Beauty from Ashes: Authors & Dancers Against Cancer Anthology

by Vera Quinn

  “Daddy, are you seriously telling me that Aunt Serena has better treatment for my cancer than cancer doctors?”

  Her father stops dead in his tracks. He wasn’t in the room when she told her mom, so this is the first time he’s learning how serious the situation is. He looks at his wife with panic in his eyes. He trusts Serena not only with his life, but his daughter’s. Now was the time to decide. “Baby doll, your aunt loves you more than anything. If she couldn’t do it, she wouldn’t have had us making all these preparations to get you to her before even you knew what was happening.”

  “Wait, when did she text you?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “I didn’t get my blood draw until yesterday. Are you telling me that she knew as soon as my blood was drawn? How is that possible?”

  Her mom chuckles. “Honey, there is a lot you don’t know about your mom and aunt. Your aunt is so much stronger as she has honed her skills, and I have not. You will learn so much on our trip. But for now, no questions. Say goodbye to your father, he can’t go with us.”

  “Why can’t Daddy go? I would rather spend this time with all three of you and not be split from any of you.”

  “I know, honey, and I wish he could go, but it’s all about the bonds. Your bond with me and your aunt is stronger when it’s not split to include your dad, and my bond with you and my sister is stronger when it’s not split to include my husband. We need those bonds to be as strong as they can be for what we need to do.”

  Her dad comes over and wraps her in a hug as he kisses her forehead. He is feeling the loss of them leaving already. He hates that he has to stay home for this, but he understands why. He has been in this family long enough. It has happened before that he couldn’t go, but never when it had to do with his own children. “I’m always with you. Remember what I told you?”

  She manages a weak smile. “You will always be in my heart. That’s what you told me when I went to college and didn’t want you to leave. That you and Mom would always be in my heart.”

  “Exactly. I meant it then, and I mean it now. That will never change. As long as you love someone, they will be in your heart. If you need a little extra during this battle—and don’t take this lightly, it will be a battle—you use that love from me, your mom and your brother, and you give it all you have and you win. You’ve never given up on anything in your life, don’t you start now.”

  “I promise, Daddy, I will come home.”

  “That’s my girl. I love you.”

  Della has tears streaming down her face and doesn’t want to interrupt them, but she doesn’t have a choice. “I’m so sorry, but we have to go.”

  “I love you too, Daddy.”

  Her father picks up their bags and loads them into the car for them, giving them each a hug and a kiss before walking back into the house. He can’t bear to watch them drive away. He closes the door, slides down it, letting the sorrow take over and feeling it everywhere. He can feel his heart break in a million pieces; the pain in his chest unbearable. He can only take shallow breaths due to the pain, and the knot in his stomach will stay there until his girls are home again. He sobs in grief, sorrow, and loss.

  Chapter Three

  When they get to the airport, Della parks in the three-hour lot and Liv is confused. “Mom, we’re flying to Florida. I don’t think we will be back in three hours.”

  “No, but your brother is picking it up for me. I didn’t get return tickets because I don’t know how long we’re going to be there and I don’t want the car sitting here, indefinitely.”

  “Ah, that makes sense. I wish I could have seen him before we left. I’m going to miss him. I know he can’t come either. I get it about the bonds. I’m sure I have a pretty strong one with him and it would be stronger than the one with Aunt Serena and that could screw things up.”

  “I wish he could come too. You’re right about the bonds, though. Your strongest bond is to me, but the one to your brother is a close second. It even beats the one to your father.”

  Her head snaps around to look at her mother with her mouth hanging open. Her stomach dropped to her feet when her mother started talking about the strength of her bonds and the hair on her arms raised. It was the weirdest feeling. She had gotten this feeling around her mother a few times before but had always written it off, but this situation keeps getting weirder. “How do you know that?”

  Her mom ignores her. She is staring at someone by the door to the airport. Then she points at him. “I think you might know that person.”

  I wasn’t about to let her off the hook, but I look, anyway. The suspicion of my mother is gone as I’m filled with joy and excitement. I run toward the man waiting for us outside of the airport. I fling myself at him and he easily catches me laughing as he swings me around. “I didn’t think I was going to get to see you before we left. Wait, are you here because you’re going with us? Please tell me you’re coming with us. Mom is being all cryptic and weird. I need backup.”

  “Sorry, Sis, you’re on your own on this. Don’t worry, I’ve already talked to Aunt Serena. You’re in good hands.”

  “Wait, why would you talk to Aunt Serena? You two aren’t any closer than she and I are. Logan, are you holding out on me?”

  “Mom and I took a similar trip a few years ago, but mine wasn’t as serious as cancer. Just remember, I’ve already been through this and I survived and am better for it. You can do this and I am with you every step of the way, right here.” He puts his hand on her chest above her heart.

  She feels a jolt come from his hand and go directly into her heart. She jumps a little, and he winks at her.

  Della squints her eyes at Logan. “Tell me you didn’t. If you screw this up, we could lose her.”

  “Don’t worry, Mom. I asked first and was given permission. Since I can’t be there and we have such a strong bond, Aunt Serena thought it would be a good idea for a little extra, especially for what we’re fighting. I even have an open-ended ticket in case you need me. I can fly down at the last minute.”

