Dr. Kiefer had informed Chase when he first walked in that morning that Presley’s blood counts showed that the infection was gone and her cancer cells were already beginning to dissipate. Chase couldn’t stop grinning and Dr. Kiefer offered to let Chase be the one to tell her.

“Go to New York on a good note,” Dr. Kiefer smiled. “After a spinal tap, we’ll be able to be positive that the infection is completely gone. Please do still wear the mask in the room, and wash your hands, but you don’t have to worry about the rest of it.”

“Thank you, very much.” Chase shook the man’s hand and then hurried to Presley’s room. He pulled the surgical mask over his face and entered her room. The running water didn’t wake her, but his hand on her cheek did.

“You don’t have gloves on,” Presley mumbled, fighting to keep her eyes open.

“I don’t,” Chase confirmed. He pushed himself up next to her on the bed and touched her face again. “Pres, the infection looks like it’s gone. Dr. Kiefer said he has to do a spinal tap later to be sure but your cancer cells are already going away.”

She was certainly awake now. She threw her arms around Chase’s neck and breathed in his smell. He held her back and she tried to remember that he needed to go to New York.

“Malachi is coming this afternoon,” Presley informed him. “His job is the most flexible and he can work from here off his laptop. I told him I would be fine, but the family is insisting that at least one of them be here with me.”

“I’m glad they are insistent about it. I know my family will be here, but I’d rather someone was with you all the time.”

Presley smiled. “I have to say, I like it when you say things like that. Makes me feel like you care.”

“I do care,” Chase told her. “Very much.”

There was a comfortable silence as they locked eyes with each other for a moment; Chase wanted very badly to tell her just how much he cared, but remembered her request not to talk about it in the Center. Instead, he pulled her mp3 player from his pocket and handed it to her.

“That thing is full. I loaded all my songs on there, but then some other ones that remind me of you that I thought you’d like. You should pretty much be set for music for awhile.”

Presley hugged him again and kissed his neck. “Thank you, Chase. I really appreciate it.”

“How are you feeling today?”

“Good, actually. I feel like I’m getting my energy back and – get this – I’m hungry.”

“That’s a good thing. Do you want me to have the nurse get you something?”

“No,” Presley answered. “They’ll be in here in a little bit. I’m not starving or anything, but I could eat something. When does your plane leave?”

Chase sighed and glanced at his watch. “Less than two hours. I need to leave here soon. I’m sorry I didn’t make it back last night. I was packing and getting that music together for you and then I actually passed out on the couch at the apartment.”

“It’s all right,” she assured him. “I’m glad you got out of here for a little bit. Your mom told me what a hassle it was to get you to leave.”

“What can I say,” he shrugged. “I didn’t want you to wake up and be alone.”

“I know you’d never leave me alone.”

He nodded and kissed her forehead, again through the mask. “I’ve got to get going. Call me whenever something changes, and I’ll call you every day. I’ll text you between meetings and studio sessions and stuff.”

Tears welled in her eyes and she nodded. “Okay. Have a safe flight.”

A tear fell down her cheek and Chase wiped it away. “Pres, please don’t cry.”

“I’ll be okay. I know you need to go and I want you to go and I know everything’s going to be fine. It’s just, you’ve been with me pretty much every day for the last six weeks. I didn’t realize it would be this hard to let you go.”

“You don’t know how hard it is to leave you,” he whispered as she buried her face in his chest. Chase just held her for a few minutes and let her cry.

“Go,” she finally told him, pulling back. “Before I turn into a bad girlfriend and make you stay.”

“You wouldn’t have to try very hard. I promise I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay.” She looked up at his face and sniffled, a mischievous grin creeping up on her features. “Maybe you should shave sometime. I almost can’t tell through the mask, but you’re getting scruffy.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” Chase pretended to pout before grinning at her and exiting the room. Presley watched him go and smiled to herself.

“I love you,” she whispered, as soon as the door was closed and he could no longer hear her.

xxx

“It wasn’t enough attention to be the baby of the family, I see.”

