beautiful

chapter 11: diagnosis

beginning of Fabian's point of view

I felt a little bit useless at this point. I was an ocean away from Nina, who I could tell was truly scared. This is the same girl who isn't shaken by much, especially not a doctor's appointment. This troubled me greatly, and I couldn't even be there to comfort her.

I was trying to sleep, but these thoughts kept bouncing back and forth across my skull, keeping me wide awake. I turned to look at my bedside clock, and I found that it was 1:02 A.M. I sighed, turning back to stare at my ceiling. The sudden violent vibration of my cell phone jolted me out of my lethargic state. I knew the only person who could be calling me at this hour would be Nina, and I said a little prayer that everything was okay before I answered.

"Nina, how'd it go today?" I asked immediately, still extremely worried about her.

"Not good," she sobbed back, "Not good at all." Oh no, I thought to myself, and had to ask the question, "What's wrong?"

Her answer made me wish for a fleeting second that I hadn't picked up the phone in the first place.

"Leukemia," she said simply, and it seemed as though my whole world came crashing down. As soon as she said the word, she began sobbing wickedly, and I felt even more useless than before.

"Fabian George Rutter," I found my mum standing in my doorway, but tonight, I wasn't worried in the least as to what punishment I would get this time.

"How many times have I told you—" she continued, but I cut her off.

"Mum, Nina has cancer."

After getting the news, sleep was completely out of the question for me. I was still on the phone with Nina, and every time she sobbed, it killed me inside. I couldn't do anything except offer kind words, which probably weren't helping. I paced back and forth across my room, the phone glued to my ear. After I while, I heard the sobbing stop, and Amber's voice piped up on the other end.

"She's fallen asleep," Amber said in a hushed, but broken voice. She's been crying, too.

"You should get some rest, too, Fabian," she continued, "I'm right here with her, and I'll let you know if anything happens. I promise."

"Thanks, Amber," I sighed, ending the call. I tossed my cell phone onto my bed, and continued pacing. I pressed my hands to my eyes so hard that I was seeing spots.

"Fabian," my mum came back into my room, sitting on my bed, "Sit."

I sat next to her, sighing deeply.

"Fabian," she placed a hand on my shoulder, "There's nothing you can do right now."

"That's the problem," I replied with a firm voice, "I'm an ocean away; I feel useless."

"I'll get you over there as soon as possible," Mum said, and I blinked, not sure if I heard her correctly. We don't have much money in the first place, and the fact that she would just pack me up and send me off to America isn't exactly normal. However, nothing's been normal tonight.

"But for right now," Mum continued, "There's nothing you can do tonight. So just get some rest…we'll make arrangements in the morning."

I nodded in agreement, staring down at my hands. Mum patted my shoulder one more time, kissed the top of my head, and left.

I lay down, trying to absorb everything that had been happening, and eventually ended up falling asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I was able to enjoy the sunshine on my face for one fleeting second before remembering last night's events. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach, but I didn't know why. I just sighed before sitting up in my bed, and putting my head in my hands.

"Fabian?" I heard Mum call me, and I swung my legs over the side of the bed, stretching before getting up and walking down the hallway.

"Fabian, come here," she called again, and I found her at the kitchen table on her laptop. My little sister, Emma-Lee, was sitting on Mum's lap, holding her teddy bear.

"Hey, kid," I ruffled Emma-Lee's hair before sitting next to Mum.

"How soon do you want to go?" Mum asked me, scrolling through airline websites.

"As soon as possible," I replied solemnly. Emma-Lee piped up, asking me, "Why are you going to America?"

The look in her eyes was so innocent and curious; I almost didn't want to tell her the real reason.

"My girlfriend is sick," I told her, and she frowned.

"Will she get better?" she asked me, and for a second, I wasn't sure how to answer.

"I hope so," I smiled at Emma-Lee, and she smiled back.

"I hope so, too," she agreed, "Maybe if you kiss her, she'll get better. Mommy always kisses my boo-boos to make them better."

I lifted Emma-Lee from Mum's lap and hugged her tight.

"I'll miss you while I'm gone," I told her, and she hugged me back.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Fabey," she whispered, "But you need to go rescue the princess!" Emma-Lee clambered out of my lap and skipped off to her room, singing a nursery rhyme about a damsel in distress.

"I wish life was still that easy," I muttered, and Mum gave me a sympathetic look.

"Here's your ticket," she snatched a paper from the printer, "You're leaving tonight."

"Thank you so much," I hugged Mum tight, and a tear threatened to fall.

"Well, go on!" she encouraged after wiping a few of her own tears away, "Get packing! Let everyone know you're on your way!"

"Oh, right," I ran off to my room.

A/N: Wow. I checked the stats for this story, and I got around 1400 hits for this story IN THE U.S. ALONE! Thank you so much! Anyway, I love Fabian's sister. I already love her to death and all I've given her character is a name and some words of wisdom. I'm thinking she's around 4-6 years old, and obviously loves her big brother :'). Anyway, like I've said before, this chapter was the beginning of Fabian's point of view, and the remaining nine chapters will be in his point of view as well. Some of you reviewers are really super smart, so you've already guessed what's wrong with Nina (even if you predicted in your review like I told you not to). I hope you enjoyed this chapter...I don't own House of Anubis. kthxbai.