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Chapter 4: Bad News

Cruz smiled lightly at her reflection, the blue circles under her eyes were gone, her hair was shiny and she had even begun to gain a bit of weight back.

It had been two weeks since the first chemo treatment had ended but Cruz's smile quickly faded away as she thought about today. It was the day she went to make sure that the cancer was being affected by the chemo.

Bosco stepped in beside her and took her hand. He had taken to staying overnight at her apartment, making sure she didn't need anything, spending time with her and holding her while she cried. She gripped his arm tightly, possessively. She still felt exhausted most days, but she had managed to drag herself to work for the a few days. Today however, she had the day off, as did Bosco.

"Bosco, I'm scared" Once again she had taken him by surprise, he wasn't used to her expressing this much emotion, but as the chemo had progressed they had become very close. He gently smoothed her hair back and kissed her on the forehead "Hey, it's ok, I'll be there for you ok?" She nodded and ran her hands around his body, she would never tire of the feeling she got in his arms. "How are you feeling today?" he asked gently. Cruz shrugged slightly "My body hurts and I have a headache, I'm exhausted." Bosco closed his eyes, he hoped that these were just after effects of the chemo but it didn't sound like it. He pulled her tighter to himself, breathing in the flowery fragrance of her hair and taking in everything about her, he couldn't lose her; he wouldn't let this disease take her away.

Cruz got out of the car and waited for Bosco. He took her hand gently and kissed her on the temple "It'll be fine"

Cruz nodded and followed him into the cancer ward. They only had to wait for a few minutes before a nurse came out and invited them into an exam room. Bosco noticed that as Cruz sat there, there was a faint look of hope on her face, maybe the chemo had worked, and maybe the cancer was almost gone.

But as the doctor walked in the expression was lost and her face dropped, she refused to look at anyone "It didn't work did it?" she asked, her voice soft and hushed, no more than a whisper.

The doctor shook his head "I'm sorry, the cancer has progressed, it's your entire blood stream." Cruz hid her face but Bosco thought he heard a choked sob come from her chest.

He sat closer to her and put his arm around her. She pushed herself into his embrace and let him comfort her. Bosco looked up at the doctor "What else can we do?"

The doctor shook his head almost undetectably and said "We can try another round of chemo or..." Cruz cut him off abruptly "No, I'm not doing chemo again, not if it's not going to help me"

The doctor continued "Ok, or we can do a bone marrow transplant." "What's that?" Cruz asked, still not looking at the doctor's face. "We would take bone marrow from someone with the same blood type and bone marrow type as you, take some of yours out and replace it with the new bone marrow. This will just raise your immunity and help get rid of cancer cells"

Cruz nodded "How do we do it?" "First we need to find a match, do you have any relatives" Cruz suddenly went stiff "No" The doctor looked up in surprise "No one? An Aunt or Uncle?" "No" Cruz's voice was hard and concealing.

"Ok, then we put you on a nation wide search for anyone that is willing to donate." Bosco felt the hope in Cruz drain away, her shoulders dropped and her hands twisted in her lap

"How long could that take?" She asked "It all depends, we never really know" Cruz nodded again, not saying anything and the doctor changed the subject.

"How have you been feeling lately?" Cruz finally glanced up "Not good, I'm exhausted, headachy and most of the time I just hurt everywhere. I feel nauseous and distracted all the time."

The doctor nodded "That is to be expected, if the cancer's still there you're going to feel progressively worse. I don't know how long you'll be able to keep up at work but keep going if you feel up to it. I'm going to put you up on the list for a marrow transplant. Now, make sure to call me if anything at all is bothering you and try to stay away from anyone with a cold or the flu, even a little thing like that could be the death of you."

Cruz grimaced slightly and stood up as the doctor continued "I just wan to tell you again how sorry I am about the chemo, I truly thought it would work" Cruz looked up "I know, thank you" She sighed and took Bosco's hand again as they left the hospital.

As soon as they got home all of the emotions came pouring out. Cruz fell onto her bed and buried her face in a pillow "It's not fair Bosco, it's just not fair!" He sat down beside her gently rubbing her back to try and soothe her.

"I know," he murmured. Her shoulders wracked with sobs and her clean complexion became blotchy and red as the tears poured off her cheeks. She clung to him, as if he was the last thing in her life worth living for and he bent down to kiss her "I love you Maritza"

(A/N) Awww their first I love you, hope you liked it!