DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. All rights to the Pitch Perfect creators.
Chapter 10
ABVD
Chloe had cleaned the kitchen and managed to wipe the sauce out of Charlie's long coat, removing the need to bathe him, before heading upstairs, instantly smiling at the sound of giggles and playful banter.
She pushed opened the bathroom door and found Rory sat between Beca's legs, the mother combing through the conditioned locks of red hair as Rory collected bubbles and covered her chin with the white fluff.
"How's it going in here?" Chloe spoke up, kneeling by the tub and rubbing the cheek of her little girl.
"I getting clean," Rory explained, extending a hand of soap forward as an offer.
"Well, after you are all clean what do you say to a movie and cuddle?"
"Yeah!" Rory cheered, nodding her and tossing her handful of bubbles into the air.
"Okay monkey butt, why don't you go get dressed with mama while I finish up in here?"
The toddler nodded again and stood up from the tub, both mothers holding one of her hands before she was scooped up into a big fluffy towel and placed on the bath mat.
From there the night progressed, the family of three ending up on the master bed with Bolt playing on the TV. Rory was content with her thumb in her mouth and her free hand twirling some hair from Chloe's ponytail.
"I want a puppy," Rory would mumble at some points, releasing her thumb to point at the animated dog with a lightning bolt on his side.
"You have a puppy. His name is Charlie," Beca would remind with a chuckle, making the golden retriever groan as he shuffled at the foot of the bed.
"No, I want a Bolt," Rory went on to insist, nodding her head as though she were making sense and then returning her thumb into her mouth.
Just before the end credits Beca noticed both her wife and daughter were fast asleep, though she wasn't tired just yet and knew she still had work to do for the upcoming album with Marian Hill. The duo was far easier to work with, especially since Jeremy was a production artist himself, however, Beca did agree to take a listen to what they have already and set up some ideas for their meeting on Tuesday.
Carefully the brunette slipped away, shutting off the TV before she left the room and headed to her studio in the basement.
Her mind was constantly worrying over Rory, rightfully so, but the second she played the tracks of Marian Hill's new album throughout the soundproof studio, the producers worries slid away as she knew her work had that special ability to take her away from all her problems.
She sat in her chair and moved to the rhythmic beat, tapping her finger in time with the systematic base that made chills go down her spine. Beca instantly knew that Rory would enjoy being in the studio with this type of music playing around her, the floor vibrating with each sound.
Her creative mind got to work with collaborating beats from previous owned songs and new thoughts, constructing additional sound for some tracks and entirely new sounds for any other songs the duo would like to construct.
After spending well over five hours in her studio Beca finally drew herself away from her work and began to shut down her equipment. Her heavy eyes caught the clock on the far wall that read 2am. She really needed the distraction, but not for this long.
Once deeming her space clean with a slightly organized mess on a far desk (mainly sheet music), Beca moved back upstairs, creeping back into her bedroom and slipping below the covers that covered her wife and child.
Just as she slid her arms around the small body of Rory, she instantly retracted, feeling the sticky warmth of the shirt of her child and a sudden sheen of sweat that clung to her forehead that her eyes were only now adjusting to see.
"Shit," she cursed, pulling away the blankets and placing a hand on Rory's hot forehead. "Chlo, wake up," she demanded, shaking her wife momentarily before taking Rory's pants off and starting to strip her of her shirt.
"What's wrong?" Chloe asked as she finally came round and saw her half naked child and frantic wife.
"She's burning up," Beca stressed, her movements causing Rory to stir and groan in discomfort due to her body temperature.
"It's the night sweats," Chloe sighed, forgetting how Rory was suffering from these nighttime fevers for two months now. She had been clear of them for nearly two weeks and now they were returning, a symptom of her hodgkin's lymphoma according to her research and also warning by Dr. Ryker who said she may suffer from them.
"What do we do?" Beca inquired, not having to deal with these fevers since she usually went to work early in the morning, which left Chloe to discover the warm child, which she needed to break the fever of.
"I'm going to get children's Tylenol. Keep her in her underwear," Chloe instructed, climbing out of the bed and moving towards the master bathroom.
Rory whimpered slightly and reached out for Beca with her eyes still shut, instantly getting pulled into the lap of the woman who rocked her carefully.
"It's okay. Mommy and mama will make you better," the music producer sighed at her words. In this moment she would've given anything for Rory to just have a fever and not cancer that was causing it. She would give anything to put her daughter back to sleep and know that she will be okay the next night. She would give anything to hold her daughter and not think about how the cancer was attacking her healthy cells in a vigorous war.
~.~.~
Dr. Ryker put up the images for Chloe and Beca could see, his hands crossing in front of him as he released a sigh.
"It's moving fast. We need to start treatment as soon as possible," he said, using his red marker to circle the new lumps growing around Rory's chest and left collarbone.
"What's the plan?" Chloe asked, her hand rubbing over Rory's back as the child sat on her hip and rested her cheek on the redhead's shoulder.
