A/N: So glad you guys are enjoying the story. It's only my second published fanfiction so it's nice to see so much support for the story. Sorry for leaving at the same awful cliffhanger as the season finale. I know I suck, but here's the next chapter so I hope you enjoy :)


I saw him lying in the bed and he turned to look at me.

"Leo, what's going on?"

"I wanted to talk to you. Will you sit with me a minute?" he asked as he patted the side of his bed.

I walked slowly. I was still pretty weak from my treatment and I sighed in relief as I finally sat on the side of the bed.

"I wanted you to know that I decided to have the surgery. They're prepping me now and I'm schedule to go into surgery in an hour."

"But, you said…" I couldn't quite get my thoughts out of my mouth.

"I know what I said but I think I was wrong. I want to be that fighter, April. I want to fight because I want the chance to see what's here for you and me. I need that chance. I tried to let you go but I couldn't so I made my choice."

I had started to cry and I didn't even notice until he reached up to wipe the tears from my face with his thumbs. I wasn't quite sure what to say so I followed my instinct and leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. "Are you sure?" I asked quietly.

"More than I've ever been. I don't have much time before they take me out but I had to talk to you first."

"Thank you," I said as I stood up. I leaned down for one more kiss before I left. "I'll be waiting for you when you get out," I said before I closed the door behind me.

A whole new set of nerves was settling into my stomach. Beth came up to me to escort me back to my room. She didn't say anything until we got back to my room and closed the door.

"What's going on, April?"

"He's decided to have the surgery. He's decided to fight. He said he couldn't lose the chance to see what there could be between us."

"Oh, April!" Beth exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm scared for him. I want him to pull through and be better. I want more time with him."

"You will, I'm sure he has the absolute best surgeon money can buy."

"You're right. I know there's no sense in worrying because there's nothing I can do and it will only impact my health but geez, Beth. I just need him to be okay."

"I know you do. How about this…I've got some trashy chick flicks and I just bought some new nail polish. We can have a girl's day and since we can't go out to shop we'll just do some online."

"Thanks that may help take my mind off of it."


It had been five hours since he went into surgery and I had yet to hear anything so I finally caved and found my favorite nurse.

"Hey, Martine, have you by chance heard any updates on Leo Hendrie's surgery?"

"I thought I saw you sneaking out of his room earlier. I know I'm not supposed to say much but he's supposed to be out of surgery within the next half hour. I'm told it's going well but he will be in ICU for the evening which will be off limits to you until you're out of the hospital."

"Oh. Okay. But he's okay?"

"To my knowledge yes. If you want, I can let you know when he's back on the floor. They'll be moving him back up here tomorrow as long as everything is okay and he'll be here for about a week as he recovers and they check the status of his tumor."

"That'd be good. I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow."

I went back to my room a little bummed. AML sucked. Chemo was only 7 days but I had to be in the hospital for a month and I couldn't visit Leo until he was out of ICU because they didn't want to add any additional stress to my immune system. I would just have to try to be patient. Thank goodness Beth was here to keep me mostly distracted.

We watched movies until about 11 o'clock and I was exhausted. It felt good to be doing something pretty normal but I also knew I was putting off sleep as long as possible because I didn't want to dream. All the medications I was on were making me feel a little crazy.

When I couldn't hold on any longer I slipped into a deep sleep and I don't remember anything until I woke up with the sun streaming through my window and the nurse coming into my room with a tray of breakfast food. I didn't recognize the morning nurse but she was friendly.

"I have your breakfast and a note from Martine. She left about ten minutes before you woke up and she wanted me to give it to you."

"Thank you."

I tore the note open hoping to find an update on Leo and I wasn't disappointed. It read that he was recovering nicely and was scheduled to be moved back to the cancer ward around ten in the morning. I looked at the clock and realized I'd still have about an hour to wait…maybe longer if he wasn't awake. I was growing pretty anxious to see how he was doing.


I thought my time to see Leo would never come. He was brought back to his room around ten but between his parents, doctors, and nurses that were constantly going in and out of his room it wasn't until after dinner that I was able to get into his room when no one else was there.

I opened the door slowly and peaked in to see if he was awake. He looked like he was sleeping so I told myself I'd only stay for a minute. When I was a couple feet away from his bed he slowly turned his head toward me. "April, you're here."

I nodded my head. I didn't really trust myself to talk.

"Come here," he said quietly as he patted the space next to him. I moved across the room to sit next to him. "Why are you crying?"

"I…I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you again. I guess I'm a little overwhelmed from today." He reached out and grabbed my arm and gently pulled me to him.

I snuggled into his side with my head on his chest. "I was so worried about you," I whispered. "I've been going mad all day. Are you feeling okay?"

"Tired," he whispered. "I'm on a lot of pain meds for the headaches and such and I haven't been able to sleep much since they brought me back up here."

"I should let you sleep," I said as I started to get up. He stopped me from moving far.

"Please stay. I've wanted nothing but to be with you since I came out of surgery. Would you mind staying for just a little while?"

I smiled and nodded. "I really don't want to be anywhere else."

We must have both dozed off because when I awoke it was dark outside the window and the clock read 8 o'clock. Leo was still asleep and I was just thinking about slipping out and getting back to my room before they noticed I wasn't in my own bed when a nurse walked in. I thought I was about to be kicked out of the room but instead she just told me to stay where I was.

"It's nice to see him finally resting. He was really fighting it for most of the day but I think now I know why," she said with a smile. "There's another two hours before you need to be back in your room for the night so you're welcome to stay for a little while longer if you'd like."

"Thank you. I've been a nervous wreck since his surgery so it's calming to be here with him."

"No problem. I'll come get you when it's time to head back to your room."

"I appreciate it."