AN: Thank you all so much for the reviews! they mean so much to me! Im glad you enjoyed the last chapter! it was something i wanted to write for ages but just had a block but im happy at how it turned out! Word of advice brace yourselves for the next few chapters because they are so sad! lol! Please R&R and thanks especially to Kylie for all her help and also to Emz and Kazzie for their encouragment! I hope you all enjoy it!
Kirsten pulled away from Sandy's embrace. She slowly answered the phone and Sandy followed her and put his arms around her stomach.
"Kirsten, is that you?"
"Hannah, what's up what's going on is Ella ok?"
Sandy sat up on the bed.
"Oh my god what's happened is she ok?"
Kirsten put Hannah on speakerphone.
"Well guys Ella's running a very high fever. She's really sick with it and is crying for you guys. Do you think you can get down her?"
Sandy gripped Kirsten's hand and kissed it tenderly.
"We are on our way"
Kirsten hung up the phone and looked at Sandy.
"It's starting isn't it?"
Sandy pulled her close.
"You ready for it? It's not going to be easy honey"
Kirsten let out a small sob.
"Im not ready atall for it, I just wish we had her in our lives sooner, it just seems so unfair"
Sandy kissed Kirsten's temple.
"I know baby, I know. Now we better get going"
"Wow I'm glad you guys are here, she just deteriorated overnight. She's running a fever of 103" Hannah ushered Kirsten and Sandy into the hospital.
They stood outside Ella's room looking through the window at her. Ella had bags of fluid running into her and she was sleeping peacefully.
Kirsten held Sandy's hand tighter.
"Now you guys this is not going to be easy. You do have a chance to leave if you want to I understand. It's going to be horrible watching her suffer"
Sandy looked at Kirsten who blinked her eyes closed.
"No Hannah, we made a promise to Ella and we are going to be there for her until the end"
Sandy quietly entered the room and Kirsten followed behind him. She walked over to the bed and began to hold Ella's hand. She gently touched her face. She grasped
"Sandy she is so hot, look at her face Sandy it's so frail looking"
Sandy gently pulled her into a hug "honey sheeshh shessh it's ok look she is in the best place and Hannah assures us she is comfortable, now we will just sit with her until she wakes up ok"
Sandy sat down on the chair and Kirsten gently crawled up in beside Ella.
The bed was surrounded with machines monitoring her heartbeat and stands with bags of platelets, fluid and other stuff Sandy wasn't quiet sure of. He looked over at Kirsten who was gently stroking Ella's arm. Both of them were sleeping peacefully and Sandy began to nod off with his hand intertwined with Ella's and his head beside Ella's on the bed.
"Owww make it stop, it hurts it hurts" Ella screamed as Kirsten rubbed her back. She retched one more time into the basin Hannah was holding.
"Her blood pressure is abnormally low and her temperature is too high we have to get it down, can I have more platelets and lets get some fluid into this girl before she dies of dehydration" Dr Keenan shouted to the nurses in the room.
"No Sandy" Ella reached for his hand.
"Don't let them hurt me with their needles, please sandy please"
Ella tightened her grip on Sandy's hand and Sandy gently wiped the tears off Ella's face. He looked over to Kirsten who was gently rubbing her back. His eyes then moved back to Ella. She was wincing in pain and screaming as the doctors poked at her trying to raise her blood pressure and lower her temperature.
Kirsten looked over at Sandy. She noted the look on his face.
"Honey are you ok"
Sandy shook his head.
"Am I just need to go outside for a minute ok, ill be right back Ella Bella, just hang in there baby"
Sandy let go off Ella's hand and ran outside the door and down the hallway.
Tears stung at his eyes as if punishing him for holding them back so long. His body shook and a dull ache grew in the pit of his stomach. He threw his body onto the cold hard wall and slid down till he was slumped onto the floor. Ella's face raced through his mind. His hand throbbed from where she had grasped him so tightly. He sobbed uncontrollably into his hands and prayed she would live.
"Please don't do this," he pleaded. His sobs subsided slightly and he closed his eyes. Please don't die" he repeated to himself
"Please, please, please..." he repeated over in his mind until he was whispering it aloud. A hand ran up his back to the base of his neck. He leaned to the right and rested his head on her chest. Kirsten looked down at him her tears dampening his dark hair. Sandy held onto her shirt and began sobbing again, "I can't Kirsten. I can't watch her die."
