A/N: Nice long one!
It was snowing relentlessly in Pittsburgh, but thankfully, it hadn't stopped JJ and Michael from getting to the hospital for Michael's next chemo appointment. With Christmas now just a month away, winter was bearing down on them with no sign of letting up anytime soon, and more than ever, JJ was thinking wistfully of the warm sunny days by the pool in Maui.
"Alright Michael, why don't you get nice and comfortable, and I'll be back with your infusion in a few minutes," said Nicky, the young nurse was overseeing the start of Michael's appointment. She had just administered a dose of anti-nausea drugs to help keep the sickness at bay. "Angie should be here soon, and she'll take over once she arrives"
Nodding in agreement, Michael settled back in his chair, JJ sitting down in the chair beside him. Seconds later, the door to the ward burst open and in came Angie, looking exasperated as she led a little girl in behind her.
"I'm so sorry, Izzy's school called a snow day, her grandparents are snowed in, I had to bring her with me," she said somewhat breathlessly as she approached the nurse's station.
"That's alright," said the charge nurse, Toni. "Hi Izzy"
"Hi," Izzy replied, smiling widely at Toni and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. She was dressed in a long sleeve T-shirt that had been paired with a puffy netted skirt and sparkly pink boots; exactly the kind of outfit you could tell she had picked out herself. "Do I get to sit in your chair today?"
"Oh, absolutely kiddo!" Toni replied with a wide smile, reaching out a hand and taking Izzy under her watchful eye as Angie went to get ready for her shift.
"How are you feeling?" JJ asked her dad quietly as they waited for one of the nurses to come back with his medication.
"Like crap," Michael muttered, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. "Gotta get worse before it gets better, right?"
Reaching over, JJ squeezed his hand, a wan smile crossing her face. "Something like that"
"Only four more rounds to go," Michael said quietly, opening his eyes and giving JJ a tired smile. "Then a month of radiation... and then I'll be singing a different tune come May"
"So I'm guessing... if I get named to the American Cup... you won't be there?" JJ asked knowingly.
Michael shook his head. "You know I'd give half my heart away to be able to go... but if you go to the American Cup, I'll be glued to my TV all weekend"
JJ smiled, nodding as Angie approached them with Michael's chemo, looking more than a little frazzled.
"Morning all," she said chirpily as she hung the plastic covered bag from his IV pole. "Feeling ok today Michael?"
"Not great, but no worse than usual," Michael said honestly. "I'm worrying less now that JJ's home from Hawaii"
"Please, I go all around the world and you're fine, but I go to Hawaii and you worry?" JJ laughed.
"It's not so much you I worry about as Will. You can be a handful," Michael teased, making Angie laugh as JJ shook her head. "You go all around the world with Marta Karolyi, and if she can control Simone, she can control you. Will? Hmm... not so much"
The two girls laughed again.
"Excuse me Dad, but I'm nowhere near as bad as Simone," JJ giggled. "I love her, but she's a nightmare"
"You're lucky my Izzy didn't notice you on her way in," Angie chuckled. "She's your six year old super fan; you'd be bombarded with questions all day"
"Snow day at school?" JJ asked knowingly.
"It's Pennsylvania, are you surprised?" Angie chuckled. "Alright Michael, I'm just going to hook this up to your central line and then you're pretty much set for the day"
"Sounds like a plan," Michael said tiredly, still managing a smile. Reaching a thin hand down the collar of his shirt, he pulled out the end of the central line so Angie could access it easier. JJ swallowed thickly, turning away and fixing her gaze on the opposite side of the room; it was one of the least confronting parts about her father's disease, and yet it was one of the things that always bothered her the most.
"There we are," Angie said a few minutes later. "So we'll let that one run until its empty, probably an hour or so, and then we'll put up the next one which will probably take about two hours, because if we run that one too fast, it makes you sick"
Michael nodded, giving Angie a tired smile as he settled back in his chair once more. Angie smiled back, turning and heading back up to the nurses' station.
"I'll be back in a minute Dad," JJ said quietly, rising from her chair and following Angie down the ward, getting a half hearted wave from her father.
Sensing JJ behind her as she reached the ledge dividing the station from the ward, Angie looked over her shoulder with a smile.
