Close To You

Chapter 9

Several more hours passed before anyone came out. By the time they had, he had already brought back Ellie's books as a request from her, and taken Skylar to get breakfast at the local McDonalds on the way back. Skylar had nearly fallen asleep again when Dr. Watts came out, not bothering to sit down this time. Whether this was bad or good, Sean didn't know.

"I need to see you in here for a moment, if you'd care to join me. It would probably be easier to tell you and your wife at once." Sean suddenly got a sickening feeling in his stomach, but tried his best to ignore it. He pointed at his half-asleep daughter.

"Can she come?"

"If you so wish." Picking her up, Sean carried her back to where the doctor was leading them. He sat down on the bed beside Ellie, who was propped against some pillows, quietly reading through her book, studying, no less. The doctor sat down across from the both of them, folding his hands in his lap. Sean knew this couldn't be good, but with a slightly shaking hand, he grabbed Ellie's and forced a smile.

"We thought we had the answer pinned down last night, but that was apparently not the case. We have the results from the blood samples back and..." He put his head down, trying to think of the right way to word it. He had told countless families this, but no matter how often it happened, he had never grown used to it. "And it would appear that you have cancer." Ellie stared at him for a long, tense moment, then, making sure her voice's cracking was minimal, answered.

"And w-what do I do to get it treated?" Dr. Watts closed his eyes, then opened them again.

"I'm very sorry, Ellie, but your cancer is terminal." Sean looked at his wife, who was miraculously holding up quite well from this news. She spoke again.

"How...how long...."

"It varies from person to person. Sometimes it's six months, sometimes six years...it just depends on the individual."

"So...in other words...I could just go at any time and never even see it coming?"

"Not quite....I thought you were studying to be a doctor?" He joked gently. She grinned weakly.

"I am, but a pediatric doctor...I don't know about the big leagues." A forced laugh escaped her throat. "But...what are the symptoms?"

"Usually more fainting, tiredness, more weakness...in general, just the lack of energy."

"Sounds like anema to me," She said pointedly. Dr. Watts smiled slightly. Reaching over, he patted her knee and wished her luck, then walked out the door to give her some peace. Looking over, she noticed Sean still staring at her, tears in his eyes, and Skylar on her other side, not knowing quite what was going on but knowing something was wrong, nonetheless.

"Are you alright, mommy?" Ellie choked back a sob and hugged her daughter.

"Yeah...Mommy's going to be okay, baby. Just fine." She looked over at Sean, who had turned his head away from the both of them, presumably to hide the tears that were threatening to spill. She put her hand on his, then picked up her book.

"What are you doing?" He asked, sounding shocked. She looked up, and matter-of-factly, replied.

"I have a test to study for."