Chapter 6
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It has been two days since Laurel, Felicity, Thea and Sara had a movie night together and Oliver dragged Lance out of the bar. After a few movies Laurel, Felicity, Sara and Thea fell asleep on the floor of Laurel and Thea's living room and Oliver took Lance home where Lance sobered up. Once he was sober Quentin realised that, as much as he hated to admit it, that Oliver was right.
It is currently nine am on a Monday morning and Oliver and Felicity are arriving at the Arrow Cave where Diggle already is.
"Where's Laurel and Thea?" Oliver asks, looking around and not seeing them, "Neither of them answered their phones. I had to leave a message."
"Laurel has a Doctor's appointment every Monday at eight thirty, Thea always goes with her. They turn both their phones off until after the appointment." Diggle explains, realising that there are still a few things about Laurel's illness that Oliver and Felicity don't know.
"How long does her appointment usually take?" Oliver asks curious, wanting as much information as possible about Laurel's condition and the affect it has.
"Depends on what the tests show. If the tests show something odd or irregular, then Laurel's Doctor runs more test and her appointments take longer." Diggle explains.
"How long?" Felicity ask curious.
"Depends. They'll probably be here by ten, ten thirty at the latest." Diggle answers and Oliver and Felicity nod.
"Well until then I guess it's just the three of us." Oliver says, "Darkh's gone underground, let's see what we can find." Oliver says and the three of them get to work.
An hour later at the hospital Laurel, Thea and Sara who said that she is coming along are sitting in an exam room waiting for Doctor Wilson to come back in the room and discuss Laurel's test results with her.
"So, you've been doing this once a week for four months." Sara says to her sister, "You've subjected yourself to all these tests and then waiting for the results, hoping that they aren't worse than the week before." Sara says to Laurel, being surprised about how calm her sister seems to be, even though she's been waiting for a while.
"Yeah." Laurel says with a nod, "It's okay, Sara, you don't have to stay if you don't want to."
"No, I want to." Sara says as the door opens and Doctor Wilson walks in not being surprised by their being too people with Laurel as he met Sara when Laurel first arrived at her appointment.
"Laurel, I have your results." Doctor Wilson says as he walks in the room, closing the door behind him.
"Okay." Laurel says, "And?" she asks curious, suspecting that the results are bad as he doesn't usually keep her waiting this long if they are good.
"And I'm sorry to say what we discussed last week has been proven to be true." Doctor Wilson informs Laurel, "Your cancer is progressing much quicker than anticipated and you have several new tumours in your lungs." He says and as he does Thea reaches out and takes Laurel's hand as she knows exactly what it means as it is what they have been dreading.
"What does that mean?" Sara asks as by the looks on Laurel and Thea's faces she guesses that it's really, really, not good.
"It's means that I don't have eight months, Sear-Bear." Laurel tells hers sister, keeping her voice calm a she doesn't want to upset her sister further.
"What? No, how long?" Sara says, using her league training to force herself not to display how worried she is while she looks at Doctor Wilson.
"Six months at the most, but with how fast Laurel's cancer is progressing I would say that four or five months would be more realistic." Doctor Wilson says, "I'm sorry, Laurel." He says in a calm, kind voice.
"Yeah, so am I." Laurel says, forcing a half smile as Thea squeezes her hand, making herself seem like she is okay with what Doctor Wilson has just said as she doesn't want to make things worse for Sara and Thea.
"So what do we do now?" Thea asks, looking at Doctor Wilson, "What option other than the chemo and radiation is there?" Thea asks Doctor Wilson, needing there to be something.
"Well, what I would like is to admit Laurel into the hospital today so that I can perform surgery to remove the new tumours and once more resect the one in your nose and sinuses." Doctor Wilson explains.
"I thought you wanted to wait more before once more doing the resection." Laurel comments, remembering what Doctor Wilson told her.
"I did, until I saw todays results." Doctor Wilson says, "Laurel, your cancer is growing rapidly, resection and removal is the best course of treatment right now." He says, not looking at either Thea or Sara, but directly at Laurel.
"When would the surgery be?" Laurel asks, trying to be rational so that she can get as much information as possible before she makes her decision.
"I can fit you in first thing tomorrow." Doctor Wilson informs Laurel, knowing that because he looked into her schedule before coming to see Laurel.
"Okay." Laurel says with a nod.
"Good. I'll send in a nurse with the admittance paper work and I'll see you a little later to go over everything and answer any questions you have" Doctor Wilson says.
"Yeah, okay." Laurel says and Doctor Wilson leaves.
"I better call Dad, he thought this was just a routine appointment." Sara says before hugging her sister, "It will be okay, Laurel. I'll find a way to heal you." Sara whispers before leaving so that she can make the phone call.
