Facing Reality (Chapter Seven)
THE NEXT DAY
Nathan walked into the hospital and headed down to Peyton's room. He was shocked to see that Peyton was no longer in her room. There was no sign that she'd ever been in the room. He walked to the front desk. "Can I help you?" a nurse asked.
"Has Peyton Sawyer-Jagielski been released?" Nathan asked. He didn't think so. Though, some of Peyton's injuries were minor, she had just had major surgery. Nathan hadn't been allowed out until about a week after his surgery. The nurse typed on the computer and shook her head.
"No, she's just been moved down the hall," she said. "It's the seventh door on the right down that way," she added pointing in the opposite direction. Nathan walked towards the door and found that it was Haley's room. He figured maybe Haley had been moved.
He knocked on the door and Peyton said, "Come in." He opened the door and walked in. He found that Brooke, Jake and Lucas were already there. "Hey, Nate. How was practice?" Peyton asked.
"Tiring," he replied.
"How did the game go?" Lucas asked.
"We won," Nathan said.
"No doubt. The only way you'd lose is if you were playing against us," Lucas said, smirking. Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Oh, boy. There's nothing worse than sibling rivalry," Jake said.
"Well, at least they're not on the same team anymore," Brooke said. Jake smirked and nodded.
"So, why were you moved to this room?" Nathan asked. Peyton shrugged.
"Something about a patient needing my room or something. I don't know," she said.
"This is Haley's room," he said. Peyton nodded.
"She was here a while ago," Brooke said.
"Where's her bed?" Nathan asked.
"They took her away for some kind of treatment. They took her- bed and all," Peyton replied. Nathan nodded.
"It's weird being around her after so long," Brooke said. Lucas shook his head.
"Do you guys talk?" Nathan asked Peyton.
"We've exchanged words. I wouldn't exactly call it talking," Peyton said.
"She's only been here a few hours, Nate. Haley left like two hours ago," Jake explained. Nathan nodded. He saw a chair on the other side of the room. He figured that Haley wouldn't be needing it, since she didn't seem to want any visitors, so he dragged it over to where Peyton's side. They started talking about all the friends Peyton had made after only two days in the hospital. Then, ten minutes later, the door opened and a few orderlies were bringing a bed in. Nathan craned his head and he could see that Haley was in the bed. She was turned on her side away from them and her ankle was wrapped in a tensor bandage and she looked paler than ever. He didn't like seeing her this way. To him, Haley had always been full of strength and self-confidence even when she didn't act like it. Now, she just looked damaged and vulnerable. The nurse pushed a few different things into Haley's IV and then hooked it back up to the fluid bag. He looked at all the others and he could see the shock on their faces.
"Nurse, she doesn't look well. Is she ok?" Lucas asked. The nurse visibly smirked.
"This girl just came back from a round of chemo as well as a dozen blood and bone marrow tests, but she is such a trooper. Not one complaint," the nurse said. She looked at them and then left the room. Nathan looked back at the others. Now, they just had looks of sympathy. It was one thing to know that Haley was sick. That was very saddening. But to see her after one of her treatments looking so worn out and hearing about all the things she had to endure was devastating to Nathan. Nathan looked at the little bulletin board that Taylor had obviously decorated. It definitely wasn't Haley who had done it. There were cards that said "Get Well Soon, Ms. James" that looked like they had been drawn from little kids. There were also tons of pictures of Haley near a piano, sitting right beside a kid or even an adult. There was a picture of what appeared to be a recording studio. Haley was behind the glass with headphones around her neck and her hands on a keyboard as her mouth was open. She was obviously singing in the photograph. There was one of Taylor and Haley that had been taken near the front desk of the ER. Haley was sitting in a wheelchair in jeans and a purple t-shirt. Her brown hair was loose and went down past her shoulders. Taylor was kneeling right beside the wheelchair. One hand rested on one of the armrests while the other was around Haley. Haley and Taylor's heads were touching as they both were smiling in the photograph. There was another photograph of Haley. She was sitting on a stage with her guitar close to the microphone that was a few inches away from her mouth. The others picked up the conversation and Lucas and Brooke started talking about the hassles of decorating their new house. Haley stirred at the sound of their voices. She moved her arm slowly to her face to cover her mouth as she yawned. The others didn't seem to notice. They were too busy focusing on Lucas and Brooke, but Nathan did.