Presley’s head whipped around to the voice that boomed from her doorway and her eyes grew wide. “Malachi! You came!”

Malachi took himself straight to her bed and whisked his sister into his arms. She hugged him tightly; although she was close with all three of her siblings, the brothers did have their respective favorites. Kennedy and Matthew were so much alike that they had always sided with each other, and Malachi – born minutes before Matthew and therefore deeming himself the oldest – had defended Presley from the moment she was born. It was an old family story that their father brought Matthew, Malachi, and Kennedy to see the new baby in the hospital and Kennedy pouted because the new baby was a girl and everyone loved her more. Matthew had argued that couldn’t be true because the new baby was ugly, and Malachi punched him in the shoulder and told him never to talk bad about his baby sister again. Alliances were formed at that moment and continued on, though not quite as violent, as they got older. Not that she loved Matthew any less than she loved Malachi, but Malachi had always treated her like the baby, and Matthew had done the same for Kennedy.

“Good Lord, you’re light as a feather,” he commented, putting her back down. “But you don’t look sick. I have to admit, I expected to see you much worse.”

“I know. Kennedy said the same thing when she came. You should have seen me Saturday when I collapsed. Apparently I was in pretty bad shape then.”

Malachi pulled up a chair and sighed. “So how are you, punk?”

“I’m getting better,” Presley told him confidently. “Dr. Kiefer says that my infection is going away. I just got back from a spinal tap not too long ago – I know you’re sorry you missed that – and I’m just waiting to hear the results to see if it’s completely gone. My bad cells are going down, too, and the good ones going up. It took awhile but I’m getting there.”

“That’s good. Mom and Dad can sleep at night now when I tell them that you’re surviving. Tawny said to tell you hi,” Malachi said, referring to his wife. “Nolan and Tyler were trying to convince me that they needed to skip school and come see Aunt Elvis.”

Presley laughed. Malachi had teasingly called her Aunt Elvis to his sons one day and the name had just stuck. “I miss them. How is Matt’s family?”

“They’re all good. Julie has Matt on this new diet and exercise program that she’s on post-pregnancy – you should see him, Pres. He hates everything she puts in front of him and sneaks out for a hamburger every other night.”

“How does Julie not know?”

Malachi grinned. “He tells her he’s going to the gym with me.”

“Oh Lord,” Presley rolled her eyes. “Is Jacey getting big?”

“I don’t know about big but she is getting bigger,” Malachi replied. “She’s only eight weeks old, you know.”

Presley nodded. She knew very well. Matthew’s first child was born just a couple of days before Presley’s incident with the gravel in the parking lot, and wasn’t even two weeks old when she had come to Tulsa. She was sad about missing out on the baby’s first couple of months but knew she would be there for everything else.

“Your turn, now. Tell me about this boy you’ve been seeing.”

A blush and a grin completely gave her away. She laid on her side and snuggled up to the comfy pillow Janie had smuggled in for her before regaling Malachi with the whole story of how she and Chase had met and how he’d more or less swept her off her feet.

“He’s amazing, Malachi. He brought me in here Saturday night when I collapsed and stayed with me the whole time until he had to go to New York. I had to convince him to leave even then.” Her grin continued and Malachi just watched his sister for a few seconds; seeing her like this was something before he had only dreamed of when she was with Jonathan.

“My baby sister is in love,” Malachi taunted her. “How cute.”

“Shut up,” Presley giggled. “I’m already blushing. Don’t make it worse.”

“I’m sorry,” he chuckled. “It’s cute though. I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“I’ve never felt like this before. He’s only been gone for a few hours, but I feel like it’s been days.”

“Well, just make sure he can deal with Dad, me and Matthew, and Cody when he’s ready to ask permission to marry you.”

