Poppy's PoV

Three people walking into the room as opposed to the one who was originally looking after me was never a good sign. I glanced over to Calum who seemed to be none the wiser. Oh how I wish sometimes I'd never gone into healthcare. Ignorance is bliss. Naivety is better. I knew they were about to give me some terrible news.

"Poppy, I'm afraid we have some bad news." The nurse began, wringing their hands to show worry. He liked me, knew I was a good person, this stance was his way of showing me he really wished he didn't have to do this. The two other people sat around the bed, one perching herself beside me.

"B-bad news?" Calum stuttered, his hands already shaking in his lap. We'd been through so much, this was just yet another thing to add to the pile. "But she's had a bad ride already she needs some good to-" I put my hand on Calum's shoulder and he went silent, his eyes staring into mine with fear and endless love. He wanted me to be okay, to protect me from everything but the truth is, health is one of the things he couldn't help with.

"Okay, hit me with it." I braced myself for the worst. Was I dying? Had they had to remove half a lung, my spleen, my bowel? What had happened?

"The good news is that we've caught it early." The person sitting beside Calum said and at that exact moment, it felt like a whole tower blocks worth of bricks fell on me, crushing me, my happiness, my existence.

"No." I breathed out, the woman beside me grabbing my hand in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. I knew what was coming, the word that was going to ruin my life.

"The car accident you had actually brought it to our attention early, so that's some roundabout good news. When we did an MRI of your whole body, something flagged on it. It was an incidental finding." The nurse added, hoping any of that would soften the blow. With tears filling my eyes, I glanced back to Calum who was still none the wiser. Oh how he had the worst to come.

"I'm afraid we picked up a small tumour in your neck, we believe it to be thyroid cancer." The doctor beside Calum said. There was that word. The dreaded word. The one that makes the world crumble around you. Life seems to fade away, like nothing is going to happen or matter anymore.

"What? No that's impossible." Calum said, the first stage of grief hitting in. Denial. "She hasn't had any symptoms. She's been fine." His hands began to twist in themselves, his lip quivering as all three of them exchanged glances. I couldn't compute anything else, my brain shutting down after hearing something so devastating. I wanted to cry, to scream, to punch something. How could this happen to me? What had I done wrong in my life to deserve this?

"Thank you doctor. I appreciate the honesty." I said, my tone flat and emotionless. "What are my next steps?" The word was still spinning in my head. Cancer? That was unimaginable. And somehow I had Naomi to thank for them finding it so early.

"I can give you time to process if you want?" The doctor said, sitting still beside Calum, offering him a glance every now and again to check he wasn't having a breakdown. I shook my head. I opened my mouth to reply but Calum seemed to get there first.

"Is she going to die?" Calum suddenly asked, his face full of anguish and despair. The staff exchanged shocked glances before looking back to me. I looked over to him, watching him crumble in front of my eyes, realising the truth of the situation and how it was going to affect those around me. It was finally sinking in. I was sick.

"Well we're really hoping not. The chance of this cancer being successfully removed is quite high because we've caught it so early." The doctor said carefully, knowing you should never make false promises to patients. Calum straightened where he sat, his hands balled into fists.

"You hope not? HOPE NOT? That's my fiancée you're talking about!" He shouted, grabbing the plastic cup from my table and launching it at the wall where it clunked loudly before cluttering onto the floor. The staff jumped back a little and I grabbed his arm, making him look at me for the first time since the news. He barely took me in as he looked back at the doctors. "So why are you all standing around? Go and help her. Get it out!" He shouted more, his body tensing under my grip. I yanked at Calum, trying to grab his attention.

"Calum!" I finally got him to look at me. He was pale, nervous and scared. He'd never had to deal with news like this before. He shook under my grip, half with anger, half with upset as he began to sob. He brought his hands up to his face as I pulled him into a hug. "It's okay. I've got this. We've got this." It was sweet of him to be standing up for me, wanting them to help me, but I knew I was in this for the long haul. I soothed Calum, running my hand through his hair as I moved his head to look at me.

"How are you taking this so well?" He asked, his voice quivering.

"If I may be so bold as to cut in..." the nurse said, standing up from my bedside. "There is no right or wrong way to take this information. You have come to terms with it straight away and felt grief. Poppy, I believe, needs some time for it to sink in. She may change over the next couple of days so please keep an eye on her. She may want to crawl inside herself and avoid social contact, scared of making friendships she will lose or she may get angry. It will be hard to guess what way it will go, but please do call me if you have any worries or questions." She gave Calum her card and left, swiftly followed by the doctor and nurse to give us some time.

"Life sure likes to kick me when I'm down, huh." I said, hoping a little comedy was going to help us through it. Calum just seemed to stare at the floor.

"What are we going to tell the others?" He asked finally, his gaze moving to mine carefully.

"We're not." I said firmly.

"What? But we have to tell them, they're-" Calum began but the anger had filled me.

"Your friends." I snapped, which caused him to flinch. "I don't want to tell anyone. I don't want them to feel sorry for me. I can do it without them."

"But Poppy..." Calum began, his tone whiny like he hated to disagree with me but had to.

"No Calum. Promise me you'll not tell them."

He sighed heavily. "I promise."