"Well, I want to get her started on her chemo treatment," the oncologist moved towards his desk and sat behind it while both mothers sat on the two chairs before it. He typed something into his computer and turned the screen, displaying a calendar like charting system with a countless list of medical terms below it. "The kind of chemo she will be administered is labeled ABVD, which stands for the four types of drugs she'll be given: Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine, and Dacarbazine."
Beca nodded, prompting for the man to continue.
"One cycle of her treatment is given over the course of a month. She will be administered it once every two weeks, which means that to complete four cycles she'll need eight treatments. Are you following?"
"Yes, eight chemo sessions for four cycles. Is that enough?" Chloe asked, taking a quick glance at Rory, a habit she's begun to check that the child was still alive.
"It should be, however, cancer is unpredictable unfortunately so we really have to play by ear. Hopefully the four cycles kill all the cancerous cells and if it doesn't then we will add more to her treatment."
"And what if it goes away sooner than four cycles?" Beca inquired.
"I'll be getting repeat CT and PET scans after the first two cycles. If the lumps seem to still be there or increasing in number then we'll get them surgically removed and increase her dosage or number of treatments."
Both women were silent a moment, trying to swallow this rather large pill they were handed.
"I know this is a lot of information to take in. I'll be emailing a simplified version of it to the both of you after this appointment but I want to make sure any questions you do have now are answered."
"Umm…" Chloe began, pinching the bridge of her nose slightly to keep the tears at bay. Beca instantly noticed this and rubbed her wife's back comfortingly. "I read that chemo has a long list of side effects but a lot of people say that nausea is a major one and that her kidneys will be weakened significantly."
"Of course. I'm glad you brought that up," Dr. Ryker typed something new into the system and pulled up a list of prescription drugs, the top one being the chemo for Rory. "This is a list of medications I want Rory to start on tomorrow morning to prepare her for chemo. Most of them are anti-nausea but a few others are to protect her other organs. Her kidneys to be exact. I have a full package here detailing each medication and you could always inquire with the pharmacist about any future questions or concerns you may have."
"So when would the first chemo session happen?" Beca asked.
"Ideally on Wednesday-"
"Two days from now?" Chloe asked, her tone riddled with fear.
"It's soon but like I said we have to move quickly. Her cells are breaking apart too quickly and turning cancerous."
"Okay, Wednesday works," Beca agreed, giving Chloe's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Perfect. You can bring her here on Wednesday at 10am. Just get her started on those other medications tomorrow morning," Dr. Ryker paused a beat and then chose to add, "I know that you will both be stressing over this and it is not my place to tell you not to, however, I am going to warn you that this is a very anticlimactic two days in the sense that by the time chemo actually happens the stress of it would have seemed a little excessive."
"Is there anything we can do to help Rory at home?" Chloe asked, not discussing Dr. Ryker's previous words.
"Well, the package goes into greater detail about that and during the first chemo session Nurse Lucy will be sitting with the both of you to discuss some more important information, but for now I would suggest keeping the house as clean as possible since she has an already weak immune system that will be compromised due to the chemo. You could buy more natural disinfectants, and body products that are gentle on her body during the cycles. Again, the pharmacist should direct you to some suitable shampoo, soaps, toothpastes. Things like that."
"We have a dog. A golden retriever to be exact," Beca said, making the doctor nod.
"Rory should be fine around the dog. As long as she doesn't get into contact with his feces or urine, and he is up to date on his vaccinations, everything should be okay."
"Mama, can we get ice cream now?" Rory spoke up, interrupting the conversation of worried questions and answers given to the best of the oncologist's ability.
"Sure, Rory," Chloe agreed, drawing a hand through similar red hair before looking to Beca.
"If you have any more questions you can contact myself, the cancer center nurse line, or even the children's hospital nurse line. I promise you that we will be there with you all each step of the way. We will keep you aware of everything to the best of our ability and make sure you are never confused about anything."
"Thank you, Dr. Ryker," Beca said, standing up and shaking his hand.
"Of course. Now go get those prescriptions filled and get Princess Rory some ice cream."
Chloe shook the hand of her child's oncologist as well before following her wife outside towards the car, and getting Rory strapped in her car seat.
After shutting the passenger door and turning to go towards the front seat, Beca stepped in front of her, taking a moment to cradle the red head's face and press a gentle kiss to her lips.
"I know this is a lot right now and Rory isn't okay, but I'm here with you. We'll get through this as a family," The music producer said, padding away the tears that started to fall down Chloe's cheeks.
"I'm so scared," Chloe admitted, whimpering slightly as she glanced at the window and saw Rory playing with her bunny and giggling.
"I know. I am too. But she's going to be okay."
"You can't promise that," Chloe demanded, shaking her head as she stepped back slightly.
"She's going to get sicker, I know, but she's going to also get better eventually. We just have to have a little hope."
"Why Rory?" the red head asked pitifully, looking as though her legs would give way from the pain of it all.
Beca sighed and rubbed her face to rid herself of her tears before answering. "Even the best people to grace this earth are thrown challenges. We just have to be strong. For her."
"For her," Chloe agreed, nodding her head as she sniffled back her tears and dried her cheeks. "For our baby Rory."
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