"Yes you heard me, I got cancer in the only kidney I have left, now both of you just get out!" she raised her voice as she walked around her desk and opened the door for them both.
"I said, get out!" Jac yelled. Both Jonny and Joseph headed towards the door. She threw both of them out and as she shut the door closed behind them, she slid against it and fell to the floor, with tears running down her face.
…
"Jac talk to me, please," Jonny begged her, as he walked into the living room, later that night, to see Jac seated on the sofa, staring into space. Amy was in the kitchen, revising. She had no idea what was going on, yet.
"Oh now you want to talk?" Jac snapped. For the last few weeks, they were living under the same roof, but weren't speaking to each other, other than talking professionally at work.
Before Jonny had time to answer her back, the doorbell rang. Jac stood up and went to see who was at the door.
"Elliot! How lovely it is to see you again!" Jac exclaimed as she welcomed him in and hugged him. Amy heard his voice and came to see if it really was Elliot in their living room.
"Grandpa!" she exclaimed, smiling as she hugged him, even though she was now eighteen and not a little girl anymore. Jac and Jonny smiled.
"Aww you still call me that…" he commented. Amy knew Elliot since she was a baby, but she got to know him more when she was like two years old, when Jac brought her into work one day because the babysitter called in sick. She spent a few hours with Elliot in the office, he even bought her sweets, and from that day on, he was 'grandpa Elliot' to her. Besides, she had no biological grandparents around, so she truly loved Elliot Hope as the only grandpa she ever knew.
"How are you doing young lady?" he asked her as they broke apart.
"Not bad thanks!" Amy replied, politely.
"I got you a present," Elliot said, as he rummaged through his bag and took out a small box and handed it to Amy.
"Aw its beautiful!" Amy exclaimed as she saw a pen in the box with USA written on it, "wait a minute, why does it say USA?" she asked him, as he sat down on the sofa.
"It's more of a souvenir," he added.
"What do you mean 'souvenir'?" Jac asked confused, "what have you been doing since you retired?" Jac was seated on one end of the sofa and Jonny in an armchair.
"Well I am now living in America, I am here on holiday in fact," Elliot began to explain, as he too sat down on the sofa, in between Amy and Jac.
"You are joking! What made you go?" Jac asked, in despair.
"You might not believe this, but… I met up with Sharon again, she sent me a letter saying she wanted to see me again…" he added.
"Sharon? Kozinski?!" Jonny asked surprised.
"the one and only…" Elliot added, with a smile, "I went up to meet her, and then after asking me to stay, I thought 'what's to lose'? my job at Holby was keeping me back, but then when I retired, I had nothing stopping me,"
"Oh… but what about us?" Amy asked, rather sad.
"I'll come visit once in a while, don't worry, you'll always be my favourite grand-daughter," he told her smiling. Amy smiled back.
"I wasn't going to come this soon, but Jonny invited me over tonight…" Elliot began.
"Right…" Jac added, looking at Jonny, "Amy can we have a word please?" she asked Amy politely to leave them alone. Amy without saying anything, left the room.
"You're lucky I was back here and not in the states… I didn't sell my house, so I'm staying here for a couple of weeks… I thought I should come over… Jac why are you doing this?" Elliot asked Jac.
"Doing what? What has he told you?" Jac snapped, giving Jonny a look.
"He told me you have cancer… you should have told someone, at least your husband, you can't shut him out…" Elliot tried telling her.
"There's nothing to tell… there's no hope, I am looking for a match donor…" Jac said slowly. Elliot was stunned at the news.
"What?! How long have you known about this?" Jonny asked, furious.
"A few weeks…" Jac replied, looking at the floor.
"Jac, don't lose hope, the least you could do, is let people who love you, be there for you, help you…" Elliot told her.
"There's nothing anyone can do, no treatment, I have the cancer and that's it…." Jac said, as she stood up, left the room and walked upstairs, without saying goodbye to Elliot.
"She's always been the type of keeping things to herself, especially when it comes to her health… but Jonny at least try showing her you are going to be there for her, no matter what happens… you've come this far, I'm sure your love is strong enough to keep you going…" Elliot said, looking at Jonny, "anyway, I think I'll stay for a couple of weeks, I will be here for you all,"
"Thanks Elliot," Jonny replied.
…
Jac was sitting on her bed, staring into space, when she heard her bedroom door open. She could see it was Amy, standing there, tears streaming down her face.
"why didn't you tell me?" she asked her mum, softly. Jac then realised Amy had overheard the whole conversation with Elliot and the truth was out.
"Come here," she told her daughter, as she patted on the bed beside her. Amy walked over and sat down beside her mum, "I didn't want you to worry about me…" Jac told her, as she wrapped her arm around Amy's shoulder.
"I don't want to lose you mum," Amy told her mother, in between unstoppable tears.
"I'm not going anywhere," Jac told her, now too crying, as she hugged Amy tight, knowing for sure, her last sentence was a lie.
"Do you want me to tuck you into bed like when you were little?" Jac offered, as they broke apart.
"Mum, I'm 18…" Amy smiled.
"Oh come on," Jac said, as they both walked out of her room and into Amy's. Amy, already in her pyjamas, climbed into bed, and Jac put her quilt over her.
"Goodnight," she told her, holding her hand tight in hers.
"Goodnight, mum," Amy replied. Jac, stood up, headed to the door, and stared at her daughter for a minute, before switching off the light and closing the door.
…
When she was back in her bedroom, she saw Jonny was in there, which was strange because she was sleeping in that room alone, for weeks. Jonny was using the spare room downstairs.
"What do you want?" Jac said, bluntly.
"Jac, why are you refusing treatment?" Jonny cut to the chase.
"There is no treatment, chemotherapy and radiotherapy won't work, it spread to my whole kidney…" Jac muttered as she got dressed for bed.
"and you didn't care to mention anything? So you did scans all by yourself?" Jonny added. Jac said nothing, she kept on getting dressed, faced away from Jonny.
"You should've told me… you barely showed any symptoms…." He added.
"Who said I didn't show any symptoms? And when I started showing, it was pretty much too late…" Jac said, now facing him, "my only option is a nephrectomy, which in my case, is not possible unless I find a match donor…"
Jonny could not believe this was happening, "but you should've said something Jac…" a tear rolled down his cheek.
"Why bother? I don't deserve someone like you…" Jac replied, now in tears, "over the past 20 years, I've treated you badly, and despite that, you always loved me, maybe I'm being punished… I don't deserve to live…"
"No, don't say that…" he walked up to her and held her by her shoulders, "you are going to live, you're not going to lose hope, not for me, but for Amy..."
"I'm sorry… for everything I've ever done to you, and if you don't want to forgive me, I understand…" Jac couldn't stop the tears, as she looked in his eyes.
After a pause, Jonny asked, "do you want me to sleep in here tonight?"
Jac nodded. They both climbed into bed, Jac resting her head on his chest.
"Now rest…I'm here for you now… everything's going to be okay…" he told her, as he kissed her forehead.
Thanks for your reviews! it was lovely to read about your reaction.. I told you the reveal was going to be big! feel free to share your thoughts about you think will happen next. More is coming...