Kirsten let out a small sob and held him closer, "We can't abandon her Sandy. We said we'd be there" She rocked him slowly until the sobbing subsided and brought his face to hers. "Ready?" she asked softly. Sandy nodded and accepted her hand as she helped him to his feet.
Sandy followed Kirsten into Ella's room. Ella was sleeping again.
"Is she in pain" he asked as he walked closer to the bed.
Hannah fixed Ella's IV fluids.
"No" she replied.
Kirsten walked over to Sandy and put her hand over his.
"Sweetie they gave her an injection for the pain, she is comfortable now"
"It's going to be a long road you guys brace yourself. Now I have to go check on some other patients but if you need anything just ring that bell ok"
"Thanks Hannah" Kirsten replied as Hannah smiled and quietly closed the door.
"You ok now honey"
Sandy smiled slightly at Kirsten and nodded his head.
"Good, I know it's going to be rough but we can do it, together. Now I think we should try and get some sleep before she wakes up"
Sandy sat down on the chair next to the bed and motioned for Kirsten to join him. She gently sat down on his lap and kissed him softly.
Sandy sighed and pulled Kirsten closer. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as Sandy kissed her temple.
Sandy glanced at his watch. He then looked at Kirsten who was sleeping soundly in his arms and at Ella who was also sleeping. The beeping of the machines echoed in his ears. Every beat another minute of Ella's life wasting away he thought. It seemed so unfair that this little girl had to live her life like this. He glanced around the room. The paint was a dull colour, the curtains didn't match and there was a dead plant on the window. He sighed deeply as he thought of Ella's room back in his home. The décor, colour everything just seemed so perfect. He smiled as he remembered the time Ella spent at their house, she was so happy and full of life and now a few weeks later she is fading away right before his very eyes. A small tear escaped from his eyes as he looked at Ella's pictures around the room. There were pictures of castles; fairies, beaches and different photographs. One photograph stuck out the most; it was a picture of him, Ella, Kirsten, Seth and Ryan taken at Chrismukkah. Ryan and Seth had a cheesy grin on their faces. Kirsten sat with a smiling Ella on her lap. Ella was wearing a red dress with a small little hairpiece and she had her hand on Sandy's. He smiled at the memory and his thoughts were interrupted by moans from Ella's bed.
"Sandy, Kirsten" she looked up sleepily.
Sandy gently moved Kirsten who slowly opened her eyes. Kirsten quickly got up of Sandy's lap and ran over to Ella's bed.
"Honey are you ok, you want me to get Hannah"
Sandy kissed Ella's forehead and Ella held out her hand for Sandy to hold.
"You feeling ok baby" Sandy whispered.
Ella struggled for breath.
"Yeah im ok I just feel sick and so cold"
Kirsten tucked Ella in and kissed her temple.
"Where are Seth and Ryan" she whispered. Her breath was so short it was hard for her to talk and her voice was so quiet.
Kirsten sat up beside Ella on the bed.
"They are at home sweetie, we didn't know how sick you were until Hannah called and they were sleeping because they have school tomorrow"
"Oh, I always wanted to go to school, I always wanted to be a singer when I grew up, but I cant anymore"
"Baby, you are a great little singer, everyone was really impressed at New Years"
Ella smiled weakly. "Will you sing me a song now Sandy"
Sandy laughed and looked at Kirsten who smiled at him.
"Will you sing along with me?"
Ella nodded her head and smiled when Sandy started singing
"Tomorrow"
"The sun will come out tomorrow,
So you gotta hang on till tomorrow.
Come what may, tomorrow tomorrow I love ya tomorrow
You're always a day away"
Kirsten smiled at her husband and Ella singing. They were so close and had so much in common. She has never seen Sandy so vulnerable before. He always was the strong person; he never let his emotions get in the way of anything before. The only other times Sandy cried were when he saw Kirsten walk down the aisle and the first time he held Seth, both experiences tears of joy, It was hard for him to accept the fact that he can't miraculously cure Ella and that she will leave them all.
Ella and Sandy giggling softly interrupted Kirsten's train of thought.
"Kirsten, why do you look so sad" Ella questioned.
Kirsten smiled and felt Sandy reach for her hand.
