This is a one shot about Kyle and Brax being diagnosed with cancer at the same time. It follows them through their journeys together and with their family by their sides. (I'm not a doctor so this might not be medically accurate in places)
Sitting in the chair opposite a doctor in this department wasn't anything he'd ever imagined would happen. He never imagined hearing those words, but somehow he did. He didn't know how he was going to tell Ricky, or his brothers, they relied on him a lot and he knew that would change for a while. He didn't know how any of them would cope with this, not when he couldn't even believe it himself. Things like this didn't happen to his family, that's what he always wanted to believe. But here he was.
"Darryl… Brax?"
"Uh, yeah?" Brax mutters as he finally looks up at the doctor.
"Did you hear what I said?" Dr Glennan asks.
"That it's treatable, yeah." Brax lightly nods.
"I know this can be a scary time, but we've caught your cancer early which is great in this case. If it was found in a few months time, or even a year, we'd be having a very different conversation." Dr Glennan explains. "After going over a few things, I think the best course of treatment would be chemotherapy which I'd like to start soon. We don't want to let this get any worse than it could be."
"When would the first session be?" Brax asks.
"I can book you in for the first session to be on Tuesday morning. I'll go through things in more detail, and I'll also give you some leaflets that have information in them." Dr Glennan says as he grabs them from his leaflet tray.
"Uh, can we not?" Brax asks. "I mean, I need some time to process this. I'll go through those leaflets, but I need more time. Could you go through it before the chemo session?"
"Sure, if that's what you'd prefer." Dr Glennan nods.
"Yeah." Brax nods. "Is that everything?"
"I'll let you go." Dr Glennan nods. "I know this is a lot to take in, but you're not alone. We can go through this in more detail before your chemo session on Tuesday, and I can answer any questions you may have."
"Cheers." Brax mutters.
He shook the doctor's hand as he stood up, taking the appointment reminder card with him as he walked out. He needed a minute as he got out of the office, wondering if this was karma for all the bad things he had done in his life. He was planning on telling Ricky first, he thought she deserved to know, but he wasn't sure how to tell his brothers, they wouldn't cope with this news. He started heading towards the door, lost in his own thoughts, that was until he bumped into someone.
"Kyle?" Brax frowns, it was his younger brother, who looked just as shocked as he did.
"Brax, wh what-" Kyle stutters.
"What're you doing here?" Brax frowns, then glances at the doctor that comes out of the room Kyle just ran out of before bumping into him.
"Kyle, could you come back into my office so we can talk about this in more detail?" The doctor asks.
"Kyle, what's going on?" Brax asks, noticing that Kyle was on the verge of tears over something.
"Nothing, he's got it wrong." Kyle mutters, anxiously rubbing his hand along his other arm.
"What's he on about?" Brax asks the doctor, rolling his eyes at the response he gets.
"I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything-"
"Yeah, because of patient confidentiality, I know. But he's my brother, and he's a stubborn kid who won't tell me unless I force it out of him. If you want to talk to him in more detail, I'm your best bet." Brax explains.
"Kyle, what would you prefer?" He asks his patient, who glances at Brax.
"It's fine." Kyle mutters, slouching back into the doctor's office with his brother and the doctor behind him.
"So what's going on?" Brax asks as he sits down in the chair next to Kyle, the doctor sitting opposite them behind the desk
"Kyle has a rare form of leukaemia that would require a bone marrow transplant as treatment. I've just been explaining to him that we would need to find a viable donor before we can continue any form of treatment for him and I'd like to start that as soon as possible." Kyle's doctor, Dr Kent, explains.
"And who would be the best bone marrow match?" Brax asks, starting to feel even more overwhelmed at the fact that Kyle has cancer as well as him.
"A full blood match would be best."
"Right." Brax sighs.
"Is that going to be a problem?" Dr Kent frowns.
"We're only half brothers." Kyle mutters.
"But that wouldn't make a big impact on it, would it? We're still brothers." Brax asks.
"It shouldn't make too much of a difference as you're still a blood relative. We'll still do the appropriate checks to make sure, but it's still a huge possibility that you'll be a match." Dr Kent replies. "We can start these tests as early as tomorrow. If you have any other siblings, or parents, who would be willing to be a donor, then you're welcome to bring them along as well."
"We have two brothers, they might be willing to get tested." Brax says.
"That's great. So no parents?" Dr Kent asks.
"Both dead." Kyle mutters.
"I'm sorry. I'll get everything sorted for tomorrow." Dr Kent says.
"Can I go now?" Kyle quietly asks. "There's nothing else here." He says, standing up and heading towards the door anyway.
"Kyle, wait up." Brax says as he also stands up. "Thanks doc, we'll see you tomorrow."
"See you then." Dr Kent nods, as Brax and Kyle leave.
Kyle had made a swift exit towards the lift, Brax making it just in time for the door shutting. It was silent during the short lift ride, and Kyle made another swift exit as soon as the doors opened, heading towards the front entrance. As soon as they got outside, Brax managed to catch up with Kyle pretty quickly, stopping him short of the entrance by a bench.
"I, uh… I'm sorry."
"Who told you I was here?" Kyle asks. "I didn't tell anyone." He mutters to himself.
"I didn't know you were here until I bumped into you." Brax sighs, moving Kyle towards the bench. "If I knew, I would have been in there with you from the beginning."
"Then why are you here?" Kyle frowns.
"I had an appointment." Brax says.
"Where to?" Kyle asks. "You were in the oncology department. Was that the appointment?"