"I'm going to call Ollie, update them on what is going on. If that's okay." Thea says once Sara leaves.
"It is." Laurel confirms, "Can you ask him to stop by the apartment? Explain about the bag and ask him to bring it here." Laurel requests, knowing that Thea will know exactly what she is talking about.
"Sure. Be right back." Thea says before leaving, having given Laurel's hand one more squeeze before she left.
Once Thea and Sara leave Laurel actually allows herself to feel what she has been feeling since Doctor Wilson told her the news, which she wouldn't let herself admit around Thea and Sara, terror. Laurel is terrified of what this all means, she is terrified of the fact that she only has half a year at the most left to live and more than anything she is terrified of the people she loves watching her die and of what's going to happen to them if they don't manage to find a way to save her.
At the police station Lance is on the phone with his ex-wife who doesn't know about what is going on with their daughter. Because Lance is waiting for some news from either Sara or Laurel to tell him about what is going on with Laurel he is talking with Dinah on his office line while his cell is waiting on his desk right in front of him.
"Yeah, I'm sure the girls will love that." Lance lies, not entirely sure that he is telling the truth as he doesn't know if Laurel has thought about telling her mother about her illness, "What time Wednesday are you getting in? I can pick you up."
"My train gets in at eleven am." Dinah answers, "And you don't have to pick me up. I can take a cab."
"There aren't too many of those left in this city right now. I'll pick you up." Lance says as his cell starts to ring and he sees Sara's name on the caller ID, "Dinah I have to go. I'll see you on Wednesday."
"Okay, I'll see you then." Dinah says before hanging up.
"Hey, Sweetheart." Lance says, answering his cell as he hangs his office line up, "How'd Laurel's appointment go?"
"Not well, it's bad news, and she's being admitted to hospital." Sara informs her father, feeling that telling him everything is best.
"Why?" Lance asks as he starts to search his desk for his keys.
"There are new tumours in her lungs that her Doctor wants to remove and he wants to resect the one in her nose. Her Doctor said that her cancer is progressing quicker than he first thought." Sara reveals.
"Okay, I'll be right there." Lance says before hanging up and hurrying out his office.
At The Arrow Cave Oliver, Diggle and Felicity are doing everything they can think to try and track down Damien Darkh.
"Thea and Laurel should have called back by now." Oliver says, looking at the time and becoming worried, "Has Laurel's appointments ever taken this long?" Oliver asks Diggle, knowing that he would know.
"No." Diggle answers, his own concern growing, but before anyone can say anything Oliver's phone starts to ring.
"That's probably Thea saying that they are on their way." Felicity says, hoping for the best.
"Hopefully." Oliver comments, "Hi Thea, are you on your way?"
"No, and we're not going to be coming in." Thea informs her brother.
"What? Why?" Oliver asks, concern clear in his voice.
"Laurel's being admitted to the hospital; she's having surgery first thing tomorrow." Thea informs her brother.
"We'll be right there." Oliver informs his sister.
"Ollie wait!" Thea requests, "Laurel needs you to do something."
"What is it?" Oliver asks.
"There is a black duffle bag in the shelf in Laurel's wardrobe. Can you get it and bring it in when you come?" Thea asks curious.
"Sure, of course. I'll see you soon." Oliver says before hanging up.
"What's going on?" Felicity asks worried.
"Laurel's being admitted to the hospital; she's having surgery first thing tomorrow." Oliver explains.
"That means things are worse. She's either has new tumours, Doctor Wilson has moved up the resection he was planning, or both." Diggle informs Oliver and Felicity, "Last week Doctor Wilson told Laurel that he suspects that Laurel's cancer was advancing faster than he thought it would, that she has less time left than we think, but he wanted to see this week's results to be sure." Diggle explains, "For him to schedule surgery for tomorrow then the results must have shown just that." Diggle explains, feeling that it might be best for Oliver and Felicity to know what is going on before they arrive at the hospital.
"Oh god." Felicity says, sounding horrified as she realises what that means, "We've got to go."
"Yeah, we do." Oliver says and the three of them leave the Arrow Cave.
By the time Lance has arrived at the hospital Laurel has already been admitted and is in her room.
"Laurel." Lance says, entering the room where he finds Laurel is lying on the bed while Thea and Sara are sitting on the end of the bed, as he hurries to his daughter's side.
"Daddy." Laurel says, giving her father a hug.
"Wait happened?" Lance asks, "Why are you having surgery tomorrow?"
"Tumours have grown in my lungs again. Doctor Wilson wants to remove them as soon as possible and he wants to resect the tumour in my nose." Laurel explains.
"What does that mean?" Lance asks his daughter, as unknown to him both Thea and Sara exchange looks, both of them wondering if Laurel will tell Lance the truth.
