So I'm finally back! Gee it's been a long time, what would it be now...2 years maybe? Well anyway I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner, along with getting writers block this chapter seemed to be quite difficult for me to write so I left it for as long as I could pretty much. I had to do a bit of research for a part of it (you'll find out which bit) and it kind of put me off but I hope its all accurate but if not I apologize in advance. Anyway, for those of you who are still with me you guys are awesome and also welcome to any new readers I may have :) So without further ado, here's what you've all been waiting for! Hope you enjoy it :)

Chapter 10

The next morning the family got up bright and early and after breakfast they headed straight for the hospital. Malcolm, feeling refreshed after the long nights sleep, was eager to see his brother again and when they got there they found Reese leaning over a bowl of cereal with a nurse standing next to him. When she saw the family she smiled sweetly at them.

"When he woke up he said he was hungry so I gave him some breakfast. Well I'll leave you to it then," she told them as she bustled out of the room.

"Hi," Reese greeted in between mouthfuls.

"Reese, you've got your appetite back!" Lois exclaimed. She rushed over to him and gave him a hug. "It's great to see you're feeling better," she beamed down at him. Reese returned the smile with a smile of his own, something his family hadn't seen in a while. Seeing his brother smile again gave Malcolm a good feeling inside which in turn forced a smile upon his face. As the rest of the family gathered around Reese's bed the feeling told him that his brother was finally getting better.

The next couple of hours went by fast with Dewey and Francis occupying most of the time by asking Reese a lot of questions. Dewey would ask the childish ones like "Did you wake up during the surgery when they cut into you?", "Did the doctor's faint when they saw you wake up?" and "Do you feel empty without your spleen?" Francis though asked the more serious ones that a caring older brother would ask. Throughout the questioning Malcolm noticed Reese growing more and more uncomfortable and when Francis started lecturing him about running away from the house when he was sick his flushed face began growing pale again. Thinking that all the questioning and lecturing was flustering Reese Malcolm suggested they play a game with a deck of cards they had brought from home. This seemed to excite Dewey and to a much lesser extent Reese and so Francis had no choice but to stop his lecturing and agree to play.

A little way away, watching from one of the corners Lois and Hal sat. Hal was telling Lois about a random event that happened at work but Lois had tuned out for most of it. All she made out was that it involved clowns, a step ladder and a flying cake. It wasn't that she didn't care, she was just too busy thinking. She couldn't quite place what the problem was but she knew it had something to do with Reese. She looked over at her second son who was lying in a hospital bed playing cards with his brothers and Piama. The smile that had appeared on his face when they arrived had vanished and the twinkle in his eyes was gone.

'Maybe he's tired' she thought to herself. It was then that she realized Hal was asking a question. "What?" she asked.

"Honey, are you okay? Usually when I finish telling a wacky work story when they arrived had vanished and the twinkle in his eyes were gone.

'Maybe he's tired' she thought to herself. It was then that she realized Hal was asking a question. "What?" she asked.

"Honey, are you okay? Usually when I finish telling a wacky work story you come up with a witty remark." Hal's voice and eyes were full of concern.

"Hal, everything's fine" she answered quickly.

"Are you sure?" Both of them stared deeply into each other's eyes, Hal intent on getting the truth. Finally Lois broke.

"No Hal, everything's not fine. At least it doesn't feel that way."

"What is it, honey? Is it Reese? The doctor said he's gonna be fine so you don't have to worry anymore." Hal explained.

"Yes, I know Hal. But when a mother feels that her baby's in trouble the mothers usually right. Call it maternal instinct and right now my instinct is telling me that something is still not right with Reese." Lois stared at Hal with pleading eyes. He couldn't quite tell if she was pleading for him to believe he or pleading for him to prove that she was wrong and Reese was going to be fine. Not knowing how to respond he did what he usually does in that situation. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him, giving her a light kiss on the side of her forehead to comfort her. Lois welcomed the affection and rested her head on her husband's shoulder, both turning their attention back to Reese's bed.