Haley opened her eyes and looked around the room. She smirked when she saw all of them there. Then, her eyes moved towards Nathan and they rested on him for a minute. Their gazes locked and he smirked kindly at her. She moved her bed up and leaned over to grab her guitar. That was a big mistake. She didn't realize the bars weren't up on her bed and she fell off. Her IV pulled on her skin as she screamed in pain as she hit the cold, hard floor. Her leg was throbbing as Nathan came over and kneeled down to help her. He waited as she moved her IV tube and by that time, Lucas and Jake were there too. "Guys, I appreciate it, but I only need one person's help," Haley said. Lucas and Jake backed away and went to go sit down again. She was hoping Nathan would be one of the ones to back away as his arms came around her and lifted her up. He helped her get settled by passing her covers to her and then her guitar. Then, he put the bar up on her bed and smirked at her. "Thank you, Nathan," Haley said. He nodded at her.
"Are you alright, Haley?" Peyton asked.
"I'm fine. I'm just thankful I fell off the bed and not down the stairs again," Haley said, completely forgetting that they didn't know about that.
"You fell down the stairs? When?" Brooke exclaimed. Haley stopped to think for a second.
"Uh, about two days ago. My friend, Lisa and I were leaving my apartment and apparently, I was talking to her and I passed out. She wasn't expecting it, so I fell down the stairs," Haley said.
"Why did you pass out?" Brooke asked.
"My white count was low," Haley said.
"White count?" Brooke asked.
"White blood cells," Haley explained. Brooke still looked at her in confusion.
"Why was your white count low?" Lucas asked. Haley smirked.
"Because she has leukemia," Taylor explained, as the door swung closed behind her. Everyone looked down. Haley rolled her eyes. She was sick of the looks and the avoidance. She looked at Nathan.
"That. Right there. That is why!" Haley exclaimed. He looked at her. "You want to know why I lied to you, why I didn't tell my parents or any of you? It's because any time the word 'leukemia' is said, everyone I've ever met apologizes or looks down," Haley said. Then she looked at Lucas as she said, "Or avoids the subject by walking out of the room."
"I've apologized for that, Haley," Lucas said. Haley scoffed.
"That's right; I forgot. You were shocked. Well, I hate to break it to you, Lucas, but I wasn't exactly thrilled when I heard the news either, but I didn't walk out of the room when the doctor told me I had leukemia after I was the one who asked him to be honest with me," she said.
"Look, I hate to break this up, but, Haley, your doctor's coming to talk to you," Taylor said.
"Why?" Haley asked.
"Some test results came back," Taylor said. Haley nodded. A few seconds later, the door opened and the doctor came in. The others went over to Peyton's side of the room. They started chatting quietly as her doctor came over to her bed. Taylor grabbed a few chairs over. The doctor sat in one of them. "Do you want me here?" she asked Haley. Haley smirked and shrugged. She nodded. Taylor sat down closest to Haley.
"Miss James, I'm afraid that I have some bad news," he said.
"Gee, that's not such a great start for a conversation," Haley commented. He smirked.
"I wish I did have good news because all I seem to be giving you is bad news these days," he said.
Haley nodded as she said, "It's hardly your fault. You didn't make my body turn against me. Just tell me what's wrong."
"Your cancer has spread. What I mean is that there are more negative white cells than there are of the regular kind," he said.
"Is that why I passed out?" she asked. He nodded.
"We're going to increase your doses from now on," he said. Haley groaned. Taylor smirked. "I know that's not what you want to hear, but it will help in the long run," he said.
"What else are you doing?" Taylor asked.
"Surgery," he said. Haley's head snapped up.
"We're going to do a bone marrow transplant," he said.
"But doesn't that have to be done by a family member?" Taylor asked. He smirked as he nodded.
"It's preferred to be a family member," he said.
"We don't have the same blood type," Haley said, referring to her and Taylor.
"Well, then, Taylor can't be the donor. One of your other siblings or one of your parents will have to be the donor," he said. Haley looked up at him. Then she looked at Taylor. Taylor looked down.
"No," Haley said. Her doctor looked at her in confusion.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"The rest of our family doesn't know that Haley has leukemia," Taylor explained.
"And they're not going to know," Haley added.
"Miss James, I realize and understand why you haven't told your family, but this transplant could put you back in remission," he said. Haley laughed.
"Yes and pigs could learn to fly," she said.
"This is not a speech or a ploy, Miss James. This transplant could give your immune system the boost it needs to start fighting against the invading white blood cells. The transplant would create new white blood cells and you could be in remission for the rest of your life," he said.
