Chapter Five:

The Hospital

'Oh God, why am I here?' Torie asked herself over and over again.

Beside her, her younger sister, Julie, was sobbing silently. On her other side, her older brother and best friend, Jared, was staring at the door, stony-faced. She was tapping her hands on her thighs nervously.

'This wasn't supposed to happen. What are we going to do?'

The door on the other side opened with a loud creak. "Auntie Kathy, what's going to happen?" Torie asked hysterically.

The carbon-copy of her mother sighed and slumped into a chair. "I don't know Torie, I don't know."

The quartet sat in silence, until the door opened again. "Mum, do you know what's going on?" Kathy asked.

"The doctors wouldn't tell me anything," Her grandma huffed.

Once again, the door opened, but this time, Torie didn't recognize the person. "Hello, my name is Dr. Jacobs. I have been diagnosing Kathryn for the past year. She had come to me after seeing the cancer-"

Torie didn't listen to what else he was saying. Cancer? Her mother had been dealing with cancer? For a year? Without telling-anyone?

"-She's going to have to go into surgery, which we can to tonight. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to find me," Dr. Jacobs finished. He turned and went back through the door.

"Kathy, will you stay here?" Torie's grandma asked her daughter, "I'm going to take the kids and find a hotel. We can bring something to eat back here."

"Okay Mum," Kathy said.

"Can I stay too, Grandma Jane?" Torie asked.

Jane and Kathy had a silent conversation with each other. "Fine. But be good Torie."

Torie had been sitting with Kathy for ten minutes. "I'm going to go get some coffee. Do you want anything?"

"No, nothing," Torie said, staring at the door across from her.

The door opened and Kathy left. It slammed closed. Once she was sure she was alone, her tears fell. She had only been crying for sixty seconds when the door slammed again. She wiped her tears abruptly.

"Torie?" Remus asked tentively, "Are you alright?"

Torie slowly looked up, blinking the tears away. They stared at each other in silence, until Torie leapt up and pushed him into the chair. She cried on his chest while he rubbed her back and muttered into her hair. "What happened? Is your mother okay? I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner. I was doing errands all day, and just got home in time to catch the train. Then that took an hour. Couldn't find a cab-it always takes me forever to get somewhere I need to in a hurry, but when time doesn't matter, I can get there quickly."

Torie pulled away from his chest. "You didn't have to come," She whispered, "I just called to cancel our plans."

"But, I wanted to come. I was due to come to London anyway. And you obviously needed me to come. Unless you were about to cry on your aunt's chest." She smiled weakly. "That's the Gryffendor girl I know. Now, what's happening with your mother?"

Torie sniffed. "She's had cancer for a year and hasn't told any of us. They told her it wouldn't be a problem for a while. Apparently, it was very mild. But then, last night-" Her tears began to fall again. "-She came into mine and Jared's room. We share because he comes and goes. Plus, neither of us can stand Julie. But, she woke us up and told us that she needed to come here as soon as possible. I woke Julie, and he dr-drove us-here. Then Auntie Ka-Kathy and Grandma c-came this morn-ning, after I-I called."

Remus pulled her close again, and smoothed her hair. "Don't cry Torie, don't cry. What is happening now?"

"She's having sur-surgery tonight. Grandm-ma too the oth-others for food and a place to sl-sleep tonigh-t. Oh, Remus-what-what if-she-d-dies?" Remus was silent. "We-we can't manage on our-our own. I-I'm only s-seventeen. J-Jared doesn't live with us half-half the t-time. And, he'll be-be mov-moving in with his fi-fiancée. And Jul-lie's only four-fourteen. W-we can't do th-this on our o-wn."

"You won't be alone. You can always write to me while I'm at school. And I'll be coming back next summer. You still haven't taught me to cook properly. There's your other friends and family who will help you. And, my mum would help. She adores you." He wiped the tears away from her eyes. "These doctors are like magic."

"If only magic were real. Then she would be better like that!" Torie said, "But, they're the only hope she-we have."

The door opened. "Torie, I got you some-what's going on here?" Kathy had come back.

Remus stood up. "Hello, you must be Torie's aunt," He said charmingly, holding out his hand, "I'm her friend from home, Remus Lupin."

Kathy looked taken aback by his politeness. "Well, Remus, it is nice to meet you. Kathy Hutchins. Although, I don't recall Torie ever telling me about you."

"We just met a few weeks ago. Quite a funny story, to tell you the truth."

Remus had Kathy laughing by the end of his condensed-but-added-onto version of how he and Torie met. Torie was smiling as well. "I like you, Remus," Kathy said, "You make me laugh."

"If you like to laugh, then I should introduce you to my friends from school, James and Sirius. Out of the three of us, I'm the most serious and least funny one."

Kathy laughed again. "I would be honored to meet them."

"They're going to be in Big Whinging later on this summer. I'll find out an exact date, and you can come down."

"I'd really like that Remus." She glanced into her cup. "I've run out. I'll go get some more. Would you kids like anything?"

"No thanks, Auntie Kathy."

"I'll be fine."

"Okay." Kathy left the room.

"You made her laugh," Torie said quietly, "She hasn't laughed for just under three years."

"Why?" Remus asked.

"Her husband died. Cancer, like Mum has. This is really tough for her."

"It's tough for everyone. All we can do is hope."

She leaned back into his chest and listened to his heart beat. The quiet, steady rhythm lulled her into sleep.

Hem. Hem.

Torie slowly blinked her way back into reality. And reality was in a foul-smelling, white room, with her brother glaring at her 'chair'.

Torie's eyes widened as she jumped off Remus' lap, into an empty chair.

"Wazza' matta'?" Remus asked, opening his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Jared asked coldly.

"We had plans for the day, but I called him this morning to call it off, I just told his mother though, because he wasn't there. Then, he just showed up," Torie said, "We were talking and must have fallen asleep."

"Talking, eh?" Jared said doubtfully, "I'm sure. I'm guessing you're the 'friend' that Torie's been sneaking off to see. I've never seen you before-what's your name?"

"Lupin. Remus Lupin."

Some of the colour faded off Jared's face. He sighed angrily. "Torie, go upstairs. The others are eating in the cafeteria."

"No."

"Torie, get out of here, now."

Torie glanced at Remus, who nodded slightly. In a huff, she stomped out.

"Why are you with my sister?"

"We're not together. We're just friends."

"Whatever."

"She helped me a bit when I was sick. We've been friends ever since."

"Why has she been hiding you?"

"Most likely because of my parents' reputation. And, she knows you'll do this!"

Jared settled for glaring at Remus while he contemplated this. Then, he asked, "How far have you gone?"

"Didn't you understand! We're just friends!"

"She was sitting on your lap, sleeping, after 'talking'. You're a seventeen year old boy, with hormones. I know that from experience. Friends don't do that."

"She was crying. Because she's terrified your mother is going to die, you're going to marry and move out, and she'll have to take care of Julie on her own, all in the next two weeks."

Jared looked startled, and began to leave the room quickly. But, at the door, he stopped and said menacingly, "If you hurt one hair on my sister, you'll pay for it dearly."

Torie sat across from her brother, slowly spooning soup up to her mouth, and glaring at him.

"So, Mum, did you find someplace to stay?" Kathy asked, trying to break the tension. It would have been effective, except the tension between the two siblings would have needed a chain saw to scratch it.

"Yes, there is a place we found just a couple blocks away. So, if we need to, we can stay here in shifts, until the surgery is done," Jane answered.

"There won't be a need for that," Remus said quietly, coming up to them, "At least, I think. Dr. Jacobs is waiting for you."