Notes: I wrote this to understand more about cancer and JO’s conduction. And to help me past the time. I got this idea after reading Lurlene McDaniel’s book, The Legacy: Making Wishes Come True .

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Erika looked at her body as she climbed out of her shower. The bruises on her lags were getting darker and uglier to look at.

"Maybe you should get a new kind of work," she told herself as she laughed. "This one isn’t doing much good for your body," she smiled to herself as she wrapped her body in her nightgown.

"Mommy, are you going to be in there all night?" Rusty asked as he knocked on the door.

"No, Rusty, I am not." Erika smiled as she took the towel to dry her hair; she walked out of the bathroom with a yawn. "Come on, sweetie, bedtime. Mommy’s tired."

"But it’s only 7:30!" Rusty told her as he followed Erika to her bedroom, "Are you all right, Mommy? Should I call Dwayne?" Rusty noticed that his mother was looking pained and seemed very tired, though for the last while she always seemed tired. He had seen some of her bruises but never asked her about them.

"No, Rusty, I just seem very tired lately," Erika explained as she pulled the blankets back on her bed. "Rusty, you can go to bed at 8:30, but I am going to sleep now. I love you, sweetie." She kissed Rusty’s head and hugged him.

"I love you, Mommy." Erika smiled as she climbed into bed; Rusty tucked Erika in as he kissed her cheek. "Get better soon, Mommy," he whispered as his mommy fell asleep, then he walked over to the wall and turned off the lights. As he walked back to his mommy, he blew out her scented candles, then climbed into bed with her.

 

"Erika, why don’t you get some rest?" Dwayne asked, as he walked from her office door to her side

"How long were you there for?" Erika asked, as she turned from her work.

"Long enough to find you half asleep," Dwayne told her as he kissed her cheek. "Long day, dear?"

"No, I am just tired." Erika smiled as she wrapped her arms around Dwayne’s neck, kissing him on the lips slowly but deeply, only to pull away when she could no longer breathe. "I missed you, soo much."

"Really? I missed you too," Dwayne told her as he sat on her table where tools and whatever she was working on laid. "So, what are you working on?"

"I was trying to work on my gadget that Dr. Donovan destroyed." Erika smiled weekly. "I swear, one day-"

"Oh, Doctor Slate, have you finished fixing it yet?" Dr. Donovan asked as he walked into her office, Jenny on his shoulder; she moved her tail a bit.

"No, it’s impossible to fix!" Erika said, looking up as she lifted the gadget and dropped it on the ground. It smashed into pieces as it fell on the ground.

"Dr. Slate, are you insane! That will cost you!" Donovan shouted at her. After hearing Donovan scream at her, Erika began to cry.

"Dr. Donovan, you hurt Mommy!" Rusty said as he walked into the room before Dwayne reacted.

"Erika must not be in her right mind, sir. Give her the rest of the day off, please." Dwayne asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Fine," Dr. Donovan said as he walked out. "God, I hate women." Jenny slapped him as they walked out.

"All right, Doc, let's go to your apartment and get some rest. You must be overtired," he told her, helping her up. As Erika stood up she began to feel dizzy and she fell into Dwayne’s arms. He decided to walk her slowly to her room. Rusty followed at Dwayne’s heel.

As Dwayne got Erika to her apartment, he let Rusty open the door and told Rusty to get his mother some water. That would hopefully give him some time to get Erika into her nightgown.

As Dwayne set Erika onto her bed, he began to notice she was no longer with him, that she'd lost consciousness. "Erika? Erika? Are you with me?" No response from Erika. He began to feel ill. He looked around her room as he remembered that Erika told him she kept a phone by her bed. He grabbed the phone and called 911.

 

"Hello, Ms. Slate. You are Erika Slate, right?" the doctor asked as she walked in.

"That's me," Erika said weakly as she held onto Dwayne’s hand.

"Good. I’m Doctor Noreen. Now I need you to answer some questions, ok?" the doctor smiled, as she sat on a chair near Erika’s bed.

"How long have you been feeling ill, Erika?"

"I have been really tired for a while now. I also have been getting these bruise for no reason," Erika told the doctor.

The doctor nodded. "Anything else?"

"Well...." Erika looked at Dwayne for strength. "If I cut myself I seem to bleed for a long time. My gums bleed whenever I brush my teeth; my throat always seems to be sore."

The Doctor nodded as she looked at her papers, "All right. Well, we need to do some more testing-"

"Why?" Erika looked at Dwayne, as he patted her skin.

"When you came in, Erika, I had your blood tested. Your white blood count is very high and your blood test points to leukemia, but I will need to have your bone marrow tested to make sure."

"Cancer?" Erika whispered, as she held tighter onto Dwayne’s hand.

"You have been scheduled to be tested at two this afternoon. I’m having a room fixed up for you; it should be ready in an hour. Until then, you can to go home, pack up a few things to make your room more homelike." The doctor stood up. "Don’t worry; the rate in surviving cancer is great at this time. Your should be better and out of the hospital by Christmas."

Erika smiled even though she didn’t want to. The doctor was trying to help but it wasn’t helping. Christmas was only 6 months away.

"All right?" the Doctor smiled as she took Erika’s hand. "Go out, have a good lunch and I’ll see you back here around one?"

Erika nodded with a smile as she got up. "All right."

 

"Dwayne, how will I tell Rusty?" Erika asked over her lunch. She didn’t have the stomach to eat.

Dwayne ran his hand along her chin, lifting her face towards him, "You will be fine. We’ll have to tell him the truth, though. He will understand."

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