Fix Me

Wade's P.O.V.

"I'm fine Wade, see? I just want to go home." Zoe was stubborn as always, but this was her safety that I was worried about. I ran after her and pulled out my phone, ready to call Lavon.

"Zoe, just stop. Let me get someone to pick us up!" I yelled as I dialed his number. I quickened my pace to catch up with her, which wasn't hard because she wasn't moving very fast. She finally slowed down, but I could tell it wasn't for my benefit. She started stumbling and my brain stopped. I didn't know what else to do except catch her. I slid under her right in time and her head landed in my lap.

"Zoe!" I was yelling, shaking her gently. I frantically pulled my phone out and dialed Brick. When he didn't answer, I went through pretty much everyone's phone number I had in town, but they were all in church. I couldn't leave Zoe, I just had to hope that someone would come out. We hadn't made it too far from the Rammer Jammer, but I knew Wanda had stayed behind from church just incase anyone did stop by. I called the office phone and she answered right away.

"Hello?"

"Wanda, thank God, you've got to help me. You have to find Brick, please, and hurry. I'm near the practice!" She hurried off the phone to go retrieve Brick from church. All I could do is hold Zoe. I felt so helpless. About three minutes later, Brick arrived with Wanda in toe. I could only imagine that the rest of Bluebell was hiding around the corner.

"What happened?" He asked as he rushed down to see Zoe.

"I don't know! We were just going for a walk! And she got all sweaty and feverish and she looked awful. I said I was going to call someone to come pick us up and she said no, she wanted to walk and then she just fell to the ground." Brick nodded as he started to check her over.

"Brick, do you know yet? About her?" I asked hesitantly. This was her news to share, and I didn't want her to feel like I was betraying her, but he had to know.

"Know what son?" He asked as he took her vitals.

"She's got cancer Brick; Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Is she going to be okay?" He wasn't saying much, which only worried me more.

"Did you see her take any medicine today?"

"She took her pills this morning, but I mean that's all I've seen. She just got in last night, I don't know how she normally is, I don't know if she was more tired than normal or anything." I wracked my brain trying to think if there were any signs she was acting funny.

"Wade, call an ambulance, just in case. She should be fine, but I'm not an oncology specialist, so it's probably best that she gets checked out," he said, standing up, "Let's get her into the practice." I obliged and carried her to the nearby practice. The ambulance was on it's way and all I could do was wait.

"When did she find out about this?" Brick was still shocked about the revelation.

"About 3 and a half months ago. That's why she didn't come home. I don't know what to do, Brick. I feel like she's the one who's keeping me from falling apart over this, when it should be me protecting her and assuring her that everything's going to be okay. But I don't know if that's true. I spent most of the morning on the computer reading everything there is on this disease and I just don't understand. Why her?" I finally said how I was really feeling about the situation, to Brick, oddly. I felt some tears prick my eyes.

"Wade, there really is no explanation for why the people who get ALL do, but there isn't anything she could have done to prevent it. It's a pretty aggressive cancer, to be honest. But if what she said was true, then they caught it early. Lord knows that girl is headstrong and always gets her way. There's no denying that." He gave me a reassuring half smile.

"Do you know anything else about her prognosis?"

"She said that they did a bone marrow transplant after they found out, but that wasn't as effective as they had hoped. So now she's on these pills, but she thinks she's going to have to do some rounds of chemo because she didn't feel like they were working. I hoped she wasn't, but I guess she was right about that." Brick nodded and took all the information in.

"Look, I know it's a lot to hear, I just found out last night, but she was going to tell you. There should be a Zoe exclusive going up soon on Dash's blog after he harassed her for information at breakfast this morning. She told him everything, and he's posting it." I tried to make Brick feel a bit better, but it didn't seem to help. The paramedics arrived soon and asked the same questions Brick did. They strapped her down to a stretcher and wheeled her outside. I walked along side it, holding her hand. Unfortunately, most of Bluebell came over to see what all of the commotion was that dragged Brick out of church. I hopped in the back of the ambulance with Brick as Brick filled them in on Zoe's situation. We arrived about 20 minutes later to the Mobile Hospital. They wheeled her off to a room and told me to wait in the waiting room. I sat down next to Brick and remembered I should call Lavon. He answered after a few rings.

"Wade, how is she?" To my surprise, he already knew and was on his way.

"I haven't heard anything yet, but Brick says she'll be okay he thinks."

"Good, well we'll be there in about 20 minutes!" I hung up the phone and took a deep breath in. This really wasn't how I was expecting my reunion with Zoe was going to go, a cancer revelation and a hospital visit.

"Wade?" A nurse approached the two of us and we stood up.

"Yes, this is Brick Breeland, her GP, he came in with us."

"Nice to meet you sir. Well Zoe is awake, and she's attentive and she was able to help us figure out what happened today. She forgot to take her medicine last night and so when she woke up this morning, she took last night's and this morning's dosages. That just put her system into overdrive and this was just her body telling her to slow down. I've heard that it's been an eventful few days for her, with moving back to Alabama and all, so that has definitely been some added activity. Since she was supposed to come back in a few days anyway, we had the oncologist look at her, we took some blood, and he decided that we should forge ahead with the chemotherapy now." We both nodded our heads, knowing that was probably what was best.

