That night, Lea and Sméagol were lying in bed together, snuggled under a pile of warm, soft, fluffy sweater blankets. He was holding her tightly, and caressing her body.
"That was really sweet," said Lea, "the way you helped that little girl."
"We wish we could've done more, though," said Sméagol.
"Like, somehow, cure her sickness?"
"Yes, that poor thing."
"Yeah, only six years old, and she's gonna die. She hasn't even lived yet. She'll never have the chance to find out what her dreams are for the future, what she wants to do when she grows up, or... or fall in love, all thanks to stupid, fucking cancer."
"What's cancer?"
"It's a nasty tumor that grows inside of you, and slowly, or sometimes quickly, sucks the life out of you, makes you feel like utter shit, and the treatments for it are miserable."
"What are they, Precious?"
"Chemotherapy, which is a poison they put inside your body to try and kill the cancer. It makes you feel like shit, though, and a lot of times, you lose your hair, too. That's why her hair was so short, because of the chemo. They also do radiation. I don't know much about that, but..." Lea sighed heavily. "Either way, cancer is a bitch."
"There's no other ways to get rid of it?"
"Well, you can get surgery to remove the tumors if they haven't spread too far. That's when they put you to sleep, and cut you open to remove whatever's making you sick."
"Cancer spreads?"
"Yeah, it does, and when it spreads too far, nothing, not chemo or radiation or even surgery can fix it."
Sméagol wiped tears from his eyes. "It's not fair," he sniffled. "She's so small, so young, and so precious, and she's going to die. It's not fair, Lea."
"No, it's not," Lea agreed.
"Sméagol wants to take away her pain," he sobbed, "so much, it hurts. That poor, precious little angel."
"Well..." Lea sighed, "I know you can't take away her cancer, but you really, really did help her today. She's scared out of her mind, and you made her feel at ease. I know you wish you could do more, but... just love alone is so powerful. I mean, look at me. I'm still alive, because of it. It was you and Bri that stopped me from ending my life, because you loved me."
"And, we would do it again."
"I know you would, because you're just that good."
Sméagol thought for a moment. "We knows what more we can do for Meredith."
"What's that?"
"We be there to hold her hand when she goes... and sing to her."
"And, love her?"
"Yes. Sméagol give her lots of love and hugses."
Lea began to cry. "God, Sméagol, you are an angel."
Sméagol smiled at Lea.
"How did I get so lucky... and so blessed? It still blows me away to know that I know someone as sweet and kind and beautiful and wonderful as you and Gollum, and even more, that you love me. I never thought I would ever find someone so good. How did I get so damn lucky?"
"Awwwww, my precious." Sméagol held her even tighter. "We're the lucky one. We finds beautiful friends like you and Bri, and you reminds us what love is."
"You shows us what it is," said Gollum.
"I love you so freaking much," Lea wept.
"Awwww, we loves you, too, Precious," Sméagol said sweetly.
"So very, very much," added Gollum, kissing Lea's cheek.
"Ugh," Lea groaned.
"Awww, what's the matter, Baby?" asked Sméagol.
"My head is killing me."
"Awww, my poor little cutie-pie." Sméagol caressed Lea's head.
"I've been having a lot of headaches lately."
"From all the stress?"
"Yeah, from worrying that Bri hated my guts, and then, worrying that something happened to her. I get headaches when I get stressed out."
"Awwwww, my poor baby. How does it feel when we rubs your head?"
"It feels amazing."
"It helps?"
"Big time."
"What if we sings to you?"
"That would be awesome," Lea said sleepily.
Sméagol continued to caress Lea's head as he sang her a sweet song. She closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep in his arms. When he finished singing, he kissed her softly. "Good night, my precious." Then, he fell asleep, still holding her in his arms.