Disclaimer: I do not own degrassi or My Sisters Keeper.
]Maya's POV (Next morning)
"Come on guys! It's time for school!" I tell the still very drowsy children. This morning I have to not only take Lexi to preschool, but also drive Nate to kindergarten and Kenzie to daycare. It is a lot of work taking them on a weekday, but I don't mind too much because I have nothing better to do anyway.
It doesn't take long to get them all dressed and packed up for the day, and I drive them to their rightful places before driving myself to the grocery store.
I pick up the essentials that we need along with various things I plan on making throughout the week, and as I am choosing between different cuts of meat, I run into someone unexpected.
"Maya Matlin!" I hear a familiar voice call from down the aisle.
"Maya Saunders now!" I squeal giddily holding up my hand, and showing my wedding band before running over to Tori who I hadn't seen since she moved away after freshman year.
"What are you doing here?" I question with a grin.
"I just moved back here actually, and I read about that. Sorry, I had a bit of a brain fart." She mentions hitting herself in the forehead.
"So, what have you been up to, Tori?" I inquire happily.
"Well, I'm engaged! I was doing some modeling in L.A, but he got a job in Toronto, and I got pregnant!" she says enthusiastically turning sideways to reveal a baby bump.
"Oh my god how exciting, how far along are you?" I ask her surprised.
"Just under five months!" she adds grinning and rubbing her stomach.
"You do not look it. I'm jealous! When I was pregnant I looked like I swallowed a giant watermelon." I comment looking at her barely bump.
"Hold on a minute! I didn't read about that! You have a kid?" she asks me in shock.
"Yeah, we have a daughter. Her name is Lexi." I say getting out my phone, and showing Tori my lock screen which is a picture of Cam and Lexi.
"Awe! She's adorable, and so very lucky to have your eyebrows! How old is she?" Tori asks looking at the photo with a laugh.
"She's four and a half." I say wondering where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday she was just a little baby, and now she is going to be 5 in five months.
"So Maya, what have you been up to? Still playing cello, little miss music prodigy?" she questions playfully.
I take a deep breath… "Not so much anymore. There's always just too much going on to think about it." I add frowning.
"Oh, well I'm sure that comes with being a mom." She says being able to detect my disappointment.
"Do you have anything to do today? I am getting a bite to eat with Tristan in a couple of hours. You should totally come!" she says with a hopeful face.
I think for a moment, and realize that the only thing that I have to do today is pick up Lexi from preschool at 2:30, and nod with excitement at the offer. I haven't seen Tristan in years either. I lost touch with all of my friends from high school except for Cam, and it is definitely exciting to get to see them.
"Great! We're going to Martini's at noon. Ever been?" she asks quizzically.
"No, but I think I know what you're talking about. Is it that place on Queen Street next to the little boutique with the bird?"
"Yep! I have to get going, but I'll see you in a while." She says pointing behind her excitedly.
"Okay. See you soon!" I smile back at her as she walks away with the shopping cart.
I finish my shopping, go home, put the groceries away, and by the time I look at the clock it is already 10:30. We live about fifteen minutes from Queen Street, so if I want to show up on time I need to start getting ready now. I pick out a nice top and some skinny jeans knowing that this place isn't too snazzy, and quickly brush through my previously ponytailed hair.
It's still a bit wet from my shower this morning so I blow dry it before putting on a little bit of makeup, and making my way out the door.
Cam is at hockey practice and most likely won't be home until around 5 P.M, so I figure I will tell him about my day later on.
I drive to the restaurant, and arrive just as Tristan and Tori are getting there. "Maya!" Tristan rushes to me giving me a hug. I hug him back, and grin as we pull away. "When tori told me you were coming, I just about died. It's been way too long!" Tristan says happily.
"I know. Why didn't we keep in touch better after high school?" I ask him curiously.
"Well with me in Chicago and you here, it was kind of hard." He says frowning sadly as we walk into the restaurant.
We are seated at a table near the front, and start talking about everything that has happened in our lives.
It turns out Tristan is chief of marketing at Holloway's, a huge chain of high end clothing stores. Tori is also doing quite well for herself. She is getting married in a month, and her fiancé is a dentist who has recently started practicing with Pearly Smiles Dentistry.
