Everyone's face goes into immediate shock. I don't move as I keep looking at the doctor with my jaw dropped. I don't hear anything until a pair of arms wrap around me.

Dad hugs me tight and I hug him back. He eventually separates with a few tears streaming from his eyes.

"You did it Garroth! It's gone!" He exclaims. I notice mom next to him smiling and crying, too.

"No more radiation?" I ask.

"No, but you'll have to continue a few rounds of chemo just to be safe," the doctor says. I nod, I've been through chemo so it's not as scary.

"How was it gone this fast? It took months when he was little!" Mom says, still crying tears of joy.

"Well, we got most of the tumor out and pretty much doubled treatment. Plus, it was bone cancer when he was little, which is hard to treat," he smiles at me, and I smile back.

"How soon can he leave?" Zane asks, the first time he's really said something at all here.

The doctor thinks for a minute, "About two days at the most."

Everyone nods. The doctor thanks us for our time and leaves. Dad still holds me as tight as he can.

"I promised you, didn't I?" He whispers.

I smile at him and nod. Everyone's stopped crying at this point. Well, mom and dad. My brothers and I didn't really cry considering Zane and Vylad wouldn't understand plus I'm not a huge crier in times like this.

"Does this mean I'm getting my hair back?" I ask. Mom smiles and nods.

My face lights up and I think about everything that I've missed. My friends at school, but not school. And time with my extended family, like Grandma and Grandpa.

"Do you want us to call Grandma and Grandpa?" Everyone in the room nods, Zane the fastest.

As mom calls them, I smile brightly. I can't wait to be normal again.

~•~

I walk into the activity room, more cheery than ever. Aphmau notices and looks at me weird. I walk over to her with probably a goofy smile plastered on my face.

"Hi, Aphmau! What's up, Laurance?" I say way to cheery.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Laurance asks.

"My cancer's gone!" The two of them smile and hug me. I hug back, and they separate.

"That's awesome, man!" Laurance says.

"Does this mean you're leaving soon?" Aphmau looks down sadly.

"Y-Yeah," I rub the back of my neck, "but I have to have more chemo treatment, so I might see you then."

She smiles, "Okay, I guess."

Her smile is pretty, her eyes sparkle and she has one dimple on her left cheek, which is adorable. I have two on each side and I hate them. But they're amazing on her.

Maybe I do have a crush on her, who knows?

"So, what do you wanna do today?" Laurance asks.

Aphmau giggles, "I think we've gone over every country and their capital, so we cant do that."

Laurance and I nod. We all think for a minute. There really isnt much to do that we haven't done, really.

"I don't think-" Laurance says, but Aphmau cuts him off.

"Let's draw! There's paper over there and crayons in the next drawer," she points to a brown drawer with a golden handle.

Laurance and I look at each other and nod. Aphmau jumps up and goes to grab the paper and crayons.

"Here's the thing," Laurance whispers to me, "I can't draw."

"Neither can I!" We go into a laughing fit. Aphmau comes and looks at us weird.

"What in the name of Irene happened to you?" She puts the crayons and paper down, "I'm pretty sure that chemo is getting to you."

Laurance and I laugh harder and harder, until Aphmau pinches both of our necks. We jump up and rub the spot that she pinched.

She giggles, "Sit down, boys," she points to the chairs.

Laurance and I sit down, as does Aphmau. She almost immediately starts drawing what I think is a castle, and Laurance starts drawing what I think is a dinosaur. I don't draw at all.

"Are you okay, Garroth?" Aphmau asks, "Why aren't you drawing?"

"I'm... not that good," I say embarrassed.

"Okay," Aphmau shrugs and continues drawing.

I watch in silence. They are really good at drawing, even Laurance who said he wasn't. Aphmau's the best, though, I have to say.

I sit and watch calmly until I feel a hand on my shoulder. I jump and Laurance and Aphmau look at me. I turn around to see mom.

"Garroth, your dad needs to talk to us. He says it's important," she says with concern in her voice.

I nod, wave to Aphmau and Laurance, and walk back to the room with mom. As I walk in I see both of my grandparents, my dad and my brothers. I sit on the bed with Vylad and grandma. Dad has an expression on his face that is concern.

"Okay, now that we have everyone here, I have good news and bad news," he says. My eyes go wide.

"Good news first!" I say. Most people would choose bad news but I've gotten enough of that these days.

Dad nods, "The good news is that I've been bumped up to Second Lieutenant, which means a bigger salary."

Everyone in the room smiles except for me and dad. I know there's something else wrong, really wrong.

"A-And the bad news?" Mom says. Grandma holds my hand tight.

Dad takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through his hair. Tears start to flood my eyes.

"They're deploying me to Iraq and," he pauses, "sooner than we all thought."

"To when?!" Mom and Zane exclaim.

Dad sighs and looks at me with sad eyes. Tears start to blur my eyes but I nod at him to continue. He nods back and looks at everyone else.

"They're deploying me in 3 days."

••••••••
Heyo. Thought the last chapter was the end of the book, eh? No, we got a lot farther to go. Hope you enjoyed!
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