Chapter 21: More Than Dean Winchester Loves Pie

“Alison, what the hell are you doing here?” I demand of the blonde demon in a hushed tone, pulling out of the extremely awkward hug that she’s basically just forced me into—  as if we’re close friends or something, which we obviously aren’t; we’re not friends, let alone close friends. She’s icky and rude and not to mention the fact that I hate her more than I hate anything else in this world. Well, except for maybe track because I really, really hated track so very much. I mean, it obviously comes in pretty handy whenever I need to run—  which is a little less than never—  so that’s pretty cool, I guess. The thing is though, I said goodbye to track forever the moment I walked across the stage at graduation a few months ago. I can’t really ever say goodbye to Alison because like an annoying little fly that won’t die, she’s always right there. For no absolute reason at all either, considering the fact that she and Walker are no longer together.

Sure, Walker claims that she’s not that bad of a person but I have absolutely no reason at all to believe that. I mean, she was just so, so mean to me. I don’t care about that though, the fact that she caused Walker so much pain is what really makes me angry. Like, she can do or say whatever she wants to me but my friends are the line and when she starts messing with them, she crosses it and that’s not okay. I mean, she doesn’t terrorize us or anything I just don’t like the emotional toil she put Walker through. But she really did hurt him so, so much, after they broke up, I mean. Well, after the first time anyway because that was when he came to my house in the pouring rain and was all depressed and refused to do anything normal like bathe or laugh—  he just ate grilled cheese sandwiches and cried. The second—  and final—  time around though, that wasn’t too bad for him, I don’t think, since he’s the one that ended it with her for good over Spring Break when were in Colorado and they got into that huge fight and he ended up kicking her out. That was such a beautiful moment.

“I’m here to see Walker, of course,” She tells me with a giggle as she raises her hands and gestures towards the large and rather thick oak door, as if to signify to me that Walker is in there, which is stupid since I clearly already know that, seeing as how I’ve been the one that’s been here with him all these days, all day, every day. Save for those two days that I wasn’t though, when Bradley, Tanner, Drew and Mikey all thought it’d be best that I leave. They practically forced me to stay home yesterday and Saturday and it wasn’t very fun at all. Well, I guess I should rephrase that—  they didn’t actually make me stay at home, they were just very strongly against me coming up here to Alberti to see Walker, which is total insanity to me and I couldn’t take not seeing my best friend anymore, which is why I’m here right now.

“Yeah, obviously,” I scoff, rolling my arms and crossing my arms across my chest, glaring at her. “But why? You do know that you two are like, broken up, right? And you have been for like, five months,” I remind her, you know, just in case she forgot because she evidently has. Granted, if Bradley and I were still broken up and I found out that he had cancer, I don’t think I’d be able to just go on with my life and not go to see him.  I like to think that I actually have a soul and a warm heart though, unlike Alison—  who definitely doesn’t have a soul because demons don’t have souls and I know this because of my extensive watching and dedication to Supernatural.

“Yeah, I was there,” Alison shoots back, narrowing her eyes at me and then mimicking my motions by rolling her eyes with an irritated sigh and crossing her arms across her chest too. I’m not sure if she actually did it just to annoy me or if she just did it just because. Knowing Alison Baker though, it was probably just to annoy me, which it succeed in doing. “We are friends though and I have just as much a right to be here as you do,” She tells me.

“Um, no, not really,” I counter, shaking my head lightly because I mean, how close can two people who were in an intimate relationship for the better part of two years be? From what I noticed, Walker hadn’t really been calling her all that much anyway, so I’m sure they’re not like, super close or anything and definitely not close enough for him to expect her to fly halfway across the world to Italy just to come and see him. “Do you even know why he’s in here?” I wonder. Hopefully, she doesn’t and that’s why she got him the stupid card and the stupid flowers—  maybe she thinks he’s got something you can easily get over like the flu or some other stupidly not-serious illness.

“Actually, no,” She admits, wrinkling her forehead in confusion. “No one has told me what it is but that doesn’t matter. I don’t care. All I know is that Walker is sick and he needs to just, like, know that I’m here for him. He needs me and I’m going to be here for him because that’s what happens when you love someone. I mean, when you really love them, because that’s how love works,” Alison explains to me, saying it all slowly and whatnot like I’m stupid and slow at comprehension or something like that. Besides, I’m pretty positive that I know how love works, I mean, I have the best boyfriend under the sun and we do love each other like, more than any other couple in the entire world loves each other. Yes, I honestly believe that.

