Sisters at Heart

by Lunatone

Chapter Twelve: Good and Bad News

Sisters at Heart

Lunatone

Chapter Twelve

Good and Bad News

Later in the week, Dusty seemed to have caught a bug of some sorts. At first, we thought it was a typical cold because of the sniffling and coughing he was doing. His sniffles subsided after two days of resting, but his cough persistently got worse and worse every day: I would see him hack into tissues and throw them out when he was done. Vinyl and I kept telling him that he should pay the doctor a visit, but he stubbornly refused since he hated going to the doctor’s office; the only time I ever heard of him being anywhere near a doctor was when Vinyl was born.

Three weeks later, Vinyl and I found him coughing up small amounts of blood in the tub. Vinyl immediately ran over to her father, looked at him, then said, “What’s wrong, Dad? Why are you doing that?” A worried look crossed her face. She looked more worried than a college student about to write its first exam.

Then I had to ask. “When did you start doing that?”

He looked at us. “About an hour ago. Nothing to worry about, though I promise. What are we having for dinner?”

Vinyl and I exchanged looks of worry. We had to do something, that was pretty clear to me and her. “C’mon, Dad, we’re taking you to go see the doc.”

Even though Dusty hated going to the doctor, her didn’t put up a fight since he knew this was a serious matter that couldn’t be evaded. We took him to the local hospital, and when we got to the front reception desk, there was an experienced resident—a white stallion with a blue mane, and a needle for a cutie mark—and he asked us what the emergency was. We told him that Dusty had been coughing up blood, so he sent Dusty down for a chest X-ray.

After twenty-five minutes had past, the resident picked up the phone, whispered something into the receiver, then he motioned us to come to him. He was filling out a form, then he handed it to us. “Take this back to the nurse. You’ll need it,” he said.

“Why?” I asked.

“It’s the referral for Dusty’s condition. It’s the list of recommendations Dusty should consider to help aid his condition.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Vinyl said, her voice cracking, sounding worried. A tear streamed down her face, and I held her close.

The resident looked at us, took his glasses off, and then said, “According to the X-rays, he has a spot right on his heart. It needs to be examined further.”

“A spot?” Vinyl said. “What does that mean? I don’t understand. Can you explain what you mean to me?”

“The nurse who administrated Dusty’s X-ray scan suspects that the spot on his heart may be linked to heart cancer, but I want to run a CAT scan just to be sure. Heart cancer is extremely rare, and I have my doubts that it is. But there is always a small possibility. We’ll have more information with the CAT scan results. I can escort you to the nurse if you’d like.”

“Please, anything that will help my Dad,” Vinyl said.

He nodded. “Right this way.”

We trailed down the white hallway until we got to Dusty’s room. We went in and I saw Dusty lying in a hospital bed. He was happy to have us there. “There’s my girls,” he said.

Vinyl and I went up to him, hugged him.

“Dad,” Vinyl said, “we heard the news.”

“What news?” he asked.

“The one about—” Vinyl was cut off by the nurse.

“We have the results of your X-ray, Mr. Dusty, but it isn’t good,” said the nurse, posting the scans on the wall. She was a white mare with a surgical cap, and she had a band-aid for a cutie mark. “From these scans, it shows that you have a hole in your heart. I suspect that it is linked to heart cancer, and the resident here recommends that you get a CAT scan for more precise results. Will you be willing to take the CAT scan now?”

“I…I could have cancer?” Dusty asked dryly. He almost broke out in tears, but Vinyl smiled at him, bringing him back to the light.

“Possibly, yes. It’s suspicious,” the nurse said.

“Can you tell me more? I have questions.”

“We’ll be able to answer any questions you have once the CAT scan results are in,” the nurse said. “Would you like a moment to think it over?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’ll do anything I can that will help me know what I’m going up against.”

“Very well,” the resident said. “We’ll begin your prep in ten minutes. Please excuse me.” The resident and the nurse left without saying anything else.

“Dad…” Vinyl said, trailing off. “You have cancer?” She was starting to choke up with tears and sniffles. I felt obligated to comfort her, but I knew this was a moment between father and daughter that should go uninterrupted.

