Day 152.

"Derek... unfortunately this is what we call a primary induction failure, meaning the patient fails to achieve a complete remission of their cancer following several courses of remission induction chemotherapy. This relapse occurs when the disease becomes refractory to the drugs previously used, and therefore any subsequent treatment with chemotherapy would remotely be effective, causing the patient to be more likely to have a poor overall outcome…"

Derek nodded absent-mindedly. He just couldn't bring himself to actually focus on Doctor Welsh's words. His gaze was wandering up the round, colorful glass paperweight on the doctor's desk. "Are those foxgloves?"

"What ?"

"The flowers painted on that paperweight. They're supposed to be foxgloves, right?"

Doctor Welsh looked taken aback at the question. "Uh, Derek, have you been listening to…"

"You just never took your time to have a look at that thing, did you? Nobody cares about such small things."

The man just kept staring at Derek, his body tensing as he was feeling very uncomfortable with the whole situation. His gaze began to nervously wander around the room before eventually settling down to the younger's face once more. The boy's ruffled chestnut hair was casting a slight shadow over his frowned forehead, his lifeless eyes looking down to his feet as he sat motionless, showing no clear sign of emotion.

"Derek" the doctor hesitantly began "Do you think you could listen to me for a moment, please?"

"I am listening."

The man cleared his throat, unsure of the other's answer. "Uhm, well, so, as I was saying… Getting on to another cycle of chemo is not exactly an option, so I suggest we just start getting her ready for a bone marrow transplant."

Derek's face immediately brightened up as he could feel hope rising within him once again. "What? Really? So there's actually…"

"Yes, Derek, there is still this last chance she might finally beat cancer for good, technically. But we need to find a donor first and…"

"ME!" he jumped out of the chair, still not believing his ears "Please, let that be me!"

"Derek" the doctor quietly motioned him to sit back down, not wanting his excitement to get the better of him. "It's not that easy. It's really hard to find a compatible match for an allogeneic transplant. We really don't want her to possibly reject it."

"Ok, but come on, there has to be a person out there that could save her…"

"Ideal donors are usually siblings that share certain genetic features with the patient, but they could just also be relatives or even non related people…"

"Ok, ok, well, she's got a sister, then there's her mother… and even the rest of us, we could all…"

"Alright, alright, Derek, we'll start running tests on all family members to determine if there's any chance of hematopoietic stem cells compatibility. In the meantime we'll start getting her prepared for the transplant by having her undergo Total Body Irradiation. That's basically radiation therapy given to the whole body to destroy as many cancer cells as possible in her scar tissue, brain and spine, so that…"

"Doctor Welsh?" Derek feebly cut him off, a weak smile creeping up across his face.

"Yes, Derek…" the man slowly nodded, silently waiting for his question to follow.

"Can I, uhm… can I just hug you for a sec, or can you just pat my shoulder or something, 'cause I really need…"

This time it was the doctor's turn to cut him off, promptly pulling him into a tight hug.

Day 153.

Derek was still rubbing the crook of his arm where they had been taking his blood sample from as he headed back towards Casey's new hospital room, only to find Marti sitting on the bed, keeping her stepsister company as the nurses were still taking blood tests on the rest of the family in the next room.

"Smerek!" she happily yelled out as she stood up to greet him.

"Hey Smarti, hi Case…"

"Smerek, now that you're here, can you stay with Casey so I can go see Edwin shriek like a girl as they put the needle into his arm?"

Derek let out a small laugh. "Sure thing, Smarti."

"Bye Casey, bye Smerek!"

As they were left alone in the room, he took place to sit on the bed beside her, leaning down for a kiss. "Hey beautiful…" he murmured against her lips.

"Hi Der…" she whispered back, a soft smile quivering at the corners of her mouth. "Something tells me I definitely ruined the kids' graduation…"

He frowned. "Babe, no, don't even worry about that… Ed and Liz are just…"

"I'm sorry it's back, Der. I was really starting to think I had actually made it…"

He let out a shaky breath as he was trying really hard not to let his eyes get watery. "Yeah babe, me too. But this time they're gonna get rid of it for good. Trust me, the transplant will work."

She sighed heavily as she began to graze his cheek with the tips of her delicate fingers, the light stubble on his jaw causing her to giggle for a moment, until she frowned once more. "Derek, I don't want this to cause so much trouble on you guys, too. It's not fair. It's my cancer, why do all of you have to go through this?"

"Case, what are you talking about! Everybody just really wants to help, they're so glad they could possibly have a chance at being able to save your life. It's just a few blood samples…"

"Yeah but what about after they find the right match? One of you will have to get their bone marrow aspirated from their hip by a fucking needle! And all because of me! Do you have any idea of how much that…"

"Case, come on, please… just why can't you just see this is exactly what you would do if anyone else of us was in your shoes?"

She let out another sigh as she could feel frustration build up within her. He followed his gaze as she turned over to look out of the window. "Hey, it's a shame there's no flower pot on the sill here, isn't it?"

She nodded absent- mindedly as she reached out to clutch his hand, her eyes still not willing to meet his yet.

He nervously fidgeted with his fingers, unsure of what to say next. "So, uhm… what have you and Marti been up to in my absence?"

"Nothing, Derek, she was just telling me about how she won her school's spelling competition."

"J-E-O-P-A-R-D-I-Z-E. And with that I … Case! Case, are you listening to me?"

Lying back on the pillow, she shook her head, coming back to her senses and focusing on the little girl standing in front of her. "Yeah, Marti. Sorry. I'm really proud of you for winning that spelling competition."

"Thanks" She smiled for a few seconds, before narrowing her eyebrows in a frown. "Case…?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"I'm sorry you're not ok, yet. And I'm sorry I have to see Derek so sad and tired all the time. He loves you so much, Casey, you're his princess."

