A/N: So I hate doing this to you guys, but this is another one of my 'bridge' chapters that's necessary to get us from one juicy part of the story to the next, so there's not a lot going on in this chapter. Action starts up again next one, I promise.
I also promise that there won't be a huge delay in getting the next chapter up like there was with this one. There's a few reasons this was delayed.
One, I went to a Sonny taping last Friday. Sterling and Demi wished me a happy birthday, touched my hand, signed a poster, and took a picture with me, so as you can probably understand, I was on a Cloud 9 that I couldn't possibly come off of to write :P (Anyone's who's interested in how that episode went can follow me on twitter: MiaTurner. There's a twitlonger about it :) )
And then of course this weekend was my 21st birthday, and I spent it in Vegas.
Third, this chapter was sounding a lot like a text book. rather than a story, and it sounded unnatural. I pretty much had to make a total re-write of it to make it a series of events and not a random spewing of cancer facts.
So now I'm back to writing and will be updating more consistently. Enjoy! And please review!
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"I didn't mean to upset him..." Sonny muttered, fiddling with the end of her blanket. "Are you sure he's okay?"
Tawni made a face and waved her hand. "Please, he's such a drama king. He's just fine."
Sonny swallowed nervously. "I thought that if I told him, and smiled while I did it, that he wouldn't take it so hard. But his eyes got blank and I knew he was gonna go down..."
"It's kind of rough news, no matter how you put it, Sonny."
Sonny shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "I suppose. I was really surprised when you showed up, to be honest... Thanks Tawn."
Tawni frowned. "Don't be ridiculous, Sonny. We're all really worried."
Sonny sighed heavily. "You all have no reason to be, honest. If Chad had stayed with me long enough to let me finish, I would have been able to explain to him why everything's okay..."
Almost as if on cue, the door behind them opened. Both girls turned to see Chad enter, rubbing his head. Sonny giggled slightly.
"Welcome back, superstar. How are you feeling?"
Chad's eyes widened slightly at her question. He rushed to her side, half pushing Tawni out of the way in the process.
"How am I feeling? How are you feeling?!"
Sonny placed a hand on top of his, shushing him gently. "I feel just fine. Calm down."
Chad pulled his hand back, running it through his hair frustratedly.
"Are you missing the part where you have cancer, Sonny?!"
Sonny frowned, almost as though giving him a warning look, before shushing him again. "Chad, you're overreacting."
"I think you're under-reacting!!" he exclaimed. Sonny rolled her eyes and sighed. "What are they gonna do?" He snapped. "What are they gonna do to make sure you'll be alright? Cause it better be everything in their power."
Sonny frowned again. "Will you calm down and let me tell you?"
Chad closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, squeezing her hand protectively. "...Okay... I'm calm."
Sonny sighed, patting his hand. "Good. And we already talked about what we're going to do. They call it 'watchful waiting'."
Chad grimaced. "I dunno what that is, but I don't like the sound of it."
Sonny looked down and gave his fingers a squeeze. "Um... Chronic leukemia takes a really long time to develop. So... watchful waiting is when they don't treat it right away. I'll keep coming back every three months or so and hopefully the idea is that the cancer will go away without any kind of treatment."
Chad growled, shaking his head. "That's not a good idea. I don't like it. They're not doing everything they can. What about chemo--"
"Chemotherapy won't help, Chad," she interrupted. "Or at least it's likely not to. A lot of kids survive through watchful waiting, Chad. It'll be alright."
Chad sighed, his face starting to turn red out of frustration. "You're not taking this seriously," he said in a harsh tone. It unnerved her slightly.
"Chad, stop it. This isn't helping."
"Sonny--"
"Stop it, Chad!!"
Tawni winced slightly, Chad just looked on at her, slightly stunned at the unexpected raising of her voice.
Sonny sighed. "Just stop, alright? Being pessimistic isn't going to solve this problem."
"No, but it certainly makes a lot more sense then the way you're acting," Chad muttered. Sonny opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when Chad took her hand in both of his and squeezed tightly. "You're going to be okay, you know that, right Sonny? I'm not going to let anything happen to you, no matter what."
Sonny smiled gently at him, patting his arm with her free hand.
"I believe you Chad. But you need to trust me too."
Chad groaned, but gave a reluctant nod.
From there, it had taken an hour to get out of the hospital and back to Sonny's apartment. Mostly because Chad insisted on staying another half hour, harassing the doctor with questions, asking if he was certain she was safe to go back to work the next day, and even threatening at one point to 'track him down and murder him' if he didn't do everything he possibly could to ensure Sonny's recovery.
Chad couldn't help but glance at Sonny sleeping in the passenger seat the entire way home (running a red light in the process). He loved her more than anything in the entire world. He loved her more than he loved himself, and her and his grandparents were the only people on the planet that had managed to accomplish that feat.
He didn't know what he'd do with himself if Sonny ever left him. He was convinced that her death would get him a guaranteed one-way ticket to the rubber room. He gripped the steering wheel tighter in his hands. He had to do everything he could... He couldn't let that happen to her.
He pulled up to her apartment, opening the door and carefully lifting her into his arms. He frowned when she groaned and woke up. She blinked a few times and carefully watched his face as he walked up the steps with her, but she didn't speak. She looked positively drained. It wasn't fair. Teenaged girls should only have to look this way when they'd been out past curfew partying with their friends. Not because they were miserably ill like this...
He had a bit of difficulty getting Sonny's apartment door open and keeping a hold on her at the same time, but somehow he'd managed it. He placed her down carefully on her bed, tucking her in and turning out the light. He sat next to her and stroked her hair for several minutes before he heard a timid whine.
"I don't want to sleep," she muttered, the exhaustion in her voice contradicting her words.
"Why not, Sonshine?" he asked, hoping his tone was coming across even and calm.
"I just feel funny," she mumbled, placing a hand on her forehead. "I don't know, I feel like I need sleep, but I can't... I just..." Sonny groaned, holding her head in her hands. Chad was quick to shush her and gently guide her wrists away from her head. He could tell she was getting frustrated. It unnerved him, considering that up until now, she'd been unrealistically optimistic about this whole thing.
"If you let them do Chemo, it might be easier for you to fall asleep at night, Sonny," he suggested quietly. Sonny shook her head defiantly, though it looked like it took all her strength to do so.
"No, Chad," she whispered. "I told you, we already decided what to do."
Chad desperately wanted to argue, but couldn't find it in him, considering how worn out she looked. He placed a hand on her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb.
"Alright, Sonny. Just... try and sleep, okay? We'll go back to work tomorrow and you'll have a great day, I promise."
Sonny smiled weakly up at him through half-lidded eyes, still refusing to close them all the way. Chad tried snuggling with her, rocking her, and even singing to her, though by three in the morning, the pair was still awake. Chad sighed. They couldn't spend every night like this, just sitting around and praying that the cancer slowly taking over Sonny's body would just go away.
There had to be a way to convince her to do everything she could to get better. There had to be.
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Now I've already decided the answer to this question, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts: is Chad's insistence on Sonny getting all the possible help she could going to help her or hurt her in the long run? How do you think her first day back at work's gonna go? Tell me whatcha think. You're gonna hafta keep reading to find out my answer to that though. Please review.
