Chapter 1: Symptoms
Chapter Text
Wednesday Addams was a force to be reckoned with. She could beat up 3 grown men and not get a scratch. She was a master of archery, fencing, martial arts, explosives and other skills that would be considered violent by many. She considered herself immune to silly ailments that others suffered from. She’d never broken a bone, venomous animals would shy away from her, and she couldn’t remember a time that she had ever caught a virus. Even blinking was a mundane bodily weakness that she found herself above.
Yes, even though she sometimes referred to herself as half dead, the idea of her body being mortal like everybody else’s seemed so distant she actually found it hard to grasp. This is why she was taken by surprise when she started feeling under the weather after having attended Nevermore Academy for a few weeks.
It started with a cough, a feeling that something was caught in her throat that wouldn’t go away. Not used to appearing weak in front of others she was embarrassed by this sudden and unwelcome symptom, and tried her best to suppress it. She would hold her breath in class to prevent herself from coughing, but as the days went on she felt her airways get more and more irritated. She couldn’t get to sleep at night as it was bothering her, and the worst part was that she knew kept Enid awake too with her coughing, unable to hide it from her roommate.
“Wednesday, are you alright? Maybe you should go see a doctor?” Enid asked her, with a hint of worry in her voice that made her blood boil. Wednesday was not a person that people needed to feel worried for.
“There’s nothing wrong with me!” she bit back. “It’s probably that hideous rainbow on your side of the room that’s making my allergy flare up.”
Enid did not seem convinced, but she kept quiet after that.
Had it just been a cough, it would have been much easier to dismiss her symptoms, but unfortunately that wasn’t everything. She found herself getting short of breath any time she did physical activities. To her dismay this was causing her to fall behind in fencing class, as she started feeling lightheaded if she tried to use her full force.
She could feel Enid’s eyes on her when she failed to conceal her breathlessness walking up and down the many stairs of the school.
Losing a sword fight to Bianca Barclay was the ultimate humiliation, and her confidence was at an all-time low. This was probably the reason why she went against just about every single one of her own principles, and agreed to take part in the trivial school competition known as the Poe Cup. She was blinded by vengeance and desperate to take the girl down.
“Are you sure, Wednesday? You don’t look too good”, Enid voiced with concern when she volunteered.
Wednesday just gave her a death stare, letting her know that negotiating was out of the questions. Besides, didn’t she want to win?
Although it was incredibly painful to admit it to herself, Enid was probably right. She shouldn’t have partaken in the cup. She realized quite quickly that paddling a boat across the lake was quite challenging and, unfortunately, her stupid mortal body was not up for the challenge.
She had to try to keep up with the other girls to not let it shine through, but her lungs were screaming for air and her chest burned like fire.
When they got to the other side of the lake, it was time for one of them to go grab the flag to bring back to the other side. Still filled with desire to beat Bianca, Wednesday volunteered and sprinted off into the forest. But her legs felt like lead, and her head started spinning from lack of oxygen. She managed to reach the flag but, leaning against the wall for support, she felt black spots appear in her field of vision before everything went completely black and she fell into a heap on the ground.
She was awoken moments later by the laugh of her nemesis.
“Taking a cat nap?” Bianca taunted her, as she grabbed the flag belonging to her own team and sprinted back towards her boat.
Wednesday quickly got to her feet, but felt the world spin again. She took a couple of deep breaths before she tentatively started moving forward, picking up the pace as soon as she felt reassured that she wouldn’t pass out again.
When she got back to the boat, theirs was the only boat still left on the shore. She felt ashamed to look her teammates in the eye as she brought the flag on board and sat down.
“What took you so long?” Enid asked her. “You left well before Bianca.”
Wednesday didn’t answer, she just pushed her paddle harder into the water and tried desperately to shake off this horrible, lightheaded feeling.
Winning felt less satisfying than she would have imagined. She realized that it wasn’t her own paddling abilities that had won them the cup. Without her teammates’ strength she wouldn’t have stood a chance. Wednesday had been the weak link. She was never the weak link.
She was sulking on her bed when Enid stormed in, crossed over to her side of the room and stood in front of her bed with her arms crossed across her chest.
“Wednesday”, she breathed. “I just overheard Bianca say that she found you passed out on the ground in the middle of the Poe Cup!”
She fell silent, as though she was waiting for a reaction from her roommate. When she didn’t get one, she worded it into a question instead.
“You fainted?”
Wednesday glared up at her. Enid looked horrified, her eyes filled with worry and Wednesday couldn’t take it.
“A strong enough desire for vengeance can make your brain short-circuit”, she answered dryly. “I was merely blinded by my hatred.”
“Stop trying to rationalize this away”, Enid said in frustration. “Something’s been up with you for like two weeks, you have to go see a doctor! What if something is seriously wrong?”
“The only thing wrong is you interrupting my sacred alone time”, Wednesday spat. “Can’t you see I’m trying to meditate.”
Enid let out a frustrated sigh and turned on her heal, returning to her own side. Wednesday stifled a cough in the crook of her arm.
Stupid, weak, mortal body.
Enid turned around again.
“At least tell your parents. Maybe they can help you?”
“No!” Wednesday quickly answered. “Those two are emotional messes. They will blow this way out of proportion. They will never hear of this, understood?”
But not telling anyone didn’t seem like an option for Enid, as she grew more confident that something was wrong. She considered Wednesday her friend, even though she knew the other girl might not feel the same way. She wanted to prove her loyalty to her and respect her wishes, but at the same time: a real friend would prioritize their friend’s wellbeing over anything else, right?
This is how she reasoned one afternoon when she had to make a choice. Wednesday was out by the beehives and Enid was working on homework in their room when she heard a strange sound coming from the other girl’s desk. At first it sounded like the static of a phone that had bad connection, but then a voice emerged from the sound.
“Storm cloud?”
Enid sat up straight and listened intently.
“Are you there? How is our favorite little fire cracker?”
It was the voice of Wednesday’s father. Enid looked back into her textbook. She should just ignore the sound until they hung up. It wasn’t her place to answer anybody else’s calls.
Another voice sounded across the room, Wednesday’s mother.
“We miss you so much, love. You haven’t talked to us in ages, just come say hello so we know you’re doing well.”
Enid could hear the adoration in her voice, and knew that Wednesday was loved by her parents in a way that Enid had never experienced from her own family.
It only took her a second to throw the book on the ground and sprint across the room before they had the time to hang up. She opened up the black box in which the crystal ball they used to communicate was resting, and she was met by the two smiling strangers she’d only met once so hastily at Wednesday’s arrival.
“Oh, hello!” Morticia Addams sounded delighted to see her. “It’s Enid, right? I see you still share a room with our rain cloud. I hope she hasn’t caused you too much trouble?”
“No, not at all!” Enid quickly reassured. “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Addams.”
“The pleasure is ours”, Morticia answered.
“Now, where has that daughter of ours gone off to?” Gomez asked.
“Beekeeping club”, Enid answered, her voice way too high pitched, it almost sounded like a question. She wasn’t sure how she would bring up Wednesday’s recent health issues.
“Glad to hear she’s found a new interest”, Gomez beamed, while Morticia looked more concerned.
“Are you alright, sweetheart”, she asked. “You look troubled.”
“Uhm…” Enid stalled, her voice shaking a little. “I’m just a little… worried… about Wednesday.”
Both parents now looked at her intently, listening to what she was about to confess.
“She hasn’t been all that well lately”, she continued.
“How do you mean?” Gomez asked her.
“Well… she’s seemed really pale and tired”, Enid spilled. Now that she’d started talking she was eager to get everything off her chest. “She’s had a terrible cough for over two weeks, she’s coughing all night, and she seems to have trouble breathing. When she’s walking or in a fencing duel… she just tires really quickly. She’s not the best in the class at fencing anymore, she’s not even close. And the other day, she fainted… and she thought that no one would find out, and she didn’t want me to tell you guys, but I just really think that she needs to get this looked at, because it seems to be getting worse and not better. She’s gonna be so mad at me, but she should see a doctor, right? Can you make her see a doctor?”
Realizing she’d been rambling she let out a heavy sigh and looked from one parent to the other. They both looked equally as concerned as she felt.
“Thank you for telling us, love”, Morticia said. “You did the right thing.”
“Yes, this doesn’t sound at all like our Wednesday”, Gomez frowned. “Falling behind in fencing… I’ve been teaching her since she was five years old. If she’s having trouble keeping up she must be feeling really under the weather.”
“I will make her an appointment and come pick her up myself to make sure that she gets there”, Morticia promised.
“Thank you”, Enid breathed, feeling immense relief that they might finally find out what was wrong.
When Morticia walked through the doors of Nevermore, the students were all still in their classes with a few minutes to go until lunch break. However, she managed to step inside the entrance hall just as her old best friend turned nemesis was coming down the stairs.
Principal Weems stopped in her tracks, surprised to see her on a regular Tuesday morning.
“Morticia”, she gasped. “What are you doing here? It’s not parents’ weekend yet.”
“I know”, Morticia answered. “I’ve come to check up on Wednesday. I hear she’s unwell, and I’m planning on taking her to see a doctor.”
“That sounds unlike her”, Larissa said. “Maybe it’s one of her devious escape plans?”
“No, I don’t think so”, Morticia shook her head, eyebrows furrowed by concern. “She hasn’t even told me she’s sick, she hasn’t answered my calls in weeks. It was her roommate that confided in me. She sounded really worried.”
Larissa also frowned in concern.
“How strange”, she said. “It’s best you take her with you, she will be excused from classes for the rest of the day. I hope it’s nothing serious.”
“Me too”, Morticia breathed, offering a small smile to her former friend.
Larissa walked away just as a bell announced the start of lunch break. Morticia positioned herself close to the doorway leading out into the courtyard, hoping to catch Wednesday as she came from her class. She watched as the students began to scutter down the stairs.
She had hoped that Enid was exaggerating, that maybe things weren’t as bad as she’d made them sound, but as soon as Wednesday came into her view she immediately knew her daughter wasn’t well. She hadn’t thought the girl could get any paler than her usual self, but somehow she almost seemed transparent. Her cheeks were void of any color, and she must have lost a few pounds of weight because she seemed so frail. Instead of her usual, impeccable posture, her shoulders were slumped and her steps seemed heavy as she forced her feet forward down the long staircase. Morticia wanted to scoop her up in her arms and fix her immediately, but knowing this would be incredibly unwelcome, she stayed still in her spot, flashing a small smile when Wednesday finally noticed her.
The girl looked very taken by surprise, in a bad way, like she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t. She slowly made her way over and stopped in front of her.