Casey gave her a soft smile as she tried her best to hide all the sadness in her heart. "Marti, honey, will you promise me something, please?"

"Anything …"

"I know you're old enough to understand why everybody is so scared for me…"

The little girl looked down to her feet as tears formed into her eyes, although she had promised Lizzie she would've always stayed strong in front of Casey. "'Cause you might die…"

Casey took a deep breath as she heard those blunt words being so innocently spoken. "Yes, Marti, there's a chance that could happen."

"But you can't leave Derek, Casey… everybody needs you. Remember when you told me you always have to believe in yourself if you want to succeed in anything? Come on, Case, you just have to keep thinking you can do this! Derek…"

She stifled a little laugh, sadly amused by the little girl's naivety. "Marti, sometimes it's just not that easy…" she looked down to her hands as she tried to compose herself, feeling herself on the verge of tears. "Sometimes all you can do is just sit back and hope for the best to come. And that's what I'm doing right now. But I also want to make sure all of you guys would still find a way to be ok again even if I did end up leaving. That's why I asked you to promise me a few things."

Marti silently nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"I want you to take good care of Derek for me. You're the only one who could always see him through. Be ready to give him tons of hugs even if he says he doesn't need any help. You know he likes acting strong all the time, but I tell you, in the very end he's always gonna need his little Smarti…" she sniffled, trying to hold back the tears that were already beginning to fall down her cheeks anyway as she paused for a second.

"Casey, I…"

"And Marti, one more thing: I know everybody could start thinking I'd be gone forever, but please tell them that wouldn't be true. Tell them that I would still find a way to be near them wherever they may go. Marti, do you remember that movie we used to watch all together, 'Spirit'?"

"Stallion of the Cimarron!" Marti fiercely exclaimed as she smiled at the memory.

"Remember how the eagle would keep following Spirit everywhere he'd go, even when he was scared or in trouble? And how it would always still lead him back to his homeland? Well, tell Derek I'll always be his eagle …"

Marti was bouncing up and down, as George was trying to no avail to keep her quiet as he sat there, a nurse inserting a needle into his arm to take his blood sample.

"It's not fair! I want to see if I can help Casey too. I. WANT. TO TAKE. A BLOOD TEST. TOO!" She cried out in protest as she kept stomping her feet.

"Dad. Please, just make her stop. My head is throbbing…" Edwin sighed out, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Marti, please, just stop it. You're not a baby anymore. I told you you're too young to be doing this. And plus there's a very slim chance…"

"I. DON'T. CARE! LET ME JUST TRY TO HELP!" She yelled out as she suddenly stretched her arms outwards, hitting the nurse in the eye and causing her to jerk the needle out of George's arm in the middle of the procedure.

"Marti! Now look what you've done!" Nora cried out in despair, having run out of patience. She got up to lean over a visibly irritated George, whispering into his ear "Honey, it's just a blood test. Let her take it and believe for a moment she could possibly save Casey. We all know she'll never be able to anyway, the chances are just too low as she's not blood related to her. But at least Marti will be proud of herself and won't feel like she didn't try to help in case… well, you know, in case anything goes wrong."

Day 155

"I'm so happy to tell you that we did find a match among all the possible donors!" Doctor Welsh proudly announced as he motioned Derek to sit down with him at his desk.

The young man couldn't believe to his ears. Even just the idea of him possibly saving her life just looked so thrilling to him. Hope was all he could cling to at the moment and he was determined not to let go. "Really? Oh man… Is it me?"

Doctor Welsh shook his head. "It's her younger sister."

"Oh, well, it's still great… the only thing that matters here is that she's going to be ok now…" Derek slowly nodded to himself. "Does Lizzie know already?"

"Uh, Derek…" Doctor Welsh hesitantly began "I think that's not the person I was referring to."

The boy gave him a questioning look, a puzzled expression appearing on his face. "What… what do you mean?"

"I'm afraid Marti Venturi is the only right match. I know she's just a kid, but transplants from young donors are more likely to be successful, and…"

"No, no, no…" Derek trailed him off, shaking his head violently as he stood up from his chair, starting to pace back and forth around the room. "No way I'm having my little sister go through this. There has to be some…"

"Derek! Finding any other possible unrelated donor outside your family would be a very lengthy process and honestly, Casey's running out of time, here… you have to make a choice. Well, your parents have to, actually."

Derek felt his legs give out him as he let himself collapse back onto the chair again, those words painfully sinking in. He slowly turned his head to glance at his whole family waiting for him in the corridor, right outside the door that had been left open. They were staring worriedly at him as they still had no clue to what Doctor Welsh had just told him.

"But… she's my…"

"I've seen younger donors, if that could possibly make you feel any better."

He let his gaze meet Marti's from afar. Her big, bright eyes were expectantly staring at him, a small smile on her face as she waved his hand at him.

"For the first time in my life, I felt my heart torn two ways…"

"Aw, Derek…" she snuggled closer to him as she felt herself getting emotional again, the both of them lying on the couch in front of the TV. "Did you hear that? Poor Spirit…he has to choose between the ones he loves and going back to the one place where he belongs …"

"Will… will the procedure be painful for her?"

"Uhm… it's basically the same we performed every time Casey took a bone marrow biopsy…"

"Oh my God…"

A.N: And that's the end of chpt 9!

I know writing it took me more time than usual but I had to figure out a bunch of medical stuff for Casey's new form of treatment…

I'll never stop thanking you SO MUCH for reviewing and following this story, keep doing that guys, please! This is getting longer than I initially thought, and yet I still have to make up my mind about how I'm gonna make this end…

Still, I'm sure your wonderful support will get me compelled to keep it going!

I already started to write chpt 10, so… you won't have to wait too long for it!

Review, please