Chapter 31

Flights and Fights

With the arrival of the pizza, a real nice party started. They even turned on the TV and turned it to a music video channel.

"I can't wait for Friday, Jackson." Miley told him excitingly.

"Why's that?"

"I just can't wait for your pep rally. That is going to be so cool!!!"

"You got that right, Miley." Cooper added.

"Is Hannah Montana really going to lead the pep rally?" Helen asked.

Cooper and Jackson looked at each other and spoke together.

"Oh, yeah!" Then they did their handshake.

Miley just beamed at Jackson.

"Oh, I can't wait!! She's going to spend the whole day at our school Friday." Amy gushed with excitement.

It seemed that even the fates were playing along with them. Just then Hannah came on the TV singing 'If We Were A Movie'. Maddie ran over and grabbed Jackson.

"Excuse me, Miley, as I steal your brother for a dance."

"Be my guest, Maddie."

Miley leaned back on the kitchen island and watched Jackson and Maddie slow dancing together. Just by looking at them you could tell that there was something there. Miley watched Maddie as she totally concentrated on Jackson. Then she looked over at Zack and Lilly. You could tell there was a difference in the way they looked at each other when compared to Jackson and Maddie. Cody came up and leaned beside Miley and followed her stare.

"We don't look at each other like that, do we?" Cody asked.

"No, we don't."

"But I still really like you, Miley."

"I still really like you, Cody."

"But we don't have what they have," Cody sighed.

"No, we don't," Miley said with a sadness in her voice. Cody took Miley's hand. Miley squeezed his hand.

"I still want to write to you all the time, Cody. I really look forward to your letters and I like writing to you."

"I'd like that, Miley."

"Are we still friends?"

"Never stopped."

"Do you want to dance?"

"It would be my honor to dance with my very best friend." Cody answered with a smile, and still holding on to her hand, walked to a clear space on the floor and started to dance with her.

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Dr. Ryan was back in the room with some test results.

"Well the blood oxy is still low, but on the bright side of things, the bacteria count is down. It seems the new antibiotics are finally working."

"That's good, right?" Sara asked.

"Yes, that's good."

"There's a 'but' there, right?"

"Yes. The rate that she is losing red blood cells is presenting a crisis. We're going to have to do the transplant now. I have to go and get it set up." With that Dr. Ryan left Maggie's room.

"Well, I'm going have to leave for the airport and get Jim."

"I'll stay here with Sara." Carey told Sara and Robbie.

"Okay. Hopefully, I'll have Jim back here in good order."

"Thanks, Robbie." Sara told him.

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As Robbie drove to the airport, he realized that there was a group of people that didn't know what was going on. He needed to fix that. Robbie called home.

"MILEY!!! TURN OFF THE TV!!" Jackson called as he ran to the phone.

"Hello."

"Hi, Jackson. What are you guys doing?"

"Having a pizza party."

"Who's all there?"

"Cooper and his girlfriend Helen. Then everyone else. That's okay isn't?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Put me on speaker, please."

"Okay. Hey guys, quiet down. Dad wants to talk to us."

"Is everyone there?"

"Yes, Daddy," Miley answered as everyone gathered around the phone.

"I'm on the way to the airport to pick up Maggie's dad. Then we're going back to the hospital."

"What's wrong with Maggie, Daddy." Miley asked as a finger of fear went down her spine.

"Nothing right now, bud."

"What do you mean, 'right now'?" Lilly asked with an edge of fear in her voice.

"Well, the good news is that they have the fever down and the infection under control."

"What's the bad news, Dad?"

"She's lost too many red blood cells because of the fever."

"What's that mean?" Oliver asked.

"It means she's not getting enough oxygen into her system." Maddie answered.

"What are they doing about it?" Cooper asked.

"Dr. Ryan is starting the transplant now."

"Can we go see her Daddy?"

"Sorry, bud. Maggie is basically asleep right now. Maybe tomorrow after the transplant is done."

"She's going to be okay. Right, Daddy?"

"I'm sorry, bud, but no one knows right now."

"No, Daddy. She has to be alright. You hear me? She has to be alright…she has to be…" Miley collapsed to the floor in front of the phone. Jackson knelt down and held his sister in his arms as Miley just repeated over and over 'she has to be'.

"Is Miley okay?"

"Not right now, Mr. Stewart. Jackson has her though." Cooper answered.

"Carey and I are going to be at the hospital for a while, so Maddie and the boys can spend the night if they want."

"Okay, Dad. I can drive them to the hotel so they can get their stuff."

"Good. Don't forget all of you have school tomorrow. I'll give you another hour, then the party's over."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Bye."

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Robbie had met Jim at the gate. Jim only brought a carry-on bag. Because of this, they skipped baggage claim and went straight to the car. Robbie had filled Jim in on what was going on at the moment with Maggie. After that, Jim sat quietly in his own world. Having a similar experience when his wife passed, Robbie left Jim to his own thoughts as they drove to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, Robbie led Jim up to his daughter's room. Sara and Jim greeted each other as parents that just might lose their child. Carey got up and walked out of the room with Robbie.

"How's Maggie doing?"

"We won't know for twenty-four hours. Dr. Ryan was just in and told us that."

"How'd the transplant go?"

"The marrow's about half in now. It's all up to Maggie."

"Have you and Sara eaten anything?"

"No."

"And the hospital's cafeteria is closed. Let's go see what they want to eat and then we can make a food run."

"That sounds like a good idea."

Robbie and Carey went back in to Maggie's room and took Jim and Sara's orders and then headed out to get the evening meal.

"What are the kids doing?"

"They're all going to spend the night at my house. You can too if you want. We have a nice spare bedroom you could use."

"Thank you, Robbie. I'll take you up on that. Seeing we have a long night in front of us."

"I hate waiting."

"I hate waiting too."

After picking up everyone's meal, they headed back to the hospital and started taking care of Jim and Sara as all four of them watched a very little girl fight for her life.