Lucinda walked into the Snyder kitchen and was surprised to see that the room was completely full.
"Mother, what are we doing here?" Lily asked immediately. Everyone was asking themselves the same question.
"I have something to tell everyone. It's not pleasant news." warned Lucinda.
"Luke isn't here." Holden spoke up.
"Luke is not to know. Is this understood?" Lucinda warned. Everyone shook their head yes.
Lily started crying. "Is your cancer back?"
"No, dear, it's not me. It's Noah. He has leukemia." Lucinda tried to remain calm.
"Oh, that dear boy. Hasn't he been through enough?" cried Emma.
"He has." Lucinda replied sadly.
"Is he okay?" asked Holden with worry in his voice.
"He's having a hard time with it."
"How bad is it?" asked Jack.
"They caught it early and his prognosis is good."
"Where is he now?" Emma was still crying.
"He's in the hospital. They gave him a watered down chemotherapy yesterday to see if he would have any reactions to it and he did. They had to sedate him and put in a breathing tube but he's okay now. They gave him another combination today which he had no reaction to."
"How did you find out?" asked Lily.
"I had my annual checkup and saw him in oncology. I'm still in remission. The boy thought he could lie to me about it. Can you believe it?" Lucinda laughed.
"When was this?" asked Holden.
"A couple days ago."
"Why didn't he come to us?" asked a tearful Emma.
"He felt that since he lost Luke, he lost us as well."
"That's stupid," replied Jack. "Once a Snyder, always a Snyder." Everyone joined in and helped Jack finish.
"Actually it's not, Jack. I didn't invite him to the wedding. We haven't invited him to any barbeques we've had this summer," Holden had to admit.
"And I didn't invite him to Gabriel's party. We didn't even have a party for him when he got his eyesight back." replied a guilt ridden Lily.
"We got so busy in our lives that we forgot about Noah." Holden said sadly.
"Young Casey Hughes videotaped Noah for a film that Noah's doing and part of what Noah has said that since Luke and he broke up, he has nobody to love him and he's wondering if he should just give up." This brought gasps from Lily and Emma. "Allison tells me that he refused to unpack his things. He said it might be easier on us."
Nobody heard Luke pull into the driveway or walk onto the porch. He stopped and listened for a minute before he opened the kitchen door and walked in. "So it's true?"
"Yes." Lucinda was embarrassed they got caught.
"I didn't believing him." Luke said as he started to cry.
"I know, he told me." Lucinda gave Luke an icy stare that sent shivers through him.
"I thought he was trying to get me back." Luke tried to explain.
"You called his actions pathetic." Lucinda's chastising him.
"I…"
"I could care less what you think, right now." yelled Lucinda as tears were falling from her face.
Luke stiffened at Lucinda's stern voice. He knew that he deserved it, so he just stood there quietly.
"How did he take Luke's reaction?" Lily asked trying to stay calm.
"He spent the night in the hospital after he collapsed in Java's parking lot. He woke up in the hospital, crying. They had to sedate him to calm him down."
Luke just stood there in shock as tears rolled down his face. He couldn't believe how wrong he was. "I'm sorry. I'll go apologize to him."
"No. You are not to see him at all, until Noah tells us that you can visit him. Have I made myself clear?" Holden said loudly.
"Yes sir." Luke said looking defeated. "Tell him...I'm sorry."
Emma, crying, stood up from the table and walked out of the room. It was just too much for her to take.
"Okay everyone...anyone who wasn't tested for Liberty needs to get tested for Noah, including those who live out of town." Jack said gathering the troops. "I think we need to talk to Noah and his doctor before we do anything public. Lucinda can let the Dean at Oakdale University know and I can let get the police union involved to get people out and tested."
"That's a good start." said Holden. "We can talk to Kim about putting something on the air at WOAK if we need to as well."
The meeting broke up but Luke just stood there crying. Lily walked up to Luke and lifted up his chin. "Are you okay?"
"No." Luke replied truthfully.
"I'm not going to lecture or yell at you. I think you feel bad enough." Lily calmly pulled him into a hug. He broke down and wept in his mother's arms.
-P-
Fifteen minutes later, all the Snyders were walking into the hospital when they were stopped by Bob wanting to know what they were all there for.
"We want to get tested for Noah." said Holden.
"What, all of you?" Bob was surprised.
"The Snyders stick together," said Jack.
