Chapter 32

Making Through The Day

………you'll never find her………yes I will, she's right there………then you'll never reach her………I don't have too because she's with me………but this one is not………you can't have her………yes I can and I will………no!!! That's not fair………you'll have to come and get her………the voice laughed as the girl got farther way and became lost in the fog………she's mine now…ha ha ha ha………nnnoooooo………

Miley sat up in bed and tried to untangle the covers from herself. The dream was back. But this time, it included Maggie. Miley wished that it would just go away. But the words of her doctor reminded her that it would never go away and she knew why it was back this time. She also knew how to deal with it now. She had Mrs. Truscott to thank for that. But right know, she need time to think. So Miley got out of bed, got her guitar and went to the patio. Once on the patio, Miley started to play. With the playing came the tears. She didn't know what she was playing, just that the music reflected what her soul was feeling at the moment. Just as the tears washed out of her eyes to run down her face, the music washed through her soul and out into the night air to be released. She was a creature of music and it was the music that set her free. …beep…beep…beep… Miley reached over and turned off the alarm. What was she doing in bed? The last thing she remembered was playing her guitar on the patio. Her dad poked his head in through the door.

"Good, you're up. No more dreams?"

"No, Daddy. Thanks."

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Jake was at his locker getting ready for another day of school. Today, he was excited about his newfound knowledge. Yes, he had decided to keep the information to himself, but still to talk to Miley knowing that she was Hannah Montana or was it talk to Hannah Montana knowing she's Miley. No it has to be Miley dressing up to be Hannah Montana, anyways, Jake was still excited. He just had to remember everything that Hannah or was it Miley had told him about not being an egomaniac. Okay, this was really making his head hurt now trying to figure out who told him what. How did she keep it all straight anyways?? Speaking of which, Miley, Lilly and Oliver had walked by his locker. Jake closed the door to his locker and went after them.

"Hey guys!"

Our trio stopped and turned to the voice. Jake saw something was wrong.

"What happened?" Jake asked realizing that there was only one thing that could provoke this type of emotion from them. Miley and Lilly teared up at the question.

"Maggie has gotten worse," Oliver answered.

"How?"

"Her red blood cell count is falling so they started the transplant last night."

"AND?"

"We won't know until tonight at the earliest."

"But she looked fine when I saw her," Jake protested.

"Mr. Stewart said the fever finally caught up to her."

On hearing this, Miley turned and walked away from the conversation. Lilly followed her.

"Miley wait…….."

"Let her go, Jake. She'll be okay. Miley had most of the night to deal with the news. Just……be a friend and not a TV star, okay?"

"Yeah."

Jake decided to wait to talk to Miley. So he just went to homeroom and sat down. Oliver came in next. Jake waited patiently. With about a minute before homeroom started, Miley and Lilly came in. Jake looked closely at Miley. She seemed to be in another world and he wondered if she would be able to get through the day or not. Lilly, on the other hand, seemed more like an animal caught in someone's headlights. More scared than anything else but ready to go one way or another without warning. Then there was Oliver. He looked together on the outside. But there was no telling what was going on inside of Oliver. What looked like it was going to be a fun day turned into a day were he might need to hold things together for his friends. Ay, there was a thought he'd never had before. Holding things together for his friends.

Jake remembered what it was like when he was younger and had friends. But after he was 'discovered', his friends fell by the wayside as his fame started to grow. Soon he found he was all by himself. That was why he wanted to go back to public school in the first place. He felt alone. The only problem was, Jake Ryan had forgotten how to be a friend. All he knew these last two years on the show was people doing everything for him. Now after seeing everything and hearing everything that Miley had done and is doing for others, Jake Ryan came up short to the measuring stick. But he felt that the time spent with Miley, Lilly, and Oliver was starting to show in him. The biggest evidence was the fact he wasn't showing off anymore. Okay, maybe he'd cut that by half but still. Who would have thought that being friends could give someone such a big headache. Maybe it was easier before he knew about Miley's secret.