"What can I do for you?" she asked warmly, turning to face JJ.
"I was wondering if you could introduce me to Izzy," JJ said with a smile. "Sitting around here all day is tedious enough for me, let alone a six year old"
"She's going to freak out," Angie laughed. "I haven't told her your dad is one of my patients, or I'd never hear the end of it"
JJ grinned.
"She's just around here with Toni, I'm pretty sure," Angie added, beckoning for JJ to follow her as she walked towards the door into the nurses' station.
Pushing on the door, it swung open, allowing her and JJ into the cluttered but homey little area in which the nurses did everything from paperwork to making coffee. There was a smaller room around the corner just to the right, and as they approached, JJ could hear the animated voice of a happy little girl as she recounted her weekend to the charge nurse. She hung back a little as Angie poked her head into the room.
"Hey munchkin, you behaving?"
"I'm being an angel!" Izzy proclaimed happily, much to the amusement of the women.
"You better be being an angel because I have to tell you something really special," Angie said. "Do you remember when Mommy told you that she's looking after a very special person's daddy at the hospital?"
"Uh huh," Izzy said. JJ bit back a grin; she sounded a little disinterested.
"Well, that person is here today and they'd like to say hello to you," Angie continued, waving behind her for JJ to come to the door.
"Who is it?" Izzy asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice. Moments later, Angie stepped aside, and JJ walked up to the doorframe with a huge smile. Izzy's gasp of utter amazement that followed made everyone in the room burst out laughing.
"Oh my gosh!" she squealed, jumping off her chair and zooming across the room to throw her arms around JJ's waist in an excited hug. JJ laughed, returning the gesture by giving Izzy a squeeze. Seconds later, Izzy had started crying as she pulled away, clearly overwhelmed at being in the presence of her idol.
"Oh, don't cry," JJ chuckled, bending down to Izzy's level as Angie knelt down to try and calm down her daughter.
"JJ wanted to say hello to you. A little birdie told her that you do gymnastics," Angie said sweetly.
"Y-eah," Izzy said through her tears, a watery smile finding its way onto her face. "Did... did you know th-that you look t-taller on TV?"
They all laughed, making Izzy break into watery giggles.
"I get that a lot," JJ laughed, reaching out and wrapping an arm around Izzy's waist. With her other hand, she reached up, wiping away the little girl's tears. "I hear you had a snow day today"
Izzy giggled, her tears mostly subsided. "Yeah... and my gran's house is buried in snow"
"Not quite kiddo, but close," Angie laughed.
"Would you like to come and sit with me, and you can tell me all about your gymnastics?" JJ offered.
Izzy looked to Angie, excitement shining through her teary eyes.
"As long as you're on your best behaviour kiddo, ok? JJ's dad isn't feeling very well, and I'm sure he'd like peace and quiet," Angie said firmly.
"He lives with me and my mom, peace and quiet is a thing of the past," JJ joked as she straightened up and took Izzy's hand. Angie chuckled, watching with a happy heart as her excited little girl skipped off hand in hand with her biggest idol.
"I remember when JJ was a little girl and she went to her first ever gymnastics competition. She did very well and won the all-around in her division, but when she was on the podium to get her medal, she sneezed so hard she fell off," Michael said, leaning on the arm of his chair as he engaged in conversation with JJ and Izzy.
Izzy giggled hysterically from where she was squeezed in beside JJ in the other armchair. JJ grinned; her father had been amusing Izzy for the last hour with tales of JJ's early misfortunes in gymnastics.
"My mommy says I'm a klutz, so I don't know if I'll be good at gymnastics," Izzy said seriously after she'd settled down.
"Well, you know Simone Biles?" JJ asked. Izzy nodded.
"She's amazing at gymnastics, but she's terrible at walking. She falls over all the time," JJ told her. Izzy laughed again.
"Alright Michael, looks like you're all done for the day," Angie said warmly as she strode over wearing latex gloves and carrying a syringe filled with saline solution. "I hope my Izzy has been good for you guys"
"She's gorgeous," Michael chuckled. "She can sit with us anytime"
Beaming, Angie disconnected Michael's chemo from his line, before flushing the port with the saline solution. "I'll just finish writing up today's paperwork, and then you're good to go," she said warmly.