"Yeah. I've got a small tumour in my shoulder, a cancerous one. They said it should go away once I've given chemo a shot. It doesn't sound anywhere as bad as yours does." Brax says.
"Leukaemia." Kyle mutters. "What if they don't find a bone marrow match?"
"There'll be one out there. If not one of us, then someone else." Brax says. "I'm going to find a match for you, I don't care what it takes."
"When do you start treatment?" Kyle asks.
"Tuesday morning. How about we go and tell the others? They deserve to know." Brax says, wishing he didn't have to, but things are different now Kyle has it as well.
"Do we have to?"
"What if Heath or Casey are a match for you? They'd want to know."
"I know." Kyle slightly shakes his head. "Can we just stay here a little longer? I just need some more time."
"Sure, I was thinking the same." Brax deeply sighs as he leans back on the bench, trying to take it all in.
It was the next morning and the Braxton's were all sitting in the doctors office waiting on the results. It had been a shock for them all finding out about Brax and Kyle's diagnosis, and they'd spent a huge part of the rest of the afternoon and night talking through a lot of things. Heath and Casey instantly agreed to get tested like Brax thought they would, now it was just a waiting game. That wasn't until both Brax and Kyle's doctor walked in, revealing the results of the tests.
"Brax is a match?" Kyle frowns, not understanding what that would mean for him. "You said they wouldn't be a match because they're not my full blood."
"I didn't quite say that, but tests have confirmed your brother is a match." Dr Kent says.
"What would this mean for his treatment?" Kyle asks, he wasn't going to let Brax delay his treatment for anything, not when things could get worse if that were to happen.
"It does matter. I'm doing this." Brax says, causing his doctor to step in.
"Darryl, could I have a word?" Dr Glennan asks.
"Sure." Brax nods, following his doctor out of the room alongside Ricky.
"I understand that you want to be a donor for your brother, but I would highly recommend that you do not delay treatment. It would give your cancer a chance to spread and we may not have as great a chance of treating it." Dr Glennan explains.
"What, so you're expecting me to go and get treatment when I'm the only bone marrow match for Kyle?" Brax scoffs. "If you think I'm going to treat my cancer, and let Kyle's get worse, think again. He's getting this transplant from me, I don't care what that means for me." Brax firmly says.
"I don't think you're understanding the consequences this will have for you-"
"I don't think you understand that my brother needs me to do this. It's my choice, and this is what I've chosen. I'm being the donor for Kyle and I don't care if you think it's a bad idea. My brother's health will always come first, and I will not watch him suffer just so I get treatment." Brax firmly says, why wasn't the doctor understanding this from his point of view?
"Okay, I can see that I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, so I'll go through things with Dr Kent and see when we can start your treatment." Dr Glennan says.
"I think you should listen to the doctor." Ricky says. "We can figure something out for Kyle, but you have a chance to get better without things being much worse. You got lucky this time."
"Rick, Kyle needs me. If there was a chance another donor would come up, then maybe I'd reconsider. The doctor even said a blood relative would give Kyle a better chance, so I need to take that opportunity before things change." Brax says. "Please, just let me help my brother."
"I don't want you doing this, but it's obvious you're not going to listen to me. We'll talk more about this later." Ricky says before they walk back into the room, seeing Kyle looked more relaxed about something.
"So if I start treatment sooner, I'll definitely be clear of this sooner?" Kyle asks to make sure.
"It all depends on how well the treatment goes, but your test results show that it could work really well. But as I said, we'll know more once treatment is started and we've got a clearer picture on things. Let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet." Dr Kent says.
"Right, okay." Kyle nods. "What about these other medications I'll be on, will I have to take them all the time?"
"You'll take them as prescribed, yes. They will go alongside your bone marrow transplantation treatment." Dr Kent says.
"And when can he start this treatment you keep going on about?" Heath asks.
"He won't be, not from Brax anyway." Ricky pipes up.
"Ricky!" Brax scolds, not impressed she was trying to control his decision on this. "When can he start?" He asks Kyle's doctor.
"Brax!" Ricky shakes her head, she wasn't going to let him do this when it would make his condition worse in the meantime, they heard his doctor.
"I know the risks involved, and what it could do to me, and I'm willing to take that risk." Brax says.
"What risks?" Kyle frowns, he wasn't told about any risks involved for Brax's treatment.
"Kyle, don't worry about it. We're going ahead with this, you'll get your treatment, and then we'll get cancer free together. That's all you need to know." Brax says. "So when can we start this doc?"
"I don't believe this." Ricky scoffs, walking out of the doctor's office in rage.
"Can we take a few days to discuss things?" Kyle asks his doctor. "There's some stuff we need to go through as a family first. I won't be agreeing to anything until we do."
"Kyle, don't do this." Brax warns. "There's nothing we need to discuss."
"Doc?" Kyle asks.
"Sure, I can give you a couple days max. But after that we need to start your treatment before your condition has a chance to get worse. In the meantime, I'll give you some medications to help your symptoms that you can collect from the pharmacy straight away." Dr Kent says.
"Thanks." Kyle nods as they prepare to leave.
"Hey, everything will be okay. I know this is going to be a tough decision, but you've got all of us to support you." Bianca says.
"I know, thank you." Kyle lightly smiles.
"Come here." Bianca smiles, pulling him in for a hug.
"You stealing my wife?" Heath jokes as they walk out, wanting to lighten the mood.
"I don't think it would take a lot." Kyle chuckles.
"Cheek of it." Heath mutters before they both laugh, Bianca shaking her head with a smile.