Chapter 2:

Disclaimer: Same as the Prologue.

I let out a small sigh as I finished the last word to my book. The ending was just was good as always. I loved it, no matter how many times I read it and that made me a total nerd.

"If you keep sighing at that book I might take it away," Charlie said from next to me, looking up from his game of Temple Run. We had been waiting for a few hours now-about two and half-since my appointment was supposed to take place.

I had re-read the last few chapters during that time about three times and I was just ever so slightly tempted to do it a fourth. It wouldn't hurt to see it all again, would it?

I smiled at him wryly. "I can't help it if the book is just naturally good," I said. "It's kind of like that movie, you know, that always ends so well you could watch it over and over and over again."

He rolled his eyes. "We have different definitions of watching-over-again material then, Bella," he said.

"I wouldn't say that. We both enjoy The Hobbit."

"Yes," he agreed, "but that is because both of us are nerds and anyone who doesn't like The Hobbit has something wrong with them."

"Or the people that do have a problem," a male voice spoke up. We turned our heads to Dr. Ford as he walked forward with a smile, showing the wrinkles under his eyes. "I don't know if I have a cure for that, though."

"Hello, Dr. Ford," I said. I slid my book into the bag that Charlie had brought with us. We had learned to bring stuff along from the first appointment we had with him and his brother did give good advice on how long it might be.

He smiled. "Hello, Bella, how are you feeling today?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Better. Last night was a doozy, but that is usually what my second night is like. I should be good for today if the pattern continues," I said with a small smile.

He nodded. "Let's go talk about it in my office. Then, we can see how much of a 'doozy' it was and if you should be put on more medication or not," he said, motioning with his hand.

I stood up from my chair with Charlie next to me. Dr. Ford led us down the hall towards his office as he looked at Charlie. "My brother said that you worked as a police officer back in Forks, right?" he asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I'm the Chief there. A few guys are filling in for me right now since I have to be up here, though," he explained. Charlie didn't like the idea of not carrying his own weight on the team back in Forks, but the guys made it clear he had done enough over the years he deserved it.

Dr. Ford nodded. "That's what I thought. I heard that the station down there was hiring part time from an old patient's brother-if you're interested. I thought it might a good idea to have another thing up here for you to do."

Charlie thought for a second, actually seeming to consider it. He blinked and gave a polite smile. "That is a good idea, but I don't know if I could do that while Bella is going through all of this."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine, Dad. I can take care of myself enough to let you work a part-time job as a cop. Besides, you need to do something else besides sit around with me all day. You need to have a life too, you know."

He gave me a small smile as Dr. Ford chuckled. "That is a good point. Bella has more of an excuse to be lazy than you do, Charlie," he said.

"I'm not lazy."

"Then you just sit around and drink beer because you're forced to?"

He snorted at the two of us as we chuckled. Dr. Ford arrived at his office door and motioned us inside. He followed close behind and closed the door. "Take a seat," he said, motioning to the plush armchairs in front of his large wooden desk.

I did as he said along with Charlie, sitting in the surprisingly comfortable chair as I leaned back to relax. Dr. Ford walked to his desk and began to go through the papers, organizing the notes he made of the last patient. He set them in the file and pushed it to the side as he grabbed mine and placed it in front of him, taking a seat.

"Alright," he said, grabbing a pencil, "let's see. What are the symptoms so far this time, Bella?"

"Nausea, some short-term memory problems, still weight and some slight exhaustion," I said immediately. I was used to this kind of ordeal by now, and I knew to cut to the chase.

He nodded, writing down the notes. "Mm-hmm…Any dizziness or confusion?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, not really-just the short term memory. Even that isn't bad, though. I just need people to repeat things," I explained.

He nodded. "Alright, and the last time you vomited was?"

"Last night. It was a little after two in the morning," I said.

"Did you take your medication for it?"

I nodded in affirmative. "Yes, but I think it was later than I meant to. Sometimes it just doesn't stop the vomiting," I explained.

