Candle in the Wind

Breaking the News

⚠️The latter of the chapter is pretty sad.☹️ But don't worry because the next chapter is Christmas!!! And nothing bad can happen on Christmas... but New Years is a different story...😳⚠️

Tom positions his phone so both of them are in the camera view. He sighs and Anna takes his hand. "You've got this. If you need me to take over please let me and I will." Anna says. Tom nods as he presses the record button. Within seconds, thousands of people have already joined the live.

"Hello, everyone." Tom starts. "As you all know, a picture of me was taken the other day and there are some speculations about the context of the photo. I'm here to explain that to all of you and give some answers because I know plenty of you are seeking them. I'm going to tell the full story only because I don't want many questions after this, so hopefully anything you want to know will be covered in this segment. If I haven't answered a question of yours, I apologise but that's because I don't want to answer it, so I won't. I love all of you and thank you for support through everything, but right now, my main focus is my wife, my child, and the progress of my health."

Anna squeezes Tom's hand under the table. "Real quick, I want to just say that you guys mean so much to us. I know a lot of you don't like me, but if we can have your support through this time, I would a lot to us. We're having a baby soon and that brings challenges of its own, so with other challenges intertwined, we're going to be very busy soon. I would like to ask that you please not consistently ask my husband about this. He is a very private person and sometimes your life gets shared in the media... there's nothing you can do about that. That's all for now, thank you, and Tom, go ahead."

The comments are flooded. Everyone knows what he's going to say.

"Well, I was filming the next Thor movie and I got sick while filming. I had collapsed and they ended up bringing me to hospital. They noticed something was off so they ran a whole bunch of different tests. One of the tests they ran came back positive... for pancreatic cancer. As the picture showed, I have been doing radiation therapy these past few months. They cannot operate right now because it's too big, and they hope that radiation can shrink it a little. If they cannot operate, I have a maximum of 9 months left. I don't want anyone to worry about me, I'm alright. My darling Anna is litterally a life saver. She has been so selfless and caring through day 1, while also being pregnant with our child. My current condition is due to her care and support. I'd also like to thank the Boston Center for Radiation Therapy for their hard work and care. It means a lot to someone in this situation to have people that genuinely care about you like that. I'm going to donate $10,000 to St. Jude's children's hospital." Tom says. Anna gets a shocked look on her face. She agrees with it, but they never talked it over. "It's not a fun experience as an adult, so I cannot imagine what it's like for a child to experience something like that. I hope this money will help those children and provide them with love and care. Very quickly, I'd like to thank all my confidantes and co-workers. They all had knowledge of this and did not say anything, which I deeply appreciate. I don't want to worry anyone so please, for me, don't worry about it. I will be alright. I want you to focus on your families and the people in your lives. Give them attention and make sure you always check up on each other because you never know what someone is going through behind closed doors. That's all I have for today, thank you all for joining and I'll see you later."

Tom smiles to the camera and turns off the recording.

"Well?" Anna asks.

"I did it... I told them. I actually did it." he sighs. 

"I'm proud of you, Thomas."

Anna pulls him in for hug. They sit embraced for a moment before letting go.