Chapter one

It was a hot and sunny Saturday morning and the Dumping ground residents where taking their yearly trip to the seaside and that particluar morning, Tee felt like she had a migraine coming on but she wasn't going to let it spoil her day.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" Johnny asked after he noticed her looking a little off colour " you don't look well."

"I'm fine Johnny, it's just a headache, I'll be fine" Tee insisted as they climbed onto the mini bus. As she buckled herself in, Tee felt a sharp stabbing pain in her head but it went away a few minutes later and decided to ignore it.

"Okay, is everybody ready?" Mike asked and all the kids shouted yes before he got in the driver's seat and started the engine. As they got half way up the motor way, Lily and Carmen had noticed that Tee wasn't looking well and they asked her if she was alright.

"I'm fine, I've jsut got a head ache that's all" she insisted.

"You should have stayed at home if you wern't feeling well' Carmen suggested " you look awful."

"Well I'm not going to let a stupid headache stop me from going to the beach" Tee insisted "it'll probably go away later." She was wrong however because by the time they arrived at the beach, her headache seemed a whole lot worse than it was before and when she got off the mini bus, a wave of dizziness came over her and she stumbled to the ground. Mike and Gina rushed over to her and helped her up, both of them looking concerned for her.

"Do you want to go back on the bus and lie down for a while babes?" Gina asked her.

"Will every one stop fussing over me, I'm fine alright" Tee snapped "now can I please enjoy this day out without any one fussing over me, I'm not a baby." Mike and Gina were both shocked that Tee had snapped at them like that, it wasn't like her, she had never snapped at them like that before.

"She's probably having a bit of a bad day, she might feel better once she gets some seaside air into her lungs" Mike suggested.

"Well I hope you're right because i'm really concerned about her you know, she doesn't look well at all" Gina pointed out. During the day, the Dumping ground residents visited various arcades, shops, went to the theme park and Tee was trying her best to join in but she found she didn't have the energy, she just wanted to lay down and go to sleep plus her headache seemed a lot worse than it did that morning. After they visited a few more arcades, they went down to the beach with fish and chips. Tee was sitting with Carmen and Lily who were beginning to get concerned for their friend.

"Are you sure you're alright, you haven't been yourself today" Lily pointed out.

"I'm not sure, I thought I would be" Tee replied, almost in tears as the pain in her head became unbearable " I thought it would go away, the headache but it seems to be getting worse and everything's blurry."

"What do you mean?' Carmen asked " what do you mean everything's blurry?"

"I can't see anything probably" Tee sobbed "my head really hurts and i'm scared." Just then, both Lily and Carmen noticed that Tee was having a nosebleed and that her eyes were beginning to roll into the back of her head.

"Carmen, go get Mike and Gina now" Lily yelled as Tee collapsed onto her. Carmen got up and raced over to Mike and Gina just as Tee began to have a seizure in front of Lily.

"Tee, Tee what's happening, are you okay?" Lily screamed as Carmen returned with Mike and Gina.

"What's wrong with her?" Gina asked as Tee continued to convulse violently.

"We don't know" Lily replied, her voice shaking " she said her head was really hurting her and that she couldn't see probably, then she started getting a nosebleed and she passed out, then she started having a fit." It wasn't long before the rest of the kids realized that something was going off and ran over to see what it was.

"TEE" Johnny yelled when he noticed the state his little sister was in 'WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER?"

"We don't know Johnny but we've called an ambulance and they're going to take her to hospital to find out what's wrong with her" Mike explained. Tee had now stopped convulsing but was now unconscious and twitching a little. Gina was kneeling beside her, stroking her forehead and reassuring her that everything was going to be ok. About half an hour later, Mike, Gina and the kids were sat in the waiting room whilst Tee had been taken in for tests and Johnny was pacing up and down, worried out of his mind.

'I hope it's nothing serious" Rick pointed out.

"Why was Tee shaking?" Harry asked.

"It's because she was poorly" Faith told him " but she's here now and the Doctor's are going to make her better."

"I knew there was something wrong with her this morning" Johnny pointed out " I could see it in her eyes but she insisted she was fine." He gave up pacing and collapsed onto one of the plastic chairs.

"She was probably putting on a brave face" Mike reassured him " you know how excited she was about this day out, she didn't want whatever was wrong with her to stop her from having this day out."

"Do you think it's serious?" Johnny asked.

"I don't know mate, it's up to the Doctor's to find out" Mike explained "they need to do tests on her to find out what's wrong." A couple of hours had passed by and a doctor came out to inform them that Tee was now going to go for an MRI scan.

"Why, what's wrong?" Mike asked.

"We're not sure quite yet but we think Theresa has a growth on her brain, possibly a tumor" he explained.

"WHAT?' Johnny yelled "SHE CAN'T HAVE."

"Calm down Johnny" Mike said "they haven't said she has a tumor, they just need to take her for a scan to see what's causing her headache. It might not be a tumor, it's probably something else." Calming down, Johnny nodded and asked when Tee was going to go for a scan.

"Soon, you can go and see her if you like but you're only allowed to take one person because we only allow two visitors at a time in the MRI ward" the Doctor explained. Johnny nodded and asked Mike if he would come with him.

