~Valary’s P.O.V.~


I hung up with Jimmy and looked at Matt, who was leaning against the kitchen table with a beer in his hand and a sad look on his face.
“How the fuck does that girl do it,” I asked him, my heart hurting for Serenity, Jimmy’s new catch.
Matt shook his head. “Hell if I know, Val,” he sighed. “I can barely handle it when you’re sick, or when Jimmy has checkups for his heart. But a little kid? I don’t know man. She’s just built for it, I guess.”

“Hey,” Zack greeted, walking into the dining room with Johnny right behind him. “So is Jimmy coming over, or what?”
“Nah,” Matt told him. “We were just going to see if you guys wanted to go meet up with him.”
“Where are they,” Johnny asked, moving around Zacky.
“Hospital,” I frowned. “He’s with the girls and Evelyn had a bad day.”
“Fuck dude,” Zack sighed. “That kid, man. That fucking sucks.”
“No shit,” I said. “Well, Matt and I are obligated now since I promised cupcakes, but you guys don’t have to.”

Zacky and Johnny looked at each other. “No, we’ll go,” Zacky said.
“Yeah,” Johnny said nodding. “We haven’t seen them in forever anyway. Why not? Are we going to call Syn? I’ll get Lacey to meet us there.”
“Yeah, we might as well,” Matt said. I tossed the phone to him and he started dialing Brian, who in turn said that he and Chelle would meet us there.

Johnny sent a text and from there we were on our way to pick up some cupcakes.

When we got to the store, we immediately got dirty looks, something the boys and I were used to now. Usually, I’d laugh it off or get angry, but not tonight. Tonight, I was on a mission.
“Are we looking for anything specific,” Johnny asked.
“Yeah,” I told him. “Anything with pink and purple icing.”
“Well I don’t see any of that, but there are these ones,” Zack said pointing to some cupcakes that had different princesses on them.
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “I think those should do. Should we get drinks?”
“How about juice,” Matt asked. “Carbonated is a no go since her stomach is sensitive.”
“Do you think she likes grape juice,” I asked him.
“I’ll text Jimmy,” Johnny said. “Let’s just walk around a bit. Aw wait, let’s get her some toys,”
And with that Johnny ran away.
“Oh dear God…”



~Johnny~


You don’t buy a little girl cupcakes and not get her toys, bro.

So I walked around the little kids’ section and browsed around just as Jimmy texted back a picture of the little girl in pink scrubs with a big smile and an IV in her arm throwing a thumbs up. I could help but laugh at the picture because of how cute she was even though she was really sick.

“Frozen,” I read aloud, holding a box with a big headed blonde in a blue dress and a retarded looking snowman.
“Shopping for someone special,” an old lady next to me asked.
Despite the look the young woman gave me, I smiled at her. “Yes ma’am,” I said. “Super special. My best friend is dating her mom, and she had a bad day so we’re going to drop by and surprise her with a little something.”
“Well that’s sweet,” the old lady said.
“Oh yeah,” I laughed. “That’s what I’m going for. I just don’t what she’d like. Hell, I might as well clear the shelves. I’ve got the money to do it and she deserves it, but judging from the last time I met her, she’d feel bad that I did it. Haha!”
“Wow,” she said with a big smile.
“Yeah,” I sighed. Then I pulled out my phone. “Oh, look. That’s her.”
“Aw, how sweet,” the woman cooed. “Well that’s too bad. She seems in good spirits though.”
“She is,” I said, looking at the picture sadly. “She was like that when I first met her too. From what I know, she’s always like that.”
The woman put her hand on my arm. “That’s all she need, son,” she said quietly. “Just a smile a day, ring of laughter and a circle of love. She’ll make it through. I did.”

I stared at the woman for a bit, and smiled. “Thank you,” I told her, not really knowing why.
The woman smiled widely, “No, thank you.” And with that, she walked away leaving me standing there, looking after her with a weird feeling in my chest.
Little did I know, Matt, Zack and Val were all standing there too.
“Holy shit,” Zack whispered.
I turned to look at them and let out a breath I didn’t realized I had been holding.
“That was deep,” Val said, wiping her face.
“I know,” I said quietly. “I don’t even know what I’m feeling.”
“Hope,” Matt asked.
Zack turned to look at him. “Let’s get some toys and get the fuck out of here.”

“Don’t forget the juice,” I said.



~Jimmy~

I’d just gotten downstairs to meet up with Brian, Michelle and Lacey when I saw Val and the rest of the guy walk in with a few bags.
“Whoa,” I laughed. “I thought you guys were just coming in with cupcakes and juice!”
“Change of plans,” Val laughed. “Johnny’s idea.”
“Wow, short shit,” Syn chuckled. “Good job.”
“Nah, man,” Johnny said, waving it off. “Where’s the kid?”

“She’s upstairs right now,” I told them. “The doc should be there in a bit. Come on.”
We made our way through the hall, ignoring the usual funky stares we get, and squeezed into an elevator that took us to the second floor where Evelyn was.
I had everyone sign in with the nurses in front before we walked down the hall to her room.
Right when she saw us come through, Evelyn squealed with excitement.
“Hiiiiii,” she squeaked.