"Im not sad baby, just thinking"
"I was thinking too" she moved about in her bed, every so often the pain would make it harder to breath and she struggled.
"I love you all and I wish I didn't have to leave you"
A small tear escaped from her eyes again.
"Thank you" she spoke softly.
Kirsten breathed deeply in order to hold back her tears.
Sandy tightened his grasp on Kirsten's hand.
"No thank you Ella for coming into our lives in the first place. We love you so much"
"Sandy" she reached for his hand.
"Please don't leave me" she began crying again.
Sandy looked at Kirsten who already was shredding tears.
He kissed Ella's forehead and leaned down and whispered
"Never baby, we are never going to leave you".
"Kirsten please don't cry"
Kirsten quickly wiped away her tears.
"Im ok sweetie, and I Love you too, and so do Seth, Ryan, Summer, Marissa, Caleb and even Julie!"
Ella giggled softly. "Kirsten"
"Yeah Honey"
"Will you tell me a story? Im really tired now I think I'm just going to go to sleep"
"Once upon a time there was a princess who lived in a castle on the cloud.
Her name was Princess Dippy and her sister was called Daisy, Princess Daisy and Daisy lived in a castle on the hill. Dippy and Daisy did everything together; they painted, sang and even went horse riding on their horses Captain Oats and Princess Sparkle
Ella laughed at Kirsten's story. "There is no horse called Captain Oats"
"There is too isn't there Sandy"
Sandy laughed "Yeah there is I heard he is a very talkative horse, ask Seth"
Ella laughed and when Kirsten continued with the story Ella began shaking violently on the bed. The heart machine began beeping uncontrollably and her eyes shut.
"DOCTOR" Sandy roared from the door as Kirsten stood up. The doctors raced into the room, as did Hannah and numerous other nurses. Sandy went over to Kirsten who stood in shock at the sight of the medical team surrounding Ella.
"Sandy, Kirsten, you need to go wait outside so the doctors can work on Ella"
Sandy took Kirsten by the hand and they both stopped at the door and watched as the doctors shouted "she's in code blue, shock her"
Sandy stood with his arms around Kirsten as they both looked in through the window. Kirsten was crying softly and Sandy was whispering "Come on Ella, breathe baby breathe" Kirsten collapsed into Sandy's arms and began crying. Sandy ushered her to the nearby chairs and held her close as they awaited the news on Ella.
It seemed like an eternity before anyone came out of the room.
"Mr and Mrs Cohen" Dr Keenan approached them followed by Hannah.
Sandy and Kirsten stood up to greet him.
"How is she?"
"Ella had a seizure, we aren't quiet sure what caused it, but she went into code blue and stopped breathing. We have her on life support now to help her breathe. She is unresponsive and the next 48 hours are crucial"
"Kirsten, Sandy" Hannah spoke gently. "Ella right now is in a coma, when she will wake up is a mystery but even if she does wake up the cancer has begun attacking all her organs and she wont last much longer"
Kirsten tightened her hold on Sandy's hand.
"She can still hear us, she needs to know we are here for her, we aren't leaving her"
"Ok, but prepare yourselves and your family for their goodbyes" Dr Keenan and Hannah were interrupted by an alarm going off in a different room.
Kirsten walked towards Ella's room and Sandy followed her. They slowly opened the door and found Ella with tubes down her throat and machines surrounding her. Kirsten let go of Sandy's hand and went over and kissed Ella's temple.
"We are here for you sweetie and we will be when you wake up, sweet dreams little one".
Kirsten sat down once again on Sandy's lap. Sandy kissed her temple and sang softly
"The sun will come out tomorrow. Bet you're bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun Just thinking about tomorrow, clears away the cobwebs and sorrow, till theirs none, When im stuck with a day that's grey and lonely, I just stick up my chin and grin and say The sun will come out tomorrow so you gotta hang on till tomorrow Come what may tomorrow tomorrow I love ya tomorrow you're always a day away"
AN: Are you all crying yet! i have to admit its getting harder to write this fic because its so sad! Im thinking there will be 2-3 chapters left! Now medical wise i know ive spent alot of this year in the hospital but cancer is not like meningitis! im not a medical pro person so please bear with me regarding the medical storyline. As you all know its not really a graphic fic just really about emotions etc so !Please Review! Love + Cuddles Mickey!