“Mother”, she said stiffly. “What are you doing here.”
“My love, I hear you’re sick”, she said in her sing songy voice, but with a hint of sadness that wasn’t usually there. “Why haven’t you said anything? You know I will always try my best to help you, right?”
Wednesday looked much like the storm cloud they insisted on comparing her to, her eyes shot a very dark look towards her mother.
“Enid”, she muttered. “Did she make you come?”
“It doesn’t matter how I found out”, Morticia answered softly. “What matters is I clearly didn’t get here a day too soon. You look terrible, in a bad way. I’ve made a doctor’s appointment for you and I plan on taking you there.”
“I don’t need your help”, Wednesday claimed, and started walking toward the courtyard, but her mother stopped her by standing in front of her and putting her hands on her shoulders.
“Enid told me you’re having a hard time keeping up in fencing class.”
Seeing her daughter was about to open her mouth she quickly continued.
“Don’t berate her. She cares about you, which really isn’t such a bad thing. Don’t you want to get back to your usual self? I don’t imagine you enjoy letting your classmates get ahead of you in your favorite subject. The doctor may have an easy fix for what you have, and you’ll be back to normal in no time.”
Wednesday glanced up at her, less aggressively this time.
“We can stop and get Mexican food on the way, instead of school cafeteria food”, her mother suggested as a final bait. “And you’ll be excused from classes the whole afternoon. Principal Weems already agreed.”
Wednesday seemed to ponder for a moment before she finally collected herself and straightened her back.
“Alright”, she muttered. “I’m coming with you, but don’t think I will let this ambush be forgotten.”
Morticia beamed at her, taking it as a win, and they walked together out the front doors towards the car where Lurch was waiting to drive them to their destination.
A little later on they were sitting in a waiting room as Saint Joseph’s Hospital, about a 45 minute drive from the academy. They were waiting to see a general health doctor that would examine Wednesday. The girl had barely nibbled her panucho on the road, and Morticia’s worry had grown stronger.
At 12:55 they were called into the office and Wednesday was made to sit on a gurney. The doctor asked her to demonstrate her cough while she listened to her lungs with the stethoscope. She then shone a strong light down the girl’s throat to see if there was any evidence of a virus infection.
“It looks a bit inflamed”, she informed them. “and I hear a wheezing noise in your lungs that I would like to examine further. I’m going to take a blood test, and then I will send you up to the third floor to get a chest x-ray done. Does that sound good?”
Wednesday nodded. She’d decided to cooperate as much as she could to get out of there faster.
The blood test was followed by another period of waiting as they waited for Wednesday’s turn to do the x-ray. Her mother tried to make conversation, asking her all about her life at Nevermore. But Wednesday just gave her snarky answers until the mother fell into silence and they just waited silently side by side.
Wednesday knew her mother was worried for her, but she didn’t feel an ounce of worry herself. All she felt was embarrassment for being weak, and disappointment at her own body for failing her.
A nurse greeted them and let them inside the x-ray room. The machine was attached to a height adjustable frame on the wall, and there were markings on the floor where the patient was meant to stand. Morticia was given a radiation protective apron so that she would be able to stay in the room while Wednesday got her x-rays taken, and the younger girl was made to stand on the markings while the nurse adjusted the machine to the right height.
Taking the pictures went really fast. She was only told to turn around a couple of times to get different angles, and they were then told that a doctor would call once the pictures had been analyzed, but that the call should likely come sometime the following day. Soon, they found themselves back in the car on their way to Nevermore, after picking up a cough syrup at the pharmacy that the doctor had prescribed.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Morticia smiled at her daughter, who was sitting across from her in the car. “Now, I want you to take it easy until we know what’s up with you. Can you do that for me?”
“I will do things however I see fit”, Wednesday answered.
Her mother chuckled a little at her defiance. It made Wednesday seem like herself again and, she would hate to hear it, but her mother found her quite endearing.
As the car drew to a stop outside the academy, Wednesday moved to get out of the car. But before she had time to, her mother cupped her cheek with one hand.
“Take care, my love”, she said. “Remember I love you, and you can call me anytime.”
Wednesday met her eyes and shrugged away from the touch.
“Good bye, mother”, she said, before she got out of the car and returned inside the school.
Morticia had anticipated the call to come a day later, as the nurse had told them. So when the phone rang just seconds after she returned to the Addams mansion, a part of her knew, before she even picked up the phone, that she was about to receive bad news. Her blood froze in her veins as she lifted the receiver on the retro phone that was hanging on the wall in their large entrance hall.
“Morticia Addams”, she answered unsteadily.
“Good afternoon”, a voice said at the other end of the line. “This is Doctor Hammond, calling from Saint Joseph Hospital. Are you the mother of Wednesday Addams?”
“Yes”, Morticia breathed.
“I’m calling about the scans she had taken earlier today”, the doctor continued.
“What did you see?” Morticia asked before she had the time to continue.
“Well, I’m sorry to tell you, but there are a few abnormalities, and I would like to have her come in for more testing as soon as possible.”
“What kind of abnormalities?”
Morticia felt her breath quicken.
“I have found what looks like masses in two different places on your daughter’s scan.”
At this point, Gomez had appeared at her side with a puzzled look on his face. Morticia met his gaze and grabbed his hand, squeezing it hard while she continued to speak to the doctor.
“A mass, what does that mean?”
“It’s impossible to determine from this type of x-ray, that’s why she needs to come in for a thorough PET-scan. One of the masses seems to be a cluster of swollen lymph nodes in her chest. This could be a normal consequence of a viral infection. The blood test did not detect any signs of infection but it is, of course, possible that she’s had an infection recently and that the swelling still hasn’t gone down. But the main point of concern is a mass that is seemingly pressing on her trachea, it is located close to where the airway leads into her left lung, and it’s very likely the reason for her breathing difficulties. We won’t know what we’re dealing with until we can run more tests, but it looks like some kind of cyst or tumor.”
Still holding onto Gomez’s hand, Morticia was trying to remain calm, but a very large lump of worry was settling in her stomach. She couldn’t find the words to answer.
“I know this must be very difficult hear”, Doctor Hammond said softly. “I promise you we will do everything we can to get your girl better.”
“Thank you”, Morticia mumbled.
“How soon can you bring her back in?” the doctor asked. “Would it be possible to make an appointment for the day after tomorrow? She needs to follow a special diet starting 24 hours before the scan, so if we schedule it for Thursday she will have the time to properly prepare. She also needs to be fasting 6 hours before the scan, so no breakfast Thursday morning.”
“Okay”, Morticia answered quickly, knowing Wednesday would have to cancel her plans weather she liked to or not. “We will make sure she’s there.”
“Good, that’s good”, Doctor Hammond reassured her. “The faster we get answers the better our chances of curing her. She’s 15, right? So I will refer your case to one of our pediatric oncologists and make sure she gets an appointment.”
After they’d hung up, the silence in the house seemed deafening. Morticia knew that Gomez was waiting to hear what she had just been told, but she dreaded telling him as she knew he would be devastated to learn what was going on with their normally so feisty little storm cloud.
“The doctor thinks she might have a tumor”, she finally managed to say. “She needs to see an oncologist.”
Gomez, having already understood that the tests had shown something more serious nervously stroked his mustache. They then wordlessly leaned into each other, seeking comfort in a tight embrace.
“Do you want me to talk to her?” Gomez asked.
“No, I don’t want to worry her too much”, Morticia sighed. “It’s best if just one of us makes the call.”
It didn’t feel right to call her in the evening and tell her something so serious. But she knew the girl needed to find out as soon as possible. They had been fit into a 9 am time slot with the oncologist and so she needed to start following the doctor’s prescribed diet starting early the following morning. Furthermore, it was Wednesday’s own health that was in question, and she deserved to know everything that was found out.
She walked into their home office and brought out the crystal ball that would allow her to communicate with her daughter. Sitting down by the desk, she made the ball connect to Wednesday’s, and as the box was apparently open this time she got a wider overview of the girl’s bedroom. In the way back of the picture she could see Enid lying on her bed scrolling on her phone. To the left of the frame, Wednesday was also lying on her bed, resting on her side across a few large pillows and letting out a couple of coughs just before she noticed her mother in the crystal ball.
“Mother”, she said and sat up straight at once. Getting on her feet and walking over to sit by the desk instead.
“Hello, my love”, Morticia smiled sadly.
She could feel tears threatening to emerge, which she could not allow to happen. She stubbornly pushed them down. Wednesday despised when people cried, and Morticia desperately needed her to take her seriously this time. She also didn’t want to pass on the worry she was feeling to her daughter.
But that didn’t mean that it wasn’t hard. Having her baby so far away and knowing she was possibly very sick didn’t feel right in her mama heart. She wanted to be near her.
“What is your reason for contacting me again?” Wednesday asked.
“I had a call from your doctor”, Morticia explained.
She then went on to fill Wednesday in on everything the doctor had told her. She tried to not make it sound too scary, and she carefully watched her daughter’s reaction, but the girl was always so hard to read, it was impossible to tell how she was feeling hearing these news.
“So they want me in one of those doughnut machines?” was all the girl answered when her mother had finished talking. “I’ve always been curious to try one. I’ll come.”
Morticia was relieved that she wasn’t putting up a fight, but she was still concerned that Wednesday was distancing herself so much from the emotional gravity of the situation.
“Are you sure you’re alright, my love?” she asked. “I know this must be scary for you. If you’re feeling worried, you know that you can always talk to me, right?”
“I’m not worried”, Wednesday said plainly. “Why would I let such a counterproductive emotion control me?”
Morticia sighed but couldn’t suppress a smile. At least her daughter was being herself. She just hoped that she wasn’t more scared than she let on.
“Well, if you are, then let Enid be there for you. And if you need anything you can go see principal Weems.”
Wednesday scoffed at that, as if that would ever happen.
“And remember, no pasta, no cereal, so sugars tomorrow”, her mother reminded her. “You’re only allowed proteins and vegetables without starch. So no carrots, corn, beans… No breakfast at all on Thursday, remember? The doctor said you need to drink lots of water, try to drink at least 8 glasses tomorrow. And try to take it easy. Don’t forget your cough syrup, it’ll allow you a good night’s sleep. If you start feeling worse…”
“I’ve got it!” Wednesday interrupted her mother’s rant with annoyance. “Goodbye, mother.”
“I’m sorry for hovering” Morticia responded. “But I can’t help it, you know my most important job is to look out for you. Goodnight, sweetheart, see you on Thursday.”
As soon as the crystal ball disconnected, Enid jumped off her bed and rushed over to Wednesday. She had heard every word spoken between her roommate and her mother, and she didn’t like what she’d head one bit. While her friend was calm and collected, Enid was freaking out.