"I'm not going anywhere, i'm staying right with you and Tee" Mike reassured him. The Doctor then took him and Johnny to the MRi ward where Tee was in a room, waiting to go for her scan. She was now conscious but looking very exhausted.

"Johnny" she smiled weakly as her brother walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"Hey there kiddo" Mike said, giving her hand a small squeeze " you gave us all a big scare back there at the beach."

"I'm so sorry for ruining everyone's day out" she said weakly.

"Hey , it's not your fault" Mike reassured her " hows your headache?"

"Still hurts but not as much because they gave me some pain killers to ease it" Tee replied.

"Do you remember anything that happened before you blacked out?" Johnny asked.

"I remember sitting on the beach talking to Lily and Carmen then the next minute I'm lying in a hospital bed with loads of Doctors and Nurses around me, shining lights in my eyes and stuff" she replied "they said I've got to go for a scan to see if I've got a tumor or something."

"Hopefully it won't be, it could be a severe migraine or something" Mike reassured soon, they came to take Tee down for her scan and it was clear she was terrified about having one in case it was bad news but Mike reassured her that everything was going to be fine.

"You won't leave me will you?" she begged, holding onto Mike's hand " I don't want to go down there on my own."

"We'll be right with you" Mike said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"yeah, we're not going anywhere" said Johnny. Tee was then wheeled into the scan room and placed on the scanning machine whilst Mike and Johnny stood in the next room, watching from a window. There was a speaker phone on the wall so that they could hear Tee speaking to them and that Tee could hear them speaking to her.

"Okay Theresa, I need you to lie completely still for me okay, we're just going to do take some photos of inside your head to see what's been causing your headaches" the doctor told her.

"I'm really scared, I want to go home" Tee sobbed.

"I know you do but the doctor's just need to find out what's wrong with you that's all so they can make you better, okay?" Mike told her.

"Okay" Tee said with a nod.

"Good girl" Mike replied. He and Johnny then watched as she moved under the large scanner and the Doctor looked at the computer screen. It showed various picture's of her brain and they could see a black splodge the size of a golf ball.

Well it appears that Theresa has a Tumor on the frontial lope of the brain" the doctor explained as he looked at the scan.

"But, you can operate can't you, you can remove it?" Johnny asked hopefully.

"Well it depends" the Doctor pointed out.

"On what?" Mike asked.

"On how serious it is, I'll need to run some more tests to see on whether we can remove the Tumor" the doctor explained.

"And if not?" Mike asked.

"We'll just have to hope for the best" the Doctor explained. After her scan was over, Tee was taken back to the room she was waiting in before to await more tests to see if her Tumor was curable or not.

"Why do I have to have more tests, I thought the scanner was going to say what was wrong with me" Tee said, her voice shaking "what is wrong with me?." Mike didn't know how to explain to Tee that she possibly had a brain tumor and that they might not be able to remove it, the Eleven year old girl was already scared enough, he didn't want to scare even more.

"They still don't know yet" he lied "they just want to do more tests to find out some more information." A little while later, Mike and Johnny had to go back to the waiting room whilst they took Tee for more tests to see if her Tumor was curable or not.

"Did they find out what's wrong with her?" Gina asked when they got back.

"They reckon it could be a brain tumor" Mike explained to a shocked Gina " they're doing more tests to see if it is curable or not."

"Oh poor thing" Gina muttered "does Tee know?."

"I haven't told her yet, I couldn't" Mike replied "the poor girl was already scared enough without me telling her that she could possibly have cancer and that it might not be curable."

"Well she's going to have to find out if she does have it" Gina pointed out " otherwise she'll be wondering what's going on with all the Hospital visits, headaches and stuff.'

"I know, once we get the results, I'll tell her and reassure her that we'll be there for her, no matter what" Mike replied. A little while later, the Doctor who had been examining Tee came back to speak to the people who were held responsible for her.

"That would be me and Gina" Mike said.

"Okay and I would like to have a word with her parents as well" he pointed out.

"Tee's dad died when she was Four and we don't know where her Mum is" Mike pointed out " she lives at our care home, Elmtree house."

"Okay, if you would like to step into my office." The pair of them nodded and followed the Doctor into his inside they seated themselves at his desk and he sat opposite them with a serious expression on his face.

"We've had the test results back and I'm afraid it isn't good news" he explained "Tee has a severe brain tumor on the frontial lope and it is cancerous."

"But, surely you can fix it can't you?" Mike asked "surely you can remove it?" The Doctor looked at them both with a serious expression and shook his head.

"I'm sorry Mr. Milligan but the Tumor is too deeply embedded to be removed and we cannot cure it" he explained " we do have pills and Medication to control the cancer and prevent Theresa in being in any pain but there is nothing really more we can do for her."

"What are you saying, is she, she's not, are you saying that she's going to...die?" Mike asked, his voice shaking and the Doctor looked at him as though he was saying yes.

"Oh my god" Mike gasped "she can't die, she can't, she's just a kid, she's only Eleven years old."

"I'm sorry Mr Milligan but the Tumor is very severe and she could have months or maybe even weeks left" the doctor explained "I'm so so very sorry, there's really nothing more we can do. All you really need to do now is be there for Theresa and give her all the supports she needs, but I'm very sorry to say to you that she isn't going to make it. I'm so so very sorry." The two care workers sat in shock as they took the news in, Tee Taylor had Cancer and she was going to die.