All of my heart I do
Blood through my veins for you
You alone have all of me."
~ Lyrics from RAPUNZEL by David J. Matthews
"How do you think she'll do, Paul?"
"I don't honestly know yet, Rose. I tried to remove everything the cancer had touched, but we can never be completely sure. As soon as she heals, we'll have you start her chemo. Until then, you'll be there to assist her fiance' and watch for signs that her cancer has spread."
"I'll introduce myself this afternoon then. I have to run to a meeting now." Keely heard the whole conversation through her drug induced haze, but it was a few more minutes before she could open her eyes. She instantly regretted it.
"Welcome back, Miss Keely. Roll onto your side, sweetheart," a nurse said turning Keely and placing a pillow against her stomach as she was sick. It seemed like hours later that Keely was able to rest and breathe normally when it was no more than a minute.
"There is a handsome young man waiting to see you when you feel up to it."
"I can't...not like this."
"Hush now and rest for a while," she said handing Keely a cup of ice. "Let these melt in your mouth for a while so it won't be so dry."
"Is he...okay?"
"I'll bring him in for a minute just so you can see each other." Keely let her eyes flutter closed, trying to block out the pain and the disgusting taste in the back of her throat.
"Are you all here for Ms. Alden?" JC's head snapped up so quickly that everyone else thought he'd given himself whiplash.
"How is she?" The nurse smiled in an attempt to reassure JC.
"I was just talking to her about you. Follow me, please." His palms began to sweat as he followed the nurse down the hallways. What would she look like?
"Is she in a lot of pain?"
"She probably will be, but we're working on it. She might seem a little out of it, or she may have fallen asleep again." JC nodded and the nurse moved the curtain enough to let him step inside the cubicle. He had all he could do to find her under all the blankets and pillows. He reached out and touched the closest part of her...her foot.
"Star, are you awake?" She groaned and focused her still tired eyes on JC. "You have a lot of people out there pulling for you, beautiful."
"I have...a fan club," she asked forcing a small smile.
"Yeah, and since I'm the President, they let me see you first."
"You think you're...that important? Egomaniac." They looked at each other as the silence between them grew. She moved under the covers and reached a hand out to JC. He placed his hand in hers and watched as she brought it to her mouth, kissing the tip of each finger. He cried when she kissed the palm and then brought it to rest against her cheek. "I love you, J."
"Excuse me, sir, ma'am, they are ready to bring you back up to your room now." JC sighed and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"I'll let everyone else know and meet you up there." Keely was allowed to sleep off the medication until five when Rose came in to meet with the couple.
"Might I join you," Rose asked not wanting to intrude on the perfect picture they made. JC was sitting in a chair next to Keely's bed, his head resting on the mattress as she played with his hair. They were lost in a world of their own making where Keely wasn't sick.
"Are you Rose?"
"Yes, did they already tell you about me?"
"I've been expecting you. I heard you talking with Dr. Anderson earlier. I just couldn't open my eyes."
"I see. My name is Rose Wentworth and I'm going to be your caregiver for the little while."
"It's nice to meet you, Rose, but why do they feel Keely needs a caregiver?"
"Well, until she's healed, I'm going to help you change her bandages and help with the medication process. After that, I'll be administering your chemo."
"Wait a minute," JC said defensively while standing too quickly for Keely's liking. "I thought this surgery was going to get rid of everything. At least that was my understanding."
"J, calm down and let her explain."
"The surgery was intended to remove as much of the cancerous tissue as possible. It may have gotten rid of almost all of it, but chemo is a reinforcement that we like to use with every cancer patient. If it were practical, we's also suggest radiation treatment, but it isn't, so we won't."
"I guess I was just hoping for a quick cure," he said slumping back down into the chair. "I hate seeing you in any kind of pain, Star."
"You can't protect me from everything, J."
"Keely, they'd like to release you this Friday morning. I just want both of you to know that I'm not here to intrude in any capacity. I want toy help you and I've been where you are, Keely. My leukemia has been in remission for eleven years now. I'll be your nurse, but I'd like to be your friend as well. If you ever have a question, don't be afraid to ask me. That holds true for you as well, Josh."
"How old were you when they diagnosed you, Rose?"
"I was twelve and it was close to a year-and-a-half before I went into remission. The hardest part was finding a donor match, but you won't have to worry about that. That's when I decided to become a nurse and help people the way they helped me."
"Miss Alden, they asked me to give this to you," a candy striper said pointing to the group standing outside her room smiling and waving. "Here's your dinner as well."
"Thank you very much."
"I'll let you eat now. I'd like to stop by tomorrow at some point if you feel up to it. Goodnight you two." They said goodbye to Rose as Keely opened the paper bag and took out a car and a container of warm chicken and stars soup. She had tears in her eyes as she looked out at her friends.
"Could you let them in, Josh?"
"Of course, love. They've been asking about you all day." JC waved them in as he helped Keely get into a comfortable position to eat her dinner.
"So do they have you on some good drugs, Keely-babe?"
"Yes, they do and no, you can't have any, Chris. I can feel a little bit of pain though."
"So, uh, who was that woman?"
"That was Rose. She's going to be my nurse after they let me go home."
"They didn't give you a clean bill of health? That's real shitty of them."
"Once I heal from the surgery, I have to start chemo, Justin. Rose is going to be there to help Josh take care of me." Jade walked in then carrying Starbucks coffee for everyone but Keely.
"I didn't know if there was certain stuff you weren't allowed to have."
"Hey! J-J-Jaded! Thanks for the coffee, woman."
"Joey, that was by far the most lame attempt at being cool you've ever made."
"Hey, Lance, this is me caring, okay," Joey said giving him the finger.
"Joe, don't make me laugh, it hurts too much when it pulls my stitches."
"For the record, Joey, it was cute, but don't sing that song around me again." Justin began to softly sing the lyrics and Jade glared at him.
"Justin, don't make me angry. My head spins when people make me angry." Everyone around Keely laughed. She took JC's hand, intertwining their fingers and smiled up at him.
"I'm going to make it," Keely thought. "They won't let me give up and I'm not going to let them down without a fight."