“You have cancer?” she exhaled, and almost reached out to touch her friend’s upper arm before she remembered the latter didn’t engage in physical contact.
“Potentially”, Wednesday answered and walked back to her spot on the bed.
Enid’s heart broke. She had come to care very deeply for Wednesday, and when she thought of the possibility that she might lose her, a very uncomfortable twist settled in her stomach.
She stayed frozen in her spot. Going back to texting with her friends didn’t seem important, and doing any homework would be impossible after what she had just learned.
Carefully, she took a couple of steps toward Wednesday’s bed. When the girl didn’t protest she took a few more, until all of a sudden, she had lowered herself onto the bed and they were lying side by side. She made a promise then and there that it didn’t matter how stoic of a façade Wednesday was putting up. She would need a friend by her side, even though she didn’t think so herself, and Enid would be that friend.
She didn’t look at her. Enid was afraid that she would be pushed away if she did, so she settled for staring out into space, finding comfort in just being close to her, even if it was in silence.
“I’m sure you’ll be okay”, she eventually reassured, finally looking up to meet her friend’s gaze.
“I know, me too”, Wednesday replied, and she even offered a hint of a smile.
Clearly, Enid was the one that needed reassurance.
“Good”, she breathed and looked into Wednesday’s dark eyes for a long moment.
Behind those thick walls that her friend had put up, there was a beautiful soul, Enid could feel it with certainty. And she needed her to survive.
Chapter 2: Testing
Notes:
A big thank you to everyone for your kind comments and kudos on the first chapter!
Here's another chapter about trying to reach a proper diagnosis. I want to get these chapters out there so we can get to the good stuffsss. Hope you are all doing good, see you soon again!
Chapter Text
Larissa wasn’t even meant to be in the office, finishing up paperwork, at 8 in the evening on a Tuesday. She probably hadn’t been if this school wasn’t her one true love, her life’s work. She definitely didn’t have a habit of answering the phone after office hours, and when the phone on her desk rang she tried to ignore it at first. But when she looked at the number display, she thought she recognized the phone number, and so she went against her principles and picked up.
“Nevermore Academy, this is Principal Weems speaking”, she presented herself.
“Larissa!” came the familiar voice of Morticia Addams from the other end of the line. “Thank you for answering so late in the evening. I would have sent an e-mail, but I really wanted to reach you as quickly as possible.”
“That’s alright”, Larissa answered. “What did you need to speak to me about so urgently?”
She could hear a hint of distress in her former friend’s voice.
“It’s Wednesday”, the girl’s mother sighed. “We’re coming back to pick her up early Thursday morning. It seems her illness could be very serious. They found a mass, they think it might be cancer. She needs to be admitted for more testing.”
The gravity of the words hovered like a dark cloud over the principal’s office.
“I’m so sorry to hear that, Morticia”, she said, addressing her more softly than she had in decades. “Will she be alright?”
“I don’t know.” The answer was spoken quietly. “We don’t know anything yet.”
Larissa felt very disheartened. It was quite well known that the young pigtailed girl wasn’t her favorite student. But nevertheless, she felt a great responsibility for this school, and every single student in it. Hearing that a student of hers was unwell caused her great concern. She felt ashamed that it had gone unnoticed by her. She should have been more attentive, and then she could have contacted the girl’s parents, instead of the responsibility resting on the young werewolf roommate. And as much as the girl could get on her nerves, she was still a child. She didn’t deserve to suffer.
“If there’s anything I can do…” Larissa offered.
“Thank you”, Morticia answered. “If you could just… keep an eye on her and let me know if something more serious happens… We’ll come by in just a couple of days, so I’m sure nothing will happen until then. I’m sending over a note that the doctor sent me, so that she may be excused from classes for the whole day on Thursday.”
“Of course”, Larissa said. “I wish you the best of luck.”
Wednesday kept her friends company at dinner the next day, and made sure to only eat the things her doctor had allowed her to. She wasn’t nervous for the examination, but she was quite nervous for people around her to know what was going on.
Enid, who she still hadn’t forgiven for talking to her parents, kept throwing her worried glances, but no one else knew where she had gone yesterday, and she was dreading for them to find out.
Just as she had made up her mind to make sure her secret stayed secret, Principal Weems appeared next to their table and ruined everything.
“Are you feeling okay, Wednesday?” she asked with concern.
Wednesday could feel the eyes of her classmates turning to her. Xavier, Yoko and Eugene all looked very confused by the interaction, and she was filled with annoyance towards the principal. She had suspected that her mother had informed the principal, as she had seen the woman throw her glances the entire day.
“I’ve never been better”, she fumed, glaring up at the woman from under her fringe.
“You don’t need to be angry with me”, Weems tried. “I only have your best interest at heart. Your mother made me promise to make sure you’re alright until she and your father get here.”
“And now you have. Another word and I will make you suffer!”
Wednesday tried to give her the most threatening gaze she could muster, but she only received a look of sincerity and concern in return. She knew the woman must feel bad for her. Once again she cursed her stupid body for making her appear so weak in front of others.
The principal walked off, and she was left with her classmates’ perplexed eyes on her.
“What was that about?” Yoko asked.
“Is something wrong?” Xavier continued. “Why are your parents coming?”
“What’s going on, Wednesday?” Eugene asked, mirroring the principals concerned expression.
Wednesday was positively overwhelmed by all these people looking at her and caring about her. She locked eyes with Enid, and strangely found comfort in her gaze. It had been much better when she was the only one who knew. In fact, sharing things with Enid didn’t seem at all so bad compared to sharing things with her whole class.
Somehow, her roommate seemed to sense that these questions were too much for her, and she spoke up before Wednesday had to.
“Wednesday went to the doctor yesterday”, she explained carefully, waiting until Wednesday gave her an approving nod before she continued. “They found a tumor or something, so her parents are taking her back to the hospital tomorrow to find out what it is.”
The others looked from Enid to Wednesday in horror.
“A tumor, that’s pretty serious, isn’t it?” Xavier frowned. “How are you feeling?”
Wednesday’s skin crawled seeing his concern. She did not want to be someone that people felt sorry for.
“Ask me again and I think I’ll barf”, she snapped. Then, collecting herself, she added. “I’m fine. My body has produced a gory mass of horror, which doesn’t surprise me because I’ve always been drawn to such things. My uncle has a whole room dedicated to malformed body parts, it’s my favorite place. There is no reason to feel sorry for me, I don’t want your condolences. All I want is for us to never speak another word of this.”
They looked far from convinced, but Eugene offered her a nod in solidarity.
“Hummers always respect each other’s wishes”, he said. “Don’t worry, I will tend to the bees tomorrow while you are away.”
“Thank you, Eugene”, Wednesday said in relief.
The rest of the table didn’t dare to say another word, but at the same time, moving on to any other topic also seemed bizarre and instead they sat in an uncomfortable silence until Enid finally started talking about the upcoming outreach day. Wednesday was very thankful for the distraction.
Her parents would come pick her up at 8, to make sure they made it to the appointment at 9. For them it was quite a long drive to the academy, and they would need to get up at an ungodly hour if they were going to make it. Pugsley would have to stay home with Uncle Fester. Wednesday didn’t know how much they’d told him about the situation, but while she couldn’t seem to feel nervous for her own sake, she did worry about how Pugsley would react if there turned out to be something seriously wrong with her health.
Seeing as she wouldn’t have breakfast, Wednesday didn’t have to get up until a half hour before they were supposed to leave, but she felt immensely tired when the alarm went off at 7.30. Despite the cough syrup, her aching lungs had kept her awake a good portion of the night, and she dragged herself out of bed to get dressed.
Her roommate had already left to go have breakfast when she heard a knock on the door and went to let her parents in. Her father pulled her into his arms the moment she opened the door. She let him hold her for a couple of seconds before she shook him off.
“My little scorpion”, he said, teary eyed.
He shared a look with Morticia. She had tried to warn him about how much weaker Wednesday looked, but he still hadn’t been able to imagine it until he saw her just now.
Wednesday, who didn’t want to dwell in this awkward moment, quickly said “let’s go then!” to her parents and started moving towards the exit to get to the car. Her parents trailed behind her, but as they walked down the stairs in front of the school’s main entrance, someone else caught up to them.
Enid grabbed her arm and spun her around, while her parent’s continued to the car to give them space.
“Hey”, she said. “Good luck today.”
She stuck something in Wednesday’s hand, and Wednesday looked down to find the severed paw of a small, black bunny. It was attached to a chain long enough for Wednesday to wear around her neck. She looked up at Enid again with a puzzled expression, surprised to receive such a gift from her roommate.
“It’s a good luck charm!” Enid explained, as though Wednesday had never heard of those before.
“I know it is”, Wednesday answered. “Where did you get it?”
“My grandma caught that bunny the first time she wolfed out”, Enid explained. “It’s a bit of a family heirloom, but you need it more than me, so I want you to have it.”
Hearing this, Wednesday felt a feeling she had never felt before in her life. She would later understand that the word to describe it was moved. She was moved by Enid’s thoughtfulness. Suddenly afraid that her voice would break if she spoke, she took a moment to collect herself before she opened her mouth.
“Thank you Enid, this is the most thoughtful gift I have ever received”, she then said, and hung the chain around her neck. “I shall forever hold it dear.”
“My pleasure”, Enid smiled. “I need luck on your side, because I hold you dear.”
And suddenly, Enid had thrown her arms around her in an embrace that only lasted a second before she hurried off into the building, leaving Wednesday feeling a whole cyclone of emotions that she didn’t know how to name.
When she got in the car, her parents couldn’t hide their happiness at the moment they had just witnessed between the two roommates. Their smirks really annoyed her, but she did suppose it was better than the anxiety regarding her condition that they otherwise couldn’t hide from her. So she just crossed her arms in defiance.
“Enid is a true friend”, Morticia smiled. “I hope you haven’t given her too hard of a time for telling us. Evidently, you’re lucky she did. And it’s obvious she cares for you a great deal. Friends like that don’t come around too often.”
Knowing deep down that her mother was right, but not wanting to get involved in an overly emotional conversation. Wednesday just nodded and looked down on the floor. The rabbit’s foot she held onto, gently spinning it in one hand, somehow feeling Enid’s presence as they left the school behind and drove towards the hospital.
This was the second time in three days that Wednesday walked into the hospital building. They followed the arrows that read “Pediatric oncology”, and Wednesday realized as soon as she stepped inside the waiting room that this was going to be torture. Bright colors greeted her from every angle, and all the staff members were unforgivably cheery and kind.
