Chp 8
Will's POV

I smiled down at my coffee as I sat at the kitchen table. Percy was making his famous flapjacks and it was Christmas in exactly a week. Tony looked happy. I remembered him telling me last night that him and my sister were a thing now. It was big because it's her first boyfriend.

Tony seemed to beam as we heard a knock at the front door and it was opened. Annabeth and Mel came in. "Morning!" Annabeth said, smiling. She went to Percy and kissed his cheek. He smiled at her. Tony stood up and cupped Mel's cheek, giving her a kiss.

Everyone was a little stunned. "That's gonna take some getting used to." I said casually and sipped my coffee. "What? You liked him and didn't tell me?" Annabeth said, but her hand on her chest in mock hurt. Mel and Tony laughed and she grinned.

Tony made the girls coffee and handed them their mugs. "So what are we doing today?" Kieran asked. "Well I heard that they have all drinks going for one dollar for students at the Black bull pub." I said. We all nodded in agreement. "Maybe you can invite Kathy to come." Tony said, nudging me with a smirk. We all laughed and Percy served the flapjacks.

~ That Evening ~

We arrived at the pub and got in. We ordered some food and drink, and they all started talking. My eyes were on the door though, waiting eagerly for Kathy to show up. When she did she immediately spotted me and smiled. I gave a smile and stood as she came closer.

I kissed her cheek and she sat next to me. "Kathy, this is my sister, Melody. Mel, Kathy." I said, introducing the two. Kathy shook her hand. "Whats the age difference?" She asked, smiling. I looked at Mel. "Twins." We said in unison. She chuckled. "Do you have twin telepathy?" She asked out of the blue.

We all laughed. "I don't know. But I know I feel a little weird when she kisses Tony so- yeah." I said joking around. They all couldn't contain themselves. Mel stuck her tongue out and we both smiled.

The bar wasn't too busy, and it was mostly the first year people around. We all enjoyed ourselves over supper and even dance a little. "Hey, didn't you lose the bet we had the other day on who would win the football?" Percy asked Kieran. I grinned along with the other guys.

"Oh dear." Kieran muttered. "Five shots of tequila please!" Tony called to the bartender. Kieran groaned as the guy brought the drinks. "Ready?" I asked. He sighed and then quickly downed the five shots, taking a bite of the lemon slice afterwards.

His face was hilarious, that we all cracked up. He groaned loudly, resting his head in the table as the strong liquor got to his stomach. "That is disgusting." He said, quickly drinking some beer to try dull the taste.

As predicted the strong drink started to kick in, making him a little loud and really hyper. And soon enough he started running to the bathroom to throw up. I got a little worried about how much he was throwing up that we decided it was best to get checked out.

~ Melody's POV ~

I looked at the hospital that was slightly familiar. I had to come here for chemotherapy when I had first gotten leukemia, as they had more advanced technology. We walked into the big hospital.

Will took Kieran to the desk and a lady took him away, Will going along with him. I found my eyes lingering to the passage that lead to the cancer ward. "Uh, Tony? I wanna just go see something quick." I said. "I'll come with." He said, and I bit my lip.

I showed him the way, leaving the others to sit in the waiting room. I found the cancer ward and walked to a board. It had pictures of all the kids that had survived the disease that had gone to the hospital.

I looked over the faces of some of the kids I remembered that I used to have a room near. "Hi, can I help you two at all?" A lady asked, making us both look up from the board. The lady looked familiar but I couldn't pin point her face to her name.

She gasped. "Melody? Oh my! You've grown up so much." The nurse said, smiling and giving me a hug. I suddenly remembered her. She was my nurse when I had come here. She always told me about her daughter, who had been getting married in the days I used to come here.

Linda was her name. Her hair was greyed terribly but she still looked as warm and loving as she used to always be. She studied my face. "I can't believe it. I was talking to my friend the other day from Boston Children's Hospital and she told me about you, and I remembered your name. And she told, me about your miracle and I was just so pleased that you were still alive, because I always wondered what happened after you left here."

I smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm still around." I said. She looked to Tony. "Sorry, you must be a little confused." She said, patting his arm. "I used to Mel's nurse when she used to come here ten years ago. She was one of my first children." She said to Tony.

He smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Tony." He said. She introduced herself and smiled. She suddenly gasped. "Oh I remember I told some of the smaller kids about your story! They were so eager to hear that they could actually get through this." She looked at me for a moment. "Would you mind if I introduced you to them?"

I nodded and she smiled. "Uh, I'll be there in a second." I said. She nodded with a smile and went off to go tell the children. I turned to Tony. "I'm sorry, I know this is probably more than you thought of getting into." I said, guiltily. He smiled. "I'm fine with it. I mean, these kids need your encouragement." He said.

"You don't have to come with if you don't want to. I mean, it can be a little depressing." I said, biting my lip. He smiled and kissed me, and I immediately relaxed. "I'm want to come with." He said, smiling. I nodded and led him the way. I half noticed him send someone a text.

