Chapter two

"But surely they're must be something that can be done" Gina pointed out after the Doctor had informed them about Tee's condition "you must have some medication that will make it go away."

"I'm sorry but there is really nothing more we can do for her, the tumor is far too severe and we cannot treat it, the best thing we can do is give Theresa all the support she needs. I suspect that you're wanting to break the news to her and to the rest of the kids" the Doctor suggested and Mike pointed out that it wasn't going to be easy telling the kids, especially Tee and especially Johnny because he didn't know how both of them woul react.

"Do you think it's best if we break the news to Tee first, she's the one who's dying" Gina suggested.

"Yeah but we're going to have to break it to her gently and reassure her that we are going to be there for her all the way" Mike replied before the two of them were taken down to Tee's room to break the news to her.

"Mike, Gina" she said happily when she saw the pair of them enter the room and sat down on the chairs by her bedside "have they found out what's wrong with me yet?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so" Mike told her and Tee could tell it was bad news by the expressions on their faces "now Tee, we don't have any easier way to say this, but the Doctor's found a tumor on your brain and it is cancerous." Tee was now shell shocked after they broke the news to her and it took her a couple of minutes to take the news in before she spoke up again.

"But they can get rid of it can't they?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry babes, they can't do anything for you" Gina told her, squeezing her hand "it's to severe to be treated."

"So are you saying that, I'm going to" Tee began to cry but found it difficult to finish her sentence.

"I'm sorry" Mike told her, almost close to tears himself, stroking Tee's face but she smacked his hand away and turned away from the pair of them and they could hear her sobbing.

"Babes, I know this must be a big shock for you" Gina told her but the distraught girl told the pair of them to leave her alone so they decided to leave Tee alone and left to tell the rest of the kids who were still waiting in the waiting room and when Mike and Gina walked in, all of them jumped up asking various questions about Tee, what was wrong with her, was she going to be ok.

"Sit down everyone" Mike told the kids and they all immedietly sat down as Gina and Mike sat opposite them "now we got the results of Tee's tests and I'm afraid it's not good nows."

"Why, what's wrong with her?" Carmen asked. Mike took a huge breath as he prepared to tell the kids about Tee's illness.

"Tee has a severe Brain tumor and it's cancerous" he told them.

"But, they'll fix it won't they?" Johnny asked "they'll be able to make her better."

"I'm sorry mate" Mike revealed, eyes watering "it's too severe."

"So, she's not going to make it?" Lily asked and Mike shook his had and explained to them that Tee had a very severe Brain tumor and that there was nothing more they could for her. Unable to bear the bad news, Johnny jumped out of his seat and ran out of the waiting area with Mike chasing after him.

"I can't believe it" Lily pointed out " poor Tee." Jody had burst into tears and Carmen put an arm around her and allowed the younger girl to rest her head on her shoulder.

"I can't believe she's dying" Said Rick " she's just a kid."

"What is a tumor?" Harry asked innocently as he clutched Jeff and Faith gentle explained to him that it was a nasty growth that gave people headaches and made them really poorly.

"So what happens now?" Tyler asked.

"Well I guess we'll just have to support her and show that we are there for her" Faith suggested.

"How long do you think she has left?" Carmen asked. The others shrugged as Mike went out of the hospital to find Johnny sitting on one of the benches outside, head in his hands and Mike walked over to the upset boy.

"I guess this must have come as a big shock to you?" he asked, sitting next to Johnny " finding out your sister's got Cancer." Johnny pulled his face away from his hands and turned to look at Mike. It had been obvious that he had been crying because his eyes were red and puffy.

"Does Tee know, have you told her yet?" He asked and Mike nodded, explaining to Johnny that he and Gina had told Tee before they came to telll him and the other kids.

"How did she take it?" the young boy asked.

"She was very upset and I think she worked out that she wasn't going to get better before me and Gina had a chance to tell her" Mike explained and without warning, Johnny completely exploded.

"SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO, JUST LEAVE HER UNTIL SHE DIES" he yelled "IF THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING FOR HER THEN IT'S OBVIOUS SHE'S GOING TO DIE, HOW LONG HAS SHE GOT LEFT HUH, WEEKS, MONTHS, TELL ME."

"The Doctors aren't sure about that yet, all they know for now is that Tee has a very aggressive brain tumor and that they can't do anything for her because it's too advanced" Mike explained as he tried to calm down Johnny who had now completely broken down.

"This shouldn't have happened to her, it's all my fault, I should have protected her, I promised I would protect her and now she's dying" the thirteen year old boy sobbed "it's happening again, why did this have to happen from someone from my family again?."

"What do you mean, has someone in your family had cancer before?" Mike asked and Johnny nodded before explaining to Mike that his dad died from a brain tumor when he was six and that he had only lived for seven weeks before he died in his sleep.