After we order drinks my cell phone starts ringing, and I see that it's Lexi's school calling.
"I have to take this. It's my daughters pre-school." I tell the two people sitting across from me at the table before I answer the phone.
"Hello" I greet nicely before hearing a woman on the other side. "Hello Mrs. Saunders. I am the school nurse. Lexi seems to have a severe nose bleed, and we advise you to come get her and take her to ER immediately. We have been trying to stop it, but she tells me this happened a few weeks ago, and we think that you should get it checked out."
My face falls from a smile to a quivering mess, and I feel the color drain from my cheeks. "Okay. I'll be there in ten minutes." I say as I get up from my chair.
I hang up the phone, and quickly speak. "I have to go. Umm… the nurse says that Lexi should go to the Emergency room. I'll call you later. I'm sorry."
"No big deal Hun. Go! "Tristan responds concerned.
I nod, and start toward my car quickly. As soon as I am in I drive speedily to the school a few blocks away.
I rush in the door to the office where Lexi is, and see that the nose bleed is worse than last time. As soon as I see her I feel tears coming from my eyes.
"Since we called it has gotten worse. We have called an ambulance, and they should be here momentarily." A woman says behind a desk coldly.
I nod. "Okay" I muster out before rushing to Lexi's side. She is sitting there crying sacredly, and I rush to hold her hand. Another woman is there with a towel thing under her nose that is stained red.
When the ambulance gets there, I carry her carefully there, and the first thing they do is try to stop the bleeding. Their efforts at trying to make her nose clot fail, and when we get to the hospital they continue to try to stop he bleeding while I am instructed to fill out some paper work.
My hands are shaking and my hand writing is barely legible, but they tell me that it's fine. I don't even think about calling Cam until after they get her nose to stop bleeding. It felt like it took hours when in reality it took them about twenty minutes.
"Cam, I'm at the hospital with Lexi. Her nose was bleeding really badly, and her school called an ambulance, and you need to get down here!" I say on the phone to Cam.
"What hospital?" he asks worriedly.
"St. Joseph's" I respond quickly. "I'll be there as soon as possible." He says before I hang up.
"We have gotten her nose to stop bleeding, but she has lost a lot of blood. Also, a nose bleeding that profusely, normally signals that something else is wrong. We are going to run some tests to see if we can't figure out what's wrong with her." A doctor in his mid-forties says nicely with a smile.
I nod nervously. "Thank you!" I say as I stand next to the table where Lexi is laying. She looks like she is fighting to stay awake, and I grab her hand.
"Someone will be in shortly to run the tests." He says smiling. "Don't be too nervous. Expect the best until you can't anymore." The man mentions before walking out of the room.
Cam arrives after a few minutes, and as soon as he is escorted into the room he rushes to Lexi's side. "Is she okay?" he asks me concerned. "I don't know." I respond sadly.
The next twelve hours consist of us sitting with Lexi and the doctors running tests. They finally have some results, and the doctor who spoke to me earlier pull us off to the side.
"Mr. and Mrs. Saunders, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but from the tests we have taken we are worried that Alexis might have Leukemia. Her blood counts are way off of what they are supposed to be, and a lot of her symptoms align. We are going to do a bone marrow aspiration to see what we're dealing with.
"Wait… did you just say Leukemia?" Cam asks holding onto my hand.
"Yes. We have some suspicions." The doctor replies sympathetically.
"But you don't know for sure yet?" I ask nervously.
"We are nearly positive it's Leukemia. We did a CBC and took a look at some blood cells under a microscope, and the abnormalities are all very common in childhood Leukemia. We are going to admit her, and have our hematologist take a better look at some things before we do a bone marrow aspiration."
"IWhen will we know?" he inquires obviously scared.
"Soon… Give it another day or two." He says before walking out of the room.
Cam collapses onto a chair putting his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees, and I feel my hands trembling. I am having trouble wrapping my head around the news, and what it means for our family. I am in total and complete shock.
My stomach starts to turn at the thought of Lexi dying. I don't know all of the statistics, but I saw "My Sisters Keeper", and I know that cancer kills.