“Alison,” I sigh heavily, running my fingers over my face because now I’m actually starting to get a little bit sleepily. “Honestly, I am really trying not to be rude here but, that is honestly the last thing Walker needs right now,” I mumble truthfully, running my fingers through my messy hair. “Since apparently you don’t understand the situation, let me explain it to you. Walker is sick. Like, really, really sick. He has cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, actually. Today marks his fifth day here in this dumb ass hospital and by the looks of it, they’re not  letting him out of here anytime soon because they’re all stupid and incompetent and they’re just basically letting him lie in there and die because everyone fucking person in this hospital is brainless and an idiot and they can’t just make it go away!” I exclaim, trying to explain to her what’s going on but I end up getting really frustrated with how Walker’s being handled. I just don’t think that stupid Dr. Acardi is working hard enough to save Walker and if that’s the case, then Walker just needs to go back to America, where I’m sure Dr. Maria can save him because Dr. Maria is hardcore and doesn’t stop until she must. I mean, I obviously don’t Walker to leave but if being here isn’t helping him, then it’s stupid for him to stay. We’re not leaving for another ten days so that means I’d have to go a week and three days without seeing Walky and that’s literally never happened before—  ever.

“Well,” Alison awkwardly and gently pipes, blinking a few times and I deduce from that that cancer was the last thing she was expecting to be the cause of this. “Shannon, um, called me a few hours ago and she just said that she thought I’d want to know that Walker was in the hospital but she didn’t tell me that he has cancer,” She mutters, her voice quiet as she clears her throat. “Either way though,” She says, the softness suddenly gone from her voice, replaced by her usually perky and slightly nasally sounding voice. “I love Walker and he knows that and he loves me and I know that and I really think that this time is our time. You know, like, to be a real couple again and be happy, only this time we’re going to last forever—  I just know it,” She tells me chirpily.

“Alison, how many times does this relationship have to fail before you realize that it’s not going to work out?” I ask her with a sigh.

“Speaking of failed relationships—  how is Bradley? Does he have a new girlfriend yet?” She asks, ignoring my question and putting her hands on her waist, letting her eyes fleet over to Orlando momentarily, giving him a not-so-subtle once over before averting her eyes back over to me with a questioning look.

“No, he doesn’t have a new girlfriend—  we’re still together,” I tell her in hard voice—  I just hate the girl so, so much that it hurts.

“Oh? Well, that’s definitely a shock—  you know, I heard you cheated on him with Drew?” Alison says, phrasing it like a question but the way that she says it makes it sound more like a general broad statement than something that she’s actually asking me. When I don’t reply to her ridiculous comment, she continues on. “Which is like, really, really stupid because I mean, yes, Drew is gorgeous and whatnot, but Bradley is like, beyond gorgeous,” She states, obviously trying to get a rise or violent outburst from me or something, but she’s not going to get it. Not while we’re standing in the middle of a hospital and not while Orlando is in proximity.

“You can go now,” I tell her, my voice hard as I nod towards the elevators. “I’m sure Walker will hate the flowers because he hates Chrysanthemums—  do you know that that’s what they put on people’s like, graves and stuff in France and we’re pretty close to France and Walker will definitely say that because you know how freakishly smart he is. Anyway, I’ll tell him that you stopped by.”

“Sydney, you need to get it through your thick skull that I’m not going anywhere and you can’t make me, so just deal with it. I was going to try to be nice to you for the sake of my boyfriend but if you’re still going to act like the little bitch that you always do, then forget it. The funny thing to me though, is that you have your friends and your boyfriend and this random guy that you’re probably sleeping with on the side, you have them all wrapped around your little fingers and you make them think that you’re just the perfect person and it literally sickens me. I ju— ”

“I’m Orlando,” Orlando breaks in, interrupting Alison’s little…monologue or whatever you want to call it. “Sydney and I aren’t sleeping together though,” He informs her pointedly, shaking his head a few times, which makes his messy black hair messier.

“And Walker’s not your boyfriend,” I remind her because, again, evidently she has forgotten that little detail. “Anyway, since the troll isn’t going to leave, let me just check on Walker and we can just go,” I say to Orlando, who nods in agreement.

With that, I turn away from Alison and push open the door to Walker’s room, walking in and closing the door behind me quietly. The room is empty aside from his younger brother, Trevor, who is asleep on the couch and I’m sure his parents and sister are in a hotel. Trevor and Walker have always been particularly close though, so I guess that’s why he elected to stay here with him. He doesn’t talk much, Trevor doesn’t, but he’s a cool guy.

Walker is lying in his bed motionlessly aside from the slow rise and fall his chest, which is contemporaneous with the sound of the heart monitoring machine thingy that’s beeping at a constant tone, which is annoying, but good because that signals that his heart is going strong still. The lines are jagged and I’m not sure if that’s how they’re supposed to be but I don’t really care because he’s alive. Obviously I knew he wasn’t dead but still. It’s just like, say someone is driving your car and they wreck it and they tell you that it’s no big deal at all, just a scratch but the entire time, you’re worried that your car is totaled or something but when they bring it back to you, you see that it’s just a scratch and you’re finally able to breathe a bit easier. Walker’s worth more than a stupid car to me but that was the best analogy I could come up with that quickly.