Presley’s eyes were starting to get heavy, but she smiled at her brother who told her it was okay to sleep. He stole the clicker and found an old black and white movie for them both to doze off to. As sleep found her once again, Presley imagined what a wedding with Chase would be like; it gave her one more thing to live for.

xxx

Chase stepped into his New York office for the first time since before the most recent tour and waited as the fluorescent lighting flickered awake and glanced around the room. He frowned at the pictures of Lauren that adorned the room and dropped his bag on the desk, then moved to take those down. He’d brought copies of the pictures he and Presley took at the amusement park and replaced the frames with those pictures. While his computer powered up, he typed up a text message to Presley letting her know they were getting ready for a day of business meetings and he would call when he could.

Have you listened to your music yet? he asked.

He checked his emails briefly, printed off a few documents that he would need for his meetings, and then checked his phone.

Not yet. Malachi and I visited most of yesterday so I fell asleep fast. Will listen to it before I fall asleep tonight though. Good luck with your meetings. Try not to tell everyone about me. :P

Chase laughed at her reply and took the good humor as a sign she was feeling better again today. He decided he could wait for someone to walk by his office to the meeting room before he had to go.

I’ll try but you know how hard that is. I have to brag about you at least a little bit.

Wyatt and Evan will either not let me finish treatment or will send you back here if you’re a pain in the butt.

This is probably true and I can’t have that. Any updates btw?

Wyatt stuck his head in the room and knocked on the door. “You ready?”

“Yeah, just let me tell Presley. Be there in a sec.” He looked back down at his phone and opened the new message before texting her again.

Cancer cells down, good cells up. Not a significant change yet but Dr. K says it will happen. I feel stronger.

That is wonderful. I need to get to this meeting before they ground me from the phone. ; ) I’ll call you when I’m done darlin.

Presley smiled down at the text message; she liked ‘darlin’’ and would have to remember to tell him so. Malachi was on a business call, so she decided to call Kennedy and see how things were with her.

“Are you sick of Malachi yet?” Kennedy answered the phone.

“No,” Presley laughed. “He’s spoiling me rotten, and I could never get sick of that.”

“Imagine that. What all have you wheedled out of him so far?”

“Two vanilla shakes and a promise for spaghetti and meatballs when I can go back to Carolina. What are you doing?”

“Waiting at the doctor’s office.”

“Are you sick?”

“No. I’m at the OB/GYN. Cody and I talked about the baby thing again and we definitely want to start trying. I have to make sure all my equipment is working appropriately.”

“Kennedy, I’m so excited! You have to get pregnant right away, okay?” Presley told her, ignoring her sister’s joke.

“Well, I am going to try my best,” Kennedy chuckled. “Trust me on that.”

Presley wrinkled her nose. “I guess I walked into that one.”

“Oh, Pres, they’re calling my name. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“You better. Talk to you soon.”

Malachi ended his phone conversation shortly after Presley did and took his seat next to Presley’s bed. “Was that Kennedy?”

Presley nodded. “She’s at the baby doctor. Making sure all the equipment works, she said.”

“Thanks for prompting that visual,” Malachi said, grimacing. “I’m happy for her though. It’s been a long time coming for them.”

“It has,” Presley agrees, somewhat wistfully.

Malachi watched her settle back on the bed while a nurse pushed another dose of chemotherapy into her IV. The drug usually made her tired, so she would more than likely be napping soon. He waited for the nurse to leave before he asked the question that had been on his mind since Jacey was born.

“Presley, do you get sad seeing Kennedy and Cody trying for a baby and watching Matt and Jules with Jacey?”

She glanced up at the ceiling as her eyes glistened with tears. “Not so much sad as afraid. I know that my chances of having children aren’t completely blown but I do worry that they are too minimal for me to have kids. I know there are some great alternatives, but I want to get fat and happy and pregnant.”

Malachi leaned forward and covered her hand with his. “You will make an excellent mother. I know you will.”

“Thanks,” she answered feebly. “Being with Chase has brought the thought more to the forefront. Even though I know he would be completely accepting if I couldn’t have kids, I feel like I have already put him through so much.”

“It’s his choice to go through it with you,” Malachi reminded her.

“I know that. It’s always been his choice. Sometimes I just feel selfish for asking him to go through this with me.”