I walk over to Lexi who is sleeping on the hospital cot, and just stare at her sleeping.
"This can't be happening to us." I mention not taking my eyes from my sleeping baby.
I hear sobbing behind me, and turn to see Cam with his face still lowered in his hands. It still hasn't sunken in completely for me, but I can see that it has for Cam. I make my way over to him, and rub his back trying to comfort him.
He looks up at me with tears stained cheeks and red eyes before going back to crying. I stare into space thinking about everything, and Cam just keeps crying.
As thoughts race through my head I feel my knees turn to jello, and something building inside of me. I can't distinguish whether I am feeling grief, pity, anger, or a mixture of the three, but all of the thoughts are making my head want to explode.
I slide down the wall that I was leaned up against, and sit on the floor of the hospital room my lip quivering as I watch Lexi sleep.
Are we really sitting in a hospital hoping that Lexi doesn't have cancer? She was just fine yesterday. She was just fine this morning. This isn't happening. This has to just be a bad dream I think as I look back up at Cam who is still crying.
We hear a knock on the door, and Cam wipes his eyes quickly before saying "Come in" in a shaky voice.
A woman in purple scrubs walks into the room. "Mr. and Mrs. Saunders are you ready to fill out a bit of paperwork so we can admit her. I just need one of you for a few minutes." The brown haired twenty something says with a smile.
Cam sniffles and goes to get up, but I stop him by laying a hand on his shoulder when pulling myself up. "I'll go." I say trying to be the brave one for once.
The woman leads me to a desk, and hands me a clip board. I fill out the questions, and it must be obvious that I'm uneasy because the woman gives me a sympathetic look as I hand the clipboard back to her. "Don't be too worried." She says kindly walking me back to the room where my husband and daughter are.
"Are you ready to move out of the emergency room wing?" she asks once we enter the room.
Cam and I nod, and she walks out for a quick minute bringing a wheelchair back in with her when she returns.
"Okay. It's hospital policy that she has o ride in a wheel chair. Would you mind waking her, and getting her situated?" the woman asks.
I walk over to the cot, and tap Lexi's shoulder "Hey Lexi. You have to wake up baby." I say as she groggily opens her eyes.
"We have to stay in the hospital tonight, okay baby. Look though, you get to ride up in a wheel chair." I say pointing to it, and trying to hold in my worry as not to scare her.
She looks at me with a pouty face. "Mommy, I wanna go home." She says sadly.
"I know baby, but you have to stay here." I say as my heart breaks a little for her.
"Come on Munch. Let's get you in the chair." Cam says lifting her carefully from the cot, and placing her on the chair.
We ride on an elevator with the woman to the third floor of the hospital.
Once we are situated in the room she is assigned to for the night, I turn the TV on for her. I change it to a cartoon station, and I sit on the bed next her watching.
We try our best to act normally because we really don't want to scare her, but every once and awhile Cam leaves the room, and comes back a few minutes later with a tear stained face.
Lexi falls back asleep at midnight, and Cam sits in the chair in the corner while I try to get off of the hospital bed without waking Lexi.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I see that it is a text from Tristan. "You didn't call. Is she okay?"
I go to reply, but when trying to type "Sorry. I forgot to call, and no. She's not okay at all." The tears start flowing. I drop my phone on to the hospital floor, and the screen shatters.
Cam looks up, and rushes over to me seeing that I have finally broken. He wraps his strong arms around me, and I cry into his shoulder.
"It'll be okay, Maya." He says shakily hugging me tightly. "No it won't." I say into his shoulder. It comes out muffled, and I am not sure if he heard me. "Shhh" he rubs my back comfortingly, and I keep crying.
Once I am all cried out I pull away, and see that Cam was crying as well. "What are we going to do?" I ask sadly.
"We'll have to take this day by day. Maybe it's not Leukemia. We don't know for sure yet." He says optimistically.
"This isn't fair!" I comment bringing my hand to my mouth, and holding in sobs.
"Well I guess life's not fair." He responds sitting back down on the chair, and rubbing his head with a frown on his face.
A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews. I love hearing what you guys think. Tell me what you think of this chapter. Love you all!