He has the covers pulled up over him but only over his lower half because he’s not lying flat, the bed is slightly elevated. His dark brown hair is side swept and it’s growing so fast—  he’s gonna need to get it cut soon, I hope they cut it for him. There’s an IV going into his arm at the crevice of his elbow but maybe that’s the chemotherapy that’s going into him instead of liquid. It’s not like I know how chemo stuff looks but the liquid is clear so maybe it is it.

I walk over to Walker, he’s sleeping, and grab his cold hand in mine. I swear, he feels like he’s been stuck at the top of Mount Everest for a few days or something—  his hand is just so cold. I scoot the chair over beside the bed and then sit down on it, still holding his hand. I examine it, noticing that some of the tiny little red spots are gone, which is good, right? That has to be good. Maybe that means the chemo is working! I need to find Dr. Acardi before we leave and ask him. I hold Walker’s in mine for a minute, listening to the slightly disturbing sound of him breathing so fast, even in his sleep. It’s like for every two breaths I take, he takes six. That’s how fast he’s breathing. Placing my hand over his heart, I feel that it’s beating fast, which makes the heart monitor’s jagged lines a little more reasonable now.

“You’re so lovely,” I mumble, standing up and kissing his cheek lightly. “I love you more than Dean Winchester loves pie and he really, really loves pie,” I quietly tell him with a small giggle, referring my aforementioned favorite show—  Supernatural. “I’m not gonna let them not save you, I promise—  I’m gonna do whatever I possibly can to make sure that you don’t die until you’re at least like, 80,” I promise him, wondering if he can even hear me—  I doubt it but if I don’t have hope, what do I really have? “That disgusting troll is out there and she’s demanding to see you but if you just stay sleep, she’ll probably go away. Tell me if she bothers you, okay? I’ll kick her ass—  well, I’ll have someone kick her ass because she’d probably like, incapacitate me in a fight. Anyway, I’m gonna go now—  sorry I’m not staying longer but it’s really early in the morning and I can’t stand to keep sharing her breathing space, it’s quite disgusting actually. One last thing though—  it’s almost our anniversary of being friends for eight years, it’s in two weeks and we’ll be home by then and hopefully you’re well enough to celebrate it. Okay, I’m going now. But I’ll be back tomorrow, well, today, just in a few hours and I really hope you’re awake by then,” I say, leaning forward and kissing his cheek again before turning and walking out of the room, past Alison as if she’s not even there, because in my mind, she’s not.

“Are you alright?” Orlando asks me as I start walking away from Walker’s room, heading to the elevators.

“Yeah,” I confirm with a nod, sending him a small smile. “I’m good and thanks, for like, bringing me here,” I add.

“No problem, what else do I have to do this late at night?” He rhetorically asks with a cheeky grin, making me laugh.

“You’re kind of a geek,” I tell him as we climb onto the elevator and I hit the ‘6’ button, rather than the ‘1’. I’m going to find Dr. Acardi and his office is on the sixth floor, so I just hope that he’s in there. Orlando doesn’t question my decision, which is another reason that I like him as a friend, he’s such a cool go-with-the-flow kind of guy. When we get to the sixth floor, I explain to him that I’m going to find Walker’s doctor and he nods in understanding, telling me that he’ll just wait there by the elevator for me. I have to walk around for about five minutes before I find the doctor’s office, but once I do, I knock on it lightly once to no response and the start beating on it with the base of my hand. 

“Miss Barker, it’s nice to see— ” He greets as he opens the door, but I cut him off.

“Spare me the niceties, Dr. Acardi,” I snap, sitting down on one of the chairs. “I’ve been doing some reading about ALL and I read that there are a bunch of like, treatment options for it.” I inform him. “I just needed to ask you if the chemotherapy is working.”

He’s quiet for a minute before shaking his head with a somber look. “It’s working, yes but nowhere near fast enough to kill the cancer cells. They’re growing too rapidly and reproducing much too quickly for the chemo to kill them all. By the time it’s killed, say, fifty cells, a hundred new ones have been reproduced.” He explains.

“So, what does that mean, exactly?” I ask him, raising my eyebrows and running my fingers through my hair again.

“Miss, I’m actually not supposed to discuss Mr. Da— ”

“I don’t give a damn about your protocol—  Walker Davis is practically my brother and I swear to God, if you don’t tell me, I will come to your house in the middle of the night and I will tie you up and toss you in the trunk of my cousin’s car, drive to the beach and throw you in the ocean,” I threaten very seriously, leaning forward slightly.

“Um, is that a threat?”

“Damn right it’s a threat, now tell me,” I demand.

