Eli's eye's flickered open to see that he was lying in a room quite different from his normal surroundings. As he blinked the room into focus he realized that everything was dull and white, the walls, the sheets, even himself, considering he was wearing a white paper gown.

"Eli, your awake!" Kaylie called from the doorway. She too was wearing the blank hospital attire. She also had oxygen tubes coming from her nose. It wrapped behind her ears then looped around and was attached to a monitor on wheels. It took Eli a moment to realize the he was hooked up to a machine as well.

Kyalie shuffled over to Eli's bed, "I didn't think you were ever going to wake up! You've been asleep for a week!"

"A week!" Eli shouted hoarsely, shooting upright in his bed.

Kaylie laughed, "I'm just joking, it's only been a few hours."

Eli sunk back against the pillows, "You're a real comedian."

Kaylie sat on the edge of the bed across from Eli's, "Well, you were out a pretty long time. You missed the Nightmare Before Christmas special on SyFy." She said, pointing to the television hanging on the wall.

"As if we haven't seen that movie a thousand times."

Kaylie wagged her finger at him, "Speak for yourself, I've seen it two thousand times."

Eli propped himself up, the monitor next to him beeped steadily every time he took a breath. He eyed a curious object that was lying on a chair by the window.

"Claire's here," Kaylie said when she saw Eli notice the bag, "That's her purse by the window. She's down at the cafeteria but she should be back soon. Adam was here too but he left about an hour ago…oh, I almost forgot," She got up and slapped Eli's cheek gently, "That was from Claire. She told me to slap you for scaring the crap out of her."

"What happened anyway?"

Kaylie's smile drooped and she shook her head sadly, " I honestly don't know. The doctors are still trying to figure it out, but I know it wasn't a panic attack. This was way worse than that."

"Yeah I know." Eli groaned, rubbing his head.

Kaylie fell back onto a chair, "That's another thing, you shouldn't have to know what it felt like Eli. This is my problem and you shouldn't have to endure this pain just because I do."

Eli smirked, "That's the beauty of being twins, neither of us ever has to suffer alone."

There was a light knock at the door and Claire peeked her head through the crack, "Can I come in?"

Eli perked up at once, looking healthier than he had been just moments before, and he said, "You better, it would be very hard to kiss you from all the way over there."

Claire blushed and slipped inside. The sheets crunched beneath her as she sat on Eli's bed then leaned forward and kissed him.

After numerous seconds went by, their lips parted and she pulled away, "You scared me half to death back there." She whimpered.

"Don't worry, Kaylie already slapped me for that."

"Good."

Claire was just about to go in for round two when the door burst open and Mr. Goldsworthy tumbled inside.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" He huffed, "I couldn't get out of my meeting and traffic was outrageous going down the turnpike. Are you okay honey?" He grabbed Kaylie's shoulders than felt her forehead and cheeks.

"I'm fine dad," Kaylie moaned, swatting him away, "Well…I'm fine in theory."

"Don't talk like that, you're going to be alright, don't ever doubt that."

Kaylie nodded, but she couldn't bring herself to look into her father's eyes.

"When did you get here Claire?" He asked, suddenly aware that there were others in the room.

"I…I've been here since nine." She stammered.

"Fantastic. It's good to know that someone was here to keep Kaylie company."

"And what do you think I'm here for, the free food?" Eli interrupted.

Mr. Goldsworthy folded his massive arms across his chest, "That kind of sarcasm won't get you anywhere in life Eli."

"Duly noted." Eli sneered.

The two of them glared at each other with carnivorous eyes, just waiting for the other to attack. Right before either of them could go in for the kill, a man in a white coat stepped inside and the tension between them was instantly cooled.

"I hope I'm not interrupting, but I have the test results." The Doctor announced, tapping his clipboard with his pen.

"What tests?" Asked Eli.

Kaylie squirmed in her chair, "I went to get some X-rays and tests done while you were asleep…I must not have mentioned that."

Mr. Goldsworthy sat down and took his daughters hand in both of his, "So what is it? What's your diagnosis?"

The doctor coughed, tucking his clipboard under his arm, " Perhaps we should talk about this in private. I'll give you both some time to get dressed then we'll talk in my office. Family only, if that's alright." He said in an attempt to sound cheery, but was failing quite miserably.

Claire and Mr. Goldsworthy left the room while a nurse came in and unhooked Kaylie and Eli from their monitors. They both changed back into their normal cloths and then headed down to the Doctor's office.

The walls to the office were mostly filled with windows, so even though Claire wasn't allowed in, she could see everything that happened. There were three chairs positioned in front of the Doctor's desk, Eli took the one closest to the door. He sat down and looked over his shoulder, Claire was staring back at him with her hand pressed against the glass. She moved her mouth and he could vaguely make out the words it will be okay, coming from her lips.

Why did everybody say that? The funny thing was that the more Eli heard it, the less true it became.

"Let's get right down to it, shall we?" Said the doctor as he readjusted his glasses, "I'd like you to take a look at Kaylie's X-rays."

Mr. Goldsworthy, who had been too nervous to sit looked closely at Kaylie's brain X-rays that were hanging on the wall.

The Doctor pointed to a dark patch right in the middle of the picture, "It appears in this X-ray that Kaylie has a large mass in the upper part of her temporal lobe."

Mr. Goldsworthy massaged his chin, "What does that mean?"

The Doctor took a long painful look at Eli and Kaylie who were silently dreading what they were about to hear.

"We ran some tests that indicated the mass is most likely a brain tumor."

"…Tumor…" Mr. Goldsworthy echoed as his eyes became glassy.

"It seems that your daughter was probably born with it, but it just recently started growing and feeding off brain cells. You may have noticed some behavioral changes that started about a year ago…"

"That was when my condition got worse…" Kaylie said, fighting back the tears

"That's because your tumor attached itself to the part of your brain that had been infected and enhanced the intensity of your condition."

"What can we do?" Mr. Goldsworthy sniffled.

The Doctor shook his head, "Unfortunately at this stage the tumor has gotten to large for an operation. Frankly, in surprised she even made it this far…I give her a month at best. I'm so sorry."

"Oh god!" Mr. Goldsworthy sobbed, running his hands through his hair, "Oh god, oh god, oh god!"

Kaylie covered her mouth and took in sharp deep gulps of air. Eli was the only one who seemed relatively unfazed. He saw nothing, and heard nothing.

He felt nothing.

He calmly stood up and walked out the door. Claire was waiting for him on the other side with tears in the tips of her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but instead she threw her arms around Eli's waist and hugged him until everything grew silent…

A/N: I really hated to have to picture Eli in a hospital gown. It's really not his style, but there wasn't really a way around that so I apologize for that image. Haha. I also came up with a bunch of new ideas last night so this story may go on for several more chapters. Whether that makes you happy or sad is up to you but I'm pretty pumped. Haha

Thanks so much for reading and keep reviewing please! It makes my day so much brighter!

Next chapter coming soon