"Brick, I'm sure you know the chemotherapy cycle, but I'll go over it for you too, as we've already talked to Zoe. We're going to start off with the induction step. This is going to be the most physically draining for her. Lots of rest is the key to getting through this next month. She'll have an injection done today, a mixture of Vincristine and Dexamethasone, which will be in her system for about a week, then she'll have a week to recuperate. She'll have to come back after that first week just to see how she's doing with the treatment. Then, she will come back for another round in two weeks. Again, she'll have it in her system for about a week, and then a week of rest. When she got here, we gave her a local anesthetic and did a spinal tap to test her cerebrospinal fluid for the leukemia cells. Luckily, none were found, so regular chemotherapy will be sufficient. After those two rounds of chemo, she will hopefully be in what we call remission, and that means that there are no more leukemia cells showing up in our tests, but some may still be hiding out. That's when we go into the consolidation stage."

"The consolidation stage is basically a few more rounds of chemotherapy for the next few months with a higher dosage of the drugs so that we can ensure the diseased cells are being killed. During that stage we will assess if she needs to go through with the allogeneic stem cell transplant, which would reduce the change of relapse. After those few months, we will be in the maintenance stage. We will change her drugs to Methotrexate and 6-mercaptopurine. We will continue maintenance for about 2 years after that, but the maintenance stage is much easier, it can be given in pills, or an at-home treatment so she doesn't need to come here as often." She gave us a mouthful and my mind was trying to retain all of the information.

"Can we see her?" Was the only question on my mind at the moment, which made the nurse smile.

"Yes, but since chemotherapy increases the risk of infection, I do ask that you wash your hands. After we get the chemo in her, she will be free to go. But I did want to give you this list, it just has all of the side effects of the chemo, and what to expect within the next few days." She handed me the sheet and I glanced over it. There was a long list of side effects on there, hair loss, mouth sores, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, increased risk of infection, easy bruising and bleeding, fatigue, numbness in extremities. My mind wandered to how she was going to go through all of this and live on her own. I was only next door, but even that felt too far away.

We walked to her room and the nurse handed us surgical masks to wear over our faces after we washed our hands. I cracked my head in the door before entering, seeing as she was still awake.

"Hi." I heard her voice, but all I could see was the tubes in her nose, the IV in her arm, and how small she looked in the hospital bed.

"Doc…" A swallowed the lump in my throat, knowing that I had to be strong for her because if I broke down, I knew she would too.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that. I should really learn to listen to my body more, huh?" She half smiled, making light of the situation.

"That's a must from now on." I pulled one of the chairs close to her bed and sat down. Brick came in through the door and Zoe was surprised.

"Brick! You didn't have to come, now I'm really embarrassed, I scared you both and you both look ridiculous in those masks." She blushed.

"Are you kidding me Zoe? Of course I'm here! When you're called to come attend to your former coworker who's become like a daughter to me because she's unconscious and not waking up, it's a big deal. You scared the hell out of me, I didn't even know." He said in a loving tone, which surprised me. I always knew Brick had a soft side for Zoe, but I never thought I'd see him admit it.

"I know, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was going to soon, tomorrow actually when I went to see if I could have my job back maybe?"

"Zoe, you can't be working like this! You nee your rest, but you know that once you get better, there's an office waiting for ya." He patted her hand.

"I know, I just don't know what I'm going to do with myself, I'm going to have so much free time."

"Well I'm sure Lavon can keep you company at the house when I have to work, and if not, there's only about two hundred people in Bluebell who have nothing to do with their days anyway." I spoke up, trying to make her feel better.

"I don't know if Lavon wants to see me right now." She sighed, I knew she was hurt by his actions last night, but I also knew that he needed time to digest the information.

"Oh, Lavon Hayes wants to see you alright." I heard my best friend's booming voice behind me. I turned around and saw him standing there with Annabeth, both with masks on. I looked to Zoe and saw a smile plastered on her face.

"Do you guys mind if I talk to Zoe alone for a second?" He asked and we obliged. I said something about going to get coffee and Brick and AB joined me.

Zoe's P.O.V.

Lavon sat at the bottom of my bed when everyone else had left. He looked at me for a few seconds before saying anything.

"Big Z, I'll start by saying I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way I acted last night, and I'm sorry for making you feel like you couldn't tell me what was going on with you. I'm just scared, that's all. I hate seeing you like this, it kills me. You're my best friend, and I don't want to go have to find a new best friend." He paused and I smiled.

"You won't have to Lavon, I promise, I'll be okay," I reassured him, and he grabbed my hand.

"That's why I wanted to ask you if you would move into the main house. I've got plenty of space, and AB and I talked it over in the car, and neither of us are really comfortable with you living by yourself out there. And the fact that Wade will never want to leave your side was also brought to our attention, so we're going to ask him, as well. We have more than enough room for the four of us, and since I moved upstairs, there is that bedroom that is on the first floor. We'd like you and Wade to take it, until you're feeling better, of course, however long that might be."