“Remember, you still need to be well hydrated”, her father said and put a water bottle in her hand. “Drink up.”
Wednesday sulked, but unscrewed the cap and took a few sips. She wasn’t sure how she was going to stand her parents smothering her with care like this.
A doctor that Wednesday hadn’t seen before greeted them when the clock had reached 9, and presented himself as Doctor Wagner. The three of them followed him into an examination room, where they all sat down, with Wednesday in the middle.
“I see you’ve brought both your parents today, Wednesday”, Doctor Wagner said in a kind voice. “That’s good. I’ll explain to all of you what the objective is today before you head down to get your PET-scan done. I will then analyze your scans and we can set up another appointment for tomorrow to go through your results. Then we will figure out just what you’re up against and how we can help you beat it. How does that sound?”
Wednesday didn’t answer, but her parents nodded approvingly.
“That sounds good”, her father said.
“First of all, let me show you your scans”, the doctor started, and pulled out two of the different x-ray pictures Wednesday had taken two days earlier.
It was all in black and white, but when he pointed, Wednesday could easily spot the mass in her lung that wasn’t supposed to be there.
“As you can see, there’s quite a large mass right here near the top of your left lung”, he pointed. “A little harder to spot is the cluster of swollen lymph nodes right here, a little further down. On an image like this we can’t tell why they are swollen, but with the help of the PET-scan, we will be able to see if they are cancerous or not. There is still a possibility that the masses are benign, but seeing as you have two apparent masses on your x-ray I will make this case a priority and that’s why we will schedule another meeting as early as tomorrow to go over your results.”
“And what will happen if it is cancer?” Morticia asked, even though she didn’t want to hear the answer.
“That’s impossible to say before we know what kind and how far it’s spread”, Doctor Wagner answered. “The images from the x-ray only show one part of your daughter’s body. The scan we’re doing today is a full body scan that will detect any cancerous growth in the body. That will tell us whether the mass in the lung is the main tumor, or if it’s a cancer that has started somewhere else and spread to the lungs. The most common places that lung cancer can spread to is the liver, bones, brain and lymph nodes. From the scan we can detect weather or not there are growths in any of these places.”
A feeling of impending doom settled over both parents. Even though the doctor was telling them there was a possibility that the mass was benign, they both got a feeling that he suspected it wasn’t. Looking down on the x-rays again, his gaze wandering between the two masses, Gomez felt certain his child had cancer.
After having filled their heads with information about how the scan worked, Wednesday was forced to change out of her regular clothes and into one of those hideous hospital gowns. She also learned she wasn’t allowed to bring any metal object into the machine, which meant she had to take off the chain with the rabbit’s foot that Enid had given her. This actually caused her great disappointment as she had already grown attached to it.
When the gown was on, Doctor Wagner motioned for Wednesday to sit down in an examination chair in the corner where he would insert an IV into a vein in the crook of her arm. This would be used to push a radioactive substance, that he called a tracer liquid, into her system to make the images clear to analyze.
It all went very smoothly. She didn’t mind getting poked by needles, the only negative part was that it made her miss the bees.
As he prepared to insert the tracer liquid, the doctor spoke again to remind her of the procedure.
“Now, remember”, he said. “While the tracer is active I want you to remain completely relaxed. You shouldn’t get out of this chair at all as it will jeopardize the quality of the images we get today. You should even avoid talking as much as possible.”
Wednesday nodded her head to show that she had understood.
“Do you want me to lean your chair back a little more to make you more comfortable?”
“Sure”, Wednesday answered. Seeing as she hadn’t slept much, it probably wouldn’t hurt if she tried to take a nap while she waited.
“Are you ready?”
Wednesday nodded and he proceeded to push the liquid in through her IV by a syringe.
“That’s it”, Doctor Wagner said and stood up. “A scan technician will come to get you at 10.45, that’s exactly one hour from now. It will give the tracer plenty of time to take effect. You will then head over to the scan room and get your pictures taken. It’s helpful if you go to the bathroom and empty your bladder beforehand. I wish you good luck, and I will see the three of you tomorrow then?”
“Yes, thank you”, Morticia said before the doctor left the room and the three of them were left in silence.
“He’s far too friendly”, Wednesday muttered.
“Don’t talk, honey”, Morticia pleaded, moving closer so she could affectionately stroke a lock of her daughter’s hair behind her ear before she turned to sit down in one of the smaller chairs where they had been seated while getting all the information. Gomez joined her in the chair beside her. They both took each other’s hands and tried not to be consumed by grief over what their girl was going through.
“Wednesday, Wednesday sweetheart…”
She was awakened by her mother gently shaking her arm. Apparently the hard surface of the examination chair had done the trick and she’d actually managed to fall asleep. She looked up to see someone new had entered the room.
“Time to go, love”, her mother smiled.
“Hello, Wednesday”, the new person greeted. “My name is Timothy, but you can call me Tim. I'm your scan technician today. I see you’ve been well relaxed while your tracer worked its magic, that is excellent news! We will be heading over to your scan in a moment, but first we advise you to go to the bathroom, that okay?”
“Can I stand up?” Wednesday asked.
“Yes, you can get up now”, Tim smiled. “There’s a bathroom connected to this room, as you can see. Just head in there quickly and we’ll be on our way.”
Wednesday got up and quickly tended to her call of nature. Then the Addams family was led through the hallways until they reached the right room. While Wednesday was immediately asked to lie down on the hard surfaced gurney, Tim turned to her parents.
“The scan will take another hour”, he explained. “We allow for one parent to be in the room with the child. You can decide amongst yourselves who will be staying, and the other one will have to wait outside. Since it’s a long wait, you’ll have time to grab a coffee or something to eat.”
Both parents looked at each other before Morticia opened her mouth.
“You should stay”, she told her husband. “We both know I can push the wrong buttons when it comes to Wednesday, and since we need her to stay calm I think it should be you.”
“Thank you, my heart”, Gomez said and kissed her hand.
And though it felt terrible, Morticia allowed the scan technician to close the door between her and her daughter, leaving her alone in the hallway with a long and torturous wait ahead of her.
The scan technician carrying out the examination was operating the machine from a room next to the one where Wednesday was lying. A large window allowed him to see her, and through a microphone he could communicate with her. Her father took a seat by the wall, observing the entire thing and giving her little words of encouragement.
The gurney on which she was lying moved back and forth through the machine, and every now and then she was given commands through the speakers.
“I would like you to put your arms above your head”, Tim’s voice sounded through the speakers. “Stay completely still”
Wednesday complied and rested both hands above her head.
“Perfect”, Tim continued. “Now inhale deeply and hold that breath for 15 seconds.”
Wednesday complied once again, and so it went on for a full hour.
When it was finally over, Tim walked through the door that connected the two rooms and helped her sit up. Gomez tried to read on his face if he had spotted good or bad news on the screen, but the technician had a good poker face and it was impossible to tell.
“You did great”, Tim said with warmth and gave her a strong handshake.
“Dad didn’t do so bad either”, he added and shook Gomez’s hand as well. “Now I will follow you back to the examination room where you started and remove your IV. You can get changed into you own clothes and then you can get out of here.”
Chapter 3: Bad news
Notes:
Thanks again for such lovely responses! Makes me very motivated to keep writing <3
In this chapter, we are still in the getting-a-diagnosis stage. But if you're worried that we'll never get anywhere, I can reassure you by saying that I've already written over 100 Word-pages of this (rip my social life 🙃), so there's definitely more to come!
Good day to you all
Chapter Text
The Addams family grabbed something to eat on their way back and when they got back to the academy, her classmates were in the middle of their last period. Since they would need to go back to the hospital the following day, Principal Weems had offered a room for Morticia and Gomez to stay over in.
Wednesday didn’t want to draw attention to herself and her parents, and asked them to stay in their room instead of following her around. But she quickly realized that somehow, the entire school had found out anyway. This became clear when none other than her nemesis, Bianca Barclay, approached the table she and her friends were sitting at at dinner, a look of regret on her face.
“Hey, Wednesday”, she said. “I heard… about your tumor. I just really wanted to apologize for the way I acted during the Poe Cup. I can’t believe I laughed at you instead of helping you when you had fainted. If I had known you were sick…”
“Bianca”, Wednesday interrupted her. “That competition was a showdown between bitter enemies. If you had tried to help me I probably would have bit your hand off, okay?”
An amused smile crept over Bianca’s face, and Wednesday realized to her horror that the girl didn’t seem to hate her anymore. That would make it much harder for Wednesday to keep their relationship on an enemy basis.
Thankfully, her friends kept their questions to themselves the whole afternoon. It was only once her and Enid were alone in their room that the werewolf couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“How did it go?” she asked intently. “Did you find anything out?”
“Not yet”, Wednesday admitted.
She was sitting with her back towards the werewolf, trying to work on her novel but somehow finding herself with writer’s block for the first time ever.
“They didn’t say anything?” Enid continued. She had approached her and was now standing right behind her. “And the test, it wasn’t painful or anything?”
“No”, Wednesday assured her, spinning around in her chair so that she was facing the werewolf, but glaring bitterly out into space. “The only thing painful is how overbearing my parents have become.”
Enid huffed a little.
“I know that you don’t like it”, she said. “But they do it because they love you deeply. For them to stay blasé in a situation like this is a very unrealistic expectation.”
“If they had more self-control they would”, Wednesday scowled. “Besides, they don’t care about me. They only care about turning me into versions of them.”
Enid took a step closer and forced her to look her in the eye.
“You don’t actually believe that”, she said matter-of-factly. “But I don’t think you understand how deeply they do care. If you had felt the cold disappointment I get from my parents I think you would appreciate yours much more.”
Wednesday eyed her grumpily for a moment, momentarily silenced by her roommate’s words, that she did know deep inside were true but didn’t want to spend too long thinking about.
“I don’t believe I asked you for advice”, she finally said and spun back around to face her typewriter once again.
“I’m sorry”, Enid tried from behind her. “All I’m saying that maybe it’s not such a bad thing to let people be there for you. We’re going to be whether you like it or not.”
It was right before 8 at night and Morticia and Gomez were getting ready to go to bed early when Morticia’s cellphone started ringing and an unknown number showed up. The same anxiety as last time, only stronger this time, filled her at once. If this was the hospital calling, it definitely wasn’t going to be good news.
She took a deep breath before she answered the phone.
“Morticia Addams”, she introduced herself.
The anxiety caused her voice to sound weak and shaky, she felt all strength leave her body when a voice answered.
