I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Christina, (Christina's Rainbow of Hope), and to her family, and friends. Especially her mother and best friend who have both read this story. May she rest in peace in Heaven.
Farah A: Thanks! Heh, well you never know.. Well, I feel honored! Seriously, only to a few? Yes, I'm definitely honored.
BrucasNaleyluvr: That makes sense. I dedicated it to her, and I hope it does make her mother happy. Thanks!
Hallaina: I was laughing so hard reading your review, I'm not sure it was even humanly possible. Ooh, the story gets it's own word? Awesome, lol. Fly with the angles, lol. Aww, it's an adorable name! Dude, it's fine. I thought she was a guy too, until I finally made her a girl, lol. I know! I had to show that Nate and Luke cared, otherwise it would just be like, "Uh, does anyone care about Haley besides Brooke, or is she hated?" Lol. I laughed so hard at your moving to Egypt/picking flowers thing, lol. No, Lizzie, you definitely aren't insane, hehe. Oh, by the way, I'm glad you're my: "Number one Only The Good Die Youngaholic fan", lmao.
Cait: Two chapters, yep. Thanks! It's true, I guess. The unspoken love of brothers, heh. I'm glad you liked both of them. Aww, thanks, Cait! I love your reviews! Exactly. The two chapters were parallels. There's no other way to explain it, lol. Oh, dude, I love it when you think hard, lol.
PrincessSparkle15: Thanks! Yep, Nate and Luke, her main squeezes.
Daddyzangel108: There will be some happiness, too! Yep, get ready, but you may also have a good time, you know?
Beachiegal: Thanks! I'm so glad it's like, addicting, heh.
CutieRay: Thanks! I don't know, I try, I guess, lol. Yes, I update this story quite frequently, although I've lately been ignoring all my other stories, so I can't help but feel bad.
Brucas4ever: Thanks! You know, I have the feeling it's not either, lol.
Naleyforeva: Aw, thanks! I'm glad you liked it. Probably. Who knows? I'm not a guy, but my brothers open up to me sometimes, which is cool. Tears in your eyes? Hmm.. You may need tissues this chapter.
Nathan'sRaven: Thanks! I had to have some brotherly bonding, you know. Aw, thanks, Ange! I'm not making any promises!
HaleynNathan23: Yeah, see? It all really depends on height. Of course she needs Nathan. He's the love of her life, literally, lol. I know! It would totally be Nate. Me too! But that doesn't mean I have to give her a happy ending, lol. I might, but I might not. Oh. I know why you're saying ew. Tee-hee.
HalesnLukeBFF4ever: Did I tell you how much I missed getting your reviews? Thanks! I'll look for it! I'm not sure if I've seen it up, yet, but I'll look for it for sure.
CCScott23: I'll try my best! I'm so glad you like the story, thanks so much! I'm updating now, lol. Thanks again!
Cap'n Keira Sparrow, JLsNaley, Clarkson04, BlueSilverLining: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like the story!
Only The Good Die Young
Chapter Nine: Half a Heart
Sitting next to each other was hard to bear, as neither really had anything to say. Brooke attempted to read a magazine, while Haley attempted to read a book.
"So, this isn't awkward." Haley spoke sarcastically, and Brooke rolled her eyes.
"I don't think that there's much that we could say to make the conversation less awkward." Brooke looked up, wincing as her eyes landed on the dark circles underneath Haley's eyes.
Haley didn't seem to catch this, as she went back to reading. Of course, Brooke's eyes wouldn't leave Haley's, and she finally spoke.
"Do you think those will ever go away?"
Haley's hands went to her eyes. "I hope so. I just want to, you know, go back to normal. I don't want Nathan to see me like this."
"I have some really great cover up you can use," Brooke suggested, standing up when Haley nodded, running towards her room, and then back just as fast.
Carefully, Brooke applied the cover up underneath Haley's eyes, smiling when she was done. Haley looked once again like herself. Her brown eyes, however, lacked a certain gleam. One that Brooke found herself missing greatly.
It was already three the next day, and there was nothing to do but worry, so the two girls were simply waiting for a phone call from the doctor, which she'd promised would come that day.
Seconds seemed to take minutes, and minutes seemed to take hours as they waited, but finally, they heard the sound of ringing, and Haley quickly scurried towards the phone, bringing it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Haley, it's Dr. Beldam."
"Dr. Beldam, hi!" Haley smiled and gestured towards the phone, and Brooke stood.
"Haley, is there any way you could come here today? I'd like to speak with both you and your sister."
"Oh, uh, of course. Is everything okay?"
"Um, we'll speak when you get here, okay Haley?"
"Okay."
Haley hung up, and Brooke grabbed her. "So, what is it?"
"We have to see her." Haley made a face, reaching back onto her bed to grab her pink elephant, and holding it close to her stomach. Bubbly-Boo, as she'd so affectionately named him, had always seemed to leave her feeling comforted, but this time, she was far too nervous to feel comforted.
"Now?"
"Now."
Brooke stood once more, her heart beating so hard she felt it would explode. "Okay then, let's go."
The two girls hurried towards Brooke's car, backing out of their driveway, and speeding away quickly.
"Everything will be okay." Brooke said quietly, clutching the steering wheel tightly.
"Perfect." Haley nodded, looking out the window, at the trees and houses passing by.