  Liv is tired of being talked about but not being included. “Is someone going to fill me in on what’s going on anytime soon or do I just get to go along with whatever is happening and not have a choice?”

  Logan laughs. “I remember that feeling. When you get there, Mom and Aunt Serena will explain everything, but they have to be together for that to happen. Just a little longer. You’ll understand soon, I promise. I do have something to talk to Mom about real quick, though.”

  Logan and Della step away and out of earshot of Liv. “I actually have a ticket that leaves about an hour after you. I’m staying at one of Serena’s houses a couple of miles away from where you’ll be. With it being cancer, she thinks she’s going to need me to supply Liv with energy to fight. She doesn’t think Liv will be able to do it on her own or that your bonds will be enough. Liv can’t know that I’m there unless it becomes critical and I have to do skin-to-skin contact.”

  “Thank the gods. I was hoping she would change her mind on that. I thought you should be there from the beginning. You two are so close and your bond so strong, that it’s the one that will save her. Serena is so stuck on the female line and their bonds. She can’t see past that. I’m glad you’re keeping in contact with her and showing her that a male can be as good a witch as a female.”

  “I’m trying and I think she’s coming around. She let me put the receiver in Liv’s heart so I can send her the energy she needs. Now, you have to get going if you’re going to make your flight.”

  Logan runs back over to Liv and sweeps her up off her feet, and she giggles. “Logan, what in the world are you doing?”

  “Making sure I see that beautiful smile and hear that amazing giggle one more time before you fly off on a jet plane and leave me here all alone.”

  She smacks him in the chest playfully. “You’re not alone. Daddy is here.”

  “Sure you get Mom and I get broody moody Dad. How is that fair?”

  She gi
ggles again as he puts her down right in front of the door and wraps himself around her so she can’t see the tears forming in his eyes. He can’t help it. He feels like he is sending half of himself off on that plane. He was two when she was born and he has always been there to protect her. They have always been best friends. His chest feels empty because she’s taking his heart with her.

  His mom and sister walk into the airport and he stands in the same place watching the doors for an hour until it’s time for him to follow. He couldn’t make himself walk away. His entire life had walked through those doors. How could he not follow? Even if his aunt hadn’t given her permission, he would have followed anyway.

  Chapter Four

  Once they are up in the air and all situated, Liv is determined to get some kind of answers. “You never told me why Aunt Serena moved to Florida in the first place. You two have always been close, and she has always loved us. Why would she choose to move so far away from us all?”

  Della takes a minute to think about how to word her answer so she doesn’t give away too much. “She needs to be near a big body of water. She also loves the beach. She has always dreamed of living on the beach in Florida, so when the opportunity arose, she jumped at it. Besides, with social media and Skype and all that, it doesn’t seem like she’s that far away.”

  “Mom, we have the Illinois River that runs right through our town. That’s a big body of water. You two are always complaining about how we need to move down there because of the distance.”

  “The Illinois River is polluted with man-made chemicals and not big enough. She needs the ocean. It is pure and not polluted like that. Yes, the distance can get to us sometimes. How would you like to be that far away from your brother for years? We complain about it, but that’s where she needs to be and I need to be here with you two.”

  Liv suspects there is more to it than that, but knows she won’t get more out of her mom on the subject. As determined as Liv is to get answers, her mom is just as determined not to give them to her. She is going to have to accept that she won’t know anything until they get there.

  The good thing about this whirlwind with her mom is she hasn’t had time to focus and think about what the doctor told her. She knows she has cancer, but she hasn’t had time to think about what that means. She let her mom sweep her up in all of this instead of thinking it through and staying home and getting the doctors’ appointments set up. It seems her whole family is determined this is the path she should be on, so she will have to accept she’ll never dance again. She’ll have to get a will drawn up for the studio and all of that.

  Della can sense Liv is starting to focus on the bad and is desperately trying to come up with something to distract her. It has been easy so far with getting her on the plane and all the goodbyes. Serena told her to not let Liv focus on the bad, so this needs to be reversed now.

  Della turns to Liv. “Did I tell you that Serena moved since the last time we were there?”

  Liv shakes her head as if clearing it of fog. “Huh? Oh, no, you didn’t. What the last mini-mansion wasn’t enough for her?” Liv chuckles.

  Della smiles. “You know your aunt. She likes her luxuries. I think this one is bigger, and it’s right on the beach. We will be staying in the lap of luxury while we’re there. She even has staff because it’s so big.”

  Liv laughs. “I can’t believe how different our lives are. I know she’s an amazing author and all, but she’s still a person like anybody else.”

  “To you and me, yes, but to those that don’t know her, she is a celebrity. It’s so weird to me for my sister to be famous. Don’t get me wrong, she deserves every ounce of it. Her books are amazing, but to me she’s still the girl I grew up following around trying to be like her.”

  “At least she didn’t let the fame go to her head. She’s still the same loving, thoughtful, willing to help anyone, generous person she has always been. I mean, look at everything she’s doing for me. I’m sure she had to cancel appearances and push out deadlines for this.”