“Hello, this is nurse Jackson calling from Saint Joseph Hospital. I’m sorry to call you so late in the evening, but I was asked by Doctor Wagner to contact you regarding your daughter’s appointment tomorrow morning at 9:15.”
The voice belonged to a young man, she got the feeling he was quite new to the job.
“What about it?” Morticia breathed, anxious to get to the point.
“We need to follow up with a few more tests. Wednesday will need to have two different biopsies done in order to make a proper diagnosis. Doctor Wagner wanted to ask, since you’re already making a trip to the hospital tomorrow, if it would be possible for you to stick around a little longer and have her do the procedures tomorrow?”
“Yes, of course we’ll do it”, Morticia assured. “Anything to get her better.”
“Good, good”, the nurse answered. “Then I can fit her into a time slot after your consultation with Doctor Wagner. I want to assure you these are not invasive procedures. She doesn’t need to go under anesthesia, and the procedures themselves don’t take very long. But with preparations and waiting times you can expect to spend a few hours in the hospital.”
“That’s okay”, Morticia quickly answered. “We’ll stay as long as it takes.”
Then, she couldn’t stop herself from asking. “What have you found?”
The nurse suddenly sounded uncertain.
“I’m not supposed to give you any details over the phone. Doctor Wagner will…”
“Is it cancer?” Morticia interrupted. She held her breath while the nurse continued to speak.
“Doctor Wagner will discuss the results in great detail tomorrow…”
“No, no. Please”, Morticia begged, the desperation evident in her voice. “I can’t wait until tomorrow. I need to know now. Please just tell me, is it cancer?”
The long paus that followed gave her the answer before the word was actually spoken.
“Yes, unfortunately.”
Even though part of her had already known, and she’d thought she’d be able to keep it together, she couldn't hold back the sob that escaped the moment he spoke. Her hand rested over her heart, that ached for her daughter, and more sobs followed. Gomez, who had overheard Morticia’s half of the conversation, understood, he too, that they had gotten the answer they had dreaded but expected. He gently stroked Morticia’s tears from her cheeks, although tears were running down his own.
They decided to let Wednesday spend one last night unaware of her condition. Knowing that she’d be able to tell the moment she saw their faces, they let her have breakfast with her friends and chose to meet her by the car that Lurch had parked outside.
Meanwhile, Wednesday had gotten yet another bad night of sleep. She had never felt worried before, and she definitely wouldn’t say that she was this time either. But she didn’t seem to be able to stop thinking about what she might learn tomorrow. She definitely wasn’t scared. How could she be, when getting a life threatening illness was even on her bucket list? She’d always imagined herself beating all odds, wowing the doctors and coming out the other end as a medical mystery.
But now that she was here, she didn’t actually feel very strong. She was getting tired of being… well, tired. And she was starting to realize that if the growths did turn out to be cancerous, she would need to endure feeling weak and tired for an extended amount of time. This reality she wasn’t thrilled about.
The other possibility, the possibility of her life ending in the near future, was something she pushed far back into her mind to deal with later.
The long wait of not knowing (definitely not worry!) was getting really hard to endure, so in a way she was relieved when she spotted her parents by the car, and she realized they had somehow learned the results already. Her father’s eyes were uncharacteristically puffy, like he’d been crying all night. Her mother could not look her in the eye, but her tortured expression told a thousand words.
Wednesday stopped before them.
“How did you find out?” she asked at once.
Her mother finally looked at her, and let out a shaky breath like she’d been holding her breath, before she pulled Wednesday close into her arms, Gomez joining her on the other side of their daughter.
“A nurse called to set up a further examination for you today”, Morticia mumbled into her hair before Wednesday finally shook herself loose and looked up at them
“How much do you know?” she demanded.
Gomez sighed.
“You do have cancer my little storm cloud”, he admitted. “But that’s all we know.”
“They didn’t say anything about the type or stage or anything along those lines”, Morticia filled in. “We should start moving so we can find out all there is to know.”
“You’re gonna beat this thing as hard as you beat up that boy in elementary school that called you a sissy”, Gomez encouraged his daughter. “This poor tumor doesn’t know what’s coming for him.”
“I know”, Wednesday hissed with annoyance.
Absolutely mortified by this pathetically emotional encounter she fled into the car and sat down in the seat looking backwards. Her parents followed and sat down opposite her.
“How do you feel about this, my love?” her mother asked her. “If you’re worried you know you can always share it with us. We always want to help you.”
“I feel like if you say another word I will jump out of this car and I’ll refuse to come to this stupid appointment."
Absolutely horrified at this new type of blackmail that their daughter could now hold over them, they all stayed quiet for the rest of the drive.
Doctor Wagner greeted them with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. They were shown into an office with a large desk by which the doctor took a seat on one side and the family on the other. Doctor Wagner brought out Wednesday’s file and then he looked up at them
“I understand you’ve already spoken to my colleague yesterday evening”, he started. “As you know, we are not meant to share a diagnosis like this over the phone, but I understand you were quite persistent.”
He pulled out a scan taken yesterday and put it on the table between them.
“This is what showed up on the scan”, he explained. “The tracer that you had injected gathers in cancer cells, which means that they are shown in brighter color on the scan. The bad news, as you can see here, is that both the tumor in your lung and your swollen lymph nodes are cancerous. I am very sorry to have to bring you these news.”
Wednesday looked at the colorful spots on her scan and felt a lump form in her stomach.
“What else can you see?” she asked quickly.
“Well, the good news is that I cannot find signs of cancer in any other place on these scans. This leads me to the conclusion that you have some form of lung cancer. This is visible because the tumor in your lung is much larger, which shows that the cancer started there and we therefore call this the main tumor.”
“So she doesn’t have cancer in any other places then?” Gomez asked.
“Hopefully not”, the doctor answered and looked at Wednesday. “But to make completely sure you will need to do a spinal tap as well. This is a type of biopsy where a small amount of fluid is extracted from the spine by a needle. Because lung cancer has a high risk of spreading into the cerebrospinal fluid we need to perform this test in order to make sure that there aren’t any cancer cells in there. These types of rogue cancer cells wouldn’t show up on a PET-scan. Before that test we will also perform a biopsy on the main tumor to determine what subtype of cancer you have, Wednesday. The main types are small cell and non-small cell lung cancer.”
“And what type should we hope for you to find?” Morticia carefully asked.
“You should hope that it’s the non-small celled variant”, Doctor Wagner answered.
The amount of information to take in at once was quite overwhelming, and Wednesday didn’t even have time to reflect on the fact that he had mentioned poking a needle in her spine.
“I’ve arranged for your first biopsy to take place at 10:45”, Doctor Wagner informed. “You may grab something to eat before we do the spinal tap later on. I will warn you, the procedure will likely leave you quite sore, and hospital policies require we keep you under observation for two hours before we let you leave, in case there are any complications. So you have a long day ahead of you, but now is the time to ask any questions you might have.”
To Wednesday it seemed like her parents would never run out of questions. They showered Doctor Wagner with so many questions, she didn’t know how they came up with them all. She, on the contrary, couldn’t think of anything she’d like to ask. She was so used to always taking control over every aspect of her life, being free as a bird, never doing anything she didn’t want to. For the first time in her life, she had to accept things happening to her, without her having any control in it whatsoever. She took to fiddling with the rabbit’s foot she’d gotten from Enid. Even though she didn’t really believe in superstitions, it brought her some comfort.
The first biopsy was actually a well needed brake from her parents, as she was asked if she wanted to be alone in the room. She had to remove her shirt and lie on her back with just a paper like sheet covering her. The sheet had a rectangular hole from where the resident performing the procedure could insert a large needle between her ribs to grab a small piece of tissue from the tumor. But before then, she was given a shot of local anesthesia to numb the area.
The young resident started off chatting way too much, explaining everything she was doing and more.
“I want silence”, Wednesday told her after a while, and her murderous gaze seemed to scare the woman out of any attempts at small talk, because she stayed blissfully quiet for the rest of the 15 minutes they spent together.
After a short lunch, Wednesday’s name was called by yet another doctor that was to perform her spinal tap. By now, they had been told that this procedure wouldn’t take more than 20 minutes, and Wednesday had learned that a likely side effect was headaches and discomfort in her lower back.
Wednesday had hoped for another moment of silence without her parents, but unfortunately the doctor who would perform the spinal tap had other plans.
“I must insist you bring a parent along for this one, as it can be quite an uncomfortable procedure”, he said in an insisting way.
Morticia shot Wednesday yet another worried glance.
“It’s my turn”, she then said.
Wednesday could see on her face that she wouldn’t let her go alone, and decided she didn’t have the energy to fight her.
“Fine”, she muttered under her breath. “But if you talk too much I’ll stab you with that needle myself.”
“Of course you will, rain cloud”, her mother smiled affectionately before they followed the doctor into the room. Instead of a stiff and uncomfortable gurney, there was a softer bed in the middle of the room, and a steel table of medical equipment adjacent to it.
The first thing she had to do before they started anything was to swallow a painkiller as a precaution. She had to change into a hospital gown and then lie down on the bed.
“Now that we’re starting”, he said. “I need you to lie on your side and draw your knees up to your chest as much as possible.”
Wednesday complied and Morticia felt like the wind got knocked out of her when she realized how small she looked. Curled up into a little ball, in an oversized hospital gown, she looked so very young. Much too young to have to endure any of this.
The doctor started by cleaning the injection site on her lower back with a disinfectant gel.
“First of all I’m going to numb the area so that you won’t feel it when the spinal needle is inserted. Are you ready for a tiny little sting?”
“I’m a beekeeper”, Wednesday responded. “Don’t insult me, get on with it.”
“Alright, perfect”, the doctor chuckled before giving her the injection.
A strange sensation spread around the area, and after they had waited a couple of minutes the doctor tested to see if it had been effective enough by pinching her slightly and asking if she could feel it. Deeming that the anesthetic had worked, he grabbed the larger needle that would be used to access the spinal fluid.
But before he inserted it he looked up at Morticia, who was standing motionlessly on the side of the bed.
“You should hold her hand”, he urged.
Morticia froze, understandably hesitant to do so. Of course, the mother in her could tell that Wednesday wasn’t as indifferent about her illness as she might have fooled herself into believing, and that it would be good for her to be able to let down her walls a little in order to accept comfort and support. God knew, she would need it. But she was sure the girl would reject anything that suggested that she wasn’t tough and emotionless.
The doctor, apparently not impressed by her hesitation, tried again with more emphasis.
“I’m about to stick a very large needle into her spine. Hold. Her. Hand.”
Morticia looked down on Wednesday and, just for a moment, she spotted a glimmer of something that looked like fear in her eyes. In a second, all hesitancy was gone and she grabbed her daughter’s hand in a tight grip between both of her own. Thankfully, Wednesday didn’t let go, but gave her a light squeeze instead.
