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AlicePOV

The days immediately following my diagnosis were a blur. I somehow managed to sleep shortly after we arrived back from the hospital, and although Edward and Emmett were skirting around the subject, I could tell from Mom's face that she'd had a rough night. She looked tired and upset, though she tried to conceal it. After a physically relaxing yet emotionally tense morning, Dad spoke up.
"Alice, you're going to have to go back and get further tests done. They need to determine how…" He faltered, sighing softly.
"They need to determine exactly how far it has spread, so that they can figure out how best to treat you." I nodded. This I knew. What I didn't know exactly was how this was done. No time like the present to ask.
"What exactly will they do?"

I felt Mom shift closer to me on the couch and take my hand. This told me that she and Dad had already discussed what would be happening.
"Well sweetie they'll take some chest x-rays to make sure it's not spread to any of your organs, and they'll want to do a sonogram to see if your abdomen and everything is clear there too."

I nodded. None of that sounded particularly scary or invasive. I suppose the scary part was what they would or would not find.
"They'll also do what's referred to as a spinal tap. It's a needle that they insert into the spinal column to collect some of the cerebrospinal fluid. They'll check to see if that's clear. Lastly they'll do what's called a bone marrow aspiration. You might be asleep for that because they have to inject very large needles into your hip to extract some of the bone marrow. From there they can tell how far it's spread and how to treat it."

I felt Mom's hand tighten around mine as she glared at Dad.
"Carlisle I told you about taking things slowly, we don't want to overwhelm her."
"Mom it's fine. I asked, and besides it's Dad that's telling me, not some doctor I don't know. I'd rather know going there what they want to do."

Mom frowned gently, looking me over. She could tell I was far from alright with anything, but at least she seemed convinced now that Dad's explanations hadn't further frightened the life out of me.
"Would you…I mean are you allowed…to come with me?" I asked, placing my other hand on top of hers. Instead of answering right away Mom looked to Dad, who nodded.
"For the majority of the tests we can both be present, if you'd prefer that."

I nodded fervently. I wasn't yet able to take everything in. It felt too strange to say that I had cancer. Too weird. All that mattered to me at that particular moment was their support.

It was almost 8pm when we arrived home from the hospital. To say I was tired was an understatement. To say I felt like a pincushion would be putting it lightly. I was still a little woozy from the concoction of drugs I'd been given throughout the course of the day, and all I wanted to do was relax. As tired as my body felt my mind was much too wired for sleep. It turned out that after all of the tests the results would not be available until the morning. I highly doubted I would sleep much. Mom or Dad did nothing to ease my tension; as soon as I sat on the couch they were hovering around me, their faces awash with concern. It was sweet and all, but I needed a break. Just as Mom was about to open her mouth and ask me if I needed anything [for the fourth time in under five minutes] I looked to Dad, who was being slightly more subtle with his hovering.
"Dad?"

He had been subtle until I called to him. Within a second he sat beside me, his hand gingerly grazing over my back.
"What is it princess? Does it hurt?"

In truth my back did hurt, I'd really, really disliked the 'spinal tap'. The pain was manageable however, and right now I could only think of one thing.
"No it's ok. Dad can we invite the Hale's over? And Bella? Rose and Jazz and Em will be going back to college at the weekend. Could we just have a movie night?"

Dad smiled widely.
"Yes, of course princess. As long a -"
"I'm ok. I'll take it easy. Easier than easy. I promise."
"Thank you. Mom, can we have pizza?"

Mom nodded, handing me the phone. I quickly ordered eight pizzas, knowing that Emmett would probably ingest two by himself, before dialing the Hale's number. It was Rose who answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi Rose."
"Oh my God, Alice! Are you ok? Well not ok, but how are you? Feeling, I mean…"

I had to giggle at her concerned rambling.
"I'm ok, for the most part. I'm declaring tonight pizza and movie night so tell Jazz to get his butt over here, and call Bella and tell her the same, k?"

Within ten minutes the Hales, including Monroe and Whitney, were gathered in the lounge with me. A little after that Edward returned, looking somewhat shyly towards Bella. I sighed to myself. I'd asked him go collect her in an attempt for them to finally move past the awkward flirting stage they still seemed stuck in. No such luck yet. The night passed without talk of my diagnosis; I didn't really see the point in discussing it until the test results came back. We spread across the varying array of chairs, sofas and beanbags, settling with the pizzas to watch "Juno." I smiled as I heard Jasper chuckle. He glanced over to me and my smile widened. This was our movie. I thought Ellen Paige was a fantastic actress, and Jasper adored the movie's eclectic soundtrack. He'd spent the better part of Boxing Day a few months back to teach me how to play that song at the end. Needless to say when I finally told him I was not filing my nails to nothing in order to strum a silly guitar the tickle fight of the year ensued. As I glanced to him again his smile faltered slightly. Maria tucked her arm through his, snuggling closer to his side.

There were a lot of reasons I wish I could go back to Boxing Day. The leukaemia was only one of them.