Telling the Truth (Chapter Nine)
Lydia and Jimmy James walked into Haley's hospital room. Haley looked very nervous. Nathan was sitting down beside Haley in a chair by her bed. He put his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. She smiled at him appreciatively. Nathan, for whatever reason, had decided to stick by her while she told her parents. She didn't care that they were different people now or that he was probably only there to make sure her family didn't kill her. She didn't care that there was a possibility that he had a girlfriend now either. When Haley was going through a bad time, she could always count on Nathan to help her through it. He had always been there for her because that's the kind of person he had become when they were together. Everyone, including Nathan, said that it was her that changed him- that his love for her had changed him into the kind of person he thought was good enough to be with her- but she knew that she had nothing to do with it. That side of Nathan had always been there. She just brought it out of him. Her parents looked at Haley and their eyes went wide with concern. "Haley, what are you doing here?" her mother asked.
"Can you sit down?" Haley asked. Lydia nodded and sat down. Jimmy did too.
"Nathan!" Lydia exclaimed.
"What are you doing here?" Jimmy asked.
"Helping Haley," he explained.
Her father looked at her as he asked, "Helping her with what?" Nathan looked at Haley and tightened his grip on her hand.
"I have something to tell both of you," she said. Lydia looked at her daughter in worry.
"You're not pregnant, are you?" she asked, looking at both Nathan and Haley. Haley shook her head. She wished!
"No, I'm not pregnant, Mom, but there is something that I've been keeping from both of you and it is the reason I'm in the hospital right now," she said. Jimmy looked at her and nodded. "Do you remember last year when I had a dizzy spell and fainted?" Haley asked. Her parents nodded.
"You were overworked so you couldn't come to Christmas," her mother said. Haley shook her head.
"No, I wasn't overworked," she said. Her parents looked at her.
"Then, you never fainted?" her mother asked, a bit of hurt evident in her tone. Haley shook her head.
"No, I did faint, but it wasn't because I was overworked," she said.
"Haley, what is going on?" Her father asked, his impatience getting the best of him. Haley froze. Nathan felt Haley's freeze and looked at her.
"Haley?" he said. She looked at him.
She was terrified and she said, "I can't do it."
He nodded as he said, "Yes, you can. You have to tell them." At first, Haley shook her head but Nathan put his hands on her face and stopped her from moving. He pulled her head gently so she was looking at him in the eyes. He nodded. "Yes, you can," he said. She relaxed.
"The reason I couldn't come over for Christmas was because I was in the hospital. The doctors were trying to figure out why I fainted," Haley said. Lydia looked at her in worry.
"And did they?" she asked. Haley nodded slowly.
"They diagnosed me with cancer," Haley replied. Her parents' eyes widened. "I have leukemia," she confirmed. Several minutes passed before anyone spoke.
"Let me get this straight. You've had leukemia for a year or so and you're just telling us now?" her mother asked. Haley nodded.
"Taylor knows, doesn't she?" her father asked. Haley nodded.
"How long has your sister known?" her mother asked.
"She found out a month after I did," Haley admitted.
"Do your other brothers and sisters know?" her father asked. Haley shook her head.
"I only told Taylor because I ran into her at the hospital," Haley said. Haley started to explain why she decided not to tell them and then told them how she was doing in terms of the leukemia.
"Can they do anything?" her mother asked. Haley sighed.
"My doctor brought up a bone marrow transplant," she said. Her mother looked at her.
"What is that?" Jimmy asked.
"Basically they take marrow from someone else and put it into me. There is a chance that the marrow could give my immune system a boost and the new cells could create good white cells and then wipe out the cancerous white blood cells," Haley said.
"Who would they take it from?" her mother asked.
"A family member," Haley replied.
"And Taylor's blood doesn't match yours," her mother concluded.
"I'm not telling you that I have leukemia now because I need your blood for the transplant. I haven't decided if I'm having it," she said, shaking her head at her mother's train of thought.
"But you are, aren't you?" her father asked. Haley shrugged.
"I don't think so," she said.
"This is why I called you down here. I wanted Haley to tell you and I wanted you to convince her to have the transplant," Nathan said. Haley looked at him.
"Nathan, I already told you the odds of it actually working," she said.
"But there is a chance that it could work," he reminded her.
"No. There is a small chance that I could live longer. There is hardly any chance of it actually curing me," she said.
"But it has been known to do that, Haley," Nathan said.
"Why are you being like this?" she asked.
"You might be ok with the idea of dying, but there are people who aren't ready to let you go yet," he said in anger. He got up and walked out. Jimmy James followed him out.
"Are you all right, Nathan?" he asked. He shook his head.
"All she talks about is that she's accepted what's going to happen to her. I can't believe she's willing to let go so easily," he said.
"It's not easy, is it? Facing the possibility that someone you love might die?" Jimmy asked carefully. Nathan sighed heavily.
"No, it's not. It's not easy at all," Nathan blurted out before he realized what he was saying. Jimmy smiled at him. Nathan couldn't believe he had fallen for that one. Haley's father had just tricked him into admitting that he still loved Haley and he'd fallen for it hook, line and sinker.
"I don't want Haley to die either, Nathan, but you need to realize that this is her decision to make. If she doesn't want that transplant, then, she's not going to have it," he said.
"I know it's her decision and I respect that. I'm just trying to understand why she's making the decision to die so quickly," Nathan said.
"Maybe she feels she has no reason to prolong her suffering. I mean, I know I obviously don't know much about her illness, but I know that Haley is alone in her life right now. Maybe if she knew that there was someone who cared about her as much as she cares for him, she might feel differently," Jimmy said. Nathan smirked at his lack of subtlety.
"I don't know if I can do that," he said.
"Why not? It's obvious that you still love her," Jimmy said.
AN HOUR LATER
Nathan walked into Haley's room and sat down by the bed. Her mother looked at him and excused herself. "I'm sorry about before," he said. Haley shook her head.
"It's ok," she said. He looked at her.
"Actually, I'm not sorry," he said. She looked at him in surprise.
"You're not?" she asked. He shook his head.
"No, because personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with not wanting someone to give up so easily," he said.
"I'm not giving up," she said.
"Really? It sure seems that way to me. Here you are faced with a possible cure to an illness that usually kills people and you're not even considering having it," he said.
"I don't see the point," she said.
"Why?" he asked.
"There's no reason to believe that it will work and I don't see why I should put myself and my parents through that if it doesn't," she said.
"Your parents want you to live, Haley," he said. Haley shrugged. "Is that it? Do you not want to live?" he asked. She looked at him in shock.
"Of course I want to live! Do you think it's easy for me to make this choice, Nathan?" she exclaimed. He shook his head. "I just don't see any reason for me to do this," she said. She was talking about the fact that other than her family, there was no reason for her to keep on going through the pain of leukemia. Nathan sighed with frustration. He grabbed her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. Then he crushed her lips with his. They stayed kissing for a minute or two.
When he finally ended the kiss, he looked at her and said, "There's a reason."
