Aloooha, I'm back with another chapter! Thanks for the reviews for the last one – especially to Luc– welcome aboard my dear :) – and to hersheykiss– welcome back! I'm really glad you gave this story another chance. I know it's not like other cancer stories in the HSM section that's partly why I wrote it. So many other stories have the facts completely wrong and being able to write from personal experience combined with research, I knew I could portray it a little more realistically and hopefully put a little cancer awareness out there along the way!

Ok, enough chatter from me – onto the chapter!

Charli xox


Chapter 26

"Thanks Kirsten," Maria smiled at the nurse as she handed back the discharge papers before turning back to her pale, nauseas daughter who was slumped in the wheelchair, clutching a basin. "Are you ok, honey?"

"Mmm I just wanna get home and back into bed," she replied, closing her eyes and leaning a little closer to the basin. Her stomach was still unsettled from the chemo she had received a week ago. Today, whilst her friends were going back to school for the first day after winter vacation, Gabriella was being discharged from hospital. She felt like crap and she wished that she could curl up in a ball, fall asleep and not wake up until all her treatments were over.

"I know baby," Maria soothed, rubbing her pyjama-clad back. As a testament to just how ill she felt, Gabriella had refused to get dressed that morning and was therefore leaving the hospital still clothed in her pyjamas, slippers and bathrobe. "We'll be home soon and then you can sleep."

"Knock knock," Dr Zamitt said gently. "I just need to check you over quickly, Gabi, and have a quick word with your mom, then you can go home," the doctor explained. "How's your tummy feeling?"

"A little queasy still," Gabriella replied.

"Any aches and pains or just the sick feeling?"

"Just the sick feeling in my stomach. My legs have been a little achy, but not too bad."

Dr Zamitt scribbled down some notes before listening to her chest with his stethoscope. "Ok, open up wide for me," he depressed her tongue and shone his light into her throat. "Looking good in there, no mouth sores yet this time. Any headaches or other symptoms I should know about?"

"No, that's all" Gabriella replied.

"Ok Gabi, well Amanda and Kiandra will see you in clinic next week for counts and a central line flush, and I will see you in a few weeks unless you need to come in sooner, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't! As always, if your temperature hits 100 come straight in. If you have any unusual bruising or bleeding, come straight in. Now Maria, I just wanted to have a quick word with you about Gabi's weight – most kids on treatment as aggressive as Gabi's experience weight loss as a result of appetite loss or vomiting and diarrhoea, and it is not unusual for us to have to step in and supplement the food they can't handle in order to get their weight back up to a satisfactory level. I understand Gabi has been having trouble eating lately?"

"Yes," Maria nodded. "She hasn't had much of an appetite since she started treatment, but the past couple of weeks she's barely eaten a thing. She has pretty much only been able to stomach tiny sips of Gatorade. She managed to keep down half a jelly cup yesterday."

Dr Zamitt nodded sympathetically. "Well I will keep an eye on her weight when it is recorded in clinic each week, but if it continues to drop, we may have to look into either a nasal-gastric tube or a feeding pump to supplement her nutrition. Now," he turned to Gabriella. "This may be one of the only times you hear a doctor say this to you, but I want you to concentrate on eating the most calorie-packed foods you can think of, ok? I know it's hard to eat right now, but even if you can manage small mouthfuls of things, try and make them small mouthfuls of things like full fat yoghurt, cookies, full fat chocolate milk, buttered popcorn, cheese or full fat ice cream. I'm also going to give your mom the name of a calorie supplement she can add to milk or smoothies to help you gain back those pounds, alright? Will you try your hardest to eat a little bit for me?"

The mere thought of food right now made Gabriella's stomach turn, but she flashed her doctor a brave smile. "I'll try."

"Good girl," Dr Zamitt grinned, patting her back. "I'll see you later, huh?"

"Bye," Gabriella replied softly, leaning back over her basin, all the talk of food making her feel like she could throw up again.

"Alright Gabi, let's get you home," Maria said. "Do you want to say goodbye to Mackenzie on the way out?"

"No," Gabriella grimaced, clutching the basin tightly. "I'll call her in a couple days I just want to get home before I throw up again."

"Ok honey, let's go then."

Little did Gabriella know, this was one decision she would live to regret...

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"Dr Zamitt says everything is going well apart from the fact that she really needs to eat more," Maria told Troy later that afternoon. "At the moment I can't get her to even attempt to eat – she hasn't been able to keep anything down yet and she's scared to try now. She balks at the mere mention of food, and they don't want her weight to drop any further."

"What happens if she does lose more weight?" Troy asked, frowning with concern.

"Then she will have to start liquid feeds through a nasal-gastric tube or a feeding pump," Maria replied. "A lot of kids like Gabriella end up needing the extra nutrition, but we would like to be able to avoid it if we can – it's one more complication we could do without."

Troy nodded his agreement. "She's been through enough. Is it ok if I go upstairs and say hi?"

"Oh yeah yeah, sure – sorry, I was chewing your ear off again," Maria apologised.

Troy shook his head and laughed. "No you weren't. I take it as a compliment that you talk to me about this stuff."

Maria just smiled. "You're a good boy, Troy. Thank you."

Troy just looked at his feet with a small smile before climbing the stairs two at a time. He opened the door to Gabriella's bedroom to find her curled up in bed watching Music & Lyrics on DVD. She looked a little drowsy, like she was teetering on the brink of sleep.

"Hugh Grant, huh?" Troy teased from the doorway. "Maybe I should just leave now..."

Gabriella gave him a tired smile. "Come in, Wildcat. You know you're the only guy for me. Unless Orlando turns up on my doorstep tomorrow, in which case the status of our relationship may be questionable."