Every Snyder said, "Yeah!"
Bob laughed. "There is one thing you can do for me. Noah is feeling really down…"
Interrupting Bob's words, Holden spoke up. "Lucinda told us about the tape."
"Good. Noah shouldn't be in contact with a lot of people while undergoing chemotherapy but if you went by his door to show your support that would be great. Just be quiet so you won't disturb other patients.
"Be quiet?" Jack looked offended. "The Snyders are not loud people." Everyone, including Bob, broke out in laughter.
Luke went to get Reid and went directly to the lab while the rest of the Snyders quietly checked on Noah.
-P-
Lily and Holden went into Noah's room to talk to him. They both noticed right off how pale he looked.
"Noah?" whispered Lily as she shook him awake a little.
"Yeah?" Noah said as has he tried to wake up.
"How are you feeling?" asked Holden.
"Not too great. I'm nauseated all the time and I can't stop throwing up." He threw up just as he finished talking.
"Maybe Emma can make you something to calm your stomach." replied Lily.
"I doubt I could keep it down. I haven't been able to keep anything down. They are injecting all sorts of stuff into my IV but none of them has worked so far."
"We wanted to stop by and let you know that we support you. You are part of our family and always will be, Noah," said Holden. "Turn your camera on and face it towards the door and zoom it so you get the entire door and window."
When Noah was done, all the Snyders started going by the door. The men gave thumbs up and the woman blew a kiss. Noah waved at everyone going by and was thrilled that so many came out to wish him well.
"Every Snyder who didn't get tested for Liberty is going to get tested to find out if anyone is a match," said Holden. "Even the Snyders who live out of town. Every last one is getting tested for you Noah."
"Thank you." Noah swallowed a lump in his throat. "It means a lot to me."
"We know what happened with Luke." said Lily. "He came home and overheard our conversation with Lucinda. He's truly sorry, Noah. He feels absolutely, horrible."
Noah just broke down and started crying. "It hurt so bad to hear him say those things to me."
"None of us will excuse anything he said but he's down with the rest getting checked out," replied Holden.
"He is?"
"Yes. He would like to apologize but we told him not to come until you say it is alright," replied Lily.
"I won't keep him away. That's how I lost him in the first place and I won't make that mistake ever again." He threw up again and began to yawn.
"We will have him drop by tomorrow, if that's okay. You're beginning to look tired."
"Yes, I am. Thank everyone for me. I'll tape a little note when I get a chance. It really means a lot to me that you've all done this."
Noah was soundly asleep before Holden and Lily made it to the door. Lily grabbed Holden as soon as the door closed behind them. "He looks pretty bad."
-P-
The next morning Noah woke up and started to tape his thank you video for the Snyders.
"I never really had a family before. It was just the colonel and me for all those years. Most of the time, he was off on maneuvers. As a kid it upset me that I was alone all the time but now I'm thankful that he was gone. When Luke and Emma invited me to say that first Christmas at the farm, I was so grateful but also scared. A house full of Snyders is not an easy thing to get used to but you soon had me loving each one of you, even Brad." laughed Noah as tears were falling down his face.
"The happiest memory I have is when Luke and I made lo… oh, wait, I can't tell you that one," laughed Noah. "Well, the second… I can't tell you that either," Noah continued to laugh. "The happiest memory, I can tell you about, was the first Christmas I spent at the farm. I was so wired because I had someone I wanted to spend a holiday with. It was around the first time Luke told me he loved me and all I said was same here." Noah's voice got agitated. "I didn't know about love. I never had it before. I don't think I even felt it before. If you noticed that Luke and I kept disappearing, it was because I couldn't handle all the love and having everyone around. It's not something I was used to with the colonel and it frightened me."
"Being sick makes you think differently. It makes you understand what really is important in your life. It's loving people and being loved back." Noah started to cry. "Don't be stupid and let it slip out of your hands because you will regret it for the rest of your lives. I know some of you are going through some hard times with your loved ones, so don't let it go for another minute without telling that person that you love them. It's too important. Don't let them slip from through your fingers." Noah was crying openly now. "I didn't understand and now I'm all alone. Not a second goes by that I don't regret it. I wanted to fix it but it was too late. Don't let it be too late for you. Please, don't let it be too late for you." Noah had finally broken down and was unable to continue the video. He drifted off to sleep crying for the loss he felt.