Warning: This chapter contains as close to the actual description of medical procedures as I could get. If you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip this chapter.
Ianto closes his eyes and fights off a powerful wave of nausea before he speaks. "So what happens now?" Owen sighs softly. "You stay here, and let me treat you. When you were small, did they ever test your bone marrow?" Thinking back, Ianto shakes his head. "No, they didn't. I don't think they did." He looks over at Owen, to see the other man rubbing at his eyes, and the bridge of his nose. "So I get to teach you about it. I'll warn you now that it isn't very comfortable, and I apologize. I need you to sit up, and get on a gown." Owen digs through the cupboards of the room which is built much like a hospital room, as opposed to the medical bay, and comes back with a hospital gown. "Pants need to come off as well now." He turns around, but doesn't leave the room. Slowly, Ianto pulls down his pants, and puts the gown on. He then sits back down, trying to stay as decent as possible.
When the rustle of fabric stops, Owen turns back to Ianto and takes a deep breath. He washes his hands before getting out everything he'll need including a syringe filled with local anesthetic, a cleaning tool, and it's solution to clean Ianto's skin, a small knife, a tool called aspiration needle, a collection plate, an empty syringe, a piece of wire, gauze, and tape. Looking at everything, he sighs again and rewashes his hands before putting on gloves, and coming over to Ianto. He sets the tray down, and sees Ianto's eyes widen at all the tools on it. "I need you to lie on your stomach." Searching the medic's face, Ianto slowly moves so he's lying on his stomach. Ianto hears Owen move things around on the tray, and nearly jumps off the table in alarm when he feels something touch his hip.
Rolling his eyes, Owen speaks. "Relax. I'm just cleaning you." He sets it down, and drapes a sterile sheet over Ianto's hip that has a hole in it for him to work through. He then picks up the needle. "I'm going to numb you now, ok?" Ianto nods slightly, and winces at the soft pinch of the needle. He feels something being pushed in, and then nothing. He feels the pressure of the needle going deeper, but no pain. He relaxes slightly on the bed before he feels the needle being removed. Owen takes his finger, and presses it to Ianto. "Do you feel anything but pressure?" Ianto shakes his head. Owen then picks up the Aspiration needle, and while holding onto the handle, he presses the tip into the numbed skin by Ianto's hip. "This will be uncomfortable, and not exactly pain free. It shouldn't be too bad for a bit, ok?" Ianto nods and Owen slowly works the long, thin shaft into Ianto, aiming for the bone. Ianto's breathing hitches softly. Instantly, Owen stops. "Are you doing ok?" Ianto nods softly, while trying to ignore the pain.
A few minutes later, Owen has worked the needle into the bone. Ianto's breathing is slow and heavy. Slowly, Owen steps back and grabs the empty syringe. He works the tip into the needle, and rests a hand on Ianto's hip. "This part will hurt, and I'm sorry." He quickly withdraws some of the bone marrow causing Ianto to let out a choked sob of pain. Owen grimaces at the sound before setting the syringe down, and slowly removing the needle. He prepares slides for testing, while letting Ianto breath heavily. "Am I done?" Ianto's voice is so quiet that almost misses it before he shakes his head, even though Ianto can't see him. "Not yet. I'm sorry, but I have one last test I need to do." Ianto cringes, and nods softly. Picking up the small knife, Owen makes a small cut connected to the spot the needle just was to fit in the biopsy needle. "Now this needle has something called a stylet in it, which basically means it's a hollow tube, with something inside of it. This one will probably hurt more than the last test. Are you ready?" Slowly, Ianto nods.
Owen presses the biopsy needle into the spot on Ianto. When he reaches bone, he removes the stylet from the middle, leaving just the hollow tube before he presses it further into Ianto, twisting it back and forth to move it forward. Ianto lets out a choked sob, but does his best to hold still. When Ianto has the tube where he needs it, he turns it in a complete circle, pulling it towards him, and pressing it away. As Owen continues, Ianto begins to cry softly. As soon as he can, Owen removes the tube, and then empties the small section of bone, and marrow that measures to be 2mm in diameter, and about two inches long that he took onto gauze before he bandages Ianto's side, and helps him roll onto his back with a small towel rolled under his hip to help stop the bleeding. Owen sits him up, and gives him some pain medicine. "Let's hope I don't have to do that again, yeah?" Ianto nods softly, and Owen removes his gloves and washes his hands before bringing Ianto some tissues. Owen cleans up everything that he used before he rests a hand softly on Ianto's shoulder before he takes the samples to be tested.
When he walks back in, Ianto has calmed down. "Are you feeling any better?" Ianto nods softly. "When can I leave?" Owen looks at Ianto "Probably not within the hour. I'll know more when the test results come back in about 45 minutes." Owen helps Ianto roll to his side and then checks the gauze he set there. "It looks like the bleeding has mostly stopped." He tapes down some new gauze, and moves the towel before allowing Ianto to lay back. "Try and get comfortable. I'm going to go look at everything. Do you need anything?" "Some water would be nice." Owen nods, and leaves the room before bringing Ianto a glass of water. "Here you go. I'm going to go look at everything. Just rest, ok?" Ianto nods, and closes his eyes. He pulls the blankets tighter to his chin, and rests, hoping to fall asleep, but doesn't as he lies there thinking about every possible outcome. First his mam died, and then everything with his Tad, and then Lisa, and then Jack, and now his cancer's come back. What else could go wrong?
Owen comes back in about half an hour later, and rouses Ianto from his light dozing. "Well, I have good news. The good news is that it hasn't affected your bone marrow yet. I compared it to some samples from when you were little, and that one did much more damage before it was found. That means that there's a better chance that I'll be able to get rid of it completely so it won't come back. I also have stronger and better medicines that are more effective than what they gave you. After this round of medicine, you'll almost certainly never have this come back. Do you know what they had you on when you were little?" Ianto looks up at the ceiling. "They were pills. I don't remember what type, just that I had to take a lot every day." Owen smiles slightly. "Well, no pills this time." Ianto watches Owen's face as he speaks. "So what's the bad news that comes with this?" Owen rubs the back of his neck softly. "Besides feeling like crap from the medicine, you're going to have to stay his room while I treat you. Visitors will be limited. It'll basically be just you and I until you're better."
Wow I've been busy. With school, lack of motivation, medical changes, and a few run-ins with the police, I haven't felt as much like writing as I used to. However, I should be able to post more frequently than once every three months now. Story is not abandoned. I promise.