This is my first Studio 60 fanfic, and the first story I have written in years, so please be gentle )
Facing it alone: Chapter One
"Hey." Suzanne said as she walked into Matt's office with his usual morning coffee; a triple shot non-fat vanilla latte from Starbucks.
"Thanks." Matt said, taking the hot drink from her. "Aw, no blueberry muffin today?" he whined, causing Suzanne to roll her eyes at him as she mad her way back to Starbucks.
Once Suzanne had left the office, Matt tried to focus on what he was doing before he was interrupted. For some reason, he was finding it hard to concentrate; the fact his office felt like a sauna was not helping, it was December, it shouldn't be this hot should it? Matt thought to himself.
"Morning." Harriet grumbled as she walked in to Matt's office a few minutes later. "How the hell are you not cold?" she asked Matt, referring to the fan sitting on his desk blowing icy cold air into the room.
"Are you kidding me? Anyway, you're always cold," Matt said, winking at Harriet.
"No, Seriously Matt," she said, walking over and placing a hand on his forehead. "You're hot. Are you sure you feel okay?"
"Hey, I'm always hot." He replied, pretending to be offended by Harriet's comment.
"Really, Harri, I'm fine. It's just a little warm in here," he smiled, trying to relieve the look of concern on her face.
"Okay." Harriet replied, slightly unconvinced by Matt's answer.
"So, did you want to speak to me about something?" Matt asked, trying to change the subject.
"Yes, about this Britney Spears sketch you've been working on. You don't actually expect me to shave my head do you?" Harriet asked, slightly scared about what Matt's response would be.
"Harriet, we want this to be funny, therefore it has to look authentic." Matt replied.
"Hey Matt, you haven't seen my cell phone laying around have you?" Danny asked as he walked into Matt's office.
"No," Matt replied, still looking at Harriet. "Danny, tell Harri, that as her boss, she has to do what I say."
"Harriet, do as Matt says… Wait, what does he want you to do?" Danny said, looking between the two of them.
"He claims that to be a convincing Britney Spears, I have to shave my head" Harriet told Danny.
"And you believe him?" Danny asked with an amused look on his face.
"Urgh, you're an idiot!" Harriet said through gritted teeth as she walked out of the office.
"Yeah, she's right there. You are an idiot. Why else would you have a fan on in December?" laughed Danny, as he left the office.
X
"Here it is." Suzanne called, walking in to Matt's office with his blueberry muffin, only to find him sound asleep on his couch, fan still blasting icy cold air in to the room.
X
"So, everything is sorted for tomorrow except lighting, right?" Danny asked Cal as they made their way up to Matt's office.
"Yeah, we have people working on that as we speak." Cal reassured him.
"You can't go in there," Suzanne whispered as they went to open the door to Matt's office.
"Why, what's he doing?" Danny asked. He scrunched his nose, not wanting to hear what his friend was doing in his office that he couldn't see.
"He's asleep." Suzanne said quietly, pointing to Matthew through the window.
"It's not even lunchtime yet! When was nap time introduced?" Cal questioned.
"Now, apparently." replied Danny dryly, before opening Matt's office door.
"Wake up!" Danny yelled, before picking up Matt's beloved tennis ball and throwing it at him.
"Ow!" muttered Matt, as he rolled over, surprised to see Danny and Cal standing over him. "Remind me never to ask you to step in if my alarm clock breaks!"
"What are you doing?" Danny questioned.
"Sleeping..." He replied. "May I help you with anything?"
"Are you feeling okay?" Danny asked, concerned. "It's not like you to fall asleep during the day, plus Harriet mentioned that you had a fever this morning."
"It's just been a tough week, I guess." replied Matt tiredly.
"Okay, I still think it's a good idea to go to the doctor's," Danny told him. "Apparently there is a lot of strep throat going around"
"Okay, I'll go later, I promise. What did you guys want anyway?"
"Just to let you know that Snow Patrol have confirmed this Friday," Danny said excitedly.
"Do you even know who they are?" Matt asked.
"Well, no, but Jordan likes them." Danny replied slightly embarrassed.
"I'm proud to call you my friend" Matt said light-heartedly, patting Danny on the back as he got up off the couch.
"Before I forget, Mother's Day is on Sunday. Suzanne said that if you want anything sent to your mom, you need to speak to her before the end of the day; so it'll get there in time"
"Don't you only send things to your mom if you actually like her?" Matt moaned.
"You don't like your mom?" Cal asked, a little shocked at what he'd just heard.
" Not really, but I don't think she's very fond of me either."
"I love my mom." Danny said with a smile.
"So do I." Matt said sincerely.
"You love my mom, seriously?"
"Look how much that freaks you out. I should get you to start calling me dad." Matt laughed.
"You guys know I'm still here right?" Cal reminded them.
"Yes, and don't worry; I'm not going to go all Maury Povich on you. It's just, I love how your mom laughs at my jokes."
"You know she probably doesn't understand them, right?"
"But she still laughs…"
"She's probably laughing at you," teased Cal.
"Thanks." Matt replied sarcastically.
"Anyway, enough of all this girl talk; I do enough of that with Jordan." Danny stated.
"Okaaay, I really need to get back downstairs anyway." Cal said, leaving the office as quickly as he could.
"I should get back to work as well." Danny said, doing their special handshake before leaving the office.
X
This couldn't be happening! Was he asleep and having some sort of horrible nightmare…?
"Are yo… are you sure?" he asked Dr. Gallagher, his voice shaking and barely above a whisper. Matt didn't understand why they'd asked him to come back; they had already told him he had the flu that morning…
"I'm afraid so Mr. Albie. You have what they call acute myeloid leukaemia, a disease that affects various white blood cells. This means cancerous cells are now accumulating in your bone marrow, replacing your normal blood cells around your body."
Matt leaned forward in his chair, putting his head in his hands.
"I know this is a lot to take in Matthew, but we need to get you started on treatment as soon as possible."
Matt just nodded; he sat there in silence, trying to take in as much information as he could.
"I've already spoken to Dr. Whitford at Cedars Sinai, and he wants to start you on Chemotherapy within the next few days."
"Okay." Matt replied quietly.
"Is there anything you would like to discuss with me before you go?"
"How... How ill am I?" Matt asked, suddenly feeling very vulnerable.
"You're lucky. We've caught the cancer while it's still in its early stages; it's very treatable, plus, I've sent you to one of the best specialists in California." Dr. Gallagher smiled, like that was going to make him feel any better.
"Thanks." Matt must have sounded as unconvincing as he felt, because Dr. Gallagher went on.
"The odds are in your favour here, Matt. People survive leukaemia everyday."
"Right." Matt said standing up and shaking the doctor's hand.
"Good luck, Matthew."
"Thanks again." Matt said, forcing a smile as he left the doctor's office.