“Make sure to tell me immediately if you feel any pain at all”, the doctor said. “It’s not meant to be painful.”
She didn’t feel anything when the needle went through the skin and soft tissue, but as soon as it went into her spine she did feel pressure, which was a very strange sensation and definitely not in a good way. She squeezed her eyes shut and held on tighter to her mother’s hand.
“Is it hurting you, sweetheart?” Morticia worriedly asked.
“No”, Wednesday breathed, but that did nothing to reassure the mother, who’s heart ached at the sight before her.
The needle had to stay wedged between her vertebrae while the doctor filled up a number of different vials with different tags on them. When it was finally over, he pulled the needle out and put a mid-sized stereostip band-aid over the site.
“All done”, he smiled at her, as she carefully rolled onto her back, definitely feeling some soreness. “You did great. Since Doctor Wagner has put priority on this case I will send these to the lab immediately and hopefully we will know the result sometime this afternoon. As you know, you now need to lie down for another two hours. This is to try and prevent you from having too much pain afterwards. You’ll stay in this bed, and I will roll you to a room where you can recover. Sounds good?”
She was rolled towards her room. Her father, reunited with them once again, did a bad job of concealing his concern, showering her with questions.
“How did it go? How do you feel?”
She got placed in an empty patient’s room and after a while, she thankfully got her silence. The two hours seemed to go by really slow. Nurses came to check on her a few times, and she had to tell them that she was already starting to feel a headache. She got to take another painkiller, and she was also prescribed more painkillers, that Gomez immediately ran down to the pharmacy to get, to bring home if the pain continued over the following days.
When two hours had almost passed, and they were looking forward to leaving, a nurse came into see them again.
“Hi”, she greeted. “I understand you’re ready to leave, and you will be going home soon, I promise. But if you’re willing to wait just 20 more minutes then Doctor Wagner can come by and speak to you about your results.”
Chapter 4: Reactions
Notes:
Good day to you all, I hope you've had a decent christmas!
I apologize in advance for the things I'm putting Wednesday through... I promise I have a plan to get her through this! And she is so loved by her family and friends, she will be okay, I swear. Don't kill meeeee!
Chapter Text
20 minutes that felt like another full two hours passed. They were all incredibly anxious to learn what the biopsies had shown (though Wednesday would never admit it).
Finally, when Doctor Wagner appeared, he greeted them with a smile.
“Good afternoon”, he said. “I understand you’ve had a long day, and I’m happy to tell you that at least I get to bring you some good news. The results of both biopsies are what we hoped for. What you have is the non-small cell variant, which is the lesser of two evils. And the samples from your spinal tap didn’t show any signs of cancer which means that the two masses shown on your very first scan are the only places that the cancer has spread to. Knowing this, your official diagnosis is stage 2B non-small cell lung cancer. We also call this the regional stage, as it has spread to regions near the lung but hasn’t spread further in the body.”
Gomez, who knew that staging for cancer usually went up to stage 4, allowed himself a few relieved breaths.
“Stage 2, that’s not too bad, right?” he asked, but it sounded like a desperate plea. “Her chances should be very good then?”
“Sure, we were lucky to catch it so early”, Doctor Wagner answered. “Lung cancer can be very hard to detect before it has reached the late stages, at which point it is often considered non-curable. We have the placement of your main tumor to thank. Because of it, you’ve fortunately started showing symptoms early, which is why we’re able to start treating you as soon as possible.”
His expression turned more serious.
“But I want to be honest with you before you go on the internet to read about your condition, as I’m sure your parents will do the minute you leave this building. Even in the early stages, lung cancer is a very serious illness and one of the hardest cancers to treat.”
He turned to Gomez, who had asked the question.
“Numbers are always scary to think about, which is why I want you to remember that Wednesday’s young age, as well as recent advanced in medicine, mean that her chances are likely much higher than anything you read in the statistics.”
Realizing that he seemed to be dancing around the subject, Gomez anxiety intensified at once.
“What do you mean”, he asked. “What do the statistics say?”
The doctor sighed.
“The overall 5 year survival rate for this specific type and stage of lung cancer, and you have to remember that it includes people that are much older and more frail to begin with… is around 37%.”
The number was such a shock to all of them, it was like a bomb had been dropped in the room. Covering her mouth with her hands, Morticia tried to not let too much emotion show in front of her daughter, but her grief was too strong and she knew there was no way she could hide her distress. The sheer panic that filled her body was so strong she felt lightheaded.
Both parents grabbed each other’s hands, clinging to each other for dear life.
The doctor turned towards both parents and tried to offer some reassurance.
“I understand this must be terribly hard to hear… But we shouldn’t put too much stress on numbers this early on. It’s always necessary to see how her body responds to treatment before making any further assumptions about the outcome. So I don’t want you to think about that number, okay?”
His words did nothing to lighten the atmosphere in the room. 37%... It was a dreadfully low number, less than half… It was worse than anything they could have possibly imagined.
The doctor looked at Wednesday again.
“We will start you on the very most effective treatment and have faith that it will make you better.”
Wednesday could only nod, while the severity of her illness was slowly sinking in.
“And what kind of treatment is it that she’ll be getting?” Morticia asked, nervous to hear the answer as she knew that it would possibly be a very painful process.
“We will need yet another scan to be able to know for sure”, the doctor said. “What I do know is that the affected lymph nodes can be removed surgically. The tumor in the lung is more uncertain. I can tell from the PET-scan that it’s in a tricky spot, close to the pulmonary artery. A more detailed CT-scan of that tumor will tell us if it can be removed by surgery as well, or if it will need to be treated with radiation therapy. Either way, you should count on a few cycles of chemotherapy as well to reduce the risk of a relapse.”
His words didn’t exactly calm Morticia’s nerves. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy... It wasn’t fair that Wednesday would need to go through so much just to stay alive.
“As I understand it, you are currently living at a boarding school?” the doctor asked Wednesday.
She nodded, while her father proudly answered: “Yes, Nevermore Academy.”
“I’ve grown quite fond of the place”, Wednesday quickly said. “I do not wish to leave if that’s where you’re going with this.”
“Unfortunately”, the doctor said. “It will not be suitable for you to stay there at this time. It’s important that you know that while undergoing chemotherapy you will be immunocompromised. That means that you are at risk of getting very sick if you catch any virus. You will be advised to not be around large crowds, and because of this, a boarding school is not the best place for you to be during this time. Additionally, you will need someone to drive you to the hospital on a regular basis, peace and quiet to recover after each treatment and, frankly, someone to take care of you when you’re feeling bad. So I’m going to have to insist you move back home with your parents until you get better. Will that be a problem?”
Yes, Wednesday thought, but didn’t say anything as she realized she didn’t have a choice.
“No, of course not!” her parents both assured at once.
“We will do anything to get her better”, Gomez added.
“Good”, Doctor Wagner said. “And how far away is your home?”
“It’s a little over a 3 hour drive from here”, Morticia answered.
“What is the closest hospital to there?”
“Serenity Research Hospital:”
Doctor Wagner nodded and noted something on the papers he was holding.
“Then I suggest that we transfer Wednesday’s file over to their department for childhood cancer as soon as possible and she will be able to get all her treatments there. How soon do you think you’ll be able to do a first consultation?”
Wednesday sighed and zoned out while the adults were talking. Just a couple weeks ago she’d been tortured by things like her rivalry with Bianca Barclay. Now, her life was spinning out of control and she didn’t know what she was going to do. A question that she had no idea how to say out loud echoed in her head.
What’s going to happen to me?
It turned out in the car on the way back to the academy that Wednesday was one of the unfortunate 25% that felt quite a lot of pain after a spinal tap.
She had absolutely had it with her parents looking at her like she was going to break any minute, and she was very set on not giving anything away. Unfortunately, the pain got worse the longer she sat up, and towards the end of the 45 minute drive her back ached enormously and her head throbbed at every little bump in the road. Sitting in a relaxed position was impossible, and her parents easily noticed her rigid stance.
“Scorpion, you’re in pain!” her father exclaimed. “Tell us how we can help?”
Wednesday just shook her head (very slowly in order to move as little as possible).
“Lurch, could you drive slower please”, Morticia suggested, but Wednesday quickly objected: “No!”
She was desperate to go lie down again and the faster they got back to the academy the better.
When they finally got out of the car, her back was so stiff she could barely move. Her walk into the building was slower than that of a 90 year old. She could hear behind the closed doors to the cafeteria that her friends were having dinner, but she knew she would not be able to stay upright any longer and headed for the stairs instead.
“Yes, go lie down again, love”, Morticia murmured. “Your father will bring you something to eat.”
And while Gomez went to the cafeteria to get some food, Morticia followed Wednesday up to her and Enid’s shared room where her daughter wordlessly slumped down on her bed. Morticia draped a blanket over her and then stayed sitting silently beside her.
No more than 5 minutes passed before the door was thrown open, but the person that stormed in was Enid. Gomez followed 5 steps behind her.
“I found Enid in the cafeteria”, he explained, as if they couldn’t already tell.
Enid found herself at Wednesday’s bedside in no time, seeing her friend curled up into a fetal position looking far from her usual self.
“How are you, Wednesday”, she asked with worry, that somehow didn’t make Wednesday as uncomfortable as it did when it came from her parents.
“Most excellent”, Wednesday winced with her eyes closed before she looked up at her friend.
Seeing Enid’s face right in front of her made her feel calm in a way that she hadn’t felt all day. She had no idea when the girl had started to have this effect on her, but she strangely wasn’t opposed to it.
“How were classes?” she asked, and realized she was initiating small talk for the first time.
In this situation, small talk was definitely the lesser of two evils, as the alternative was to talk about her potentially terminal illness and have both Enid and her parents break down into emotional messes.
Seeing how much Wednesday seemed to need this exchange, her parents stepped back for a moment, allowing the teenagers to chat, Gomez placing a bowl of mushroom soup on the desk. Then they excused themselves to go see the principal, to update her on everything they had found out.
Wednesday knew she was going to have to break the news to the werewolf at some point. They had made an appointment for the next day at Serenity Research Hospital to get another scan, and they would need to spend the evening packing all of her things to bring home. But the longer they talked, the more strongly she felt how much she didn’t want to leave, and she didn’t want this last normal conversation to be over.
It was Enid who finally brough the subject back up.
“Tell me”, she said directly.
Wednesday was caught off guard and had to build up the courage to speak.
“It seems I have lung cancer”, she finally said, not wanting to look Enid in the eye.
“It seems?”
