Prelude

Chapter 32: Cancer? Like The Star Sign Or The Tropic Of?

After Guinevere was changed out of her wet clothes and into some of the pack's clothing Stiles had on hand, the entire pack wound up at Liam's house for pack night where she spent an hour answering their burning questions and being passed from wolf to wolf trying to warm up. By the time she fell asleep between Isaac and Scott, she was almost completely back to normal; her heart rate was steady, her chemo-signals were level, but her temperature kept fluctuating. Malia was the one who mentioned it the next morning as the pack ate the bagels Jordan brought and drank a pot of coffee each.

"You're hot." Malia said, pulling away slightly from where she had laid her head on Guinevere's shoulder.

"Thanks." Guinevere wiggled her eyebrows at her.

"No, well yes. But I mean you're physically hot." Malia corrected. Scott frowned and Lydia raised the back of her hand to Guinevere's forehead.

"You're burning up." She said as she put her hands on Guinevere's cheeks. "You have a fever." Guinevere pouted.

"I don't want to have a fever."

"Sorry, princess but it looks like it's too late." Lydia said.

"I have to go to the hospital." Guinevere said as she climbed off of the chair she had been sitting on. 

"What?" Stiles asked loudly as the kitchen exploded with the sound of everyone else asking the same question. Guinevere flipped the pillows in the living room, looking for her phone as the rest of the pack continued yelling over each other. She eventually stopped and glanced around the room one more time before facing the kitchen and holding up her hand. Everyone fell quiet. 

"I have to go to hospital because it's cancer protocol. You get a fever, you have to get checked out. Where's my phone? I have to call my parents." She said calmly. 

"On the shelf." Liam answered.

"Cancer protocol?" Stiles asked, always the first to break the silence. 

"I had cancer, Osteosarcoma in my legs, diagnosed when I was nine and I've been clean for a year so far." She said as she grabbed her phone from the shelf Liam pointed to. 

"I told you skinny dipping in October was a bad idea." Jordan told her as he grabbed his travel mug. 

"All the best ideas are bad." She retorted, smiling at him as he walked across the room to her. 

"I second that." Ethan said, raising his hand.

"Put your hand down, stupid." Jackson said, smacking Ethan's arm. Ethan pouted as Guinevere winked at him.

"I really want to be here for this but I have to get to work." Jordan said, kissing the top of her head as she scrolled through her contacts. 

"It's okay. I just have to get checked out and maybe stay if there's anything triggering, I'll text you with an update. Have a good day." She told him, tipping her head up and pressing a real kiss to his lips. He smiled, pulled away and headed for the door. "I'm going to call my parents, you guys can talk amongst yourselves and I'll answer questions in a second." She told them, pressing the phone to her ear and stepping outside onto the front porch. She called her dad first and he picked up after the third ring.

"Yeah, Hilt." He answered in his work voice.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Kind of. Is this important?" 

"It's probably nothing but I have a fever." 

"Okay. You know the rules, you have to get checked out."

"I know."

"I'll leave here as soon as I can-" There was some mumbling on his end and it sounded like the phone was being passed from person to person. 

"Dad?" She asked. She didn't get a response for a beat and she was about to ask again when Mason, Liam's friend, came tearing into the driveway. He was moving fast, whether it was getting out of the car or jogging across the lawn, there wasn't any hesitation to his movements. 

"Liam?" He asked, already reaching for the door handle.

"Inside with the pack." She answered him. He hurried inside and Guinevere was left alone once more. "Dad?" She tried again.

"Hey, kiddo. It's Tommy. Your dad is on his way."

"Thanks, Tommy. Tell him I'm about to call mom and I'll be at Beacon Hills Memorial."

"Will do. Feel better soon, kiddo."

"Thank you." Tommy hung up on her and she pulled the phone away, looking for her mom's number, when Mason and the rest of the pack came out of the house, moving quickly. 

"Corey is missing." Scott told her as he paused to explain what was happening as Stiles shouted out street names and numbers for the preserve, the pack scattering in several different directions. "We're going to help Mason find him, Derek and Lydia are going to take you to the hospital and we'll come by as soon as we find Corey." 

"Got it. Go." Guinevere nodded, understanding the urgency in finding a missing person in a different way than the pack was used to. Derek and Lydia were standing in the doorway as Scott jogged down the steps and joined Stiles in his Jeep. "I have to call my mom still but can we stop at my house first? I need to grab a bag." 

"Of course." Lydia smiled. Derek led the way down to his Camaro and Guinevere slid into the backseat as she dialed her mom. They were pulling out of the driveway when she answered. 

"Guin?" 

"Hey mom. Did I wake you up?" 

"No, no. I've been up for hours." Her mom answered, clearly meaning that Guinevere had indeed woken her up. "What's up?"

"I have a fever. It's probably nothing but I'm going to the hospital anyways because those are the rules."

"I'll be on the next flight out of here. Is your dad with you?"

"No, Lydia is driving me because I stayed the night at her house last night. I'm meeting him at the hospital."

"Okay. Remind me to tell Lydia that I love her."

"Will do." Guinevere said with a slight smile. 

"I'm calling Harper to stay with you until your dad gets there."

"He's babysitting."

"Than I guess you get Claire and Hakeem too."

"Fine." 

"I'll be there as soon as I can." 

"No rush, mom." Her mom sighed.

"I love you."

"I love you too." 

"Bye." Her mom hung up and Guinevere slid her phone into the pocket of the hoodie she was wearing. 

"So," Lydia started, "you had cancer."

"Yep." Guinevere nodded. "I was diagnosed when I was nine, spent a few years in the hospital, spent a few years at boarding school with hospital visits sprinkled in, spent a few years in a wheelchair, did all the chemo and radiation stuff that made my hair fall out, they even talked about amputating my leg at one point. It was a painful, eventful, tiring," Guinevere said/sighed, the exhaustion written all over her face, "six years. Some days I can handle it better than others, sometimes I get frustrated by it. It's a day by day kind of thing." Lydia nodded, oblivious to the way Derek's knuckles were turning pale as his hands tightened around the steering wheel.