Troy laughed as he curled up beside her and kissed her forehead. "Still feel like shit?" he asked.

"To put it bluntly," she replied, nodding.

Troy wrapped an arm around her, his hand resting on her stomach. "Your mom was telling me what Dr Zamitt said about getting you to eat."

"I'm so scared as soon as I swallow something, it's going to come right back up. I hate vomiting."

"I know, Brie," Troy soothed.

"But...but I could maybe try some ice-cream and see how it goes. It's the only thing I really feel like eating."

"Really? You'll eat some?"

"I am a little hungry...but all I feel like is ice cream," Gabriella shrugged.

Troy leaned down and kissed her forehead before climbing off Gabriella's bed. "You stay right where you are," he instructed. "I'll be back soon."

And with that he sprinted down the stairs, out the front door, and 5 blocks over to the nearest Baskin-Robbins.

Half an hour later, Maria Montez raised a questioning eyebrow as a panting Troy Bolton dropped 17 snack-sized tubs of ice-cream onto her kitchen bench. He looked up and shrugged sheepishly.

"Gabi felt like ice-cream...I left in such a rush to get her something she wanted to eat, I never asked her what flavour..."

"So...you bought back a tub of every single one of her favourites?"

"Well...yeah..." he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

Maria smiled as she began stacking the tubs in the freezer. "You really are one in a million, Troy."

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Later that night – after successfully eating and keeping down almost half a bowl of ice cream and a dry wafer - Gabriella lay in Troy's arms as they watched Dancing with the Stars. The show was a guilty pleasure of Gabriella's and Troy would quite often watch it with her, on the condition their little secret did not slip to any of his friends.

A commercial break came on and Gabriella yawned and stretched, Troy's grip on her loosening. When she settled back down, he tightened his arms around her once more, kissing her on the back of the head.

"You know, I don't think I want your hair to grow back," Troy commented. Gabriella looked up at him questioningly. "I loved your curls, but I love kissing that smooth head of yours," he demonstrated his point with another kiss.

They were vaguely aware of the phone ringing in the background as Gabriella laughed. "You sound like Mom. She's always touching my head. She says it reminds her of when I was a baby..." she trailed off as a commercial on the television caught her eye. It was an advertisement for the end-of-snow-season sales at the local Big-5 Sporting Goods store. The short clip featured a group of youngsters performing a bunch of energetic slides and turns on snowboards, looking like they were having the time of their lives. "I've always wanted to try that," she commented distantly.

Troy followed her line of sight to see what she was referring to and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? You never struck me as the...extreme sports type."

Gabriella shrugged. "Snowboarding...it's just one of those things I always thought would be fun but I was too scared to actually try it. My Dad was an awesome snowboarder but...I don't know...I could never work up the nerve. He used to say it was his mission in life to teach me how but...well, you know. But yeah...I never learned."

"So...what exactly did you do for two weeks at a Ski Lodge last New Year's?" Troy teased.

Gabriella blushed. "I skied a little...but mostly I just read. It was so cozy in front of those log fires."

"That's my bookworm," Troy joked, pulling her close and kissing her cheek.

Gabriella's eyes glazed over as she continued to mull things over in her head. "Seems kinda lame now, really – to be scared of trying something new. It's almost like...I've faced death, right? Something like snowboarding should be almost relaxing in comparison! I kinda feel like I could conquer anything," her stomach gurgled menacingly and she looked down at it sadly. "Except maybe food."

Troy laughed. "Gabi, you're the bravest person around – I reckon you could do anything you wished."

"Anything I wish..." Gabriella repeated, her eyes narrowing. Suddenly she sat bolt upright, her eyes wide. "Anything I wish! Troy – that's it!"

Troy cocked his head in confusion and Gabriella opened her mouth to explain, but closed it again when she heard her mother finishing up her phone conversation in the hallway, right outside the entrance to the lounge room. Troy felt Gabriella stiffen a little as she noticed her mother's sombre tone, even more so when Maria placed the cordless phone back in its cradle and came into the room, tears damp on her cheeks.

"Mom?" Gabriella's voice was small and full of fear.

Maria wiped at the tears on her face as she sat down next to Troy and Gabriella on the couch, pulling her daughter onto her lap, cradling her close. Gabriella had a sudden sense of déjà vu which was so vivid it made her shiver.

This was exactly the same way her mother had held her right before she had told her her father had died.

A sense of foreboding overtook the frightened girl as her mother grasped her hands and kissed her gently on the cheek.

"Gabi, honey...that was Kirsten on the phone. I...she...she had some sad knew to tell us..." fresh tears spilled from Maria's eyes as she struggled to find the right words. "Mackenzie...I'm so sorry baby...Mackenzie passed away a little while ago."

Gabriella stared at her heartbroken mother in disbelief. "N...no...NO!" she stammered. "She can't have! She...she was getting better – she can't have...she can't be..." Gabriella's eyes filled with tears.

Maria stroked her daughter's face softly before pulling her into her chest and rocking her back and forth. "I'm sorry, baby," she whispered again. "I'm so, so sorry..."

A long, low moan escaped Gabriella as she cried into her mother's chest, gut-wrenching sobs wracking her tiny, frail body. After a few moments she pulled back, her eyes red, her tears continuing to fall silently.

Her heart-shattering words were barely even a whisper as she looked right into her mother's deep brown eyes – eyes so similar to her own.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye..."


:( Sorry guuuys. A few of you guessed it was coming the moment I introduced Plot Device...I mean, Mackenzie. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter anyhow.

Next up: dealing with loss :(

Please review!! It makes me happyyyyyy!!! Love hearing your opinions and thoughts!

Charli xox