“Hey,” he said. “Why are you crying? We don’t know if that’s the case yet.”

“But what if it is? What if you don’t make it? I can’t lose you, Dad…” Vinyl sobbed into her father’s bedside, snot and tears mixing on her face. I wanted to have my say on the current situation, but I couldn’t; and that was the part that hurt me the most.

Dusty propped her chin up, smiled at her, and said, “You’ll never lose me. Ever. I promise you that. Look…we’ll know more when that results are in. Until then, don’t worry.”

Vinyl collected herself, wiped the tears from her face. “I love you, Dad. And I won’t worry. Not until we know more.”

“That’s my girl.”

A few seconds later, the nurse and the resident came into the room. “We’re ready for your scan, Mr. Dusty,” the nurse said. “One more thing before we continue.” The nurse looked at Vinyl. “You’re Vinyl, correct? Dusty’s daughter?”

Vinyl nodded. “Yes.”

“We’re going to keep him overnight for observation. We’ll call you as soon as we have the results of the scan.”

Vinyl looked at her father. “You’ll be okay here, right, Dad?”

“Of course I will be. Go home with Octavia.”

She had given him a hug before he exited the room with the nurse and resident.

Later that night, I was comforting Vinyl at the news she and I got today. We were lying in bed together, our bodies pressing up against each other as we held each other close; I caressed the area around her eyes, trying to help her sleep, hoping that it would dwindle the tension she had within her. She eventually fell asleep, and it wasn’t long until I did the same.

§

A week had passed, and we got a call from the hospital. They told us they had Dusty’s CAT scan results ready to be revealed, for better or worse, I didn’t know at this point. Ever since Dusty had checked in the hospital last week, he wasn’t allowed to come home because of doctor’s orders. We were, however, permitted to visit him during the week whenever we liked. Vinyl and I brought him fresh flowers every day, and we would spend time together by his bedside. Occasionally I would leave Vinyl alone with her father and go for a solitary walk. Clear my head.

But often times those walks lead me to the same place it always had: The lighthouse near the Las Pegasus beach, secluded from the rest of the world, whose only company was the ocean crashing against it. Going there didn’t really clear my head; it only made it more cloudy, making me believe that the worst would happen. That’s what anger does to you, I’ve learned over the years: If you can’t settle it, it’ll consume you until you find a way to rid it completely.

When we got to the hospital, the same resident that tamed us last week directed us to a Cardiologist, Dr. Burns. The visit with him wasn’t the best, to say the least. There was a lot of tension in the air as we all sat in front of him, hearing him talk about Dusty’s condition. Dr. Burns was a direct-spoken stallion with a goatee, a grey coat, and a medical sign for a cutie mark. He told us he reviewed the CAT scans and he said that Dusty did have heart cancer.

The doctor pointed out the small blobs on the scans, telling us that those were developing tumours. Then he said something to us. “You see, heart cancer is an extremely rare form of cancer, and, in my thirty-six years as a doctor here, I have never seen a patient diagnosed with it before. Not until now.” A sigh left his mouth. Then he leaned forward, his hooves on his desk. “There aren’t many options available to treat heart cancer, but there are two options that are probably your best bet.”

The three of us exchanged looks and whispers to each other. Then Dusty said, “What are my options then?”

“Well, you can either get a heart transplant, or you can undergo radiation therapy.”

“What’s that?” Vinyl asked.

“It’s a form of radiation treatment. Basically, it’s the use of radiation to attack the tumour cells, which will kill them. But the risks in radiation therapy for this diagnosis is there is a very high chance of heavily damaging the healthy tissues in your heart.”

“Which means?” Dusty asked, sounding extremely frantic. I noticed Vinyl shaking, tears starting to well in her eyes as she held her father close.

“There is a risk of death. And if not death, you could be diagnosed with heart disease from the radiation.”

Droplets sparkled in Dusty’s eyes. “Do I have any other options?”

“A heart transplant is an option, but the waiting time is far too long. Surgery is always an option, but, even after the tumour is removed, you’d still need to undergo radiation therapy for a chance of survival.”