“Hey baby girl,” Val said.
Serenity got up to say hi and take bags from everyone and put them on and around the small table in the corner.
Evelyn sat up so that Val could sit in front of her while Lacey and Michelle sat on the sides of the bed. Johnny, Zacky and Syn sat on the small couch, Matt took Serenity’s seat so she sat on my lap. Everything was perfect so far, and I don’t think I could have been more satisfied with the way this turned out.

“Do you want your cupcakes right now,” Michelle asked Lyn-Lyn.
She shook her head. “No, not right now,” she said, picking at her band aid.
“She’s about to get a blood transfusion,” Tiffani said quickly. “She gets a little nauseous afterwards sometimes.”
“Oh, okay,” Valary said. “Well, I’ll give you one once I know you’re okay.”
“Okay,” Evelyn said smiling.

“So, Jimmy,” Matt said awkwardly.
“What’s up bro,” I asked, poking Serenity’s sides so that she’d twitch. It was pretty hilarious.
“We have bitch tour coming up in about two weeks,” he said, looking at Evelyn. “It’s not too long. Maybe about three months. The shows are going to be a little back to back.”
“Fuck, really,” I asked. “That sounds pretty awesome.” We call it bitch tour because it’s so short. Every year it comes along and we just go for the fuck of it. It’s always one of my favorites because it’s so up close and personal with the fans. We have a meet and greet after just about every show.

I leaned forward to kiss Serenity’s back and noticed Syn smirk when I did.
“The fuck are you smirking at over there, Smirky McSmirkyston,” I sneered.
“Nothin’,” he laughed, looking all cocky.
“That’s right you little fuck boy,” I said with a grin.
“Kay den,” Syn said, no longer able to hold back his laughter.

“Wow, I sure can feel the love in here,” Doctor Tanner said, looking around the room.
Everyone turned to look at him and the phleboto-whatever the fuck it was called that was right behind him with a little stand thingy on wheels that had a bag of blood hanging from the top and a long tube connected to it.
“How is everyone,” the doc asked, walking over to Evelyn, checking her machines and whatnot.
“We’re fine,” Lacey said to him, watching everything he was doing.
“That’s great,” he muttered to her. “Lots of ink and muscles in here, eh? This kid doesn’t worry about much at night, now does she?”
“It’s not the ink and muscles people have to worry about,” Abby said laughing. “It’s all the crazy women she’s around. The tattooed guys are just for show.”
The girls laughed out loud, while the doctor nodded his head. “I heard that,” he chuckled.
“Bull, Matt can bench like, three of you,” Zacky protested.
“Please,” Tiffani scoffed. “I’m a damn nurse, I can make your shit look like an accident.”
Everyone was in good spirits except for Evelyn, who had a pretty good idea what was about to happen.

“Momma,” she muttered.
“What’s wrong baby girl,” Serenity asked, getting up from my lap.
“I don’t want the needle,” Lyn-Lyn whispered not so quietly.
“Oh baby,” Serenity said. “I know, but it’s just to get you better, okay? Look, everyone is here for you. There’s nothing to be afraid of. The doctors know what they’re doing.”

Val caught my eye while I was staring at Serenity and Evelyn and motioned me over, getting off the bed so that I could sit there. Once I made my way, Lacey and Chelle got off also so that Serenity could get on too.
“Okay Evelyn,” Doctor Tanner said. “We’re going to have to do this on your other arm since the IV is on this side. Is that okay?”
Evelyn only nodded, gulping hard, tears already forming in her eyes.
“Alright,” the phlebotomist started. “Mom, she isn’t allergic to alcohol is she?”
“No ma’am,” Serenity said, shaking her head. “She should be fine.”
“Okay baby,” the girl said, pulling a stuffed carrot with a happy face on it. “I want you to hold this carrot, and squeeze three times, then one really big time, okay?”
“O-, okay,” Evelyn said, starting to cry.
“Alright, ready? Remember, squeeze real hard. And don’t move your arm,” the girl said. “One…, Two…, Three…, now squeeze reeeeaal hard and don’t stop. Good girl.” The girl was really soft spoken and gentle as she tied the rubber band tightly around Evelyn’s upper arm so that her veins would show.

“You okay,” the girl asked Evelyn, but getting nothing but a nod in response.
The heart monitor that was hooked to her started to beep a little faster.
“It’s alright baby,” Serenity said, starting to panic a bit. “You’re fine.”
“Look at me Evelyn,” Johnny said from behind me.
I turned to see what he was doing and of course, he was being an idiot. Dancing around, making stupid faces, and weird noises. Just as Evelyn’s attention was caught, the nurse started prepping. I got up slowly and Johnny moved so that he was directly in front of her, making her laugh.

Just as the nurse pulled out the needle, I pulled out a cupcake. It’s a fool proof plan.
I paid close attention to Evelyn and started to lick a little bit of the frosting off so as to not get any attention. Right before the girl put the needle in her arm, I called her.
“Lyn-Lyn look!”
She faced me and then SPLAT!

The needle was in Evelyn’s arm and Johnny had crushed cupcake in his face.
Johnny turned to face me and laughed. “You bitch…”
I was laughing so hard that my stomach started to hurt and tears fell, so Johnny put his hand to his face and wiped it onto mine.
Instead of beating his ass like I normally would have, I went to Evelyn’s side where they already started blood flow. She pulled me to her and kissed my cheek, getting cupcake on her face as well, giggling like there was no tomorrow.

Hey. What can I say? No tears, no problem.

Notes

Kinda short. Sorry! Working on another!:)