Dark Days

Bad News

"Practice," Cearra answers simply causing the two women to start laughing. Mason and I were looking back and forth between the two, completely lost. "Okay, if we're through with the comedy club act, will you please tell me what the hell is going on?" Becky's laugh fades as she starts to tell me her story. She opens her mouth and then closes it just as quickly while she rubs her temple with her first two fingers and makes a small grunting noise. "You still havin' them headaches?" Becky just nods her head. "Well, what is it that you are wantin' to tell me?" She looks at our son and he looks back at her shaking his head. She puts her hand up to his cheek and looks into his tiny, green eyes. "We have to baby. They need to know it in case something goes wrong."  Cearra steps forward now, her curiosity piqued.

"Were you bit?" I spin toward her and my eyes blaze with anger.

"No way, she wasn't bit. She can't be bit," I turn to Becky now, "You weren't bit, were you?"

"No," she looks at me then Michonne, "I'd have a fever instead of a headache if I was bit. It's a meningioma, a brain tumor. Usually not cancerous but I was one of those lucky few that did turn cancerous. I had radiation treatments and it shrunk, I was in remission for a long time, but I think it's come back." I was frozen where I stood. Cearra backs against the wall in shock. After a long silent moment Cearra asks the question that I myself was thinking but couldn't ask, "Is there anything we can do for it? It won't," she stops as I turn my head toward her. My eyes plead for her not to finish that sentence. I didn't want to think about that even being a possibility. "It won't kill you, will it?" Becky shrugs her shoulders.

"I guess there's always a chance it is benign but if it's cancerous," I finally make a move and sit down on the bed beside her, "I mean where we're at now, I can't do radiation treatments, there's no medicine, no way to treat it." I bury my face in her neck and my hard as stone façade actually breaks down. My shoulders were heaving but there was no sound coming out of me. I was actually crying, my father would have beat the shit out of me if he were here. Cearra couldn't believe it either and her heart was breaking for Darrick. He speaks without lifting his head, it was muffled but Cearra still hears what he asked. "Becky, I just got you back and now you're tellin' me that I might lose you for good?"  {end Darrick's POV}

Reid comes running into the house, smiling. Rachel walks out of the kitchen with Braylon on her hip, Cathy had Sophia. "Thought you were on watch at the gate, Chief?"

"I was," he says smiling as he turns to Cathy, "They're back. They found Becky, but she was unconscious over Darrick's shoulder. I don't know if she's hurt or...what."

"We've got to go over there and welcome her back, see what's going on." Rachel says excitedly as she starts around Reid and toward the door. Reid grabs her arm to pulls her back. "Let's give them some time to get settled back in first, sort whatever it is out. I have a feeling Becky has been through a lot and I don't think she is going to be up for a lot of company right now."

"Maybe you're right," Rachel concedes, "Tomorrow then."

Cearra comes back in a few hours looking very somber. She goes straight inside and into her room without a single word to a single soul. Rachel follows and knocks on the door. No answer from the other side. "Cearra," she says softly, "It's Rachel. Do you need to talk?" After standing there and knocking a few more times the knob finally turns and the door creaks open just a little bit. Rachel opens it a little more and pokes her head inside seeing Cearra sitting on her bed with her arm resting on her knee. She looks back at Reid and gives him a slight nod before he turns to joins Cathy with the kids in the living room. "Come in if you're coming in," she says flatly as Rachel slides through the door and closes it behind her.

Conner comes in from his watch shortly after Reid had rejoined Cathy and plopped down on the couch resting an arm around her shoulders and they wait for Rachel to come back. Braylon and Sophia were running all over the room chasing Gracie around and laughing. "I can't believe they are running now," Cathy says watching the two youngest Davis children, "Seems like yesterday they were just crawling." Reid smiles the smile of a proud father as he watches his children. "And Charlie," she starts, "He's growing up extremely fast."