Brace For Life

"Dinner tonight at Karen's and Keith's?"

Nathan absentmindedly replied, "Sounds good." He was engrossed in his video game.

Haley chuckled. What is it with grown men still being attached to video games? She scribbled a note on the door just in case he forgot.

Nathan put the game on pause when he heard the door open. He turned to Haley. "Where are you going?"

Haley didn't want to lie but she told herself she was doing it for him. "I'm gonna run some errands and go visit with Karen before dinner."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"I'm good. I'll be back before you miss me." She leaned in and gave Nathan a kiss and headed out the door before she heard is reply.

"Not possible."

"It's okay to be nervous."

"I'm not nervous. What makes you think I'm nervous?"

"Your incessant hand wrangling for one."

Haley looked down. Sure enough, she was playing with her hands again.

"And you're biting your lip. I don't know you, but that's pretty much the universal habit of deep thought or nervousness." The doctor chuckled. "Ready for these tests?"

Haley was a bit calmer but still nervous. She stopped playing with her hands. "As ready as I'll ever be Dr. Macy."

Haley was waiting for the call about her test results the next day as she was watching Nathan play basketball with a random guy at the River Court. Well, she wasn't really watching Nathan, more like looking in his direction. She was really looking past him and out towards the water. She always liked the water. It calmed her. She needed to stay calm; especially when she had a piercing headache and a baby due in five months.

I wonder when I'm going to hear from Dr. Macy.

As if he heard her, her phone rang. She stepped away to take the call.

"Hello."

"Hi, Mrs. Scott?"

"Yes?"

"This is Dr. Macy, we have your results. I know you requested to have them read to you over the phone, but I would like for you to come in. Is that okay?"

Haley thought for a moment. She didn't have anything to do at the moment. Her indifference soon turned into panic. If everything was all right they would have told me over the phone.

Not wanting to alarm Nathan of her agitation, she told Dr. Macy that she would be right over and put her cell back in her pocket.

She rubbed her back and walked over to Nathan. He and the other man were taking a break.

"Honey, I'm going to go take a walk in the mall. I'm hot."

"Want me to go with you? Should you do all that walking? What if you get tired?"

Haley chuckled and smiled warmly at his sincerity. "I'll be okay. That's why I'm going by myself, walking at my own pace, stopping to sit down and eating a lot of ice cream."

Nathan laughed. "Okay, but keep your cell with you."

He bent down and gave her kiss. She waved goodbye to her husband and his new friend.

"I have no idea what I'm looking at doctor."

Dr. Macy smiled. "That's good. I went to school for a long time and paid a lot of money for other people not to know what they're looking at."

Dr. Macy pointed to the base of Haley's skull in the X-ray, his voice becoming somber yet confident. "I'm sorry to inform you Haley, but you do have a tumor."

Haley continued to stare at Dr. Macy's mouth. Maybe if she concentrated really hard he could take those words back. She was in shock, she knew that, but she didn't hear anything else after the word 'tumor.' She wasn't aware of the tears that fell or the blood that dripped from her biting her lip so hard. She wasn't aware that she was shaking. She also wasn't aware that Dr. Macy had been calling her name for at least a minute.

Soon she felt hands guiding her to sit down. It was when she was forced to carefully and comfortably sit down that she heard him. She looked at him, hopelessly, only to meet his eyes that had hope for the both of them.

So I'm going to die like my mother.

"Haley, listen to me. There's some more good and bad news. We caught it early so there's a ninety percent chance you'll survive." Dr. Macy paused and then continued, "But you would have to do two rounds of chemo before we can go in and remove it."

He met her confused eyes and continued to explain as he knelt in front of her. "The thing is, the chemo could hurt the baby."

Haley found her voice. Its strength surprised even her. "No. I won't do anything to hurt the baby."

Dr. Macy's confident demeanor shifted into a more personable form. "Haley, that would give you the best chance."

"How long do I have?"

"What," Dr. Macy stuttered.

"How long do I have until the chemo won't work?"

Dr. Macy hesitated, "About six months until it's too late."

"So you're telling me if I have it then the percentage decreases?"

"Drastically."

Haley wiped the remnants of her tears and stood up. "I'll do whatever else I need to do but no chemo until the baby is born."

"Haley-"

"You can't persuade me Dr. Macy. I already lost one baby. I won't lose another."

She grabbed her purse and looked at her doctor. He held a sad smile as he wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to her.

"Here. These are some pills that won't hurt the baby but will make sure the tumor doesn't grow. If the pain gets worse or if you need anything, call. Do you have you NY doctor set up?"

"Yes," Haley responded shakily. Her confidence she exuded moments before was slowly dwindling. She had to leave.

She opened the door and turned to nod. "Thank you Dr. Macy."

"You're welcome Haley."

Positioning herself steadfastly in denial, Haley picked up her prescriptions, a few things from the grocery store (mainly ice-cream), and one of Nathan's favorites, pop-tarts.

She ignored the dull pain in the back of her head that was slowly becoming bold and grabbed two bags from the car. She carefully and slowly walked to the front door, opened it, and yelled for Nathan to come help her with the other bags.

"Nathan!"

After not getting an answer a second time, Haley decided to stop shouting. Her head was pounding and she needed to sit down. She placed the bags on the counter and leaned for a moment to gain support. She heard footsteps soon after and began to spun around.

"Finally! What the heck were you'"

Haley came face to face with someone she wasn't sure she would see again.

"Dad?"

A/N: I know nothing about medicine. Switched majors two years into bio. Go with the flow. 

ScOtt-bruthR-LuVr3-23: Sorry! Couldn't resist the drama!

Vampiregurl: Yup, her mom did die of the same thing. Nice memory!

HJS-NS-23: Promise, next chapter is for you!

Krizue, TutorGal23: Hope it's up to par!

OTHbabe23: I'd be mad if she didn't tell me too! But why is it that this works in reel-ity? We're so drama prone on television!

Ell6ange: She better recognize that she has to take care of herself for the baby. Let's hope she does!

Naley: Here's you answer! She will tell Nathan…but how?! Yes, I'm evil.

oc-journey06: Love getting reviews from new readers. Thanks for the kudos!