Charlotte's Battle - Jason's Recovery

Chapter 21

Charlotte's eyes opened slowly, turning to glance at Jason who just entered the room. She smiled at him and reached out to hold his hand. "W-what happened?" She asked, her voice hoarse and dry.

Jason sighed, biting his lip. He didn't know how to break it to his sister. He ran a hand through his hair like usual when he was unsure and didn't want to say anything about it. "Well... I hate to say this, but the doctor said the cancer spread to your neck and is compressing your nerves."

Charlotte gulped as she felt her throat ache, beginning to tear up. She frowned and let the tears begin to fall. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. Especially when she was just gaining her strength back. She closed her eyes, her hands covering her face as she sobbing, her body shaking and jerking as she cried. It hurt so much. How could this be happening? She thought to herself, wondering how it could've happened this way. She was on her fifth round of chemo, so the tumor shouldn't have been growing. Maybe they could try a different one. She didn't know what to do. The tears continued to fall down her cheeks. She felt arms wrap around her and pick her up, then the scent of her brothers cologne. She just sobbed into his chest. She knew she had to keep fighting no matter what happens. That's all she could do at this point.

Jason held her close to him and let her cry. He hadn't seen her cry in quite a while so he expected to be there with her for a while. He didn't mind it though, as he wanted to spend every moment with his sister. Once he noticed she was calming down. "So Jessica and I will be getting married. We want you to be there, so we're going to have the ceremony here in the hospital." He felt a nod and continued comforting his sister. That's all he could do at this point. He knew his sister wouldn't last much longer. A month maybe, but they wanted to do everything they could to make her comfortable.

~~~

Jason sighed as he checked his phone and saw a message. His father wanted to meet up by his office so that's where he went. He knocked on the door, hearing. "Come in." He then entered the room and noticed a stack of papers on his father's desk as well as the computer and printer in his office space. His father kept his office pretty neat so it was odd seeing all of his paperwork scattered. He slowly sat down after closing the door. "Yes?" He asked as he made himself comfortable.

Some time passed and they figured out a plan. Jason and his father were in his office, talking to each other about what would happen after the wedding. "So we're going to put her in hospice at home?" He asked his father, his father nodded.

His father handed him a packet. "If you could work on this, I'll call the company and speak to them about this." Justin said, seeing a nod from his son.

Jason nodded and sighed as he held the packet and walked towards his sisters room. He was discharged from the hospital a few hours prior as his vitals and blood levels stabilised. When he got to the room, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He saw his sister laying there with the tubes and wires. She had fluids running, feeds running, and a neck brace on her neck. He held the papers behind his back as he went to sit down. He got closer to his sister with the rolling chair and noticed she was playing on an Nintendo DS. "Having fun?" He asked.

Charlotte smiled and looked up from the device. "Yeah, I'm glad you brought it because I've been wanting to play Animal Crossing for a while now. Plus this lovely nurse got me socks with the logo!" She seemed a bit happier than the day prior. It was now Saturday and the wedding was scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

Jason smiled. "I'm glad you're having some fun. I just got finished talking to dad and he thinks it's a good idea... that when you get discharged, since Jess and I are getting married... that we do the hospice care... I'll be away from home and you can have your favorite nurse as well." He said, hoping he had said it the right way. He didn't want to upset his sister.