"Dewey I've already told you" cried out an annoyed Malcolm "you can't possibly be holding a 5 right now. I have one pair and Reese has the other so stop asking us if we have any 5's!"

"Well the number in my hand is quite clearly a 5, Malcolm. If you don't believe me then here!" an angry Dewey plucked the card out of his hand and turned it around so everyone could see. Sure enough he was holding a 5.

"You know what?" Francis started "I've been holding onto this queen for a while now and there are only a couple of cards left." Before anybody could stop him Francis grabbed the deck off the bed and searched through them. "The other one's not here!" he exclaimed "What kind of a deck of cards is this!"

"Francis calm down, it's all just a bit of fun" Piama put in.

"Oh you're just saying that because you're winning." Francis countered. Piama grinned.

"This game is stupid. I knew we should've brought something else." Dewey cried out.

"Dewey, the only games you wanted to bring were childish board games with most of the pieces missing!" Malcolm retorted and Reese rolled his eyes. Lois and Hal watched as an argument ensued. No one seemed to notice when a doctor walked in a couple of minutes later.

"Ahem" the doctor cleared his throat which got the attention of the family. Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Hi, my name is Dr Lukas." Before he could continue Hal got up and shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you Dr Lukas. What can we do for you? Are you here to tell us that we can take Reese home now?"

"Unfortunately, no" Dr Lukas said with a pained expression on his face. "A couple of hours ago we became aware that your son had a blood test earlier in the week."

"Yes, what about it?" Lois asked as she stood up from her chair.

"We decided to chase up the results and I'm afraid it's not good news. We found a high level of white cells in his blood and because this could be quite serious we'll need to run another test."

"What kind of test?" Malcolm asked, knowing and dreading the answer simultaneously.

"A bone marrow biopsy" Dr Lukas answered. Everyone looked at Malcolm, who was looking a little distressed.

"Are you sure that's necessary? Isn't there some other test you could do first?" Malcolm raised his voice slightly and jumped up from where he was sitting on the bed.

"I'm sorry, but if this is serious we'll need to find out sooner rather than later for your brothers benefit." Dr Lukas explained. Defeated, Malcolm sat back down an glanced at Reese who clearly had no idea what was going on. "Now Mr and Mrs Wilkerson, may I have a word with you outside, please?" The doctor headed for the hallway with Lois and Hal following. When they were out of earshot Dr Lukas continued talking.

"Are you aware of what the bone marrow biopsy procedure is?" he asked. Both Lois and Hal looked at each other. "No" Lois answered for both of them.

"Well the procedure is invasive and could be quite painful for your son and we will need your consent first."

"What does the procedure involve?" Lois asked, feeling a little worried.

"A needle will be inserted into Reese's hipbone-"

"No, no stop!" cried out Hal who was becoming squeamish. "We'll consent! Just stop talking about it!"

"Okay then. Because of Reese's age though my recommendation is for a family member to be present to give him the necessary support."

"Alright, that makes sense." Lois murmured. She exchanged looks with Hal who was looking flushed and flustered. He clearly wouldn't be able to do it, just talking about medical procedures made him uncomfortable so he would be no help to Reese. In fact, he would probably make Reese feel worse. So that left her.

"I'll do it" an unexpected voice came from the doorway of Reese's room. Lois and Hal spun around to see Francis looking brave but vulnerable at the same time. When no one said anything Francis walked over to them.

"Let me do it Mum. We both know that Dad would be hopeless in this situation and you've been through enough already. You deserve a break. So let me do it." Francis stared intently into his mother's eyes, pleading for her approval. Then Lois found her voice.

"Francis honey, are you sure?"

"More than sure" he replied vaguely.

"Alright then, I'll let you do it." Lois pulled Francis into a hug and when she let go Dr Lukas started talking again.

"Mr and Mrs Wilkerson, I'll just need you to sign a couple of forms if you can please."

"Yes of course" Lois said as she and Hal followed the doctor and Francis returned to Reese's room.