He hummed with a nod, scribbling down several notes on his paper. "Are you getting enough sleep at night?" he asked, looking up from his notepad. "If not, I think that you might discover your exhaustion going away."

I could tell that it was meant as a small joke-even if it wasn't an amazing one-and smiled a little. I nodded. "I'm sleeping well enough."

He scribbled down more notes. "Alright," he said. "I think we'll take another physical of you know to see how things are going. Kristen should be in here soon to help us with that. She's with our last patient. In the meant time…" He turned his attention to Charlie. "...Is there anything you are noticing that you think I should know? Her eating habits, possibly?"

Charlie thought for a moment. "Well, I think she's doing alright on nutrition. She's drinking V8 every morning and at least one more time during the day. She takes the Ensure for protein and milk for calcium. The only problem is that her appetite doesn't involve devouring five meals a day."

He nodded. "I'm glad to hear she's doing well in eating the right things. The appetite is typical, but not the typical teenager," he agreed, seeming to think of something just as the door opened.

The nurse that had helped us before-Kristen-walked in bright pink scrubs with lions on them-she worked with kids. "Hello, Bella, Charlie," she greeted.

"Kristen."

"Hi."

She looked to Dr. Ford. "Just a standard check-up?" she asked. He nodded as I stood, letting her wave her hand. "Alright, Bella, you know the drill."

She led me to the scale on the far side of the office as I kicked off my shoes-almost tripping on the last one. I stood in front of the scale as she set it. I could hear Charlie and the doctor talking behind us.

She nodded to me when it was ready and I stepped onto the platform. As she took my weight, she asked, "So, how are you doing today, Bella?"

I shrugged. "Okay, I suppose. I haven't really felt terrible yet, so I'm gonna take that as a good sign," I said, giving her a small smile to show her I was joking.

She smiled back at me. "Of course it is." The scale beeped and we both looked at the weight displayed.

103.7 lbs.

She wrote down the weight and gave me a small smile. "If we can get you up a little more than you'd be better, but it isn't bad," she said. She looked at the chart. "Actually, you weighed less last time, so that is an improvement."

I nodded as I stepped off the scale. I pulled my shoes back on as she got her watch ready to take my pulse. I struggled to slip my last foot into my shoe as my finger got caught between my heel and the back of the shoe as she spoke up again, "Bella?"

I hopped in placed, yanking my finger back as I shoved my foot the rest of the way in. I gave a triumphant smile. "Yeah?"

"Why does your starting weight have you listed as barely scraping one hundred pounds?" she asked.

I stopped for a second, letting my shoe fall to the ground. One thing the doctors still had to learn up here was the reason I had weighed less in the beginning. After the Cullens left, I went into a slight…stage. I didn't eat or sleep hardly at all for about a month, and that was obviously bad for my health on top of the cancer and chemo.

At the time, I was trying to deal with the fact that I was going to die from cancer and that the love of my life had shattered my heart. I had felt alone during that time-completely and utterly alone.

I mostly sat in my room and just stared out of the window when I wasn't at school, or pretending it wasn't as bad as it actually was for Charlie. My social activity went even lower than it had in the beginning of moving Forks and I was, well, that girl. The girl that everyone stared at as she walked down the hall because everyone knew what happened to her, and they couldn't do anything but watch.

It was difficult being on that kind of pedestal for a long time. I felt like I couldn't get out off of it at all, but music, friends, family and love helped carry me down from that giant stand I was on and took me down to ground level where I could consult with my fellow humans.

There were debts made that I could never repay from then; from that.

I pursed my lips as I straightened my shoulders slightly. "I had gone through an emotional trauma that effected me, and it caused me to eat little for a while. It's part of why my kick-off in this wasn't great," I explained.

Kristen furrowed her brow and tilted her head to the side. "What kind of trauma?" she asked. She wasn't being nosy, just curious.

