Can't fight against the youth

(Never gonna take usNever gonna break us

Future's open wide

And the past is all behind us)

~~~

Ryan stared at the message screen on his phone, trying to figure out what he should say. Was it too soon to text? Too late? Should he call instead? He let out a frustrated groan and set the phone down on the desk in front of him. He rested his elbows on either side of the device, propped his head in his palms and stared down at the screen.

"Come on Ryan, you're an amazing doctor who's had his hands inside a body. Just text him already." He squinted at the screen, willing words to type and send themselves.

"Ryan," someone said from the door. He looked up to see Jon standing, watching him curiously. "What are you doing?" Ryan shoved the small phone into his pocket.

"Nothing. Just some.. meditating." Jon rose an eyebrow in question. Ryan cleared his throat and sat up straight in his chair. "Did you need something?" Jon stood studying the man for a second before nodding.

"Yeah actually. I'm having some trouble with a patient or her parents actually." Ryan stood up and grabbed the folder Jon held out. While looking through the file, Jon gave a quick recap of the situation.

"Emmy has been getting treatment for leukemia for about five months now, but since last month, we haven't been seeing any improvements in her condition, so her parents stopped treatment a couple weeks ago." Jon led Ryan through the halls toward Emmy's room.

"It's normal for progress to stop for a little, but with the improvement she'd been making. Stopping could cause more bad than good at this point."

"I know. I've tried telling them that, but they won't listen to me, so I figured giving them a second opinion would help change their minds." Jon nudged Ryan's arm, his lame way of trying to persuade the doctor.

"You think I could?" Jon flashed him a smile and stopped beside an opened door.

"I'm counting on you to help me save this girl, Dr. Ross," Jon said his name with slight exaggeration. With that, the two went into the room. Ryan looked down at the girl sitting in bed with a sketch pad on her lap. Her complexion looked pale compared to the hospital gown. The only color coming from her was the hot pink bandana wrapped around her head. She couldn't have been more than thirteen and had already suffered so much.

"Good morning, Mrs. Grey. Mr. Grey," Jon greeted in a profession voice. He turned to their daughter with a friendly smile. "Hey Emmy." The little girl stopped her pencil mid stroke and looked up at the doctor.

"Hi, Jon," she replied in a hoarse voice and small smile.

"This is one of my collegues, Dr. Ryan Ross."

"The doctor friend you were mad at?" Ryan turned to Jon with curious smirk.

"You were mad at me?" Jon chuckled and waved a dismissive hand.

"Not important right now, but yes this is him."

"Hi, I'm Emmy." She reacted as if this environment was so natural to her, like another home. Ryan tried not to think about what someone her own age would be doing now and what she was missing out on.

"Hi, Emmy. How are you feeling today?" She looked back down at her lap and shrugged.

"Tired," she sighed. "I'm hungry too."

"But you keep throwing up everything you eat," her mother stated. Emmy frowned and kept her eyes on her drawing.

"That's not uncommon with the amount of chemo and radiation she's been going through," Jon addressed her parents.

"You've told us that, but she isn't getting better. When will she be able to eat normally again?"

"Once we can put her back on her regular doses and her body responds accordingly, it shouldn't be long."

"Those sessions always leave her in pain and sick," Emmy's father spoke up. "You keep telling us that it's normal and she'll start getting better, but she's not. How much longer does she have to go through this torture? We want to take our daughter home."

"Mr. Grey, I assure you that --"

Ryan ignored the back and forth between the adults and went over to Emmy's bedside. He squatted down to be eye level with the girl. She didn't react, only letting her pencil dance across the paper.

"What are you drawing?" He let his tone be light and curious.

"A lion," she whispered. Looking at the incomplete drawing, Ryan was impressed at how life like it was. For someone her age, her drawing skills easily surpassed his own and many others around him.

"It looks really good. I could never draw that well." He noticed her faint smile and felt a small one of his own growing. "You know lions are known for being very strong and brave." Her pencil still again, but she didn't move. He waited for a response before continuing. "You're very strong and brave too."

"Really?" She turned to him with wide eyes and disbelief in her voice. It hurt Ryan to think this little girl thought of herself as anything but.

"Of course. I'm sure everything you've been going through isn't easy. You're braver than a hundred lions together."

"Jon helps me." Ryan couldn't help feeling pride for his friend. He might give off a cold demeanor, but he was good at caring for children.

"Not your parents?" He found himself asking. She gave a small shrug.

"They're scared most of the time. That's why they want me to stop." Ryan paused, allowing himself a moment to think.

"Do you want to stop?" He always found it important to take the patient's feelings and opinions into account, no matter who else was in the room with them. They were the ones who'd be most impacted with a decision like this after all.

"I don't know," she started meekly. "Jon said this is the best way to get better. I know I've been feeling worse since I stopped my sessions, but I don't want my parents to worry."

"Well, I agree with Dr. Walker. I think this is the best way to help you get out of here. It might be hard now, but once it's over, you could live your life normally. No more long hospital stays and you only have to come back every so often for checkups. But you can live a normal life, maybe even become a famous artist." She perked up at the small image Ryan created.

"You think I can be a famous artist?" Ryan flashed her a smile.

"Absolutely, I'll buy all your drawings myself if I have to." Emmy let out a giggle.

"Thank you." Ryan offered a smile and stood back up, grunting softly at the protest his legs gave after being squatted down for so long. Emmy let out another small laugh at the noise.

"I'm not putting my baby through any more pain," Mr. Grey was almost shouting now.

"If you would please listen," Jon said in a calming voice.

"We're taking her home. It not good for her to be here anymore."

"I want to keep doing chemo," Emmy spoke up, her shaky voice powerful enough to silence the anger of her father. Everyone turned to her, shocked written all over their faces.

"What?" Her parents were now almost ghost white.

"I want to keep doing the treatment like Jon says."

"Sweetie, that's a big decision and I don't think you understand --"

"I trust Jon. He says this is the best way, so that's what I want to do."

"O-okay. Um.. Let's see what Dr. Walker wants to do first, then decide what we should do after, okay?" Jon looked up to Ryan, both surprised and gratitude evident on his face. Ryan nodded and excused himself before the family started discussing their plan.

Ryan walked down the hall, pondering as to why someone would go against a doctor's advise. He understands there could be valid reasons to reject the help, but doctors only want the best for their patients. He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Hopefully, Emmy could get her parents on board with the plan. She can get better, he was sure of it.

With another sigh, he pulled out his phone. If someone as young as her could be brave enough to battle cancer, he would muster enough strength to do this. He moved to his contacts and boldly pushed call on the name before he had a chance to back out. He held it nervously to his ear as it rang.

"Hello?" Butterflies flapped in his stomach at the sound of the voice.

"Hey Brendon, it's me, Ryan. If you aren't busy tonight, I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me?" This was good. Going out with this cute boy was a good distraction from work. He'd like to get his mind off Emmy and her situation. He smiled when Brendon agreed. Yeah, this was going to be good for him.

---

A/N:

It's my third week of classes and I'm already at least 1 week behind in half my class, some classes I haven't done anything in and I have 3 tests in two weeks 😖 Worst things is I still don't have the motivation to do anything! (Ironic that I'm taking a motivation&emotion psychology class lol)

Also yesterday was THE Ryan Ross's birthday (small flashback to when I'd write that in 21 questions lol). I love that lyrical genius and hope he had a bad ass birthday cause my man deserved it.

Anyway, see y'all next week! Love You!! ❤️🖤

~Jay