I hated how direct and technical he sounded, as if we knew what all of this meant. A spark triggered my tamed anger and it thundered within me. I felt even more anger now that I knew Dusty’s life was on the line, and also because Vinyl could potentially lose her dad; and that was something nopony should go through. Regardless of all of that, I knew one thing: We’d all get through this together. And I knew, we could only do that by staying positive.

For the next little while, there was silence amongst us, until Vinyl said something. “Will my dad be okay, doc?” She was teary-eyed, sniffles resonating from her nose as well.

“I have explained all the risks. If you’d like me to go over them again, I will. But for now, I’ll give you some time to make a decision.” Dr. Burns gave Dusty his business card. “Please call me tomorrow, anytime, and let me know what option you will take.” The doctor left without saying another word after that.

§

There was rain later that afternoon, and when we stepped out of the hospital, passing carriages sprayed water all over the sidewalks. Dusty didn’t say anything until we got home, soaked in water.

As he was sliding the key into the keyhole, Vinyl said, “Dad…” She was shaking uncontrollably, hooves wobbling around as if they were about to collapse. I was almost about to save her from falling, but this was another moment I couldn’t interrupt.

Dusty pocketed the keys, pulled Vinyl in for a hug. I heard both of them choking from the sheer volume of emotions: Wretched sobs came from the two of them as they embraced one another in the heavy rain. Eventually, Dusty pulled himself together. “I’ve made my decision.” He drew back from her.

“What about me, Dad? What am I suppose to do now?” Vinyl said, her eyes welling with the rainwater.

A smile crossed his face, and he wiped the droplets from Vinyl’s rain-soaked face. It was the same look he had given me when I was a filly; I’d scrape my hoof on the patio after chasing Vinyl around and cry. Seeing that smile made me cry. It made me cry because the crying that had brought it on then, had brought it on now.

“Vinyl…you’re a fully grown mare now. You’re seventeen now. And you have a mare who loves you unconditionally.” He opened his mouth, only to shut it shortly after. Then he spoke up. “And if she had a say in this, she would tell you that she would never think you were incapable of living without me.”

Vinyl started to sob uncontrollably: Her entire body was shaking, and her face was in a mournful frown of pain.

“Vinyl, what I hope for you, perhaps one of the greatest thing that a father can hope for his daughter, is that one day you’ll become a parent yourself. And then you’ll know how much I truly love you.”

He opened the door, then disappeared into the house, leaving the front door open for us. Vinyl and I were standing silently in the rain, and neither of us exchanged a word. I looked at her, witnessed the horror, sorrow, and pain on her face. She came over to me and cried into my chest. If there was one thing I had learned at that moment, it was this: There’s always a natural order to things, and they happen the way they do. We might not know why at the time, but there must always be a reason.

And I knew deep down, that Vinyl knew that too.

§

For a while, even Dusty’s cancer didn’t stop him from working to bring in a paycheque. He would go work an eight-hour shift, come home, help make dinner, and then go to sleep. Vinyl and I would occasionally visit him during the day, just to make sure he was doing okay, not pushing himself over the brim. Sometimes on our way there, we would see Houser and his wife stroll by. Houser would greet us with a smile and a wave.

By October of that year, Dusty was getting extremely exhausted by mid-Sunday afternoon that he’d wait while Vinyl and I picked up groceries for dinner. By winter, he would be drained of energy by noon. And when that happened, he told his workplace that he needed some time off to rest because of his condition.

Sometimes when I went to get the mail, Houser would come up to me and ask me why Dusty had been looking a little thin around the waist. I told him that he was on a diet so he could be in better shape, but it quickly became apparent that was a lie. The weight on him kept dwindling, every week, and his cheeks eventually hollowed down, and his temples shrunk.

Shortly after New Years day, Vinyl and I went to work with him so we could keep a close eye on him. He was at his desk, scribing away at the papers that were in front of him. Come lunch time, Vinyl and I went to get something at the cafeteria. And while we were coming back, we heard frantic shouting coming from the office area.

“Does anypony have medical training here? This stallion needs help!” came a voice from afar.