"It means that my cancer is progressing faster than first thought. I don't have eight months left." Laurel informs her father, needing to tell him the complete truth.
"How long?" Lance asks as he takes his daughter's hand.
"Six months at the most, but Doctor Wilson said that four or five months is more realistic." Laurel reveals.
"No, no." Lance says, hugging his daughter and crying which results in him basically lying on Laurel's chest.
As Lance cries on his daughter the door opens and Oliver, Felicity and Diggle walk in.
"What happened?" Felicity asks worried as even though they suspected that it's bad news walking in to see Lance crying on his daughter chest makes things seem that they are even worse.
Hearing the question Sara and Thea both get up, both of them feeling that talking to Oliver, Felicity and Diggle away from Laurel and Lance would be best.
"Outside." Sara says and the five of them head out into the hall, Oliver still holding Laurel's bag.
"What's going on?" Oliver asks as soon as he, Felicity, Diggle, Thea and Sara are out in the hall, and the door to Laurel's room is closed behind them.
"Laurel just told Dad that she has less time left than what she told him three days ago." Sara reveals, looking between Oliver, Felicity and Diggle.
"How long?" Diggle asks as Felicity and Oliver just get looks of pain on their faces.
"Realistically four or five months, maybe six." Thea answers, it clearly hurting her to admit that.
"Oh god." Felicity says horrified.
"What surgery is being done tomorrow?" Oliver asks.
"They found more tumours in Laurel's lungs they are going to remove them, and resect the ones in Laurel's nose and sinuses." Sara explains.
"Will that help? Can it help?" Felicity asks and both Sara and Thea shrug as that's the kind of question that they don't have the answer too.
"it will be okay, Daddy." Laurel tells her father after Sara and Thea have left the room with Oliver, Felicity and Diggle.
"No, it won't." Lance tells his daughter.
"Sara, Oliver and Thea are going to look into other ways. They'll find something." Laurel tells her Dad as even though she isn't completely sure that they will she needs her dad to believe that, "They will, Dad."
"I need you to be right." Lance tells his daughter as he sits up properly, "So, I don't know if this is going to make you feel better but, your Mom will be here on Wednesday." Lance informs his daughter.
"I'll likely still be in here then." Laurel realises.
"You need to tell your Mom; she deserves to know." Lance informs Laurel as he knows how much it hurt him to have Laurel keep that from him, and he thinks it would be better for Dinah to feel that now rather than later.
"And if they find a cure, how I am going to explain that to her?" Laurel asks her father.
"And if they don't? She deserves to know that you could die." Lance tells his daughter as even though he hates to say that he knows that Dinah deserves to know that their daughter is likely to be dead within six months.
"Okay, I'll tell her." Laurel says and she and Lance drift into silence.
About a minute after Laurel and Lance drift into silence the door opens and Thea hesitantly sticks her head in.
"You can all come back in, Thea." Laurel says and Thea, Sara, Oliver, Felicity and Diggle walk back in the room. Thea and Sara walk back over and sit on Laurel's bed while Oliver and Felicity walk over and sit on a two seater couch that is in the room while Diggle walks over and sits on one of the chairs while Lance sits on the other, Lance having pulled his chair over so that he right next to his daughter's bed.
"I got the bag Thea asked me to get." Oliver tells Laurel as he sits down.
"Thank you." Laurel says gratefully and they all drift into an awkward silence.
"You know you don't have to sit here with me." Laurel tells everyone after a few minutes of silence, "Just because I'm stuck in this room is no reason for you to be stuck too." Laurel explains to everyone, "Ollie, Felicity, Dad, you three should get back to work, and you three should get back to, whatever it is that you do when you're not dressed in leather kicking asses." Laurel says, looking between, Sara, Thea and Diggle, trying to make a joke.
"Spending time with you is what I do when I'm not dressed in leather kicking asses." Thea reminds Laurel, knowing how much it means to Laurel to be treated normally.
"Me too." Sara adds with a smile.
"And I'm not going anywhere." Diggle adds.
"None of us are." Lance tells his daughter and they once more drift into silence.
As they all sit in silence, Laurel looks around the room and she sees that everyone is trying not to show how worried they are, how afraid for her they are and she hates that, so she realises that she needs to change the subject.
"So, Dad, how long have you been dating Felicity's mom?" Laurel asks, thinking that it could be the very thing needed to release the tension in the room.
"You told her?" Lance asks, looking at Felicity.
"I thought Laurel could use to be disturbed by something else considering everything." Felicity explains, defending her actions.
"You're dating Felicity's Mom?" Sara asks, looking at her father in shock.
"We've only been on a couple of dates." Lance explains, feeling that he is being interrogated by Laurel, Sara and Felicity, especially considering the looks that the three of them have on their faces.