“Right,” He awkwardly says, clearing his throat. “Well, it basically means that Mr. Davis is running out of time. I’d originally thought he had longer but now that I know the chemo isn’t going to work efficiently enough for him, I’m afraid I can only best guest him to last until Thanksgiving. Maybe Christmas. I’m so sorry, Miss Barker,” Dr. Acardi says, taking notice of how choked up I’m getting.  

“There has to be something,” I desperately plead. “Um, steroids? Radiation therapy? Bone marrow transplant? Stem cell transplant? Something out there has to be able to save him!” I exclaim, getting a little bit hysterical.

“Well,” Dr. Acardi sighs. “I’m not saying yes for sure, but with the right donor, a bone marrow transplant might work,” He tells me.

“Then why haven’t you done that yet?!” I roar, getting even more upset with this so-called doctor for being so freaking stupid.

“The waiting list for bone marrow transplants is a very long list, Miss Ba— ”

“Screw the list! I am a person and I must have bone marrow in me, right?”

“Well, yes, but there’s no guarantee that you’re a match. We can have you tested in the morning though, if you’d like?”

“The morning? Why can’t we do it now?” I wonder, knitting my eyebrows together in confusion.

“Because the testers aren’t here this late at night,” Dr. Acardi says to me in calm voice.

“Okay, well, yeah, but I’ll be here at precisely 9 a.m. to get tested and I’m bringing all of my friends,” I inform him.

“That’s great,” He chirps. “The more people who get tested, the more likely there is to be a match,” Dr. Acardi explains.

“Great,” I say, getting up with a sigh. “Sorry for like, exploding on you like that,” I say sheepishly with a small smile. “Walker just means so much to me,” I explain, knowing that doesn’t really fully excuse my hostility but I don’t really care at this point in time.

“I completely understand,” Dr. Acardi assures me with a smile and after reminding him of what time I’ll be here in a few hours, I leave his office and walk back out to where Orlando is patiently waiting. “All good to go?” He wonders, standing up from the chair.

“All good,” I confirm with a nod as we get on the elevator, riding down to the first floor and getting off, going outside to his car.

“For what it’s worth, I hope they can save your friend,” Orlando says sincerely, offering me a small smile. “And I’ll get tested to see if my marrow is a match too, if you’d like,” He says and I wonder how he knows that that’s what I was planning to do—  I guess I talk pretty loud when I’m angry at incompetent doctors.

“Thanks Orlando, you really are like, the best thing in Italy, you know, aside from my cousin, but she’s obviously included in that too,” I tell him with a giggle as he heads towards a coffee shop, which is good because like I said, I’m getting sleepy and need some caffeine to wake me up.

“Even better than gelato?” Orlando queries jokingly, knowing of my infatuation with gelato.

“Yes, even better than gelato, stupid,” I laugh, rolling my eyes at him playfully as he parks and we get out, going into a coffee shop. As we’re going in, my phone pings in my pocket and I take it out, seeing a text message from Bradley—  I’m surprised that he’s awake because when I left he was out like a light. I open it and read it to myself as Orlando and I wait in the short line.

You’ve been way too stressed lately and we’ve hardly seen each other—  let’s spend the day together alone, yes?

And he added like, that cute little smiley Emoji that’s like blowing heart shaped kisses, which is super adorable.

I think a day alone is exactly what we need—  we gotta do something first but after that, I’m all yours. I’ll be home soon, I looooove you so, so, so much.

That’s what I reply with and add about ten of the different colored heart Emojis just because I do love my boyfriend and I have barely seen him and even though Walker is consuming a lot of my time right now, I have to remember that I’m in a relationship and spending time with my boyfriend is a must. I decide randomly then that I want to spend the day with him in Milan because I mean like, who goes to Italy and doesn’t visit Milan? And God knows I need a day alone with my boyfriend relaxing because I know I’ve been stressing like, to the max. He texts back that he loves me ‘so much more’ than I’ll ever love him, which is totally ridiculous because that level of love isn’t even possible but he’s just so, so adorable and I really miss being alone with him, which is why—  assuming at least one of us out of myself, Tanner, Drew, Bradley, Mikey, Elena, Jaime and Orlando is a bone marrow match for Walker—  this day will definitely be the best day I’ve had in a really long time.

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Author's Note: Okay, this is up later at night than usually but that's just because I had homework and a bunch of other stupid school stuff, but it's still Monday for a few minutes-- at least, where I am-- so, yeah, there's that. Anyways, thoughts on this chapter? Predictions for the next? Don't forget to comment and vote, por favor! And notice the song and picture too! I'll see you lovelies on Monday! <3 Oh! And I recently made a Vine-- very late, I know, but whateves-- so if you wanna follow me there, that'd be really cool-- my username is millie_wattpad, so yeah, follows are appreciated and yeah, that's it, I think. I love you all bunches! :3