"I don't care if it could cure me. I'm not having the transplant if it means telling them," she said.
"I don't understand how you could choose not to have a transplant just because you have to tell them that you have leukemia," he said.
"Then, clearly, Doctor, you don't understand why I didn't tell them in the first place," she said.
"This could save you," he said.
"I've had leukemia for a year and a half and I didn't tell them. I'm not going to tell them now just to serve my interests. I'm not going to put them through the emotional roller coaster," she said.
Lucas and the others were now paying full attention to the conversation between Haley, her doctor and her sister now that their voices were raised.
"Haley, please, just think about this," Taylor said.
"There is nothing to think about," Haley said.
"This could change everything for you. I don't think you fully understand what that means," her doctor said. Haley shoved her guitar case down on the floor. It crashed so hard that everyone jumped.
"I haven't told my family because I didn't want them to have to worry about me all the time. If I chose to tell them now, they're going to wonder why I didn't tell them when I was first diagnosed. They're going to think I didn't trust them enough or that I thought that they didn't need to know. So, if you think that I'm going to tell them now and break their hearts just because this transfusion might put me back into remission, you're dead wrong," Haley said.
"This transfusion will put you into remission," Taylor said. Haley laughed.
"Oh, don't lie to me just because you want me to do this, Taylor," Haley said.
"I'm not lying," Taylor said defensively. Haley looked at her.
"You know me, Tay. You know I like to stay on top of things. I don't walk into something without knowing what I'm doing. Do you honestly think I didn't research the treatments for leukemia when I first found out I had it?" Haley asked. Nathan smiled. That was definitely what she would have done. After he proposed to her and she accepted, she went on the Internet to see if they could get married at their age. That's how they learned that they needed Haley's parents' permission before they could get married. They didn't need Nathan's since he was emancipated from his parents at the time. "The transplant could work and I could go back into remission. I know that. But I also know that my body could also reject the transplant and I would've endured a painful procedure, not to mention, crush our parents, for nothing," Haley said.
"Not for nothing," Taylor said.
"For what, then, Taylor? For a few months until I'm out of remission again? What's the point?" Haley asked.
"You don't know that you could go out of remission again. You could stay in remission. You're insane if you don't understand what this means. Don't you realize that this could cure you?" Taylor asked.
"And don't you think I want that?" Haley retorted. Taylor shrugged. Haley looked at her in disbelief. "You can't possibly think that I enjoy this! Now that would be insane!" she said.
"If that's what you want, why aren't you willing to do this?" Taylor asked.
"Hello, have you met our parents? Learning that I have leukemia will devastate them. Learning that I didn't tell them from the beginning will kill them," Haley replied.
"Tell you what. I'll give you some time to rethink your decision," her doctor said. Haley nodded. He got up and left.
"I really think you're making a mistake," Taylor said, as she got up and left. Haley sighed. She looked at them and shook her head. She then reached over and pulled the curtains around her bed so no one could see her. Nathan looked at everyone else. Brooke rolled her eyes.
"Typical Haley," she said quietly. Nathan looked at her. "She doesn't want to tell her parents because then she's going to have to deal with explaining why she didn't tell them to begin with, not because she wanted to protect them," Brooke explained. Nathan shook his head.
"That's not Haley," Lucas said. Peyton nodded in agreement.
"Excuse me for a minute," Nathan said.
"Where are you going?" Lucas asked.
"I'm going to talk to her," he said.
"Nathan, don't," Lucas said.
"Well, who else is going to be there for her? You?" Nathan asked. Lucas sighed.
"I've already admitted that what I did was stupid, ok? Do you really need to keep throwing it back in my face?" Lucas asked.
"Lucas, I'm not trying to do that. I'm just explaining that you're not going to be much help since you're obviously still dealing with the fact that your friend didn't tell you she was sick," he said.
"And you're not?" Peyton asked. Nathan shook his head.
"Haley and I haven't been keeping in touch since she left. I understand why she didn't tell me," he said. Peyton shrugged. He walked away from them and past the curtains and sat down in one of the chairs that Taylor had dragged over. Haley stopped strumming her guitar.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm visiting you," he replied stretching out.
"I don't feel like talking right now, Nathan," she said.
"We don't have to talk. You can just continue with what you're doing. You can ignore my presence if you want to, but I'm not going anywhere," he said. He smirked as she sighed.