  “Don’t you worry about that. Serena has always been about family first, no matter what. Everyone that works for her knows that if she says family emergency that means nobody is to disturb her until she contacts them no matter how long. Her assistant will reschedule or send out apologies for missing events and appointments as needed. They won’t even ask questions. It’s included in their contracts.”

  “So that’s why when she comes up and I ask how long she’s visiting, she always says until it’s time for me to go home.”

  Della smirks. “That’s part of it. You will soon learn the rest. Nice try, though.”

  Liv smirks back. “I thought it was pretty smooth.”

  “It was, but you see I have been covering this up your entire life. You won’t be able to catch me off guard.”

  Liv’s eyes widen as she stares at her mom, trying to figure out exactly what her mom and aunt could have been hiding from her all her life.

  When they finally land in Florida, Serena is waiting for them outside the airport. She puts her hands on both sides of Liv’s face and looks deep into her eyes. Liv feels like Serena is inside of her head and then feels like she can feel something snaking through her veins. It’s warm and pleasant, but a very weird feeling. She also has no control to look away from her aunt.

  Suddenly, the feeling is gone and Serena is engulfing Liv in a fierce hug. Serena whispers in Liv’s ear, “Don’t worry, honey, we’ll fix this. You are exactly where you need to be.”

  Serena breaks the hug but claims Liv’s hand and refuses to release it. She turns to Della. “I have bought us the time we need to explain the situation to her, but we must hurry. My butler will get your bags. My driver has the car over there. Let’s go and he’ll take us to the house so we can get started.”

  Liv starts to laugh as she is dragged along behind the quickly moving sisters. Serena shoots a glare over her shoulder. “I fail to see what is so funny about any of this, dear.”

  “Really? To me, this is starting to play out like a bad movie. Are you going to tell me that you have some secret cure to cancer but you can’t tell anyone because Big Pharma will kill you if they find out?”

  The sisters start to laugh. Della answers her. “If only it were that simple, we wouldn’t have had to fly down here. We could have given you that at home.”

  Liv digs her heels in, making everyone stop. “Wait, are you telling me I’m here for some alternative type of treatment for my cancer? You dragged me all the way down here without asking what I thought about it? Without knowing if I wanted treatment at all? Without knowing if I wanted conventional treatment or an alternative treatment?” Liv gets more and more angry as she spits each question out. By the time she’s done, it feels like her blood is boiling in her veins.

  Serena rolls her eyes, then looks over her shoulder at Della. They are both scared. They have knots in their stomachs and their hearts are pounding. They both know what will happen if Liv continues to get angry with the blood spell that Serena had cast on her. They can’t let Liv know that, though.

  Serena bends over and puts Liv over her shoulder and continues her fast pace to the car. “We don’t have time for this right now. I know you’re angry and it’s not an alternative treatment. Hear us out and then if you want to go back and do regular treatment, I will personally put you on the next plane back.”

  Liv is too stunned to fight back and then by the time she would have, Serena had finished her deal. “Okay, fine. I’ll hear you out. I’m not making any promises, though. Most alternative methods are crazy talk.”

  Della opened the door so Serena could deposit Liv in the car. “As Serena told you, it’s not an alternative treatment. And all we ask is you listen with an open mind. Don’t go into it thinking it’s crazy talk.”

  “Okay, that’s fair.”

  Chapter Five

  When they get to Serena’s house, Liv jumps out of the car and storms to the house. She isn’t sure why she’s so angry.
She knows they are trying to help, but for them to drag her all the way down to Florida on the day she finds out she has cancer for some weird treatment that she can’t have her dad or her brother here for seems to have her riled up.

  Her mom and aunt silently follow her. They are doing everything they can not to upset her any more. They know the anger she’s feeling is the residual anger from earlier. It is hanging on due to the blood spell. They can’t remove the spell yet because it is holding the leukemia hostage for the time being. It will only last about another half hour—just long enough for them to explain. The residual anger should release anytime.

  Liv finds the living room and plops on the couch. She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at her mom and aunt as they sit in arm chairs across from her.

  Serena is nervous about the conversation and hopes the anger releases soon so this will go smoother. “Honey, you have to know we didn’t do any of this to try to trick you. We just want to help and it’ll take both of us. We can’t tell any of our children unless we’re both together because it’s our secret together to share.”

  Liv dramatically throws her arms up in the air and lets them fall to the couch as she lets out a deep breath. She seems to deflate with the breath. The anger has finally released. “I know you didn’t try to trick me. I’m just tired of all the cloak and dagger. Somebody tell me what’s going on already. I don’t know what exactly you did to me, Aunt Serena, but ever since you locked me in your gaze at the airport, it’s felt like you were inside my body. It feels like my blood is sluggish in my veins. That’s weird in itself, but to notice it is also weird.”

  The sisters look at each other. Serena snaps her head back to Liv. “Don’t try to fix it. I can sense that you’re focusing on it and trying to figure out what’s causing it and trying to reverse it. Please ignore it for now. I’ll explain everything, but you have to ignore the blood thing for now. I did that for a reason.”