I shrugged. "Classic teen romance tragedy. I was the shy girl with little to no confidence in myself and he was the guy that everyone saw as a gift from God. I got involved with him, fell in love, and then he broke my heart just like that." I snapped my fingers for emphasis at the end.

She set her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said.

I shrugged again with a small smile. "It's alright. It was a few years ago," I said. "I got through it and over him."

She nodded and gave me a small nudge. "I'm glad you got through that then." She took my hand and lifted my wrist to her hand. "Now, let's see your pulse."

We stood there in silence for a minute as she pressed her fingers to my wrist, looking at her watch as she counted in her head. After several long moments she let go of my wrist and began to write down my number on the board, "Fifty-six beats per minute."

I nodded as she set her notes down on a nearby chair and removed the stethoscope from around her neck. She placed the ends in her ears and breathed on the flat part. "Let's see what the tickers doing," she said. She held onto my upper arm as she set it against my chest. "Breathe in."

I did.

I held it.

"Breathe out."

I did.

I held it.

"Breathe in again."

In.

Hold.

"Breathe out again."

Out.

Hold.

"Breathe in one more time for me."

In.

Hold.

"Breathe out one last time."

Out.

Hold.

She nodded, removing the buds from her ears as she placed it around her neck again. "It seems to be working alright with me," she smiled. "It has the perfect tic and toc of the clock."

I heard small chuckle from behind me as she wrote down on her notes. "Sometimes it's obvious how often you work with children, Kristen," Dr. Ford said from his desk with Charlie with a smug grin pulled across his lips.

She shrugged. "The puns and jokes work, I'm telling you. You have no idea how many times I get a little kid to stop crying or fighting when I use 'em."

"I'm sure they do," he smiled.

I walked back to the desk and sat down in the chair I had occupied earlier. I crossed my legs and set my hands in my lap with my fingers laced as Charlie gave me a small smile.

Kristen walked to stand behind the desk slightly next to Dr. Ford as she handed him her notes. "She's doing good," she said.

I was glad she didn't say, "She's all good and healthy." I hated it when nurses said that. I knew it was negative thinking, but I obviously wasn't healthy. I was sick.

There was a possibility of becoming terminal right now if they couldn't get the cancer under control-let alone get rid of it.

Any time someone said I was healthy made me want to the punch them in the face. Lying about it didn't help me, but talking about it did. Facing the facts helped me, not lying about it and putting on a mask to make me feel better about myself or my "condition".

He nodded as he took the notes and looked them over. He set them down on the desk. "Alright, Bella," he said. He turned back to me as he rested the notes on his desk, setting his hands over the file. "I think we're going to keep you on your normal routine for the next three rounds and see how that goes. We'll do scans after that to see if there is any improvement, and if not, we'll change it. We don't want to go making changes too fast if this is going to work for you after all."

I nodded with Charlie. "Sounds like a plan to me."

He smiled. "Good." He looked at Kristen. "Kristen will take you to the desk and make sure that your next chemotherapy is set up and ready in three weeks."

Charlie nodded as he stood up, making me stand after him. "Thank you," he said, holding out his hand to Dr. Ford.

Dr. Ford took it as he stood with a smile. "No problem, Charlie," he said as they shook hands.

Charlie dropped their hands and placed his on the small of my back. "Let's go, Bells," he said. He began to lead me towards the door with Kristen following. He looked over his shoulder at Dr. Ford. "We'll see you next time, doc."

"See you then, Charlie," he replied with a small nod and wave. "Enjoy the rest of your day."

"You too," I replied just before we left the room completely.

Kristen began to escort us down the hall towards the front desk. The papers to make sure my next therapy session was updated and ready were clutched in her hand next to her hip. "Have you two eaten at all besides breakfast?" she suddenly inquired.

I shook my head after a moment's thought. "No, I ate around ten, but I don't know when Dad ate," I said, looking at Charlie over my shoulder.

