"You should go home." Tori suggested, as she stood upright on the hospital bed, caressing his face at ease. Doctor Evans watched on nearby with a smile as he continues to write a few things down on a clipboard. Hunter stood back on his chair and groans at the blonde's wishes. They've been over this a few times and it was starting to annoy him. But who could blame her? It's been over a week and Hunter has not yet left the hospital since they first arrived.
"I already told you I wasn't going to leave your side." He clarifies while kissing her hand. "I promised I'll always be here for you, and so be it."
Tori rolls her eyes. Hunter was so stubborn; she felt there was no point in arguing with him and just gave up. "Relax. You're girlfriend will be fine." Dr. Evans couldn't help, but intrude in their conversation. He wasn't going to let Tori lose this one. "Go home and rest. You need it."
Hunter turns his gaze over to him with an evil glare. "Sweetie, I couldn't agree with him anymore." Tori says with a smile. "Think about your son. You've been very helpful to me these past few weeks, and you haven't been seeing Nathan." Tori explains sincerely. "He needs to be with his father.
"But--"
"Not, butts." She places a finger on his lips and stares right at him. "Please? For me at least?"
Hunter looks at her and sighs. He hated seeing Tori plaster one of her puppy dog looks that make him feel weak in the knees. But then again, it made her look quite sexy. "Alright, fine." He mutters unwillingly. "I give up." The blonde turns to Dr. Evans and mouthed a thank you to him. "But only if this will make you happy..."
She nods. "Yes, more than anything."
He pursed his lips and sighs. "Okay. I'll be back though." Tori smiles as he leans forward and kisses her sweetly on the lips. "I love you."
"And I love you."
"Hey, do you have a minute?" Dr. Evans asks as soon as the two men walked out of the room just moments ago.
Hunter turns around and looks at him. "Yeah, man. What's up?"
"It's about Tori's condition."
The tone of his voice brought his attention as he folds his arms and listens carefully. "She's going to be okay, right?" Hunter asks again to make certain. "I mean you said--"
"I know." The young doctor interrupts him. "Tori is fighting it fairly well, which gives us more time."
Hunter wrinkles his forehead. "Time for what?"
Dr. Evans lifts his reading glasses up and sighs while staring down at the clipboard. "I've been wanting to tell her the news, but I was afraid that—"
"Just get right to the point, doc." Hunter grumbles.
Dr. Evans nods his head and adds on. "Well um…Tori will be going through several phases during a period of induction chemotherapy, which helps to reduce malignant cells from the bone marrow to accomplish a complete cure. But--" He trails off nervously. "I'm afraid this won't be enough."
Hunter felt bewildered with everything that was just said to him. "What do you mean?" He asks curiously.
"Well, due to the cloning of unwanted blood cells multiplying in her body, chemotherapy would only help Tori live longer."
He gulps down at the thought of death coming her way. "How long are we talking about?" He questions, anxiously waiting for an answer.
Dr. Evans heaves another sigh before looking up at the fear in Hunter's eyes. At that point, he refuses to tell him. As much as he hated bringing in the bad news to loved ones nearly everyday, this was the hardest of them all.
"Six months." He whispers gravely. "A year at the most..."
Moments later, Dustin and Shane arrived in Tori's blue van with Get well Soon balloons, cards, and flowers. While they were getting out from the vehicle, the goofball immediately spotted Hunter running out from the hospital and towards his truck. "What the..." Shane looks up while scratching the back of his head in utter confusion.
Dustin places the stuff down and pulls the skaterboy towards him. "Come on." They ran across the parking lot to see what he was up to.
Meanwhile, the dirty blonde didn't see them coming as he went ahead and turned on the ignition. "Hunter, wait!" They shouted while banging on his tinned windows. He groans hastily as Hunter rolls them down to reveal a sad face, filled up with endless tears. The two stared at him in concern. "What happened, dude?"
Hunter wipes his eyes and sniffs while averting from their gaze. "Nothing."
"What about Tori?"
"She's inside." He answers half-heartedly while adjusting his seat foreword. "When you see her, tell her that I love her. I have to go."
"Why won't you do that yourself?"
"I CAN'T!" He yells out infuriatingly as the two jerk their heads back in astonishment. Dustin and Shane exchange looks. They have no clue what was really going on with Hunter. His odd behavior was beginning to worry them as tears continued to stream down his cheeks. "I really have to go." With that, Hunter quickly backs up his truck and drives off with it in a heartbeat. Dustin and Shane stares back at his direction as the truck disappeared out in the opening.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
"Hello?" Natalie answers the phone while carrying Nathan in her arms.
"Hi, good afternoon. May I speak to Natalie Jordan please?"
"Uh yes. This is she."
"Hello. My name is Crystal Lynn and I'm calling on behalf of Blue Bay Harbor Hospital. Unfortunately, we have a problem concerning your son, Nathan and the father of your baby."
Natalie opens her eyes wide. "W-What kind of problem?" She stutters nervously.
The woman on the other line clears out her throat to speak. "I am going to schedule an appointment some time tomorrow. It is best if we discuss the facts with evidence in front of us. Don't worry. Nothing is wrong with your son, nor the father of this child. There's just a big mistake that you must know right away. Now if you could please hold on while I transfer you to another line to set up your appointment. We apologize for the inconveniences."
Natalie nods. "Okay." And hangs up on her instantly.
Oh no, she thought while glaring down at the telephone, no way will I ever give up this child. Not to anyone. Natalie looks down at little Nathan and smiles. Hunter can never know this. "You're my son…and OUR son alone."