There was a jingling sound, and still keeping her eyes on the road, Brooke fumbled through her bag to find the vibrating object known as her cell phone.
She quickly checked the number, and then lifted the phone to her ear.
"Nathan?" Haley's head snapped towards Brooke, and she eyed her sister cautiously.
"Hey Brooke. What're you doing?"
"I'm uh- nothing, really." Brooke shrugged, forgetting that Nathan couldn't see her.
"Oh, okay. It's just that, um, I'm worried."
"Not really telling me much here, Nate.." Brooke trailed off, rolling her eyes.
"About Haley." He didn't have to say any more. Brooke knew what he was talking about. Hell, she had been thinking the exact same thing. Tears stung her pretty eyes, and she hastily wiped them away, not wanting Haley to notice.
"There's nothing to worry about, Nathan." She snapped, as he began another sentence.
"Are you sure? Because, she's been missing school, and you know Haley's not-"
"Nathan, trust me. It's just the flu, okay?" Haley nervously bit her lip, watching her sister through the corner of her eye.
"Okay. Just take care of her for me. I'm going to stop by tomorrow, so I can see how you girls are doing."
In spite of herself, Brooke smiled. Nathan Scott worried too much to be a boy. "Will do. I have to go now, okay?"
They were pulling up to the building, and Brooke couldn't help but feel her heart beat pick up it's pace, thundering through her chest.
"Okay." He sighed.
"Love you." Haley couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her sister's friendly relationship with her boyfriend, but it was purely friendly, and she knew that.
"Love you too." Nathan grumbled, hanging up.
Brooke slammed her cell phone shut, and turned to Haley, a smile on her face. "It was Nathan. He's being weird."
"He's worrying." Haley corrected.
"Whatever. Same thing. Let's do this. She probably just wants to, you know, give you some medication for the flu."
"Hopefully."
"Let's go."
The two hopped out of the car, hurrying up to Dr. Beldam's floor. When they were called into one of the rooms, the two girls sat silently, waiting.
There was no speaking, and no friendly banter between them. It was like all the fun had been sucked out of them, suddenly replaced with fear and doubt.
Brooke thought of life without Haley. There wasn't much to see. She couldn't picture her life without Haley.
And Haley thought of the horrible process of Chemotherapy. The medication, the process, the losing of the hair. Everything about it was just painful and horrible. It was something she'd never want to do again. At least not voluntarily.
Footsteps echoed from outside the door, and Brooke's breath caught in her throat, as she groped around for Haley's hand, allowing it to clasp in hers.
Dr. Georgina Beldam entered, a nervous smile playing on her lips. Her gray eyes showed a sense of sadness as she looked down at the two sisters.
"Hey Doc," It seemed to have become a ritual for them. Haley smiled weakly, and Dr. Beldam managed to give a more convincing smile.
"Hello Girls."
Brooke gave a small wave, feeling as if she were about to throw up.
"I'm guessing your parents aren't around town." Dr. Beldam spoke with anger and resentment towards the Davis parents. A mother of two herself, Georgina Beldam simply didn't understand the point of abandoning.
"No. They're in Brazil for the week. Is it really necessary that they be here?" Brooke didn't like speaking of her parents, or thinking of them for that matter.
"No, but it would be- easier."
"Okay, Doc, I think we've had enough suspense for a while. Can you just tell us what's up?" Haley was about to burst. She needed to know what was going on.
"Okay," Dr. Beldam took a deep breath, "Haley, you've been coming here for years, and we've done, you know, tests every few months. This time, we were looking through your blood tests results. We could not find anything wrong with you, that had to do with the flu, or with a cold. So we looked harder, and your blood has returned telling us that your Leukemia has returned, and is in a pretty advanced state."
Tears formed in Haley's pretty eyes, and then fell quickly. Advanced, what did that mean? Was there no cure? Would her Chemotherapy have to be more extensive? She could barely breathe, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Brooke, who was frozen in place.
"What do you mean, it's in an advanced state? Why couldn't you detect this before? What's going to happen?" Brooke looked furious as she spoke, her hand never leaving Haley's.
"The cancer has spread, Brooke. The chemotherapy could be extremely extensive, and it's not even sure to give her much more life."
"Are you saying, that I'm g-g-going to die?" Haley cried.
"I don't know Haley," The doctor's personal feelings for the two girls sank in, and tears formed in her eyes, "Right now, we're sort of on a chance thing. You could go through with the treatment, or you could hope for the best, and see how much time you have. Your cancer has returned, and it most likely won't be going away."
"So I have like, what? A month, a year?"
"It's uncertain right now. We need to run more tests. We need to see if we can stop this."
"Oh God." Brooke whispered.
Haley's hands went to her face, and suddenly, large sobs ripped through her thin body. Tears poured down her face, and she fell into a heap in Brooke's arms, who was barely controlling herself.
"I don't want to die!" Haley sobbed into Brooke's arms, and Dr. Beldam had to turn away to wipe her tears.
"It'll be okay, Haley. It'll be okay." Tears streamed down Brooke's face as she tried to keep cool.
"What can we do to help her? Now!" Brooke's attention was now focused on Dr. Beldam, and she was furiously wiping away at her pretty eyes.
"Tests. We can do tests."
"Okay then, let's do that."
Haley was still a mess, but Brooke was holding herself together. Because to Brooke, losing Haley, would be like losing half of her heart. And everyone knew you couldn't live with half a heart.