"I'm so sorry mate" Mike said "but the best thing we can do for now is try and support your sister in every way we can. Now, how about we go back inside and see what Gina and the rest of the kids are up to." Johnny nodded and the pair of them headed back inside the building where Gina and the rest of the kids where still in the waiting area accompanied by the Doctor that had given them Tee's diagnosis.

"The Doctor says he wants to talk to you and Gina, he says it's about Tee's cancer and that it's very important" Gus informed Mike as he returned.

"What's this about now I thought you'd already given us Tee's test results" Mike said but the Doctor told him that he had some more information about the little girl's condition and that he needed to speak to Mike and Gina in his office.

"Why can't you tell them here, we want to know what's going to happen with Tee" Carmen piped up.

"I'm sorry but this news might be too upsetting for you all to hear" the Doctor explained.

"We want to know" Lily said bravely "Tee's our friend and we want to know what's going to happen to her."

'Okay" the Doctor began " now I assume you all know that Theresa has a severe Brain tumor and that there is nothing more we can do for her, well I did some more tests on her and I'm afraid that the tumor is slowly spreading and we don't have any medication to shrink it. Now she might be able to do the normal stuff she does for a while but Theresa will grow weaker eventually to the point where she'll be unable to walk and would have to require a wheelchair to get around" he explained.

"But how long has she got left?" Johnny asked "Tee's my sister, i want to know."

"I"m sorry, but looking at her test results and how severe the tumor is, I'll have to guess that Theresa only has at least one month left" the Doctor told them and Johnny completely broke down again as Faith got up and put her arms round him.

"I can't believe it, one month" Mike mumbled "poor thing." The Doctor then explained to them that Tee will experience severe headaches and prescribed them with medication that would ease the headaches.

"Are they're any side effects?" Mike asked.

"They'll probably make her feel sleepy but that's about it. Now we are going to keep Tee in over night for observation but you can take her back in the morning" the Doctor told him before allowing them to see Tee before they left and when they got to her room, they found the girl curled up in the hospital bed, fast asleep.

"Does she know?" Lily asked.

"Yeah" Johnny whispered " Mike and Gina told her before they told us and she took it pretty hard." After the Doctor had given them Tee's prescription for her medication and some leaflets on Information about cancer, Mike and Gina took the kids back to Elm tree house whilst Tee remained in hospital over night so that the Doctors could keep an eye on her. When they got back, Lily called Tracy to inform her of the news about Tee's illness and how she only had one month to live. Meanwhile, Johnny was in his room, kicking the walls in both hurt and anger as he was still struggling to cope with the fact that his sister was dying.

She's just a little girl he thought to himself as he continued to kick the walls she's only Eleven, she's got her whole life ahead of her and now some stupid illness is going to take that away from her. It wasn't long before mike heard all the commotion coming from the grieving boys room and rushed in to find Johnny still kicking the walls.

"Hey calm down mate, stop doing that" Mike said as he rushed over to Johnny who stopped kicking the walls and completely broke down in the care workers arms.

'It's not fair Mike, it's just not fair, first my dad and now my sister" he sobbed "she's not even a teenager yet and now she isn't going to live to be one."

"I know mate I know" Mike reassured him "but we've got to be strong for her and we have to be there for her for what time she has left."

"I don't want her to die" Johnny sobbed.

"I don't either" Mike told him " but there's nothing more the Doctors can do for her. Now for what little time she has left, we're just going to have to make the most of it." After having some time to calm down and get his head around the recent news, Johnny finally went to bed and accompanied Mike to the hospital to pick her up whilst Gina stayed behind to look after the rest of the kids. The girl was sitting on her hospital bed, wearing the same clothes she had been wearing the day before, waiting for Mike and Johnny to pick her up and when the pair of them arrived, Mike walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I had a bad headache this morning but the Doctor's gave me some painkillers for it this morning" she replied "they explained everything to me about what's wrong with me and they told me how long I've got left." Mike could see her eyes filling up and he hugged her, picking her up off the bed like she was a toddler and not a young girl who was almost Twelve years of age.

"Well we are going to be there for you, all the way to the end" Mike told her.

"Okay but I want you to make me a promise" Tee told him.

"What is it?" Mike asked her.

"I don't want to die in a hospital, I want to die at the dumping ground, in my own room and I want you, Gina and Johnny to be there with me" she announced trying her best to sound brave but her voice was still quivering.

"Tee don't talk like that" Johnny told her but she told him that it was what she wanted.

'Are you sure?" Mike asked her.

"I'm sure, I know that they can't do anything for me and I want to die in my own bed, just like my daddy did" the sick girl announced.

"Okay if that's what you want" Mike said before hugging the seriously ill Eleven year old girl as Johnny looked on, fighting back the tears.