Here We Go Again (Two Others, mkay? :D )

Justin frowned, not liking the sound of where this was going. He sat down, listening intently.

The doctor had waited until Justin had sat down to continue. "Her lungs weren't stitched up completely. They misjudged the length of the cut into her lung by a millimeter. It was enough space for a mass to get inside her lungs. I figure you're mad about this girl, or else her parents would have brought her, so I'll let you know now... She has early signs of lung cancer. We're lucky to have caught it when we did, and we can get the mass taken out today. But if there's any more tissue in her lungs, or by any chance her other one, she'll get lucky to live 5 years more. If we can get this one out today, and get the scar tissue out then she should have a good chance of living. If not..." The doctor couldn't continue. To see a young man with that look in his eyes, it was disastrous.

[aww, this is gonna make me cry D;]

Justin couldn't speak. Brittany had lung cancer..? He felt his lip quiver and rubbed his jaw, trying to hide it. "You... You can't do radiation or chemo or anything..." he asked, clearing his throat.

The doctor sighed, sitting down next to the boy. "Surgery is her fastest, best choice son. Chemo could weaken her immune system to the point that the cancer would spread faster. And lord she's so thin too. Had she been showing weight-loss?" He hadn't told the girl yet, she was now getting her IVs done and the surgeons were being called in from whatever they were doing.

Justin sighed, thinking. "Not that I could tell," he said. "She's been eating normal..."

(I was thinkin bout it last night and started to cry. tt-tt)

The doctor nodded. "Sadly, she was 10 pounds less than her last visit. I don't know if she'd been keeping it a secret, but a few more days and it could have been to late to save her. There was blood mixed into her lungs as well. We're working on her now, but she can only have so much done at a time. She's okay to see you know, if you'd like."

[aww D;]

Justin nodded, his lips pursed as he forced himself not to start crying. "Yeah..."

(It's sad... I had to think of a way to spice it up)

The doctor nodded and stood, waiting for Justin before he started to take him to Brittany's room.

Brittayn sighed deeply, closing her eyes for a moment before looking up at her attending nurse. "What's going on? It's just a little infection right?" The nurse looked down and sighed, then briefly shook her head before finishing the medicine and walking out.

Justin walked into Brit's room and pulled a chair up to her bedside, kissing her forehead, lingering there for a minute to compose his split break in control, and sat down in the chair, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.

Brittany saw Justin come in and the look in his eyes. She sat up, taking both his hands in hers when she sat down. "Baby... Baby what's wrong? What'd they tell you?"

He bit his lip and shook his head. He squeezed her hands, taking a moment to gather the strength to tell her. "They didn't stitch you up all the way... They found a mass in your lung," he choked out, fighting the tears in his eyes.

Brittany breathed heavily, not sure what to say. She looked down for a moment, shaky breaths all she could get out now. "I... I never told you. The bruise never went away. I never even. God I'm so stupid. I have lung cancer and I didn't even think to look."

He sat on the edge of her bed and held her close, being careful of her side. "We'll get you taken care of," he whispered to her. "I don't care how much it costs."

Brittany stared at her hands, now stunned. How had she not thought the bruise was an issue? It had been months! It was because it had stopped hurting. "Baby... What all did they say?"

He leaned his forehead against her head gently. "The doc said you had early signs of lung cancer, and that they can take the mass out today," he told her gently. "But he said if they'res any more tissue then you'll be lucky to live five more years..."

Brittany swallowed and nodded gently, pulling her legs up to her chest. "Okay..." She took as deep a breath as she could manage, looking away. She felt ashamed of herself, disgusted even... And she had no idea why.

He buried his face in her hair, never wanting to let her go. He wished he was the one with cancer instead of her. The more he thought about it, the more he blamed himself. If he hadn't broken up with Alora, they wouldn't have had that fight.

"Babe I'm so sorry... I should have gotten this looked at sooner. I don't know how I never thought of it." She closed her eyes and laid back, a tear rolling down her cheek. She knew what he was thinking. It killed her to think it was his fault.

He shook his head and just held her, ignoring everything else.

Brittany coughed, hugging him tightly. It hurt to cough a lot now, especially to breathe. It was strange, knowing that at any time she could die...

He loosened his hold so he didn't hurt her, but he still held her, kissing her cheek and her forehead. "I love you so much," he whispered, his voice cracking.

Brittany grimaced, tears whelling up in her eyes as she heard his voice crack. Each tear slid over slowly, as she wrapped her arms as tight around her as possible. "I love you too..."

He held her close, burying his face in her shoulder.

She started to cry heavy tears as the reality of her situation dawned upon her. She wouldn't be living much longer.

He held her close to him, crying with her, kissing her tear-stained cheeks, her hair, her shoulder.