"Wow, Lavon, I don't know what to say. I mean I wouldn't want to impose at all, you and AB are still in your honeymoon phase, and-"

"And you think you and Wade aren't? Listen, Zoe, we talked it over, and we think that's what's best for you right now."

"Well I guess I can't really say no, can I? You know how I feel about that mattress in there." I joked, hoping to relieve some of the stress he was feeling.

"Good, then it's settled. I still have to talk to Wade of course, but I'm sure he'll follow you wherever." I stifled a laugh which caused pain in my lower back and I grimaced.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, they just gave me a spinal tape earlier and the anesthetic is wearing off. I'll be fine though. Lavon, you know what this means right?"

"What?"

"Every night is going to be like a big slumber party!" Lavon rolled his eyes, which signified that he was returning to his old self.

"Lord help me if that's true." He laughed.

"So does everyone in Bluebell know?"

"Yeah, they all know now, I mean the Dash blast wasn't too subtle, but you had to go and have an ambulance called just so everyone knew? This is drawing all the crazies in." Lavon couldn't help but laugh at the citizens of his town, who were knowingly crazy at times.

"Oh god, I really don't want their pity, or whatever it is they have. I just want things to be normal again."

"Oh don't worry, we already had that conversation. After word got out, we had a little town meeting after church. They were all instructed to treat you normally and not be bothersome, but you know Bluebell, that's wishful thinking.

"Thank you Lavon for doing that. I appreciate it."

Sometime later, Wade, Annabeth and Brick joined us. The three of them left when my chemotherapy treatment was ready. Wade sat next to me and held my hand through the entire procedure, which took about an hour. Lavon and Annabeth had driven separately, so Lavon left his car for us to drive back. I was felling pretty drowsy on the way home, but I was fighting sleep.

"So, did Lavon tell you about moving into the main house?"

"He did, and I think he's right. That way there's three of us there if you need anything. Plus that mattress is about 12 times comfier than mine, so I ain't complainin."

We arrived back at the house and I took my handful of papers I had received and went straight to bed. It was around 4 when we got home, and Wade woke me around 7.

"Sorry to wake you, but we're putting away dinner, and I didn't know if you wanted anything?" He crouched down next to the bed so we were on the same level.

"No, I don't want what you guys had, but I'll make myself some toast," I said sitting up in bed.

"Don't you dare move a muscle Doc, I got it." He stood up and started to leave the room.

"With some sugar on it!"

"Sugar on it, I know you Zoe Hart, of course there's going to be sugar on it." Wade finished my sentence for me, knowing what I was going to say.

He came back a few minutes later with two pieces of toast and a glass of water. I really wasn't hungry, but I knew I had to eat, otherwise, we might have another situation like earlier. I could only take my nausea medicine with food, so I thought toast was better than nothing. Wade handed me the bottle of pills and I cracked it open. I took one and chased it down with water. I could only eat one piece of the toast he made me, but he happily accepted my second piece.

We laid in bed watching TV for about an hour before I started to feel worse. I could feel the toast rising in my throat and I quickly sat up in bed. Wade must have been reading my mind because he jumped up and grabbed the bucket that they put in my room.

Wade held the bucket with one hand and my hair with the other. After two minutes of solid puking, I was finally finished and slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, you really shouldn't have to see that." I wiped my mouth as he set the bowl down on the dresser.

"Baby, it's fine, but let's get you cleaned up." I went to the connecting bathroom to brush my teeth while he rinsed out the bucket of throw up. I went and sat on the bed, waiting for him to return. Meanwhile I looked around and noticed that most of my necessities had been brought over from the carriage house. Wade really was trying hard, but I didn't know why. He certainly already had a spot in my heart.

"What about a bath babe? That might make you feel better, and I found all of your little pamperin' supplies under the sink in your bathroom and brought 'em over, figured you'd like 'em." I smiled because he knew me so well.

"Only if you're in there with me."

"Well Doc, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're tryin' to seduce me." He grinned again, which only made the prospects of our bath even better.

"You know me so well." I winked at him and he followed me into the bathroom. That's what I loved about Lavon's, he had bathtubs. Wade didn't have a bathtub, and mine was old and gross. I started the water and put it at a pretty hot temperature and poured in the bubble bath.

"That smells real good Doc." Wade sniffed the air while putting his toothbrush and his other toiletries in the bathroom.

"You better not go using all this Kinsella! I'm gonna have to start marking how much I use every time." I reminded him of the time he used my shampoo for laundry detergent.

I stripped down and got in the tub and let the hot water surround me. The lights dimmed, which I could only assume was Wade's doing. A few seconds later, Wade was in behind me, his wet chest pressed against my back. He leaned back and pulled me back with him. We sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the relaxing atmosphere.

"Thank you." I mumbled with my eyes closed.

"For what? He kissed the side of my head.

"For being you, for taking care of me today."

"I will take care of you everyday until the end of time Doc." He whispered in my ear, which was the most exciting, but also relaxing feeling.

"I love you Wade."

"I love you too Hart."