"Okay, wow." Sara says shocked.
"That's exactly how I felt." Laurel comments.
"Me too." Felicity adds.
"Let's change the subject again." Lance requests, but before anyone can say anything the door opens and Doctor Wilson walks in.
"Doctor Wilson." Laurel greats.
"Laurel. You're certainly popular today." Doctor Wilson says, being surprised by how many people are in Laurel's room.
"Doctor I would like you to meet, my father Quentin Lance, and friends Oliver and Felicity." Laurel introduces.
"I'm glad to finally meet you, Mr Lance." Doctor Wilson says, "And I meet Oliver and Felicity Thursday night." Doctor Wilson explains, "Now, Laurel there are a few tests I need to run and a few things that I need to discuss with you in private. So, I'm going to have to ask everyone to leave." He requests.
"For how long?" Lance asks.
"About an hour." Doctor Wilson answers.
"I'll be fine." Laurel assures everyone, knowing that it must be either something bad or really sensitive as Doctor Wilson knows that Laurel is pretty okay with her friends and family being present during tests and discussions.
"Okay, we'll be out in the waiting room." Lance says and he walks over to his daughter and places a kiss on her head, before leaving the others following behind.
After leaving Laurel's room Oliver, Sara, Lance, Thea, Diggle and Felicity all head to the waiting room.
"I'll be back soon." Sara says when they arrive at the waiting are, and while the others sit down Sara turns around.
"I'll go." Oliver says chasing after Sara, "What are you going to do?" Oliver asks, blocking Sara's path just before she leaves the waiting room, being worried about what she is going to do.
"Darkh and his ghosts are out there which means, even with what she can do, Laurel's going to be a sitting duck in her room, especially after her surgery. I'm getting her something to defend herself with." Sara explains.
"Laurel doesn't need to worry about that, one of us will be here at all times." Oliver explains, "Well keep her safe." He says as the only thing he wants Laurel to worry about is resting and getting better.
"There is six of us and dozens of ghost, we can't cover every way into this hospital every minute." Sara reminds Oliver, "Not to mention the fact that Darkh is smart, it won't be long before he realises that Laurel Lance is hospital at exactly the same time that The Black Canary, aka the person who just messed up his plans, is missing from the streets, and he'll realises what that means" Sara says lowering her voice, so that no one else can hear, "And as soon as he puts that together, which we both know won't be long, Laurel's going to have a huge target on her head. So, I'm not going to let her sit in this hospital without a way to defend herself." Sara tells Oliver.
"Make it a gun." Oliver tells Sara, "Considering everything it would be better than her normal weapons."
"That's exactly what I'm going to get." Sara says before stepping around Oliver and leaving. Once Sara leaves Oliver heads back over to the others and sits down between Felicity and Thea.
After Sara, Thea, Oliver, Felicity, Diggle and Lance leave Doctor Wilson pulls a chair over and sits next to Laurel's bed.
"So, you finally told all your closes friends and family." Doctor Wilson says to Laurel.
"Yeah, everyone except for my Mother. But she'll get here on Wednesday so I'll tell her then." Laurel explains.
"Good, that's good, Laurel. With your latest results you need the support." Doctor Wilson informs Laurel.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Laurel asks curious.
"Well, there are several things. First of which is that I need to talk to you about you wishes regards to how you would like our medical team to respond in situations. First, if it becomes necessary would you like us to take extraordinary measures to save you?" Doctor Wilson asks curious.
"Yes." Laurel answers as she knows that it will give Sara, Oliver and Thea more time to find a way to save her.
"Okay…" Doctor Wilson says and he starts to question Laurel about every way she wants them to respond, including her wishes in regards to narcotics considering her history, to which Laurel answers no narcotics no matter how much pain she is in. As, if she is going to die then she will do so clean and sober.
Ever since Sara left about fifteen minutes ago Oliver, Thea, Diggle, Felicity and Lance have been sitting together waiting to be allowed back into Laurel's room.
"How long was Laurel in hospital for after her last surgery?" Lance asks, looking at Diggle and Thea.
"Three days." Diggle answers.
"And she was back to our night activities within a week." Thea explains.
"Against our better judgement." Diggle add feeling the need to.
"If it's the same this time then Laurel's going to be in here Christmas." Felicity says sadly as she realises what that means.
"It could be her last Christmas." Lance says sadly, looking like he is going to cry.
"Which is why we'll make it great." Oliver says, having heard what Lance said, "Whether she is in here or home we'll make sure it's great." He promises.
"Yeah, we will." Lance says, agreeing with that, and Thea, Felicity and Diggle all nod in agreement and the group of five drift into silence, all thinking about what they are going to do to make sure that, what could very well be Laurel's last Christmas, great.