Chapter 7

When Giselle and Morgan arrived back to the apartment, it felt so strange going inside without Robert. She wandered through the living room where he spent the past couple of days on the couch, and sat down, touching the blanket he'd been using. Morgan crawled onto the couch with her, and the two of them leaned against each other without speaking for a while.

"Do you think my Dad's scared by himself?" Morgan was the first to talk, and Giselle smiled at her.

"I'm sure he's going to be fine," she replied. "Your father is very brave. After all, he did escape from a fearsome dragon's clutches, right?" she tapped the little girl's nose, and Morgan managed a small smile.

"But you were there to help him, right?" Morgan asked. "he's alone in the hospital. I know I'd be scared."

Giselle gave a tiny sigh, and held her close. "He'll be all right. I promise, we'll return to visit him first thing in the morning." she looked up at the clock which read 8:30, and gently patted her wrist. "It's time for bed, sweetheart. I know your father isn't here to enforce the rule and you don't have school tomorrow, but I don't want to disobey him, either." she kissed Morgan on the cheek, and promised she would be there soon to tuck her in.

"Okay," Morgan replied, though reluctantly, and shuffled down the hall towards the bathroom.

Giselle continued to sit on the couch, feeling lonlier than she ever had in her entire life. Even before she met Prince Edward in Andalasia, she had Pip and the rest of her animal friends to keep her company. Now she sat in complete silence...well, she could hear the car horns and talking of passerbys on the streets below, but it was not something she was used to. When she managed to gather her wits after a couple of minutes, she went into Morgan's room, where the little girl sat reading Little Red Riding Hood, holding onto one of her stuffed animals.

Robert had difficulty sleeping that night, tossing and turning restlessly. His temperature spiked around two in the morning, which produced nightmares that ended in a burst of flame followed by a dragon's piercing roar. When the nurse came to check on him, he woke with a yell, his eyes wide.

"It's all right," she promised, touching his arm gently. "Mr. Philips, it's just Sarah."

Robert swallowed hard, desparately wanting Giselle by his side. Watching her leave with Morgan earlier that day had been very difficult, and he almost hated himself after seeing the devastated look on her face. He hated himself for having to hurt her so badly with the news of his cancer, but lying to the one you love was the worst crime he could think of to commit.

When the sunlight finally broke through the blinds and washed over his face, he blinked wearily and turned to see Giselle sitting beside him, with Morgan asleep against her.

"What are you...what time did you get here?" Robert asked, his voice hoarse, and she smiled.

"I believe it was as soon as visitor hours started," Giselle replied. "Morgan had me up very early today."

Robert laughed quietly, and reached over to smoothe his daughter's hair. Morgan made a small noise and awoke a short time later, thrilled to see he was looking at her.

"Daddy," she breathed, climbing onto the bed, and he pulled her into a tight hug, burrying his lips against her head.

"Morgan." he tapped the edge of her nose, and narrowed his eyes. "How early were you up this morning?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"The sun wasn't up yet," she admitted, and Giselle was about to add something else when the door to the room opened, and the doctor came in to see how everyone was doing.

"It's good to see your family here bright and early," he announced, and Robert encouraged Morgan to scooch over so the doctor could listen to his heart and breathing. "the nurse told me you were having a bit of trouble sleeping last night. Your temperature was a little unstable."

"Yeah," Robert replied, and Giselle straightened up, reaching for his hand that was resting on the mattress. He squeezed it gently, closing his eyes...exhaustion came way too easily these days. "Sorry," he apologized when he forced them open again.

"No worries," Dr. Martin insisted. "I'll let you rest for a couple of hours, but after lunch I want to bring you down for an MRI. The nurse also stated you had a bit of difficulty breathing last night."

Robert stared at him; he hadn't been able to breathe from the smoke surrounding him.

"Does an MRI hurt?" Morgan asked, and Dr. Martin gave her a pat on the head.

"Absolutely not," he replied. "we're going to put your daddy through a big plastic tube, which takes pictures of his insides."

Morgan's eyes widened, and she gaped at Giselle. "Cool!" she exclaimed. "Can I watch?"