“I do”, she admitted with a sigh.
They looked at each other for a moment, knowing there were no words to say, but Enid finally uttered her condolences anyway.
“I’m so sorry, Wednesday”, she said.
Wednesday could only nod in return.
Meanwhile, a knock on her door alerted Principal Weems that someone wanted to see her. When she opened the door and saw the grave look on her former friend’s face, she immediately knew that they had found something more seriously wrong with Wednesday.
“Please come in”, she urged, and soon they were sitting in the same chairs they had sat in when Wednesday first came to the school.
That day, Larissa hadn’t exactly been keen on accepting the girl into the school, worrying about her misbehavior and bad attitude. Now, it was a different type of worry hanging in the air.
“She’s quite sick, isn’t she?” she dared to ask the sorrowful parents before her.
“Yes, our little storm cloud has cancer”, Gomez confirmed, once again holding Morticia’s hand tightly in his.
Larissa found it hard to find the right words to say to these people that were now going through one of the hardest things someone can go through.
“Oh, I’m so sorry… I can’t imagine… Is there anything I can do?”
“Well, she will need to go through very intensive treatment”, Morticia said. “And during this time we need to bring her back home so that we can properly care for her.”
“Yes, of course, I understand”, Larissa said.
“I know that her time here has been… rocky at best”, Morticia said. “But I want you to know that our girl has grown very fond of this place. I can tell she’s very saddened to leave.”
Larissa felt a warmth spread inside her, hearing these words. After all, she had been very dedicated to get the girl to fit in at Nevermore. All her efforts to force her into being a part of the school, making her find an extracurricular activity and working together with her peers seemed to have paid off. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by her that Wednesday was spending more and more time around her friends.
“She has definitely started to find her place here”, Larissa nodded.
“Yes, she has”, Morticia continued. “So we are hoping that her place here will be waiting for her when she gets better. I know she would love to keep her same dorm room, to keep sharing with Enid…”
“Of course!” Larissa interrupted her. “You don’t even have to ask. Her grades are excellent, and she’s finally starting to feel like she belongs here. It’s not her fault that she’s gotten sick, of course her dorm will be waiting for her when she gets back. And she doesn’t need to worry about keeping her grades up. She will be welcome back whenever.”
“Thank you”, Morticia breathed. “Maybe it would be possible to give her homework to do from home so that she can keep up.”
“Absolutely”, Larissa assured. “She can do as much as she has the energy to.”
Since Wednesday needed to lie motionless to not feel like her head would explode, she couldn’t even pack her own bags. She had her mushroom soup in bed while her parents and Enid helped her pack. It felt uneasy letting her parents go through all her stuff, so she only allowed them to pack her wardrobe while she let Enid take care of her other things.
When all her clothes were packed, her parents thankfully left, leaving her and Enid alone. Enid was putting things into one of Wednesday’s large chests when she grabbed the old gramophone and Wednesday stopped her.
“No, don’t pack that one”, she begged.
Enid looked at her in surprise.
“Don’t you want it?”
“I do, I just…”
She took a long pause, realizing she was heading into emotional territory, which was her absolute least favorite thing.
“I don’t want to feel like I’m leaving for good”, she finally admitted. “I want to keep some things here to know that I’m coming back.”
Enid looked at her with a hint of concern in her eyes.
“Of course you’re coming back!” she said with emphasis, wanting to make her friend feel reassured.
She put the gramophone back down on the little table and slowly approached Wednesday’s bed. The girl was lying on her back now, staring up at the ceiling, and Enid climbed in next to her, mirroring her outstretched position.
“Hey”, she said, once again approaching a new territory that the other girl wasn’t used to. “You haven’t said anything about what you’re thinking about all this.”
Wednesday was so still next to her, it almost seemed like she hadn’t heard her, arms crossed over her chest and her fringe almost covering her dark eyes.
The fact that she hadn’t yelled at her or pushed her out of the bed felt like a sign to continue, and Enid spoke up again.
“It would be completely understandable if you’re scared”, she said. “or angry or sad… If you want to express anything I won’t tell anyone.”
The room was silent for a few seconds again before Wednesday rolled onto her side, turning her back towards Enid. Enid cringed at herself and silently cursed herself for not keeping her mouth shut when she knew Wednesday would never want to talk about anything like this.
She took so long thinking about what else she might say to repair the situation, she was shocked when she heard Wednesday’s voice, the girl’s back still turned towards her.
“I guess I wish I didn’t have to leave.”
Her voice seemed smaller than usual.
“Living with my parents again will be a bad kind of nightmare”, she added with forced humor, trying to conceal the gravity of her words.
Another long paus.
“I wish I was myself again”, she mumbled. “I wish for things to return to normal.”
Enid knew this was a major breakthrough. This was the most honest Wednesday had ever been with her. The girl was not comfortable dealing with hard and vulnerable emotions, and she knew it must be so hard for her now that something truly terrible had happened to her. She wished she could find a way to show her how much it meant to her to have Wednesday confide in her like this, but she didn’t want to say anything that would ruin the moment. Her roommate was different to anyone she had ever met, and she had no idea how she should act to comfort her.
She glanced over at her, her gaze following the beautiful, black braids that fell across the pillow. Oh, how she had grown to care for her.
That’s when she noticed Wednesday’s shoulders starting to tremble a little. A slightly uneven breath, barely audible if she hadn’t been observing her so closely, told her that she was crying. Maybe she had done exactly the right thing after all.
Staying right there next to her, Enid closed her eyes, a few tears running down her own temples as she let her friend grieve in peace.
Chapter 5: Surgery
Chapter Text
Wednesday did not sleep much because of the throbbing pain in her head and back, just drifting in and out of sleep. It wasn’t any better than the day before when the morning came, and she swallowed another painkiller from the bottle that her parents had left on her bedside table. When she looked around, she noticed that Enid’s part of the room was empty, even though it was a little too early for her to have gone to breakfast. She frowned but figured the werewolf would be back soon.
She had to visit the bathroom and so she forced herself to get up, wincing every step as she slowly made her way there and back. On the way back to bed she noticed a little note on Enid’s bed, and went there to read it.
I’ll be back before you leave, promise ♡
Puzzled, she went back to bed where she stayed until her parents knocked on the door and she once again was showered with questions.
“How did you sleep, my little viper?” her father asked the first thing.
“How is your head today?” her mother added.
Wednesday desperately hoped that Enid would come back soon to distract them, but was disappointed when the girl ended up being gone a long time.
She stayed in bed while the parents started carrying her stuff out to the car. When Enid finally got back while her parents had just left for another trip to the car, Wednesday had already started to worry that she wouldn’t have time to say goodbye.
“I’m sorry”, Enid said, a little out of breath as she’d seemingly ran up the stairs to get there. “I had to go into Jericho for a bit.”
She sat down cross legged on Wednesday’s bed, and with a perky smile she took out a wrapped present from behind her back and held it out towards her. Wednesday looked at it, usually not too fond of receiving gifts.
“What is it?” she asked with suspicion.
“You have to open it and see, weirdo”, Enid giggled.
Wednesday carefully sat up, leaning back on a pile of pillows. She reached out to grab the present and started to unwrap it. A moment later, she was looking at a box containing a brand new phone. She looked up at her roommate.
“Why would you get me one of these, you know I despise them”, she said.
“Because I can’t accept not getting to talk to you while you’re away”, Enid said softly.
Wednesday took the phone out of the box and spun it in her hand, trying to picture herself actually using it. She had to admit, being away from Enid was something that made the thought of going through painful cancer treatment that much harder. If she could at least talk to her, maybe things would be a little easier.
“But this is expensive”, she finally said.
“Don’t worry”, Enid said. “It’s not just from me. A bunch of the others pitched in. Eugene, Xavier, Yoko, Ajax… even Bianca!”
With a horrified hiss Wednesday let go of the phone as though it was on fire and let it drop down on the mattress.
“Take it away from me, it’s probably poisoned”, she said.
Enid just laughed.
“Stop being a wuss”, she teased. “I can’t believe you, who dauntlessly go into every battle, are afraid of people being nice to you. Just accept the gift.”
Wednesday glared at her for another moment before she reluctantly picked the phone back up.
“Fine”, she muttered. “But you need to show me how it works.”
Smiling from ear to ear, Enid crawled forward and sat down next to her friend instead of facing her. She took the phone out of her hand, turned it on and started going through the basics, downloading important apps and showing how to use them.
Wednesday reveled in being close to her, trying to enjoy this moment knowing that she would have to leave much too soon.
Just as Enid had gone through how video calls worked, Gomez and Morticia walked back in. Looking at their daughter side by side with the first true friend she had ever had, it broke their hearts having to pull her away from there.
“Time to go, love”, Morticia said.
Wednesday looked very reluctant but slowly stood up, putting the phone in her pocket to keep close.
As she walked towards the door, Enid stepped in her way, standing in front of her with her eyes locked to Wednesday.
Wednesday looked down on the floor but took a tiny step closer. Enid could immediately tell that her friend actually wanted a hug, and she pulled her towards her, feeling Wednesday’s arms wrap around her waist. They stayed completely still in that position for a long time, neither one of them wanting to pull away. Finally, Enid felt herself about to break into tears and decided it was best if Wednesday left before that happened.
She took a step back and gave her a small smile.
“Talk to you soon”, she said. “Remember that you can call me any time, any time at all. And can I come see you soon?”
Morticia, beyond delighted to witness what a strong friendship Wednesday had found answered for her.
“You are always welcome at our house”, she assured Enid. “You can come and stay over as often as you’d like. We can have Lurch pick you up and bring you over the weekend.”
“Yes, please!” Enid answered, excited at the prospect of getting to visit the Addams house.
Giving Enid one last, long gaze, Wednesday finally let herself be led out into the hallway by her parents. As soon as the door closed, Enid felt tears starting to sting in her eyes.
She stayed frozen in place for a long moment, tears running freely down her face, not knowing how she could possibly go on to doing normal everyday things while Wednesday was away fighting for her life.
Before she had time to move again, the door opened and Morticia walked back into the room. Enid quickly tried to dry the tears off but, of course, it was very obvious that she was crying.
“Wednesday forgot her notebook”, Morticia explained. “How are you, sweet child?”
Instead of an answer, a sob erupted from her and she simply shook her head. Morticia walked up to her and pulled her into her arms, causing more sobs to come.
When Enid had cried in her arms for a moment, she finally dared to speak the question that was causing her such sorrow.
“What’s going to happen to her?” she cried.
Morticia’s breath hitched, too, at the sound of her words.
“I don’t know”, she whispered for an answer. “I don’t know, dear.”
