Helpless | A Modern Hamliza Story

Chapter Ten

Today was Eliza's last day of break before starting cycle two of her treatments.

Her break was filled with family and friends. She had felt like she was finally getting her personality back during those three weeks.

She felt ready to begin the next cycle and hopefully be even closer to beating her cancer once and for all, though she wasn't excited about the side effects returning. These three weeks had given her hope that once she beats her cancer, she'd be able to fully return back to her old self.

For her last day before starting again, Eliza went out with Theo and her sisters for a nice dinner before she'd start to get nauseous and sick again and might not want to go out so much anymore.

"So, Eliza, spill everything. How have you and Alexander been during your break? I'm sure you've been making up for lost time," Theo asked, winking and smirking at her friend, who was blushing profusely. So Theo was right. "Now's not the time to be shy, Eliza."

Eliza covered her face in her hands as an attempt to cover her very, very red cheeks. Theo has always been a bit snoopy when it came to her friends' sex lives, and has been prying them since they met.

She would never forget when Theo gave her advice for her first time with Alexander and then found out that Alexander and Eliza had finally took that next step in their relationship. Eliza didn't know someone could have so much advice or ask so many questions about anything, let alone sex! And now that Theo knew that Eliza had been too sick to do anything like that in months and was feeling better for now, she knew that Eliza would be having a good time with her husband.

"Theo..." Eliza whined, trying to cool down her blush. "If you must know, then yes, we've been making up for lost time."

They all laughed and smiled, taking sips of their champagne.

Angelica and Peggy shushed Theo when they noticed their food was arriving. There was no need to embarrass Eliza further. They took their food, aiming to find a way to change the conversation.

"So, do you have any plans for when the cancer is gone?" Peggy asked, digging into her food. She gave Eliza a reassuring smile to tell her that they were going to distract the conversation away from Theo. They loved her, but sometimes she was so nosy.

Eliza's face beamed into a giant smile as she nodded her head. "Alexander promised me Paris," she bragged, thinking back to their conversation just a few days before her very first session of therapy.

Everyone's jaws dropped at that table, impressed at Alexander for being able to come up with a surprise like that for her.

"Go Alex!" Angelica praised. "He did good!"

"We're hoping to keep trying for a baby, too. Right now I have to be on birth control for obvious reasons, but we're hoping that once I'm clear from the cancer it won't be long before my doctor says it's okay to start trying again," Eliza explained on a more serious note.

She began picking at her food with her fork as she was reminded of another struggle she would be dealing with after the chemotherapy.

Theo frowned, her heart sinking in her chest. "I'm sorry, Eliza. If there's anything I can do to help you guys just let me know."

Eliza nodded, reliving the words her oncologist told her when she asked about the effects the chemotherapy might have on fertility. "Because you are young, your chances are probably not going to decrease, but we do generally encourage couples to wait at least six months before trying. We can definitely add that in for your follow ups."

She was a little heartbroken, she admitted, that they'd have to wait even longer after the cancer was gone to get even one step closer to their child. Of course, the oncologist reminded her that it was to make sure the damaged eggs were cycled through so that she had better chances of getting pregnant and keeping the pregnancy. It made sense to her, as she didn't want to finally get pregnant for the first time in her two years of trying and then have it end in miscarriage or stillbirth, but it still bummed her out.