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Keeping Close

[=== RECAP ===]

Ross kept gagging. tears were streaming down his face, falling onto the ground.

"Get in here!" Riker screamed.

Ross, eventually, stopped gagging. He sat there, gasping for breath.

Riker sighed in relief, as his baby brother stopped gagging. "Are you okay?"

Ross nodded, "I-I'm fine.. just.. just tired."

Riker sighed, "I'm sorry, Ross. But, you can't sleep."

Ross stared at Riker for a moment. Then, he slapped his older brother.

This caught Riker by surprise. Ross just slapped him out of nowhere!

Ross was beginning to calm down, when he felt the shock of electricity shoot through him, again. His body tensed, his back arched, and he turned onto his stomach and began gagging, once again.

Riker sighed, once again, comforting his little brother. "What is going on with you?"

[=== THREE WEEKS LATER ===]

"Guys!" Rocky screamed, running into the living-room. "Guess what!?"

"What?" Riker asked.

"I booked us a tour!" Rocky exclaimed, smiling.

"What!?" Everyone screamed.

"I know! Isn't it great!?" Rocky shouted, "We haven't performed in a MONTH!"

"Yeah! I know! Because Ross almost died at our last show!" Riker screamed, standing up and grabbing Rocky's shirt.

"So!?" Rocky yelled, "That was the past! This is now! Sure, he was broken for awhile! But, I'm sure he's not anymore!"

"Ross might not be broken, anymore.." Riker said, "But you will be after 5 seconds."

"Why?" Rocky asked.

"Because I'm gonna break you!" Riker screamed, about to punch Rocky.

"Whoa!" Rydel shouted, standing up. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! No breaking! No punching! No hitting! No kicking! No fighting!"

Riker slowly let go of Rocky's shirt, glaring at him.

"So, is the tour on or not?" Rocky asked.

"Well, it has to be now." Riker said, "Come on, Ross. Lets go upstairs."

Ross nodded, standing up and following Riker.

[=== AN HOUR LATER ===]

Riker and Ross walked downstairs.

"I have to take Ross to the hospital for a checkup." Riker said, grabbing his jacket and putting it on.

Then, the two brothers left to the hospital.

[=== AT THE HOSPITAL ===]

"Mr. Lynch," The doctor said, directed at Riker. "I have good news and bad news."

"Well, Dr. Andrews.. I could really go for some good news." Riker said, biting his lip.

"Okay, well the good news is.. Ross may sleep again." Dr. Andrews said, smiling.

"That's great!" Riker said, smiling.

"Now, for the bad news.." Dr. Andrews said, "We will need to take some tests on Ross, to see what is wrong with him. We have an idea of what it is, but we cannot be positive, unless we do these tests."

"What kind of tests?" Riker asked, "Because he hates needles!"

"It's a simple procedure, called a Kidney Biopsy." Dr. Andrews explained.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Riker said, "You're going to cut my brother open?"

"In order to possibly save his life.. yes." Dr. Andrews said, getting annoyed.

Riker took a deep breath, "When will you do this?"

"How about.. three days from now?" Dr. Andrews said. checking his schedule.

"Okay." Riker said, standing up. "Can I take Ross and leave now?"

Dr. Andrews nodded, "You may."

[=== AT THE HOUSE ===]

"So, what happened!?" Ratliff asked, eagerly.

"Ratliff, why do you need to know, so desperately?" Riker asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ratliff shrugged, "He's my best friend.. I want to know."

"Okay, the doctor said, that Ross may sleep again." Riker explained, "But he has to go back in three days, for a Kidney Biopsy."

"W-why does he need a Kidney Biopsy?" Rydel asked, nervous.

"Well, they have an idea of what is wrong with him, but they need to do a Kidney Biopsy on him to make sure."

Everyone nodded, and tried to shake the nervousness off.

[=== THREE DAYS LATER (AFTER THE KIDNEY BIOPSY) ===]

Dr. Andrews walked out of the operating room.

