I nodded, paying attention to the roads and nothing else. Within the next ten minutes we made it into the emergency room where two doctors took Lily on a gurney and left me with the paper work, half of which I filled out with the information that Miley had given me.
When we were done, Miley and I sat down with Jackson on the waiting room chairs. I finally had a chance to slow down and look at my surroundings, maybe even grab a coffee or two now that the fact I'd stayed up all night was catching up with me.
"I'm going to get a drink," I told my kids, who were sitting there with blank faces on, and staring into space. "Do you want anything Jackson?"
Jackson nodded and got up to come to the coffee machine with me. Miley didn't seem to notice, she'd been staring into space since we got here. "What do you know about Lily that we don't dad?" Jackson asked when we were far away from anyone else. I shrugged my shoulders and went to get a cup of coffee but Jackson stopped me, "I know you know."
I smiled, proud that Jackson could tell, but I knew that I couldn't tell him, "She's just going through a rough patch that's all." I told Jackson, satisfied with my answer, "I'm sure that Lily can handle it, she's a strong girl."
Jackson nodded, biting his lip and looking at his sister in the corner. "I don't want coffee anymore," he told me, and then walked off towards where Miley was sitting. When he sat, I saw Jackson give Miley some tissues so that she could wipe her tears away.
Quickly, I turned around and got some coffee, without milk, without sugar, so that I could get back to Jackson and Miley to comfort them. I walked over towards them, sipping my coffee at the same time, and sat down, putting my hand on Miley's knee. She looked up at me, with tears in her eyes.
"Lily," she whispered, trying to get up as Jackson and I struggled to keep her down. "Where's Lily? Is she going to be alright? Dad," Miley cried, lunging for my shoulder to cry on. "Please find out for me dad," she whispered into my shoulder, "Please."
I nodded my head, and stroked Miley's hair, "I'll try Miles," I whispered back, telling Jackson with my eyes to stay there and keep his sister from breaking down. "Just give me a second, okay?" Miley took her head off of me, and slowly nodded her head, wiping her tears with the torn tissue that Jackson had given her before.
When I got up, I tried to find the closest doctor I could, so that I could still keep an eye on my children in the corner. But I couldn't find a single doctor who wasn't rushing towards the operating room or managing a major accident that had just come through. So I went up to the front desk.
"What can you tell me about Lily Truscott?" I asked the nurse who sat behind the desk. She nodded her head and held up one finger telling me to wait as she typed something into the computer.
"I can tell you that Lily Truscott is in room 2A," The nurse read off the computer screen, writing the information on a note card with the hand that she wasn't using. "And that her doctors are Dr. Warren Chow in Oncology, and Dr. Mitchell Lambert."
"Oncology?" I whispered at the nurse, who was now handing me the piece of paper she had been writing this down on. "Does that mean this has to do with the brain tumour?"
The nurse shrugged, "I can page the doctor if you want to sir," she told me calmly, even though I was far from being calm right now. "Dr. Warren Chow will answer anything you want to ask." I nodded, letting her call the doctor and tapped my finger over the counter until I was glared at. "The doctor will be with you in a minute," the nurse smiled, putting down the phone and pointing to where I could wait for him.
I sat down where I was told, keeping a close eye on Miley and Jackson who were snuggled in the corner with a blanket over them – I was hoping that they had fallen asleep and had gotten at least some sleep. I looked at my watch, sighing as I realized it was now 5:30 in the morning. Right now I wasn't sure whether Miley or Jackson would be going to school today, but I thought that after we found out about Lily that I should try and reach her parents so that I could take my kids home and have them sleep, shower and change.
"Mr. Stewart?" A tall, oriental man stood in front of me with his hand ready to shake mine. "I'm Dr. Chow, I understand you have some questions about my patient Lily Truscott."
I nodded, and motioned for the doctor to sit down in the seat next to me, and when he did, I wasn't sure I was prepared to get the answers I was already dreading. "Does this, this incident have to do with the cancer?"
The doctor shook his head, and looked at me with calming eyes, "Lily Truscott has been a patient at this hospital since all of us could remember the time she painted her hospital room with the markers her friend Oliver gave to her." The doctor explained as I became more and more confused. "Lily has a very weak immune system, and is prone to getting sick easy as you and I can sing our ABC's." I nodded, and waited for the doctor to continue. I was starting to understand what he was talking about, "She fainted because of a common cold. It was too much for her body to take, so it shut down."
"Will she be okay Dr. Chow?" I asked, ringing my hands together out of nervous habit. "This is my daughter's best friend," I pointed towards where Miley and Jackson were sitting. "She's been in hysterics since we got here."
The doctor nodded again, "Lily will be fine in a couple of days," Dr. Chow told me. "She's got to stay in here until we've got the infection fought, and then we've got to start some radiation."
"How many is a couple of days?" I asked, for Miley's sake – because I knew she would want to stay here until Lily was back home.
The doctors scrunched his nose in thought and looked at Lily's chart on the clipboard in his hand, "I would say about a week or two." I nodded, and thanked the doctor for his time, getting up to go back to my kids in the corner. But then I remember one thing.
"Is she awake?" I asked the doctor who was just about to turn his back on me and walk away. "Can we go see her?"
Dr. Chow shook his head, and looked in the direction of Miley and Jackson, "I'm afraid she is neither awake or ready to see anybody. But I will tell you when we allow visitors." I thanked him again, and we both walked away.
I knew almost all the answers now, and I was dreading to hear what Miley wanted to know. But thankfully when I got back to our seats, only Jackson was awake – with Miley's head resting on his lap.