that thing called cancer · phan

three

after dan was finished cleaning up, he went back to phil. they decided to tell dan's parents.

"we were laughing, and then i started coughing," dan began to his mum, "and then i realized i was coughing up blood and it scared me, and phil and i were wondering what to do."

his mum grimly nodded, "i think we need to go back to the hospital."

"what..? why?" phil asked, "he's already been diagnosed, and-"

"it's possible to have two types of cancer at the same time," dan's mum cut phil off, "our family has a history of lung cancer. he could have it, too."

dan shook his head and covered his mouth, "m-mum..."

"but we need to check to make sure," she said, "who knows, it could just be a coincidence, or from leukemia, but coughing up blood and breathing problems usually go with the lungs, and lung cancer."

"mum, no, i don't-"

"dan, we need to check it out. i'll make an appointment," she said. dan was crying.

she hugged dan and she let out a few tears as well, "i'm sorry, danny. i don't want this either."

-----

they got an appointment for the next day. phil had gone home the night before, and it was just dan and his mum as his dad was working.

"daniel howell?" the nurse asked, "come with me."

he and mum made it back to the doctor's room and the nurse left, the doctor coming in shortly after.

"alright, dan," the doctor said, "the other day we found leukemia in you, correct?"

"yes," his mum answered for him, "yesterday he and his boyfriend were laughing with each other and he began coughing up blood. we have a history of lung cancer in our family, so we think he may have both leukemia and lung cancer."

"well, it is possible," he said, "we'll have to run a few tests, consisting of blood tests, ct scans, pet scans, and bone scans. do you have enough time to do all that?"

dan looked over to his mum, and nodded. they were going to be there for a while.

-----

when they finally finished all of the tests, they came to the verdict that dan did indeed have lung cancer - stage ii. they found a small tumor in his left lung, between five and seven centimeters wide, about the size of a golf ball. the doctor had said, "i can't believe we didn't find this last time."

dan's mum had broken out into tears, and dan was close to crying. this was worse than they'd thought.

"we're starting chemotherapy soon," the doctor said, "just hang in tight, dan."

dan just nodded, and he and his mother left.

when they got in the car, dan's mum began speaking, "i can't believe this. i'm so sorry, dan."

dan just shrugged, wanting to crawl into his bed and stay there for days.

-----

"hey, phil," dan said after phil picked up his phone, "i just got back from the hospital."

"how'd it go?" phil asked.

"turns out along with my leukemia, i have stage ii lung cancer. i have a tumor," dan said. he gulped as he awaited phil's response.

"are you joking?" phil asked.

"i'm afraid not," dan said, on the verge of tears.

"i love you so much, dan," phil said, "no amount of cancer can change that."