"So, how'd it go?" Ratliff asked, once he saw Dr. Andrews.

"The procedure went great, now all we have to do is find out the test results." Dr. Andrews said, "We should have them by morning. We are keeping Ross here over night, but you may all go home."

They all decided to stay the night at the hospital.

"What if the test results don't come out.. happily?" Ratliff asked, biting his lip.

Rydel sighed, "If they don't come out happily.. there is nothing we can do about it.

"We'll just have to.. hope for the best, I guess." Rocky said, looking down.

Riker looked up, "No. We do not hope for the best. We pray for him to be alright. Why hope when we can pray?"

Everyone looked at each other, not sure of what to do.

Then, Riker took Rydel's hand in his.

Rydel just looked up at her older brother, unsure of what to do. Then, she looked at Rocky, and took his hand in her's.

Rocky stared at his sister for a moment, before taking Ratliff's hand in his.

And Ratliff, immediately stood up, and took Riker's other hand in his.

They all then closed their eyes, and bowed their heads.

"Our father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those, who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.. for ever and ever." The four said in sync.

"Dear Lord, please protect our baby brother, from whatever danger there might be." Riker said, "Whether the danger is just arriving, or if it has been with him for years. Whether it is lurking around, waiting to make it's move and hurt Ross. Or if it's inside Ross, harming him as he lives his life. Protect him."

"Lord, don't let anything be wrong with Ross." Rydel said, "If he dies.. I swear, I do too. So please, don't kill him."

"Lord, you would never harm Ross." Rocky said, "I know that if anything is wrong with him.. it's not your doing."

"Lord, I know that whatever happens.. happens for a reason." Ratliff said, "So, if something is wrong with Ross and if he does end up dying.. it was just his time, I guess. I put no blame on you."

"Lord, all we are asking.." Riker said, "is that you keep Ross safe and alive. That is all we want, and all we need. Take away our careers if you have to, ruin R5. We. Do. Not. Care. We just want our little brother to be alright. And we will do whatever it takes, and risk whatever we have. So, please.. do this for us? And if not for us.. do it for Ross. In Jesus name we pray.."

The four all took a deep breath and said:

"Amen."

[=== THE NEXT MORNING ===]

The next morning, Ross woke up, startled. His eyes flew open, and he was sweating like crazy. He was breathing like a dog on the floor. His heart was racing. What is this? What is going on? Ross.. is having an anxiety attack. Why? No reason. What about? Nothing. It's just an out of the blue anxiety attack.

Dr. Andrews walked out into the hallway, seeing the, now awake, group. "I have the test results."

The group of four, all took a deep breath in sync.

There was a long silence, until Riker said:

"We're ready."

"Should we go down to the hospital?" Laura said to Raini and Calum. "They're finding out what's wrong with Ross today. I think we should be there.. for support."

"But, if it's something really bad.." Raini said, "We'll all just break down crying with them."

"Well, it's better to be there, and start break down crying.." Laura said, "than to be told over the phone, and try to hold in your tears until you hang up."

"She has a point." Calum sighed.

"Well then.." Raini said, "to the hospital."

"Wait!" Ratliff shouted, "I got a text from Laura! Her, Raini, and Calum are on their way."

"We're here!" Laura screamed, running down the hallway. "We're here!"

"Okay, give it to us straight, doc." Ratliff said, "We can take it."

"We got the test results at four in the morning, but you were all sleeping, and we decided not to wake you." Dr. Andrews explained, "The bottom line is, there is no easy way to tell you this. This is really hard to say. It is going to be really hard for you to hear. And it is going be really hard for you to take it in and fully accept it."

"Just fuckin' tell us already!" Riker screamed, anxious.

Dr. Andrews took a deep breath, along with everybody else.

"Ross has Lupus."

Chapter 6 finished! :) I'm pretty proud of this chapter! I think I did pretty good! X3 Hehe.. And guys, Ross has Lupus.. my sister in law might have Lupus. So, personal experiences again! Hehe..

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