We whipped around the corner, and we found Dusty on the cold floor, his body twitching everywhere.

“Dad!” Vinyl cried out. I followed her to her father. “Somepony help him!” Foam was coming out of his mouth, and his eyes didn’t show his pupils.

Ponies were rushing up to us, and I heard somepony yell out “Call 911!”

Dusty began to cough up small amounts of blood. He bit down on his tongue, and tried to say something, but the only thing that came out were indecipherable slurs. Vinyl sat down next to him and grabbed him with her front hooves. “I’m here, Dad. Octavia is too. You’ll be all right, okay? I promise. You promised me you’d keep us safe, so I promise you that, too.”

§

The doctor, brown-coated mare and a needle for a cutie mark, pulled Vinyl and I out of the room where Dusty was. “I’d like to go over Dusty’s CAT scan results,” he said. He put the scans up on the previewing box in the hallway, as if he were trying to expose a patient’s condition with its consent. On the scan, it showed a cross-section of Dusty’s brain, rigged with blobs.

“The cancer has worsened. It has metastasized. He’ll need to take medication to reduce the swelling in the brain and prevent future seizures. I’d also recommend that he take radiation treatment. Do you know what that means?”

Vinyl nodded.

“All right, then. I have another patient waiting for me. If you have any questions, you can have me paged by another resident.”

“Thanks,” Vinyl said.

We sat next to Dusty’s bed all night long.

§

Dusty had been discharged from the hospital two days later. Right now, he was lying on the couch, a blanket over him. I kept him company while Vinyl went to get him some fresh tea and almonds, his favourite snack. When Vinyl came back, I helped Dusty sit up straight. His body felt thinner than the wings of a pegasus. I sat next to him, wondered how he truly felt in a situation like this.

“Here you go, Dad. Tea and almonds. Just how you like it,” Vinyl said.

I knew now was the time to ask. Otherwise it just might be too late if I didn’t. “Um, Vinyl, could you give me a moment alone with your father? There’s something I’d like to ask him. It’s a surprise for you and I don’t want to spoil it.”

“Of course, Octy. Take as much time as you need. I’ll be upstairs drawing something.” Vinyl left, and it was only Dusty and me.

“What’s on your mind, Octavia?” he asked me, sipping tea and chewing on a few almonds.

“Well…I know the timing is off with everything that’s going on, but I want to propose to Vinyl, and I’d like your blessing.” My heartbeat picked up speed, and it made me shake out of fear.

Dusty’s lips made a smile. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am. I couldn’t be more sure. I love her to death and I’d do anything for her.” My tone of voice rose unintentionally.

“Yes. I give you my blessing.”

A burst of air left my mouth. Then I collapsed on the couch. My entire body wouldn’t stop shaking. “Thank you, Dusty,” I said. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“You already have. You make my daughter happy. And that’s all a real father wants of their filly.”

I smiled.

§

Later that night, I broke the news to Vinyl while we were lying together in bed. “Listen,” I said, “I want to tell you something. Something that happened today.”

I turned to face her, only to see her eyes were agape, curious as to what was going on. “What is it?” she asked.

“You know I love you, right?”

“Of course I do. What kind of question is that? I love you too, Octy.”

“Well…despite everything that has been going on the past several months,” I said, taking hold of Vinyl’s hooves, “I had to ask your dad something. Something that will change our lives, Vinyl.”

“What did you ask him?” she said, sounding completely unaware of where I was going with this.

“I asked him for his blessing so I could marry you. Which brings me to the question I’ve always wanted to ask you. Will you marry me, Vinyl? I know this isn’t the proper way to propose, but—” My speech was interrupted by the intervention of Vinyl’s lips. I kissed her back, pulling her close to my body.

She pulled back, then said, “Yes, Octavia, I will marry you. This is everything we dreamed of all those years. Now it’s finally coming true!”

I loved her. I opened my mouth and almost told her that we’d get married tomorrow and live happily ever after. But I didn’t. Instead, I kissed her on the lips, pulled her on top of me, and made love to her.

It was special.

Comments

[Misty Horse]

One thing I have to say is the scenes go by way too fast.