would tell them. "Mom? Dr. Simms did say he won't tell anyone right? Not even his son?"
My mom looked at me with a small smile on her face. "When he told me, I asked him not to tell Tyler. I told him that we are of the Phoenix, and about you and Tyler. He promised that he would keep it from his son. For you, and for Tyler."
"Thank you mom." The tears were streaming down my face again. I stood up and went into my bedroom. I stayed there for the entire night, ignoring everyone that came to my door, even for supper. I was angry, and scared, and sad.
Things weren't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to get a new lung, and live a long carefree life. With Aurora. And get married and have a family. I wasn't supposed to get more leukemia.
I sat on my bed, staring at my ceiling. At ten o'clock I sat up suddenly. I ran downstairs into the kitchen just as my dad walked in the door.
He looked seriously depressed. He already knew. He saw me standing in the doorway, and the tears filled his eyes. My dad was a very sensitive man, and I loved him like I did the rest of my family. I ran to him and threw myself into his arms. He hugged me hard, and I hugged him back. "It'll all be okay Sammy. It'll be okay." my daddy's name for me made me cry harder. He was the only one that I allowed to call me by my first name.
After a little while, I pulled back from him. "Daddy? Will you help me with something?" I was still bawling my eyes out.
He nodded. "Of course Sammy. What is it?"
Ten minutes later my dad and I were in my bedroom. He and I used to have a tradition. Every year, he would help me put those little glow in the dark stars on the ceiling in my room. We stopped doing it when I was thirteen because I was complaining that I was too old for them.
He had a brand new package of bright pink ones (A/N. I know I said she hates pink, but the pink ones are prettier than the greenish ones) , and he was helping me stick them to my ceiling and walls. These packages were huge. They had around forty stars in them.
My dad and I spent a good hour in there putting them up on the walls. We were talking about my past mostly. The stupid and funny things I did when I was a kid. The first time I talked to a snake, the time I pushed Alex down a muddy hill, when I fell in a puddle of water when I was two, when I scared Brittany so bad she fell in the pool.
We talked so much, we even laughed a little. I was more like my dad, while my siblings were like my mom, so I got along better with my dad, just like Britt and Alex got along better with my mom. But I still loved all of them. At eleven thirty, my dad went to bed, and I lay down in my bed, staring at my walls and hugging the small stuffed teddy bear that my mom gave me as a baby to my chest. I fell into a restless sleep, still crying.
After a short argument with my mom, I climbed into the backseat of my brothers car to go to school. My mom didn't want me going to school today because I was too traumatized about the news. I told her that when I found out I had cancer in my lung I didn't miss any school, that this is no different.
The day dragged by so slowly I thought that time itself had stopped. When lunch came around, I let Brittany and Alex sit with the Sons' while I went out to the courtyard to eat. At swim practice I didn't socialize with Sierra like I normally did, I just sat there and waited for my turn. My heart wasn't in it anymore. It was just automatic. Like breathing.
Over the next few days, I slowly pushed myself away from everyone and everything. I knew that it was hurting my family and friends, but I just couldn't get attached. If I did, and then I died, they would be devastated. I couldn't do that to them. I just couldn't.
I passed people in the hallways, on the stairs, on the road. Some still say hi, but most have given up. I notice Brittany and Reid at lunch, looking at me worriedly, and exchanging a kiss or two. I had a feeling that they would get along nicely, she always did like blondes. I notice Alex and Sierra in Biology, sneaking glances at each other. I notice my parents staying up late at night, talking about more medical bills, and other doctors. And crying. Always crying.
But more than everything else, I notice Tyler. I notice the way he walks, the way he talks, and the way he eats a single fry. I notice the way he looks at me in the hallways, in the classes we have together, and at lunch. I notice that he notices that something is wrong. Very wrong.
Three weeks after I was told about the heart tumor, I was wandering through the Dells, just wanting to get away. Get away from the diagnosis, people, pain, sadness. Everything.
I came to a beautiful cliff edge. There was pretty green grass, a few flowers that haven't died yet. And the leaves falling from the trees just set the perfect mood.
Fall. The season where nature dies. I thought about throwing myself off of the cliffs edge. Quick. Painless.
I sat a few feet away from the cliffs edge, looking at the horizon. I had my arms wrapped around my legs, and my chin resting on my knees. The sunset was beautiful. The mixture of oranges, yellows, pinks, purples and blues were perfect.
I had been sitting there for about five minutes when I hear a snap behind me. My head whipped around and I saw no one other than Tyler Simms standing that the tree line.
I gave him a half-hearted glare and said, "What are you doing here?"
He came and sat down beside me before answering. "I come here a lot to watch the sunset. This is my favourite spot to come to when I want to be alone. Why are you here?"
I hesitated before answering. "I wanted to be alone. To get away from everything. Everyone." I said it quietly, but I knew he could hear me.
I saw him nod before we lapsed into a comfortable silence. We watched the sun set for a little bit longer before he spoke again. "Why do you avoid everyone?"
"What do you mean?" I knew exactly what he meant but I wanted to delay it.
"You used to be happy and carefree. You would talk to tons of people. You smiled you laughed. Frig, you threw erasers at the teachers and blamed it on Reid!" I smiled a little at the reminder. "And then all of a sudden you pulled away. You don't talk, you don't laugh, or smile, or do any of the things you used to do. What happened?"
I took a deep breath. "The doctors appointment happened." I wanted to tell someone. But I just didn't know how.
He looked confused. "What do you mean? Was my dad being an ass?"
"No. Your dad was a complete gentleman." I gave him a look that said 'unlike some people'. He looked a little guilty. "It was one of the tests that was done."
There was a long pause before he said, "I'm still not following."
I looked over at him, into his blue eyes that were so similar to mine. "A month and a half ago, I was diagnosed with Leukemia." he looked at me suddenly, but I was looking at the sunset again. "I have a tumor in my left lung. The only thing that they could do is either chemotherapy, or a transplant. But unfortunately I have a rare blood type, and I refused chemo. So I still have the tumor in my lung.
"When we moved here, I needed a new doctor, and my mom talked to your dad about me, what I'm going through with the cancer, and my other medical problems." I saw a bit of a confused look on his face. "I have diabetes." he nodded. "Anyways. That Friday my mom came and picked me up? That was my doctors appointment. I went through all of the normal procedures. CAT scans, and ultrasounds, among others.
"We were in the waiting room when your dad came out. They found a tumor nestled beside my heart, about the size of a grape. They needed a sample from it to tell wether it was benign or malignant." my eyes were beginning to fill with tears now, and Tyler was not oblivious to this. "So they stuck a needle into it," I moved my shirt down a few inches so that Tyler could see the big yellow bruise that was still there. "and got the sample. On Monday, when we went and sat with you guys, my mom called. She told me that they got the results, and I knew from the tone of her voice that she already knew. The tumor is made up of more Leukemic cells."
The tears in my eyes were flowing freely now. "I figured that if I pushed people away, they wouldn't be that hurt if I died."
I had tears streaming down my face as I looked at Tyler. He looked torn. He pulled me into a strong hug. At first I wasn't sure if I should hug him back, but then I realized the fact that he was hugging me, and I clung onto him for dear life.
"I'm so sorry for being such an asshole." his words were muffled by my shoulder.
I smiled. "It's okay. I forgive you." I said this as the sun set for the night.
Okay!
Review please!
ill try and update again on Saturday
