Keep Going (Valan)

Another crossover starting from where Ender Chan left off.


Sam and I walk down to the pediatric unit and see Doctor Shelder, she looks sad, and tired. I stop her and ask what the results yielded. “Mr Velothi, I'm sorry, and Ms. Arryn you may want to hear this as well, Alice Alder has ALL, a type of Leukemia. It has spread to her central nervous system and she is in neurology.” I try to swallow and she says something that I don't hear before she walks away. Sammie shakes me on the shoulder, I shrug her off and run the other way trying to get to Alice's room. She yells after me “Valan...Valan!” And follows me as I enter one of the stairwells. I turn around and look at her “What?”,  She runs up to meet me “Where are you going?” Sam asks me, I point to the neurology sign “To check on Alice.” Sammie sighs and holds open the door “That's what I thought you were doing. Let's go.”


We walk into the neuro-oncology department and ask one of the nurses at the front desk for Alice's room number. We sign in and she leads us down a brightly colored hallway, this must be the pediatric part of this department. Some of the other doctors and nurses greet us as we walk by, must remember me from my, very frequent visitations to other parts of the hospital. Mostly ophthalmology and Cardiology, and Genetics, and Psychology, and you know what I'm just gonna stop. You get the point. The list goes on and on, and on some more. The nurse stops in front of one room, number 17, engraved in the wall in large purple letters. The automatic door slides open and the nurse pulls back a curtain, “Alice?” She sticks her head behind the curtain. “Yes?” I hear a voice say. “You have two visitors who wanted to check up on you.” She holds the curtain open as we step into the room. Alice waves from the hospital bed, blood transfusions run in one arm, and an IV with medication in the other. Sammie waves back as do I, we walk farther into the room and sit down on the window bench on the far side of the room. “How do you feel?” Sam asks Alice, who shrugs “Annoyed I guess, and a bit sad. About the ALL, I mean.” I nod “I understand why. Cancer isn't very fun, but you can beat it. Keep fighting, that's key…” I pause for a second reminded of something “You know our friend Anna, right?” Alice nods “I met her once yeah. She was nice, blonde hair, wears a red dress, has silver eyes. That one?” I nod “That one. Anyways, she has and has had cancer before too.” Alice turns to us “Really?” She whispers leaning in, “Yep. Though she had it originally when she was three or four, something like that. But then it relapsed a little while ago, so she's been having treatment for that, and I think it's getting removed soon, but I'll have to fact check that.” Alice grins “That's cool, thanks for telling me that...A-and for visiting. Also, could you tell Doctor Shelder to call Caitlin, my music teacher, and tell her what's going on? And that I made her this-” Alice holds up a string with a line of origami cranes on it, she looks down at the multicolored paper birds “Ms. Caitlin taught me how to make them.” Alice says fondly, then looks at us “Can you do that for me?” We nod, Sammie salutes “We are at your service Ms. Alder!” She says with a laugh, Alice laughs and thanks us. We say our goodbyes and then exit Alice's hospital room, the automatic door shuts behind us and we walk down the hall. I point to another room, the one I'm usually in when I'm on this floor “Remember that time when I got my ass kicked so badly I ended up here?” I ask Sam, she thinks for a second “Which time?” She smirks and starts walking again. I sigh and run after her “That's not funny!” She keeps walking and replies without turning around “Yes it is Valan, yes it is.” I catch up with her and give her a nudge “Was not.” Sam pats me on the shoulder “I was kidding.” I look at her quizzically and she smiles “Let's just go.” We push open the doors of the hospital and go into the cool night air “Just keep walking and find somewhere to go?” I ask as I happen to have blanked on places to go. “Basically you just summed up our life, just keep going until you find something.” Sam shrugs and pulls out the map they keep in their bag. I shrug “Heh, yeah I guess I did.” We pick a point and then start walking down the crowded dusk lit streets. When in doubt, just keep going…


That night I sit at my desk, a single candle lights the space, I take a piece of parchment from the stack and look around for a pen and bottle of ink. Where'd it go I swear I saw it earlier today or yesterday or something? I fumble through the drawers and the darkened hallway, bumping into the wall a few times with a thud. I eventually find a bottle of ink and go back to my study sitting down again, I think for a moment tapping the pen against my hand before I dip it in the ink and begin to write,


Dear Anna,


Hello my friend, I hope you are well. Sammie and I happened to go visit Alice Alder, Caitlin's student, today, as she's in hospital. We stopped her doctor in the hallway and she gave us the diagnosis-


Alice has Leukemia, ALL to be specific. She was moved to the neuro-oncology floor this morning and has started treatment. The cancer has spread to her central nervous system. Knowing your ordeal at the moment, I told her about you, with your tumor...have you gotten that removed yet? But when I told her your story, she smiled, I think you gave her some hope.


I hope this letter finds you two well and hopefully not drowning in piles of paperwork (like I am haha) and granted the courier gets you this sooner rather than later I would also like to say Sam and I will be in Winterhold in a few weeks if you want to meet.


Sincerely your friend,
Valan Velothi


I take an envelope from the desk drawer and place the folded letter into it after the ink has dried. Then getting a stamp kit from the top of one of the bookshelves I take the seal of the castle, a red and gold lion, and seal the envelope. Then getting and taking the letter and a candle with me I tread lightly through the dark, sleepy halls, and down the spiraling staircases to the main door, shoving it open and walking into the dark night, across the courtyard and to the large iron gate of the castle. Here there lies a mailbox, I place the letter inside the carved oak chest and then make my way back to the castle itself. I look up at the sky, there is only a few stars out tonight, and you can see the mountain in the distance, spewing it's dark ash across the land, that's why this place is called The Ashlands. I turn my gaze to the castle, looking at it tall towers and the one spire that is taller than the rest above the main hall. I tend to sit up there when I want to be alone with my thoughts. Staring at it a moment more I decide, maybe that's a good idea on a night like this, my only other option would be worrying about Alice. Yes, I think sitting up there is the better option, I think to myself as I make my way in the door and up the winding stairs to my solitude.

This isn't really character torture (trust me that's coming in working on it) but still I thought about writing this and so it happened.

I also on a separate note drew Valans childhood friends and ones little sister, Beatrice AKA Beans.