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***Alexei's POV***

"I know, Sebastian. It's not what we hoped. We just have to get through it." I huff out a breath of irritation. I get it. Seb is tired of being in a damned bed. Well, I am tired of hearing him tell me about it.

"You aren't being held prisoner!" Sebastian throws a glare in my direction. Well, I can tell him where to take that look and shove it.

"Sort of am. I am a prisoner to loving and caring about you, fucker." I dart my eyes to the side, happy to see Seb shake his head. I am glad I can amuse him momentarily.

"I love you. I am sorry." Seb turns away from me, tucking his hand beneath the pillow where his head lays. I walk over to him grabbing the thin blanket to cover him up. I hate that my best friend is laid up in this bed while I have no control over how things are developing.

A nurse walks through the door quietly. She sends me a soft look of patience and compassion. I give a small smile and move my eyes down to Sebastian to let the medical attendant know that he is awake.

"Mr. Royals?" The nurse steps in front of  Sebastian before grabbing the stethoscope from the IV stand beside his bed.

"The one and only." Seb rolls his eyes dramatically while shifting onto his back.

"How are we feeling today?" Sandy, the nurse, looks at Sebastian. I cringe.

"Don't know about you but, I feel wonderful. Let me get up and I will show you how great I am as I leave this fucking place." Seb snarls towards me when I huff in disapproval. This man needs a god damned drug to knock him out.

"I guess that is an awful question. I apologize. This is my final wave of rotations and I still haven't come up with a better ice breaker." Sandy curls her hand around Sebastian's wrist to check his pulse manually.

"At least you are honest." I can see regret come over Sebastian. He is being unusually cruel.

"The doctor will be in shortly. I would offer you food but, I am unable to do so. The best I can give you is some ice chips. Would you like me to bring you some?" Sandy begins walking away as she makes her peace offering.

"Only if they are made of vodka." Seb smiles briefly when Sandy lets out a small giggle.

"Dr. Kabul is on his way. I will come back to check on you later. The game is on tonight, don't forget to set a reminder." Sandy walks back out of the door with a small skip in her step. I feel bad for her if that was an attempt at flirting. This is the wrong room to look for bachelors. We are quite uninterested in mountains and way more turned on by valleys. Even the large mounds on her chest aren't going to win her any points in here.

"She wasn't flirting." Seb tosses a pillow in my direction.

"I wasn't thinking that." I hate that Sebastian knows me so well.

"Yeah, you were. Jesus, be a little less conspicuous." Sebastian readjusts himself in his bed. I know he is ready for Dr. Kabul to come in. We want answers. We need answers.

Staring out of the picture window, my stiff joints remind me of how long this has been going on. Two weeks have passed since the moment our world's shifted from the sounds of cameras clicking to the tapping of feet across the marble floors of this hospital. Every test leads to another then another and so on. It is endless.

The anxiety of fear is palpable. Sebastian is literally biding his time waiting for the rest of his life. Every test brings relief and questions. So far, it is not Multiple Sclerosis. We are in the clear for anything cardiovascular and most cancers have been checked off. All of his organs seem to be performing correctly and his brain shows no signs of disease. The doctor narrowed it all down to blood work. I did not think that one person was capable of producing so many samples. Sebastian has been poked, prodded and analyzed just like the lab rat who will have sacrificed himself unwillingly to bring us the cure. Whatever that cure may be will rely on an official diagnosis.

"Good morning!" Dr. Kabul whistles his greeting as he closes the door behind himself.

I choke on that greeting. I know enough about physicians and body language to know that this is where we figure out the next steps in Seb's fate. That simple door closing tells me that we are about to find out what the fuck is wrong.

"Hi, Alexei." I turn as Dr. Kabul calls me by name. Looking down I see that Seb has fallen to sleep. Apparently, I am the focus of conversation.

"Dr. Kabul." My voice is solemn. I feel dread in the pit of my stomach.

"We need to wake him. I have found the issue." Dr. Kabul reads over the chart in between glances at my sleeping friend. I know we wanted answers. Somehow, I wish we could just return to a time where we knew nothing. Answers don't seem so exciting when the unknown is clearly on it's way.

"Seb, buddy. Dr. Kabul is here." I shake Seb awake, feigning a smile as he opens his tired eyes to look through me.

"Sebastian, can you sit up for me?" Dr. Kabul walks over, pressing the button on the bed to pull Sebastian into a sitting position. I don't know why I am so offended. I feel like he could have given Sebastian a moment to do it himself. The doctor seems very abrupt this morning.

"I am awake." Seb rubs his eyes while blinking away the left over drowsiness from his mid-morning nap.

Dr. Kabul does a quick check of the patient's vitals, filling in his chart with the necessary updates. I stand by, impatiently, as the good man does a thorough scan of all the wires that are running between Sebatian and the machines. Every moment that passes seems like a wasted moment. We need to get this shit on the road so we can move closer to normal.

