A Spine-Tingling Story - TDG Fanfic

Be Careful What You Wish For

The first thing May-Li noticed when she caught Ryan's collapsing body was how light he was. Not so light as to induce serious concern for his health - well, any more serious concern for his health - but still noticeable. It wasn't hard to see why - cancer, along with its many treatments, often came with a loss of appetite. Even if it didn't, aggressive, fast-growing gliomas were like black holes when it came to calories. She hoped that'd be taken care of once he got better.

Trying to ignore the stares from everyone currently in the foyer, she tried shifting Ryan into a more comfortable position, but her ministrations appeared to have pulled at his back as he let out a small wince, his eyes easing themselves open to focus on her face.

He was silent for a few long seconds before he realised what had happened and said in a dry whisper, "You better not have called an ambulance for me."

May-Li actually let out a laugh at that, partially out of relief. "No, you were only out for about fifteen seconds, not long enough for us to do anything."

"... Is this normal?" Karen asked quietly. Needless to say, she felt extremely awkward as well as confused. As far as she could see, the reactions of the people around them were worried, but not entirely surprised, and this only heightened her interest.

"I think it's best we take this somewhere quieter," Mike suggested quickly, gesturing for her to follow him to the quiet room. She did, Chloe on her tail. May-Li handed Ryan back his cane, which had clattered to the floor when he fell.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," May-Li murmured, more to herself than to Ryan. "I understand if you don't want to see her right now, do you want to get away and rest for a bit? You look a little woozy."

Ryan shook his head adamantly in response, ignoring the slight dizziness that came with it. "No, I want to see her face when she finds out."

May-Li sighed. "If you're sure," she said, helping him stand. If she was honest, she couldn't say she wasn't a little unnerved at the fact that Ryan was planning to take pleasure in his mother's reaction to his illness, but she supposed that was the least of their worries.

They reached the quiet room just as Mike was explaining to Karen what was happening to Ryan.

"... he started getting back pains a few months ago, and they weren't getting any better, so we took him to the hospital for some tests," Mike's voice said as Ryan opened the door and walked inside, wordlessly taking a seat on the sofa next to Mike and opposite his mother and Chloe, making it clear he was staying. Nonetheless, the man continued. "What they found was ..." he trailed off, suddenly acutely aware of the boy's presence next to him. "Do you want to finish it?" he asked, turning to him.

"It's cancer," Ryan said bluntly.

Sure enough, Karen's reaction was worth seeing. Her whole face paled and her eyes widened until they looked like they were about to pop right out of her head. Her shaking hand founds its way to her mouth as if to stop herself from screaming or sobbing out loud.

"Anaplastic astrocytoma, grade 3, growing right here in my spinal cord," Ryan continued, hammering it in further. "Leeching off of my nutrients, taking over my body, and the only way to stop it is to-"

"Ryan!" Mike interrupted, using a firm tone of voice and an equally firm hand on Ryan's shoulder. "We get the point, now stop upsetting your mother. It's not her fault."

Stop upsetting my mother?! screamed Ryan's inner monologue. That was the last straw. He stood up, paraparesis be damned, and stared everyone down. "Mike, you've got no right to say that to me. I'm the one who's upset. She may not have given me cancer, but she sure as hell infected me with some sort of toxicity. She left me - left both of us - when we were vulnerable, and now look at us! Don't you see what she's done?! My whole life was literally a lie!"