Poppy's PoV

It felt like my world was ending as Sam practically carried me to his doctors vehicle. Calum had loaded Kai into the car and offered me a kiss on the cheek before he got into the drivers seat and headed off to the hospital. He didn't want to waste any time in case Sam ended up putting the emergency siren on. I fell into the car and across the backseats, bringing my legs up to my chest once again.

"I'll be as quick as I can." Sam said softly, his face screwed up with concern. It was very unlike him to ever show an emotion like that, yet I could see the underlying fear in his eyes. It had crossed my mind quite a few times that these pains were not something I should be feeling and that must have meant I'd only gotten worse, however I'd also argue with myself that these were just side effects of the chemo and now I'd had the last one that should stop. I wasn't sure, for once my nursing background and experience could not help me. I was clueless. I'd looked after people with cancer before, ones who were at the end of their life and they didn't seem in pain, just tired and quiet. They would often just lay there, barely moving much throughout the day, some visitors stopping by to hold their hand and talk to them which might rouse a smile but that would fade as soon as they were gone. However, I didn't quite now how they were feeling, we just kept the medication dose consistent and dead on time to make sure they were comfortable and basically let them be. We'd check their observations and make sure their breathing was okay, watch for key signs of any deterioration but it didn't seem like this. I was in pain, pain I'd never felt before. A pain worse than labour.

"Pops? You still with me?" My gaze shot to the rear view mirror where Sam was looking back at me, seeming to relax as soon as he noted my small nod.

"I definitely need some cocodamol." I croaked out. He let out a singular laugh and shook his head.

"We'll see what the issue is before I dose you on painkillers Poppy. You know the procedure." His eyes went back to the road.

"Right now I don't care about protocols Sam, it feels like an alien is about to burst out of my stomach." I rolled my eyes as I pressed my hands on my stomach in a massaging motion, hoping to alleviate some of the pain.

"As classic as that movie scene was, I'm not having it happen in real life. You've probably just upset your stomach with the lack of food and high powered chemo drugs. We can fix this pretty quickly." He attempted a smile.

"Good."

***

Lots of investigations later, I was finally allowed some painkillers and I rest up in one of the side room hospital beds. For a second, I forgot why I got the side room, wondering what the urgency was about us getting into it so quickly. Life had seemed so chaotic recently that I'd forgotten about the fame, it was the least of my worries as I sorted Kai out and made sure I had myself in a good enough place. Calum hadn't been away either, not for ages, so it didn't feel like he was part of a hugely successful band at all. He just felt like Calum, my husband, the one holding it all together. As soon as the band stuff would come back, the promotions, performances and interviews, we'd be back in the limelight but right now that was at the back of our minds, just waiting to see what life was giving us. Once again I felt bad for him, Calum was young and famous, full of life and creative energy yet I was here drawing all of that out of him. Recently he looked ragged, tired and in a constant state of worry, a single noise from me causing him to look over to check I was okay. He was such a light sleeper now too, as I had become since being a mum, but it meant a single cough or throat clearing meant Calum would be awake and checking on me. I missed his life for him, the carefree time where he was laughing and having a great time with his friends. Pretty much any time before he met me.

"Hey." Calum poked his head round the door and gave me a half smile. He walked in and sat down beside me, my brow furrowing as I noticed Kai wasn't with him. "The nursery were happy to take Kai after they heard what happened. Also I'm pretty sure the manager fancied Sam..." he let out a soft laugh. "He was squirming so badly."

"Did you leave him there?" I quizzed, noting obviously that Cal came in alone. He nodded.

"Yes but it's all part of the plan." He pulled his phone out and dialled, putting his phone on loudspeaker as he called. "Sound in pain." Calum said quickly to me as Sam answered the phone. Calum nodded urgently at me and I suddenly began to wail in fake pain. "Dr Forrester, there's an emergency in the ward, we need you back here. She seems in immense pain since waking from surgery!" Calum acted so well, his voice wobbly and his breathing excessive as he spoke.

"Don't worry, I'm on my way. Sorry, Karen, I'm afraid I have to get back to work..." I heard Sam in the background before Calum hung up, laughing for what seemed like the first time in ages. I smiled at the beautiful picture before me. Calum's happy face was always one of my favourites; the way his cheeks pushed his eyes closer to a squint as his nose creased a little. He was so cute looking.
The door suddenly swung open and pulled me from my thoughts. It was Sam.

"Thanks for saving me!" He smiled to us, we giggled as we nodded back. "Now, back to the task at hand." His face fell to one that was a lot more serious. "The test results are back. We know what we are dealing with and what the next steps are..."
The two of us seemed to audibly gulp at Sam's sudden change in demeanour but equally we knew it was coming. Was it going to be good, or bad? We were about to find out...

Authors note
Hey everyone! Thanks so much for your love on not only this but all of my stories, feeling so happy to know that my random stories have entertained so many!
As mentioned before, from the next chapter onwards, I'll label it as good ending or bad ending. Please pick which you want to read and follow it through so it is consistent - of course you can read both but finish one before the other rather than trying to read each chapter as it's released because it'll make a lot more sense. I'm so sad that this story is m coming to a close and there will soon be an end to Poppy and Calum's story! I'm aiming for 5 chapters for each ending 😁
Stay safe everyone 🤓