“Listen to me,” Malachi told her. “You and Chase, or whoever you marry, will have to find out the hard way how the kids thing is going to play out, but whether it is through a natural pregnancy or adoption or whatever, I know that you are going to give a loving home to a very deserving child.”

“Yeah,” Presley replied, giving her brother a half-smile. “I’m going to sleep for awhile, I think.”

He nodded and kissed her forehead before pulling out his laptop. It was some time after his sister had fallen asleep, however, that Malachi was able to get any work done.

xxx

“Another tour? Already?” Evan asked, brow furrowed. “We just finished a tour from the new stuff going on the next album. That was four months on the road.”

“We wouldn’t start until after the New Year. It’ll be just a few months, select cities,” Wyatt told him.

“I’m getting married in March, you guys. Kyla will kill me if we schedule a tour around the wedding.”

Chase sighed. He wasn’t thrilled about touring again so soon, but he could see where Wyatt and the promo guys were coming from. “What if we just did two months? January and February. It’ll be a busier tour, but then we’ll be done a couple of weeks before the wedding.”

“And you’re saying you want the fans to pick the set list,” Evan added.

“We had someone throw the idea out there on the message boards on the website and there have been a lot of responses to it. We’d let them vote on our entire list of songs, set up a poll for each city we play. Then we can all have a nice break before we start on the next album,” Wyatt explained.

Evan and Chase finally agreed and they all started working out cities and other tour details. They got the right information printed up to go to the right people to start confirming venues and dates. For the first time since he had found out about Presley’s cancer, Chase’s mind was completely immersed in something else. With a new tour in the works, it kicked up his concentration for the rest of his meetings. It was late in the day before he was able to return to his office, and even then it was only to pack up his things and shut off his computer.

His picked up his phone and saw that he had missed a call from Presley hours before, then realized he hadn’t texted her between meetings like he had promised. As he shut off the lights in his office, he dialed her number.

“Hey,” Presley answered, her voice soft and sleepy.

“Hey darlin’,” Chase replied. “I’m sorry I missed your call. These meetings have been crazy today.”

“It’s all right. I figured as much.”

“Are you okay? You sound tired.”

“I was asleep, but I wanted to talk to you. Nothing important and no new news, just missing you.”

Chase frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Presley smiled. “I’m just fine. I just have to get used to this being apart thing. We were together almost every day for awhile, you know.”

“We were, that’s true. I really did want to talk to you more throughout the day, but I was so distracted.”

“I know you were busy. It’s okay, you know – I’m not mad or anything. But you will have to lavish some extra attention on me next time I see you,” Presley giggled.

“You know I will – and just wait until you’re better,” he replied with a teasing tone.

She felt her cheeks heat but kept smiling. “I’m sure you’ll give me plenty more attention then.”

“I promise you that your imagination doesn’t do justice to what I have in mind.”

“Chase!” Presley laughed. “You’re awful.”

“I am, aren’t I?” He made it to the studio’s lobby and joined his brothers in hailing a cab. “We’re headed back to the apartment, I think. Are you going to sleep?”

“Yeah, here in a few minutes. Someone usually comes in around this time of night to check on my progress. They’re going to do a progress check on my counts tomorrow. I have to have a bone marrow aspirate,” Presley pouted. “I hate those.”

“Hey, save your music and listen to it then. Maybe it will distract you.”

His suggestion perked her up and she agreed. “I will. Text me in the morning?”

“I promise. Call me after you get your results tomorrow.”

“Yep, promise. Night, Chase.”

“Night, darlin’.” Chase looked out the window of the cab and said a silent prayer to himself, not for the first time, that Presley would be in remission soon. He missed her and he had the strongest desire to touch her and feel her body close to his. Still, no matter how strong his desires, he knew that he would wait as long as he had to for her to be in remission and for her to be ready; he would wait as long as he had to for her to know that he loved her.

A/N: A few more chapters. :) I have internet at home now -- yay! -- so that will actually help in getting chapters up faster. The sequel to this isn't coming along quite as quickly as I'd like it to, but it's started, at least.

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!