Fifteen minutes later, with some more anti-nausea on board, Michael was free to go. As he was pulling on his jacket, JJ approached Angie, who was standing by the nurses' station.
"You'll have to let me know when Izzy's coming back, I'd love to bring her some things," she said with a smile.
"Well, she'll probably be here the first week of winter break, because her dad is going to visit his family in California then. She's going to be so excited to see you again," Angie replied.
"Are you leaving?" Izzy exclaimed as she came running out of the office as if on cue.
"Yeah, I have to go home now, but I'll see you soon!" JJ said, kneeling down to give Izzy one last hug. "Be good for your mom"
"I promise," Izzy said sweetly, standing with Angie and waving as JJ and her dad made their way back out of the ward once more.
"I feel like there's a couple of things I should let you know about JJ before you start working with her," Nick said gently as he and Teagan sat down in the now empty gym, having just sent Kate and Clem home after their first training session for the day.
"Ok," Teagan replied, grabbing her water bottle from where she'd sat it at the edge of the floor.
"Most of the time, she's a dream to coach. She's stubborn and knows what she wants, but she's a hard worker. If you tell her to do something, nine times out of ten, she'll do it. She only kicks up a fuss over it if she's in a really shitty mood, which... over the last year, only really happened a couple of times after New Year when her boyfriend was being an idiot"
Teagan laughed. "Doesn't surprise me"
Nick grinned. "He is actually a really nice guy, and he's helped JJ grow into the confident, headstrong person she is today, so don't get me wrong there"
Teagan chuckled, nodding.
"JJ has the biggest heart of gold of anyone I've ever known. She loves meeting and spending time with her fans; not out of big headedness or anything, purely because she wants to answer their questions and give them some inspiration. And if you think she's gold hearted with her fans, she's ten times more so with her family and friends"
Nick sighed heavily, clasping his hands together. "I normally wouldn't impart what I'm about to tell you without JJ knowing... I'd wait for her to tell you herself, but... there is a lot going on in her life outside of gymnastics and as much as I wish it was good, it really isn't. I want you to know and be aware of what she's dealing with, without letting on to her that you know, because I want you to be prepared if the shitty days start happening more often, which I'm inclined to think they are. And also because I know JJ would rather cut off both of her arms than admit to someone that she's having a rough time"
Teagan nodded, a look of concern crossing her face.
"JJ had a rough year this year... this year was the tenth anniversary of her sister's death by suicide. I didn't actually know this until just before we left for the Classic, but JJ was the one who found her sister after she'd killed herself, and considering she was only eleven years old... I think there were a lot of unhealed wounds this year that all came back to the surface"
By now, Teagan's expression read as a mixture of horror and sadness, her mouth slightly agape as she watched Nick closely, waiting to see if he had more to say. "I had no idea about all that," she said in a shocked whisper.
"She's pretty private in general," Nick replied. "Learning to open up and not push everything deep down is a skill she's been working on all year"
"God," Teagan whispered in disbelief.
"That isn't where it's ended though," Nick added. "When we were away at Worlds, the night before the team final, she found out that her dad has cancer. She was... well... I've never seen her that upset, let's put it that way"
"Holy crap... you'd think one person would have had enough to deal with"
"You'd think, but someone somewhere has other ideas," Nick sighed. "I haven't yet witnessed how her dad being sick is going to affect her training, but I've got a feeling the shitty days are going to become more frequent"
"What do you normally do when she kicks up?" Teagan asked.
"Usually I can bring it to an end by just putting my foot down and telling her to get her ass into gear. Often results in death glares and a few muttered swear words, but she'll do whatever it is you're asking if you're firm enough. If she's really not having it, I've sent her outside to cool off, and if that doesn't work, I've sent her home. Only ever had to do that twice, and both times she came back the next time around with her tail between her legs for sure"
Teagan laughed as Nick grinned.
"Honestly, don't be too concerned, she's pretty easy to handle 99 percent of the time. I just wanted you to be aware of what's going on with her at the moment so you can let me know if you have any concerns," he explained. "But I think you'll be just fine"