Moving On

Twenty

I haven't seen her in ages. But she's here now, and I can't help to be astonished at the universe's timing.

"Sandra?" She says with a quizzical look on her face. Her hair's shorter now, just barely touching her shoulders, and she's dyed it. The mild greys on her hair have disappeared, the whole of it now a reddish-brown colour.

"Yeah, it's me," I reply. I'm still in shock. "Small world, huh?" I can't help but smile.

"Wow, you've changed so much." I can't argue with that. Too much has happened. "I can't remember the last time I saw you, it's been so long."

Austin materializes beside me just as I was coming up with a response. "Jesus, Sandra, did you have to run off like that?" He pants. He looks up and he realizes that I'm talking to someone.

"Austin, this is my aunt," I introduce. "Aunt Joslin, this is my... friend, Austin." Friend's the safest way to put it.

She eyes Austin for a moment, like she's trying to put a label on him but is unsuccessful. She reaches her hand out for him to shake. "Nice to meet you, Sandra's friend."

"Same to you, ma'am," Austin replies. It's weird to see him polite. Austin's many things, but he's not polite.

"Oh, please. Call me Lin." She smiles warmly. She looks at her watch and the papers she got from the nurse's station. And then I realize that she's supposed to be somewhere.

"Sorry for keeping you... I was just so startled when I saw you," I apologize.

"No, no, it's fine, really. My next patient's kind of annoying anyway, so I'm not in a rush to see him," she says. "But if you're free some other time, that'd be great so we could catch up. Just send a text whenever. You can get my phone number from Tess." She turns to the nurse she was speaking to before I butted in. "Give her my phone number, and tell Evan I'll be there." The nurse nodded.

The nurse pressed something on the large telephone-thing on her desk and said to a Mr. Porter that the doctor will see him in a moment. Then she scribbled something, Aunt Joslin's phone number, I assume, on a small prescription paper and handed it to me. I said thank you.

"Well, it's been a pleasure seeing you again, Sandra." Then she turned to Austin. "It was nice meeting you too," she smiled kindly. And then she was off, her heels clicking against the cold marble floor away from us before neither Austin nor I could say something in reply.

"You've left behind a lot of people, it seems," Austin whispered.

~*~

After eating at the hospital's cafeteria, Austin and I went back up to Carly's room to check up on them. Dev fell asleep a couple of minutes ago, and Carly was waiting for me.

She asked Austin to step outside of the room for a moment because she wanted to talk to me in private-something important, probably.

Dev was snoozing happily beside his mom.

Carly cut straight to the chase. "I'm not getting any better, Sandra."

Obviously, I thought to myself. But I didn't say anything. I didn't want to say anything just yet. I want to hear her out first.

"I'm going to die real soon," she began, "The doctors said it themselves. I mean, I knew I was dying anyway, but you know, I hoped I wouldn't. Tough luck."

"I don't see where this is going," I voice out my thoughts.

"Look, I know you can't look after Dev forever. I can't put that kind of load in your shoulders. You don't deserve it. But I don't know how Dev's going to be after I die... Help me out." She's on the verge of tears.

"Does Luke know?" But I already know the answer to that. Luke wouldn't be on tour if he knew about Carly.

"He doesn't. Well, yet, anyway. And I don't want you to be the one to say anything to him," she says. "Promise me that."

"Even if he asked me, I wouldn't have much to say. I still don't know what's wrong with you," I countered before I let the promise slip out of my mouth.

And then she told me. At first the doctors thought it was leukemia, but it turned out it wasn't. She was relieved when they told her it wasn't cancer, but there was actually nothing to be relieved about. There was something wrong with the powerhouse of her cells, and it's already too late to treat it.

She said she started feeling sick a few months ago, but thought it was just the common flu so she didn't mind it. It wasn't until she realized she had been sick for almost a month when she decided to finally go see a doctor to check up on her. She's been hiding this from everyone since, until me.

"Okay," I decided. "I'm not going to be the one to tell Luke."

"Thank you."

"But what about Dev?"

"That's the part I haven't figured out yet, Sandra," she replied. "That's why we're talking."

~*~

I step out of the room to let Carly rest. Austin was sitting on the waiting bench outside the room, obviously agitated that he wasn't invited in the conversation.

Before he could say anything and be the nosy and annoying guy he is, I fished my phone out of my pocket and called Calum. After I got off the phone with him, I called Liz.

I know they've been working to find Dev's real parentage, and to expose Carly's fraud. That's why I called them. But I don't think Carly's going to be around long enough to face the fraud charges that's about to face her.

"I need you to help me with something."

Austin's head shot right up. He was waiting for me to say something to him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"We need to do some detective work."