If there had been any dust in the hospital, the group would have arrived in a cloud of it outside Mikey's room, regardless of whatever policies existed about not running in the hallways. The boy was sitting up in his bed, looking a little peaky but smiling brightly when he saw them.
Mabel was unable to restrain herself any longer, and launched herself through the door, before throwing herself onto his bed with a squeal of joy. Mitch quickly followed, noogying his brother vigorously. Dipper, with slightly more respect for the frailty of his friend's body, came and sat down on the end of the bed and reached through the tangled limbs of the others to offer him a high-five.
Dr. Martin and Mikey's parents both cringed, but aside from a small wince he just wrapped his arms around both of them, so the grownups took it as a sign that he was okay and turned their attention to the doctor.
"Was Clara telling the truth? He actually has a perfect match who's willing to give bone marrow?" Valencia asked hopefully; her eyes were bright with tears again, but for now at least the worst of the despair had faded.
Dr. Martin nodded, and smiled warmly. "We ran all the tests we could, and they were a complete success."
Mikey looked up from embracing his girlfriend with a bit of a worried frown.
"…But I still have a tumor that needs to come out?"
The doctor flinched, and his expression turned grave. "That is also true."
"Does it matter what order he does the surgeries in?" Mr. Stewart asked; he fiddled with his glasses anxiously.
"It's….complicated." Dr. Martin looked down at his clipboard.
"What's complicated about it?!" Stan barked. "The man is asking a simple question!"
Ford put a warning hand on his shoulder. He grumbled a little, but reluctantly subsided.
"What is complicated about it?" Mabel asked; she twisted around until she was sitting facing the doctor, though her arms stayed wound tightly around Mikey as if she could protect him from any further bad news. The other two closed in around them, staring at the doctor with equally anxious eyes.
"Well…" Dr. Martin cleared his throat, and then admitted, "Michael's body is more likely to react positively to the bone marrow and enter into long-term remission with the tumor removed, but the risk of complications with the tumor removal is higher than the risk of the bone marrow operation."
"But, once the tumor is out, the bone marrow will work better?" Mikey asked.
He nodded.
"Let's get that tumor out, then," he said without a second thought.
Valencia gasped.
"But Mikey…what about the risks?" Mabel asked nervously. Her fingers tightened in his thin hospital shirt on reflex.
"Babe, life's full of risk. You took a huge one finding me that bone marrow, and I wanna take full advantage of it. I want to be healthy long term." He pulled her back into his arms and whispered in her ear, "I want us to have the longest life together."
Mitch rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Oh, barf."
"Are you sure this is what you want, mijo?" his mother asked, voice trembling. She went to her son's side and put a hand on his shoulder.
Mikey nodded. "I want to live a healthy life, Mom. I don't want to take the bone marrow and then just spend years waiting for the tumors to make me sick again. That's not a life worth living."
Mikey's parents looked at each other; after a moment Valencia nodded, and her husband turned back to the doctor. "If that's what our son wants, we're behind him."
Dr. Martin nodded. "I'll get the operation scheduled for tomorrow."