Charlie thought for a second as he remembered our morning. He most likely didn't remember half of it without his morning coffee kicking in first. "I ate just before I woke you up around nine thirty," he said with a firm nod at his memory.

Kristen grinned, "In that case, I know this great little place in the city. It has the best food and they're all healthy for you."

"Really?" Charlie asked.

She nodded. "We send a lot of patients down there. It not only helps their business, but it also helps everyone get the nutrition they need," she explained.

"What's it called?"

"Maria's," she said. She took out her pen and a booklet from her pocket for extra emergency notes. She scribbled something down on a page, tore it out, and held it out to Charlie. "Here's the address. I think you guys should give it a shot and see if you like it."

Charlie took the paper from her, reading the front of it. He gave a small nod and stuffed it into his pocket. "I think we will. Thank you, Kristen," he said with a small smile.

She nodded. "Of course."

We reached the front desk at this point, and the woman working it looked up from her computer. She smiled. "How can I help you, Kristen?" she asked.

Kristen handed her the appointment forms over the top of the computer. "I need an appointment for Bella Swan three weeks from now for chemo," she said.

The woman took it and read through the file. She gave a nod and typed something up as she clicked her tongue a little. "Well, there's an opening on Friday the eleventh at eight in the morning. Will that work for you?" she asked us.

Charlie took out his phone to check the calendar. After he scrolled the days he finally nodded and stuffed his phone into his pocket. "Yes, we'll be free."

She nodded and typed our names in for the slot. "Okay, then," she said. She printed out a slip for us to remember the date by. She handed it over the desk to me. "We'll be seeing you on the eleventh, then."

I nodded with a smile. "Thank you."

"Of course, hon."

Charlie and I stepped away from the desk as Kristen smiled at us. "Make sure you check out that restaurant I told you about. You might have found a new place to go. Not to mention it's in the perfect location for you since you're half way into the city and halfway into the town."

I nodded. "We will," I smiled. "We really need options anyway since we don't really know any places around here."

"Well, you got one right there," she gave me a wink. She took a step back to head back down the hall towards the office. "I'll see both of you on the eleventh and I will be excited to hear what you think of the place."

I gave her a small wave. "We'll see you then, Kristen," I agreed with a small smile at the end.

Charlie waved as she smiled and then walked away. He placed his hand on my back again. "Let's get going, Bells. I kind of want to try that place she told us about. It doesn't sound that bad."

I nodded. "I wouldn't mind something new," I agreed. I was always ready for new food options besides the food we could just find in the supermarket, or a salad at any fast food place we made a quick stop at. I let Charlie guide me towards the doors of the building. As we did, an old man walked in through the doors.

He didn't look much older than sixty five, and the smile and glimmer in his eyes made him look even younger. His hair was gray with white peppered through it and was slicked back decently. He wore a nice shirt-not particularly dressy, but nice-with a pair of jeans. He had a little bit of weight on him, but not a lot. He seemed pretty healthy for however old he was.

He saw me looking and smiled. He gave a small wave towards us. "Afternoon, folks," he greeted.

"Good afternoon," I replied.

"Afternoon," Charlie said.

The man gave us a smile and held the door open for us. "Here you go," he said. I was honestly a little surprised with how nice he was and how casual the action came for him.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

He released the door when we were through and continued into the building as he had been earlier. I looked back at him, and wondered if he was a patient or maybe someone who knew another person here.

If he was that nice, I wouldn't mind to see him around again.

Charlie tugged on my back. I snapped my head in his direction as he raised a brow at me. "You alright, Bells?"

I nodded. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

I kept walking forward, going through the parking lot until I found the car-Tom's 2008 Mazda, actually. I waited at the passenger door as Charlie took out the keys, unlocking it with the remote. I pulled open the door and slipped inside, settling myself into the seat.

Charlie threw the bag we brought into the back of the car before he climbed in. I shut the door and put on my seatbelt. As I did, I felt a small chill run up my spine-the kind that came when everything was about to change.