A couple of hours later Dr Lukas was back in Reese's room preparing for the biopsy. After Lois and Hal consented the family gathered around Reese's bed and as expected Reese decided to have a family member present. The doctor had explained the procedure to Reese in detail and he was feeling pretty nervous about it.

"It's okay man. You're gonna be fine because I'll be right there with you" Francis had told him. Reese was still digesting the information and couldn't respond.

"And so am I!" announced Malcolm.

"What!" Lois and Francis cried out.

"Malcolm you don't have to do this-" Francis tried to convince him before being interrupted.

"Look, I probably know this procedure better than any of you so I know what to expect and I'm not going to let my brother go through it without me!" Malcolm argued. Lois and Francis tried for a while to change Malcolm's mind but he was stubborn and in the end they gave in. So there Reese was, lying on his front with the doctor on one side and his brothers on the other. He'd turned his head so he was facing Francis and his arms were crossed on his pillow with his head resting on them. Malcolm was sitting silently but Francis was making chit chat with the doctor.

"So anyway" he said with a silly grin on his face, "it turns out the cow wasn't crazy or possessed. She just needed to be milked!" Both Francis and Dr Lukas chuckled but Reese and Malcolm were too nervous to make a sound.

"Reese, I've just cleaned the area so now you will feel a bit of a bee sting." The sting made Reese hiss a little. Francis grabbed his shoulder lightly in comfort as he and Malcolm watched intently.

"So Francis, how long have you been at the dude ranch?" The doctor asked.

"Oh gee…probably just over a year" Francis answered thoughtfully. Malcolm stopped listening and glanced at Reese, who seemed to be alright for the moment, then diverted his eyes to the needle that Dr Lukas picked up. It was a needle that looked more like a chisel than a medical instrument. Even though he was both fascinated and curious of the procedure, he couldn't watch. Instead, he watched Reese's reaction.

"Okay Reese. Are you ready?" A broken sigh escaped Reese's mouth before he answered.

"Yeah I guess." The next few minutes weren't very fun for the brothers. Malcolm was torn between watching his brother being quite literally stabbed in the back and watching the same brother cry out or hiss in pain. Francis didn't seem to be doing well either as his grip on Reese's shoulder became tighter as he watched in horror. The chit chat had come to a complete stop and when Malcolm glanced at Francis he was pretty sure he'd just witnessed the colour drain from his face. Reese's eyes and teeth were now clenched tight as he tried to suppress any more cries from escaping. Of course the doctor had continued talking but no one was listening. A nurse or two may have come in to assist but they weren't sure either way. All they wanted was for it to be over and after what felt like forever, they heard Dr Lukas say "Okay, that's all done. I'll come back soon to let you know how the results turn out." After that he was gone. Francis breathed deeply to catch his breath then let out a sigh.

"How are you feeling, Reese?" he asked.

"Not too good" Reese answered through clenched teeth.

"Well you did great buddy. Don't you think he did great Malcolm?" Francis babbled. When Malcolm didn't answer he glared at him menacingly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. You did great Reese."

"Thank guys."

A couple of hours later when the rest of the family had returned from lunch, Reese had somewhat recovered and Francis was out of his foetal position in the corner, Dr Lukas returned. Everyone looked at him expectantly, no one daring to say a word.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news" he started grimly. "Reese has Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia. He has cancer." Everyone's face fell.

So this may have been a bit over dramatic but I wanted there to be a bit of drama. Also sorry if there are any spelling/grammatical errors, I have a new laptop and for some reason typing is a bit difficult, I think I'm not used to having to press the keys so hard and I couldn't be bothered reading through the chapter to read through everything. I just wanted to post SOMETHING for you all.

Just a heads up, next chapter will be the last one but who knows, I may post an epilogue but I havent written one and to be honest I kinda want to move on to other projects. To all my reviewers let me know what you thought of the chapter, I wasn't very happy with it myself but hopefully it wasn't too disappointing for you.