LA Gang (Book 2)

7. The Beginning of the End

7. The Beginning of the End

Mitch is now done with chemotherapy and he is close to finishing treatment. Now, he has to start immunotherapy to strengthen his immune system again and it is also a bit of a long process, but Mitch is determined to do it. Dr. Hayes explained the treatment to the Grassis and the side effects Mitch may have.

"We will build your immune system by boosting it with different medications. You will also have some infusions of this and some vaccines," Dr. Hayes said seriously.

"Will it hurt?" Mitch asked nervously while sitting down on his bed.

"It won't hurt but it is not an easy process, we will try to keep you comfortable to make things easier," Dr. Hayes tried to calm down the boy.

"If you are ready we can start now."

"I think I'm ready," Mitch said and Nel took his hand, she knew her son was nervous. Dr. Hayes nodded and then left the room, he came back a few moments later with some nurses that started to get Mitch ready for treatment, Mitch took some deep breaths to calm himself down. Mike covered Mitch with a blanket once he lay down and kissed his forehead. After the nurses left the room, Mitch took his phone and FaceTimed Scott.

"Hi, princess. How's it going?" Scott answered the call with a smile.

"Hi, baby. I'm doing immunotherapy right now," Mitch showed Scott all the things he was hooked up to.

"I'm sorry, baby. Do you want me to be there with you?" Scott asked worried about his boyfriend.

"Not right now, my parents are here so I'm good. I'll text you if I need anything. How's Matt?"

"He's doing good, he starting a different chemo med today so I'll be alone for a few hours. Well...kind of my parents are coming, Dr. Hayes has some news."

"Do you know why?" Mitch asked worried, something deep inside him told him that Scott was not okay, he shook that thought though.

"I have some trouble breathing sometimes," Scott sighed deeply.

"Shit. Let's hope it's something treatable," Mitch said and Scott nodded looking down.

"I gotta go, I'm getting tired," Mitch said sleepy.

"Bye baby, I'll see you soon," Scott said sadly and ended the call. Scott then stood up from his bed and walked to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and teared up at the sight: he was pale, very pale; he was also skinny, almost like a skeleton; and the bags under his eyes gave it a special touch.

"I look dead," Scott said and started crying. He then lifted his shirt and looked at all the bruises that covered his chest and stomach, there were more than the last time. Scott sniffled, he knew he was getting worse.

Meanwhile, Matt was in the chemo room with his parents by his side. He was ready to start this new drug, which, according to Dr. Hayes would help Matt be free from his cancer.

"How do you feel Matt?" Nurse Jonah asked the teen.

"So far so good. I am just a little tired," Matt answered.

"That's normal. Try to take a nap, you have quite a large dose today," Nurse Jonah said to Matt and he nodded.

"It seems like you're doing better son with all of the amputation stuff," Ernest said.

"Yeah, sometimes I do get sad about it, but it is what it is. It was either my life or my leg," Matt said to his parents.

"We are proud of you baby. You have been fighting hard these past few months," Tammy said.

"Thank you, Mom, I appreciate everything you guys have done for me," Matt said tiredly. Tammy then covered his son with a blanket as he closed his eyes and fell into a pitiful sleep.

It was a few hours later when the Hoyings were at Scott's room reunited, worried about what Dr. Hayed had to tell them. When Dr. Hayes entered the room, Connie and Rick sat down next to Scott while he lay down on his bed.

"Alright. Over the past three weeks, we've been monitoring Scott closely...and something is going on that we should start paying close attention to," Dr. Hayes started, Scott just looked down.

"Is he ok?" Connie asked, taking Scott's hand in hers.

"Scott is lacking red blood cells; consequently, he is not breathing right. Especially at night when his levels go down and his body doesn't receive the oxygen needed, makes Scott sleep with his arms above his head and his mouth open," Dr. Hayes explained.

"What can we do for that doctor?" Rick asked.

"From now on, Scott needs to wear a cannula when sleeping. 2L of oxygen," Dr. Hayes answered.

"What does this mean? Is he getting worse?" Connie asked, dreading to hear the answer. Dr. Hayes hesitated but nodded anyway.

"Yes, we need to start looking for other treatment options and maybe even a bone marrow transplant."

"Surgery?" Scott asked surprised.

"Yes, Scott. I'll leave you alone for now," Dr. Hayes said and then left the room. Connie then started crying and Rick held her, Scott just stood up and left the room, and Connie tried to go after him but her husband held her arm tightly.

"Don't, he needs to be alone," Rick said and Connie nodded.

Scott went to Mitch's room to tell him what just happened though he didn't know how. Scott took a deep breath before entering the room, when Mitch saw him he smiled, his boyfriend was there with him, and his smile soon faded when he saw Scott's expression.

"Hi, Mitchy," Scott said quietly.

"Hi, baby. What's wrong?" Mitch asked and Scott cuddled with him.

"Um...I uh...Dr. Hayes said that my body is lacking red blood cells and I need to use oxygen when I'm sleeping," Scott said sniffling.

"What?" Mitch asked crying.

"I'm getting worse, Mitch. Dr. Hayes said we should start thinking about other options," Scott answered wiping his cheeks as some tears started to fall.

"L-like...clinical trials?" Mitch asked worriedly.

"Yes...I don't wanna talk about it. Are you doing ok?" Scott asked to change the subject.

"I'm alright. This is way harder than I thought."

"Do you need anything? More blankets? A drink?"

"Cuddles," Mitch demanded and Scott chuckled and nodded.

"Anything for you, baby," Scott said and held Mitch close to his chest. Mitch has always been Scott's happiness and calm and in this moment, he needed that.