"Can we maybe talk while you build that chart? Time is money. Money is time." My snappy demeanor causes both Sebastian and the doctor to give me the same smile. Seb must know that I am on edge. The doctor is probably just caught off guard by my curt tone. I am always studious. This is definitely a once in a lifetime change in my attitude.

"Part of the blood work is as expected, you have a rare form of anemia." My heart lightens immediately with the news. Thank the gods that it is just anemia. Fuck you cancer scare.

"Of all the fucked up shit. Really? That is great news. I mean, it isn't life threatening. What are the odds? Anemia! Well, I will be. What are we looking at? Do I need blood? Do you need to set me up on some kind of transfusion. I'm all in for it Doc." Seb sits up with an energetic smile. My heart warms at his changed demeanor. I can see the light that has been snubbed out by all of the "what-ifs" slowly begin to shine once again inside of my best friend.

"Sebastian, listen. This is not a run of the mill case of Anemia. You have Acquired Aplastic Anemia that is complicated by APL." Dr. Kabul dampers the good news without explaining further.

"I get it. I'm sick. It is serious. Let's move on to the part where we fix it. I'm ready." Sebastian smiles brightly. Dr. Kabul takes a seat. The simple movement makes the pit of my stomach burn ten-fold. This is serious.

"ACL stands for Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. It is rare. This is very serious. I can't treat you Sebastian." Dr. Kabul looks to me to co-sign his fucked up statement. I am not co-signing shit. I don't know what the hell is even being said right now.

"Leukemia?" The word stumbles clumsily from my mouth. I am unsure whether I made a statement or asked a question. From the look on Seb and Dr. Kabul's face, I may not have even spoken.

"I know what I have said is scary. However, I want you to know that I have already set up a consultation with wonderful specialist in Italy. You can fly out tonight if you like. Dr. Reins is expecting you. This is not going to be a sealed deal. Dr. Reins is going to need to be convinced that you are in this. This doctor specializes in unorthodox treatments." Dr. Kabul looks seriously at me before redirecting his attention to Sebastian.

"Is this an interview?" Sebastian incredulously sneers his question.

"In a way, yes. Dr. Reins is a very busy man. He isn't able to take on many patients due to the nature of the studies he practices in. These treatments are longer than six months and require a lot of attention. If Dr. Reins believes that you are going to miss appointments, deny necessary changes or show poor effort in your recovery, he will not hesitate to dismiss you as a patient." Dr. Kabul is not actually being rude. However, his bedside manner is not up to his normal status while he explains the stringent practices of this new specialist.

"For you to even believe that I would allow Sebastian to put work before his health is an insult. I am Sebastian's friend before being his manager. I can't believe..." I am cut off by a huff from the good doctor.

"I apologize. I did not mean to imply that either of you would not take this seriously. I just wanted to iterate the importance of this man becoming Sebastian's doctor. In our fields, you would be surprised how many people are not always forthcoming with vital details or accepting of the responsibility in their own care. I apologize, again. This was not my intention." Dr. Kabul earnestly explains the clinical conversation he just had with us.

"No, it is not your fault. We do not understand what professionals go through when this comes up. We, ourselves, are new to every aspect of this. We accept your offer. We will both do whatever is necessary to follow Dr. Reins protocol. I want to beat this Dr. Kabul. I have to." Sebastian closes his eyes after letting his words somberly taper off.

"Good. That is what I like to hear. The first thing you need to do is get on a plane to Italy. Dr. Reins is waiting." Dr. Kabul gives his final instruction before patting Sebastian's foot and walking out of the room.

I stand in my position, quietly. All of this is such a large amount of information to process. I know we need to get going but, I don't know if I am ready to start this journey.

The door opens once again as a nurse quietly starts removing Sebastian's leads, IV and blood pressure cuff. I move around the medical professional to pack up our bags. In no time, we are signing the discharge papers. Sebastian reluctantly lets me help him from bed.

While the professionals finish the discharge process, I take the time necessary to make phone calls. I cancel future bookings, get an emergency flight and give my parent's a call to let them know that we might not be home as soon as we thought.

I don't know what we are walking into. All I do know is that Sebastian has to walk away from it. We can't end this chapter of our life with such finality. We haven't met our soulmates. We haven't seen a live basketball game. We haven't been the best man at each other's weddings. Honestly, the list could go on. We haven't lived enough. We need more time.

"Ready?" I ask Sebastian as we make our way into the hummer.

"Not really. I don't think I have a choice." Sebastian moves with intense concentration to get into his seat. His hands shake while he buckles his seat belt. Whatever we are getting into, I just pray that something gives. Sebastian needs to feel better.

"I am right here, Seb. I will be beside you the entire time. You are not doing this alone." I squeeze Sebastian's hand as the vehicle begins to drive us to our separate places.

We have four days before the plane leaves towards the first day to what will seem like forever. I have too many meetings, packing and plenty of my own business to attend to before we jet set to one of the most beautiful places on earth. This is not how I expected my first trip to Italy to go. But when a friend is in need, you don't worry about everything you are missing out on. You have to focus on all you stand to lose by being selfish.

Of all the fucked up shit, fuck you cancer.