I found the room Linda was in, surprised to see she had even called some of the other nurses and some parents that were here. Tony let go of my hand, stationing himself at the door. I walked to where they had put a seat for me. The kids were from all ages, and all sitting in wheelchairs or normal chairs.

"Everyone, say hi to Mel." Linda said. All of the kids said hi excitedly and I said, "Hi. Wow, this is nerving." They all giggled as I touched my red cheeks. "How old were you when you got cancer?" A little girl asked. She looked only five.

"Well I was around your age, I was only five." Some of the kids shouted out that they were also five, which made me chuckle. I looked up as I noticed Will join Tony. They both smiled encouragingly.

The kids asked a whole bunch of questions. I answered them as best I could. "And did you also lose your hair?" A little boy with no hair asked. I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, about three times." I thought of something that happened when I was ten.

"Actually, I have a twin brother. And when I was about ten, I got to have a wig. It was so cool to play around with and I thought I was so cool with it. And to make it even better, my brother, Will, came home after doing a project and he had spray paint left over."

Will laughed by the door, knowing which story. "And he went and sprayed my wig all these different colors. So it was blue and pink and green and stuff." I said. The kids all giggled their heads off and the nurses and adults laughed.

"What did you do that made things not seem so bad?" A little guy asked. I thought for a moment. "Well I would go and find another kid in the cancer ward and I used to make friends with them. They're kind of like your sick bay buddy, always there and happy to talk about anything."

I talked for another ten minutes after that, and then the nurses brought ice cream. The kids went around, making new friends with the others. On my way back to Tony and a Will I was stopped by a mom and dad.

"Hi." The mom said. "My daughter Lily is very shy, but she was really impressed by all the things you said." The father nod and they pointed out their little eight hear old daughter Lily.

"She doesn't get on very well with many of the other kids. We thought maybe after the Christmas break you wouldn't mind coming around to our house and spending a bit of time with her every now and then if you aren't too busy." The father said.

"We'll even pay you. We just want to do anything that could make her happy." The mother said. "Um, yeah sure." I said, shocked that I had been asked this. They both looked thankful. He gave me his card that had his address and number on it.

As they walked off, I noticed a girl around fifteen sitting in the corner alone. I went over and pulled up a chair. She looked at me. "Hi." I said, smiling. She nodded. I was going to ask how she was when she said, "How could you be positive through this?"

She looked at me. "This is the most depressing thing that has ever happened." She said. "My boyfriend dumped me because he didn't want to be part of this," she said, pointing to her drip. "And I had to pull out of school. Only one of my friends comes around to see me these days, I lost my popularity and my life sucks."

She stared at the ice cream bowl. "I wish I would just die already." She said. It broke my heart to hear that. A man and woman who must be her parents came over. "I just want it all to go away." She said.

Her parents tried to tell her were going to say something but I butted in. "You know you aren't the only person to think that." I said. "There were so many times I could have just given up. I didn't want to live anymore after my third chemo didn't work. That was four months ago." I said.

"I had never had a boyfriend, I had only been out of Boston when I had come here, I only had two friends and my life was falling away slowly." She looked at me. I pointed my brother out and she looked at him. "He is my whole reason to live." I said.

She looked back to me. "He gave up his childhood for me. He sat with me while he could have been in Florida with his friends during summers. He came after to school to sit with me in the room I spent so many years of my life in." I said.

"I told him I didn't want to live anymore two months ago. He told me he wouldn't ket me sit around and couldn't watch me die." I said. "So I had chemo once more. It was all for him, for everything he's given up for what felt like my worthless life."

I pointed out Tony now. "I have a boyfriend, I have a future, I want to live - I am alive. That is all that matters to me. Just that little bit of strength can help." I said. She looked down at her hands. "Then please come sit with me soon." She said.

I looked at her little name tag that read Daisy. "Sure. I'll come sit with you." I said. She nodded and I gave a smile. I dismissed myself and went to the boys. Will gave me a big hug. "How you felling?" Tony asked as he laced our fingers and we walked back towards the emergency room.

"That felt so good." I said. "I mean, did you see their faces? The hope that they had now. They all want to be strong and live now." I said, feeling overwhelming pride. Will smiled. "I'm so proud of you." He said.

We met the others back in the ward. The doctor came back with Kieran. "He should be fine. He just needs to drink a lot of water and rehydrate." She said. Tony cleared the bill and we all went back home in all our separate cars.

I went with Tony, who wanted to take me home. We got there and he walked me to the front door. We looked at each other for a moment. "Hey, so are you doing anything for Christmas." I asked.

He shook his head. "Just gonna stay at the apartment." He said. I smiled. "Well then I want you to be my guest at my family Christmas gathering." He was a little shocked. "Oh, I wouldn't want to disrupt you and your family." He said.

I pouted. "Please. I mean, I don't want you to be all alone on my favorite holiday." I said. He hesitated. I went on my tippy toes and kissed him. He rested his hands on the small of my back as I cupped his face. I pulled away and mumbled against his lips, "There are a lot of mistletoes around my house."

He chuckled and said, "Okay, I'll come." I grinned and kissed him again. I was so looking forward to Christmas now.