All of my heart I do
Blood through my veins for you
You alone have all of me."
~ Lyrics to RAPUNZEL by David J. Matthews
"I'm not supposed to be here with you right now, Star. I mean, the guys wanted to throw me this huge bachelor party at the club they went to, but I just couldn't leave you."
"I wouldn't want you to leave either. I do have to kick you out at midnight though. Those are you mother's orders. 'Cause you're not allowed to be here when I'm getting ready for my big date. Some guy asked me to get dressed up and meet him at St. Patrick's Cathedral tomorrow night. So I have to dump your scrawny ass..." Keely didn't get to finish her taunt. JC had rolled over on her, pinning her to their bed.
"Get off me, you big oaf! I can't breathe. Don't make me yell for Heather and your Mom."
"First you tell me that I have a scrawny ass, then you tell me I'm a big oaf. Tsk tsk, Star...you're lucky I love you so much."
"The way I see it," she said leaning in to kiss him, "you're lucky you love me so much."
"I think you're right. I'm the luckiest man alive and tomorrow, I'll have an exceedingly beautiful wife."
"Are you sure you don't want to go out and enjoy your last night as a single man?"
"Keely, I haven't been a single man since since we got together and that's almost two years ago. I wouldn't remember how to act single if it jumped up and bit me in the ass."
"We've talked an awful lot about your ass tonight, Josh. Is it feeling a little neglected?"
"Now that you mention it, I could use some loving," he said with a smirk, nuzzling her neck.
"Maybe we can fix that before you have to leave," she moaned softly. he set her arms above her head, kissing along her jaw and trailed his fingers lightly down her sides, making her shiver. When he brought his hand up to her right breast, he felt something was wrong. He knew Keely's body almost better than he knew his own, and the small lump about the size of his thumbnail stopped him dead in his tracks.
"J, why'd you stop?" JC reached for Keely's hand and settled her fingers over the small lump.
"Star, please tell me this isn't new." He watched her face closely as she pressed on it and winced in pain.
"It wasn't there when Rose did my exam last week, Josh."
"Do you want me to get Mom and have Heather call Rose?" She covered her face with her hands, trying to hide the tears and nodded her head.
"It's okay to cry, Star," he said moving off the bed and pulling on a pair of boxers. Keely curled up in a ball in the center of their bed and began sobbing into JC's pillow. JC put a t-shirt as well and leaned down, gently kissing her bare shoulder before walking downstairs to the common living are of the loft.
"Mom, Keely needs you upstairs. Heather, I need you to call Rose. Keely and I...we uh...we found a lump in...her breast...and Rose needs to come check on things for us to make sure it's the only one." His mother quickly made her way up the stairs and Heather pulled JC in for a hug.
"Keely," Karen said softly so as not to scare her.
"I'm dying, Mama C, and I can't stop it. This thing is taking over my body and I'm dying. He's wasting his life staying with me when he could move on now and find someone else..."
"Vanessa, I want you to look at my right now. I know I'm not your mother, but I refuse to let you talk or think that way. You're allowed to have a pity party every so often, but this is not the time to have one. You've been a fighter throughout. I don't want to see you give up everything now. And you can forget about Josh wasting his life with you. He would give his life to save yours." Keely hid her face in shame, knowing the older woman was right.
"I'm sorry, Mama C, but I'm so scared."
"How big is it?"
"It's about size of Josh's thumbnail, maybe a little bigger and it hurts to put pressure on it."
"Why don't you cleaned up and put on something comfortable and I'll make tea while we wait for Rose, okay? You're all tense and a nice warm shower will do you wonders."
"Yes, ma'am," she said hugging Karen.
"Thank you...for everything you've done for us...for me. You took me in as your own when you didn't have to. You're an amazing woman and mother."
"You're an amazing owman yourself. I'll always be here if you need to talk to someone. Now, into the shower with you, child." JC walked upstairs just as Keely was running the water for her shower.
"Go to her, Josh. She needs to know you love her no matter what this disease does to her body." He nodded and walked towards their bathroom as Karen went to put the tea kettle on the stove.
"Vanessa?" She was standing under the spray, hugging her amrs to her chest and crying.
"Come here, Star." Keely moved towards him and JC cupped her face, kissing her forehead.
"I want you to know that you're beautiful, I love you, and if you're still up for it, I'm marrying you tomorrow night."
"I'm just so afraid to lose you, Josh."
"We'll beat this, Star."
Keely and JC were exhausted when the alarm went off at ten the next morning. Rose hadn't found any other lumps in the lymph glands of Keely's upper body which lead her to feel optimistic, but she scheduled a biopsy and a few other diagnostic tests for after Keely and JC came back from their honeymoon.
"Mmmm, Josh, you need to wake up." He suggled deeper into his pillow and pulled Keely closer to him.
"J, come on, love, we need to get moving. We have a wedding to get ready for. I'd like to do this before I die."
"Don't even joke about that," he growled getting up so quickly that he almost pulled Keely off the bed with him when he stood up. Gone was the peace they finally found last night after crying for hours in each other's arms.
"Josh...I didn't even...Josh!" He ignored Keely and stepped into the shower.
"All the times he can pick a fight and he decides to do it now," Keely muttered untangling herself from the sheets and comforter.
"I might as well just head over to Vikki's and get ready there." She chose a comfy pair of fleece pants and one of JC's long sleeve Abbie Fitch shirts. She found her cell phone, keys and wallet, stuffed them into her messenger bag and left the apartment. JC cringed as the door slammed behind her. His wedding day wasn't turning out at all the way he planned.
"Way to fuck things up, man. Start a fight over something trivial, something she probably didn't even realize she said and then expect her to be happy to see you at the altar. How the hell do I fix this one?" Twenty minutes later, he was done with his whole shower and shave routine. He went downstairs for breakfast and found a note that Keely had left for him.
JC, I went to Vik's place to start getting ready. I have my cell phone if you want to text me and let me know if we're still doing this. I'm under the assumption that we still are. Just give me a warning if those cold feet of yours get any worse.
"Well...now I just look like a hypocritical ass. I tell her I love her and then I get all pissed because of an off hand remark. I have some serious problems to resolve before eight this evening."
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