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At lunchtime, Lilly was doing a lot better than Miley. So Jake decided to take it upon himself to lighten her mood. And he thought he had the way to do it too.

"I wonder where Hannah is going to take us tomorrow."

Nothing.

"Talk about your zombies."

Still nothing.

"Is that Ashton Kutchner?"

"Where?" Lilly and Miley stood up and looked around.

Oliver and Jake laughed.

"About time you showed some sign of life today, Miley."

"Ha ha. Very funny," Lilly told Jake.

"When did you give up action adventure and go into comedy?" Miley asked.

"Since you two have been spending the first part of the day in Worry World."

"We have every right to be worried. Maggie might die today."

"So can anyone else in the world, Miley. Look, I'm not trying to be mean here or to come off unfeeling, it's just that if you spend your whole life worried about something you can't control, then you'll miss out on life. I don't want Maggie to die anymore than you do, but as I understand it, it's up to Maggie's body to decide the outcome. We just have to get ourselves ready to accept the outcome."

Miley got up and left. Jake started to get up and go after her, but Lilly and Oliver stopped him.

"I need to go after her."

"No you don't. We know where she's going," Oliver told him.

"Okay. So tell me where she's going. And it's going to take the correct answer to keep me here."

Oliver and Lilly looked at each other again. This time Jake knew close enough what they were weighing. Even if he didn't know 'what' it was.

"I'm waiting, and don't give me the 'you have to ask her' answer. Because if I get that, I'm going after Miley."

"Okay. She's going to talk to Mr. Aaron." Oliver told Jake.

Well, that wasn't an answer he was expecting. But as he thought about the things that applied to him about being a celebrity in a public school and having responsibilities to meet for his career, it made since that Mr. Aaron would know just who Miley was. Jake sat back.

"Okay. Now that wasn't that hard was it?"

"Sorry, Jake. There just are some things about Miley we just can't tell you," Lilly told him.

"I know, I know. Only Miley can tell me."

Jake was starting to wonder about Miley as the day continued after lunch. He found himself looking up at the door and clock as time wore on. Even though he knew where she was at, Jake still worried about her. Then he laughed at himself for worrying.

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Dr. Ryan was worried too, but for a different reason. Maggie's red blood cell count was still dropping and her blood oxy was below minimums. But the infection was almost gone and Maggie's temp was back to a low-grade fever. At the rate it was falling, it should be back to normal some time tonight. She yawned and shook her head. She had been here now for thirty-six hours and only caught catnaps along the way. But she was in a fight she had to win. Okay, all of her cases were fights she had to win. She also knew that she would lose some just because there was nothing she could do at this time in medicine. But it was the close ones that got to her. The ones that could go either way. Maggie was one of those. But Dr. Ryan had a game plan.

Since the last transfusion worked extremely well, she was setting up another transfusion. This time the size of the transfusion would be based on what was needed to bring her red blood cell count back up to normal. After doing the math, the result was three units. Once again, Dr. Ryan used the process from the last transfusion. She mixed the antibiotics again and added them to the three units. Then, making sure they were well mixed, she set out to filter the blood before giving it to Maggie. Dr. Ryan spent the rest of the day on the phone chasing down another unit of bone marrow for another transplant.

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Jake waited at Miley's locker at the end of the day. He was soon joined by Lilly.

"Have you seen Miley?" Jake asked.

"Yeah. She was in our last couple of classes."

"That makes me feel better."

"Hi guys. Miley should be here soon. I saw her going into the restroom."

"You think we can see Maggie tonight?" Jake asked in general.

"I don't know. I guess it depends on how Maggie's doing."

"Hi guys."

"Miley," Jake greeted not really sure what to say.

"We going to your house today?" Lilly asked.

"If it's okay?" Oliver added.

"Are you three sure you're not triplets?"

"Ha, ha. Very funny. Yeah, let's go to my house. Maybe dad has heard something."

Miley got her homework together and the four of them headed off for Miley's house.