Dr. Martin began laughing heartily, adding the last couple of notes to his chart following a blood pressure check and listening to his heart and lungs. "I'm afraid not," he replied. "but we're going to take good care of him through the entire procedure."

"It'll be all right, pumpkin," Robert promised, and thanked Dr. Martin before he went to check on other patients.

The next couple of hours drug by slowly...he couldn't stay awake for a long period of time. Morgan went to get snacks from the vending machine down the hall around lunchtime, and frowned when her father didn't wake up once his tray was brought in. The nurse quietly put it on the rolling table, and smiled at each of the visitors.

"All right," Dr. Martin announced around one thirty. "are we ready for the MRI scan?"

Robert was now sitting up against the pillows, and Morgan chewed on her lower lip. "Yes," he replied, and Giselle gave the doctor assistance in getting him out of bed and into a wheel chair. It broke her heart into a billion pieces to see him like this.

"I don't understand how you're so sick..." she began, and Robert looked at her wearily. "when we first met, you...I never would have thought, ever..."

"Cancer is tricky," Dr. Martin explained. "patients have good spells, and then it can drag them down without much warning. But we're going to do what we can for your husband, ma'am."

"Oh..." Giselle interrupted. "he's not..." she began, but it was too late...the doctor already wheeled Robert out of the room. She stood facing the hall, and placed her hands in front of her.

"Giselle?" Morgan asked, stepping in front of the older woman. "It's gonna be okay."

Giselle pulled Morgan into a hug, going once more for the bag of pretzels she'd been given.

It had been at least two or three months since Robert last had an MRI scan done, and he'd forgotten just how difficult it was to lay completely still in such a cramped space. He kept his eyes closed, listening to the steady beep that would go off every couple of minutes. He thought of Giselle's comment just before they left the hospital room: "I don't understand how you're so sick...when I first met you, I never would have thought, ever..."

Robert tried desperately to keep the tears back. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, hoping the medics in the room taking the x-rays wouldn't hear him.

"Mr. Phillips," Dr. Martin began after he came out of the scanner, and was sitting in the wheel chair again. "How long did your original doctor tell you to keep taking treatments? Did he have a goal in mind?"

Robert lowered his head. "He said he was going to keep trying for a couple of months and see if there was any progress," he replied, and Dr. Martin cleared his throat.

"I am going to be blunt here, Mr. Phillips, but I honestly don't think keeping you on medication is going to help at this point in time."

"It's that bad, huh?" Robert took a deep breath.

"I'm afraid so. But until the actual x-rays come back, I don't want to come to any conclusions. Your white blood cell count was off the charts after we ran the tests yesterday."

Robert nodded. "I see." he massaged his forehead. "So you're telling me there's absolutely no point in continuing the chemo? To just...let it take over?" he leaned back, and ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated.

"Again, as I said I can't make any rational decisions yet until our scans come back, but after so many weeks of chemotherapy we should have seen some improvements on your white blood cell count. At the rate they're attacking..."

"Please," Robert begged. "Just..." he took a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Martin apologized. "would you like me to explain this information to your wife?"

"We're not married," Robert practically whispered. "and no. She won't understand...this is hard enough for her to..." he cleared his throat. "I'm not making any sense. I think I'm starting to freak out." he looked up at the ceiling, starting to feel a wave of dizziness come over him again.

"Let's get you back upstairs," Dr. Martin encouraged, and Robert nodded.

"Thank you," he whispered, glancing behind him at the large white screen, which was soon blinded by more tears. He could hear the chorus of the song he and Giselle danced to at the ball, which determined how they truly felt about each other:

So close to reaching, that famous happy ending...so close to being alive...

'How ironic,' he thought, as the wheel chair gently clacked down the hall. 'I actually thought we stood a chance.' he shook his head, trying to wipe his tears away before entering the room. 'but I promised them I could do this...that I could be strong,' he added to himself. 'and dammit, for Giselle...and Morgan, I have to be.' he accepted a hug from his daughter, her warmth cheering his mood instantly.

"I love you, Daddy," she whispered, and he held her tighter than he ever did before.

"I know you do," he replied. "and I don't ever want you to forget how much I love you." he smiled at her, and Giselle sat down at last, changing the subject to tell him of the show they watched on the television.