Another day, another scan. They drove immediately to the new hospital before they even dropped Wednesday’s things off. She needed to perform a CT-scan to determine if she would have surgery on her lung tumor or not. The pediatric oncology ward at Serenity Research was, if possible, even more colorful than the one at St. Joseph’s, and she groaned loudly internally.
Wednesday’s case had been assigned to a new oncologist that would have the main responsibility for her treatment, but they wouldn’t meet with her until a couple of days later. This time around, they thankfully didn’t have to stay as long in the hospital as she was only getting the scan.
At first, she had to fill a few vials of blood to send to the lab. Then, the nurse administrating the test handed her a bottle with a very suspicious looking liquid inside.
“This is the contrast liquid that is needed to get clearer images from the scan”, he said. “You’ll get an hour to drink it. It’s unfortunately extremely unpleasant, but try to finish as much as you possibly can. It normally helps if you set certain goals. Force yourself to drink 5 gulps without stopping every 5 minutes…”
Wednesday took the bottle out of his hand, brought it to her mouth and silently drank the whole thing in under 30 seconds. With a satisfied look on her face she handed him the bottle back.
“Tastes just like my favorite brand of paint”, she sighed contently.
The nurse had turned pale and looked at her with widened eyes.
“I’ll have you moved to an earlier time slot”, he quickly said before he rushed out of the room.
She had learned to wear soft clothing with no metal on it, so she didn’t have to change into a hospital gown this time. The examination went swiftly and soon they finally arrived at their home where she could lie down again and rest her aching spine.
As she was lying stretched out in her childhood bedroom, a vibration alerted her that she had gotten a message on her new phone. She didn’t know what came over her, but she couldn’t help but smile when she saw Enid’s name.
I miss you so much, I even went to the beehives this afternoon
Wednesday stopped to think, suddenly unsure of how to answer, but then settled for a simple and honest answer.
I miss you too
From then on, things seemed to move forward really fast, and soon she had lost count of how many visits to the hospital she’d made. Her new oncologist was called Doctor Sanderson, and she had sat down with Wednesday and both her parents to go through the treatment plan.
They unfortunately found out that the tumor in her lung would not be able to be removed surgically, and so the treatments that she would have to go through were as follows:
- First of all, a surgery to remove the cancerous lymph nodes
- Then 6 cycles of chemotherapy, each lasting 3 weeks, meaning that she would be undergoing treatment for a little over 4 months if all went according to plan
- Additionally, targeted radiation therapy, aimed at the tumor in her lung, during the first round of chemotherapy
This meant that she soon found herself getting prepared to undergo surgery. The procedure would take around 2,5 hours as she was also getting a port put in place while she was already under general anesthesia. The port, she learned, was a small device that would be placed under the skin on her chest and that was connected to one of the larger veins so that it would be easy to access a vein every time she needed to have blood taken or receive chemotherapy. It would stay in her body the whole time until she was finished with all her treatments.
On the day of the surgery, she had to go through a list of things before she was taken to the operating room: she was weighed and had blood drawn. She had to change into a hospital gown, an IV was placed on her hand and the area on her chest that would be operated on was marked with a black marker.
She walked herself to the operating room, and her father accompanied her to be by her side until she was put under the anesthesia.
"I want you to count backwards from 20", the anesthesiologist told her as she was about to get injected with the anesthesia.
Gomez watched as his daughter started counting: "Twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifthh…"
His heart stopped in his chest when she got to 15 and her eyes rolled backwards as she lost consciousness. The anesthesiologist noticed his reaction and spoke.
"Yes, I know it can look quite scary when you're not used to it, and especially when it's your child. But now that she's asleep she won't feel any pain while we operate. You can go and wait by your wife in the waiting room down the hall."
Looking back down on Wednesday, who was sound asleep, she reminded him so much of the little baby he had held when she was born, almost 16 years ago. It felt awful leaving her here in the operating room, but he knew he wouldn't be allowed to stay. After giving her hand one last squeeze, he left to join Morticia in the waiting room.
Time had never moved slower. The hours felt like weeks while they waited for their daughter to be brought out of surgery. Even though they'd been told that the procedure was very low risk, the worry that something might go wrong did not leave them. It was added to the overhanging worry that they carried with them every minute these days: was the treatment going to work? Would she be in a lot of pain? Would she get to live or not?
Finally, after 2 hours and 46 minutes had passed (it wasn't like they were checking the clock on the wall every second or anything… okay, maybe every five seconds…) a nurse came out to see them. The pleased look on his face immediately allowed them to let out the breath they'd been holding.
"Everything went really well", he said. "She's being rolled to recovery right now and you may go see her there. She will have to stay there until we've made sure that she's recovering well from the anesthesia, and then she'll be given a room for the night. Hopefully she can go home tomorrow morning!"
"Thank you!" Morticia breathed, and a second later they were hurrying towards the recovery ward.
They found her in a bed in the mid-sized room of the recovery ward. There were a number of other beds with more patients that had come out of surgeries, curtains between each of them for a small amount of privacy. Wednesday was hardly recognizable in the large hospital bed. Paler than usual, with a machine monitoring her heartbeat, an IV still secured to her hand by bandages and another bandage peeking out from under her hospital gown at the site of the surgery.
They sat down on opposite sides of the bed and just waited, neither one of them able to look away from their sleeping youngster.
It only took about five minutes before she started moving, she opened her eyes, but seemed to have a hard time focusing her gaze, her eyelids drifting closed again.
"Are you tired, love?" Morticia smiled with affection.
Wednesday rolled over towards her voice so that she was now resting on her side. While her eyes were still closed she opened her mouth to say something, but what came out was a complete, mumbling nonsense.
A nurse came over just then.
"Good, I see that she’s starting to wake up", she smiled, then, turning towards the parents, she added. "She may be a little loopy for a bit while the anesthesia wears off. It's completely normal and nothing to worry about."
Morticia placed her hand on Wednesday's cheek and repeatedly stroked her hair back in a soothing motion.
"Good morning, my sweet little rain cloud", she murmured.
Wednesday tried to open her eyes again, squinting up at her in the bright, fluorescent light.
"The bees are trapped, mama", she slurred.
Morticia had to chuckle at how cute she was.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
But Wednesday had squeezed her eyes shut again and brought her bandaged hand up to her eye, rubbing the sleep out of it.
"Careful, love", Morticia said, taking Wednesday's hand in both of hers and giving it an affectionate kiss.
Another five minutes passed before Wednesday seemed a little clearer in the head. Her sweet and soft expression had been swapped into a frown and she was looking a little grayish in color.
"How are you feeling, Wednesday", a nurse asked her. "Are you feeling nauseous?"
After a little paus, Wednesday reluctantly nodded.
"We have some antinausea medication at hand", the nurse told her. "Do you think you could manage to swallow down a pill?"
"Yeah", Wednesday agreed.
Gomez helped her sit up a little against the headboard, and soon she was given a little pill and a water bottle.
"This type is usually pretty effective", the nurse told her. "You'll be prescribed the same pill while undergoing chemo to try and keep the side effects at bay."
They waited another 35 minutes while the antinausea pill took effect and she returned to her regular color (or lack thereof). Then, her vitals were deemed good and she was rolled off to a patient's room.
She would need to spend one night at the hospital for observation. It had been decided that Gomez would stay with her while Morticia would go back home to Pugsley. Uncle Fester had left the family’s home to travel to Albania, for reasons they didn’t know, but even if he had been home, he wasn’t the most trustworthy person that Gomez and Morticia could think of to leave either of their kids with. And they didn't want to leave Pugsley alone again as he had been very anxious ever since the problems with Wednesday's health came to light.
Wednesday didn't want to think about Pugsley. She knew that their relationship was changing forever. She had always thought of him as annoying and weak, and she sure had tortured him in different ways. But that didn’t change the fact that all her life, she’d also protected him. It had made her feel somewhat good to know the light he saw her in. To him she had always been strong, a source of protection (while sometimes terrifying and a source of pain).
Now, ever since she got sick, he was scared for her instead of scared of her, and she didn't enjoy it at all. She did still cause him pain, but in a very bad way this time. The night before her surgery she'd heard him crying desperately in the next room, while Morticia tried to console him. Wednesday had never heard him hurt that much before, and she was horrified to know that she had caused it. Under normal circumstances, she would have hunted down the person who hurt him and had them flayed. Or possibly poisoned. Either way, there was no bully to punish this time, and she had no way of making him feel better.
Stupid, evil cancer.
Morticia stayed another half hour before she, very reluctantly, stood up.
"I have to go now, my little thunder storm", she said, regrettably. "I hate to leave you, but Pugsley is waiting for me. Do you think you'll be alright, sweetheart? You'll call me if you need me, right?"
"I don't need your help to sleep, mother", Wednesday muttered. "You've gone too far, even for you."
"Of course we'll call", Gomez reassured her instead.
Morticia, not wanting to further annoy her daughter, settled for a couple of kisses in the air as a goodbye.
“I love you”, she said. “Sleep well.”
She then gave her husband a long kiss before she turned around and left.
Chapter 6: Starting treatment
Notes:
Happy new year everyone!
Thank you again for continuing to follow this story and giving me such lovely responses <3I want to apologize for writing Uncle Fester out of the story, I'm sure he would be a great contribution but I feel I only have the motivation to write so many characters...
I also apologize in advance as this is where it starts getting very medical and I'm sure I'm going to get A LOT of things wrong! I don't know why I must give so many details when I have no idea what I'm doing, but apparently I enjoy shooting myself in the foot hehe. I researched for like 3 days, but since I have never been through this kind of treatment myself it's obviously very hard to give the inside perspective.
I know for example that before starting radiation treatment you're meant to have a thourough appointment to figure out the right angle of the radiation beam, and have the right spots permanently marked with tatoo's. I left that part out because I felt I wanted the story to progress a little faster, but if you can just assume that she's done this between chapters that would be great.
Hope you can bare with me and my unprofessional medical blabbering!
Chapter Text
Later in the evening, the hospital noises were driving Wednesday mad. Because she, regrettably, still counted as a child, she was staying in the pediatric ward. In the next room, someone had a baby that had been crying non-stop for hours. Why people voluntarily made those wrinkly little screaming machines she could not understand. Worse yet was the sound of laughter coming from the play area that was unfortunately placed not too far outside her room. A clown had tried to enter her room a little earlier.
“Not. Another. Step”, she’d threatened, luckily scaring the clown away without much effort.
Her father was out in the hallway, speaking to Pugsley over the phone to tell him goodnight, so Wednesday was currently alone in the room. On the right side of her chest, she could feel the little bump where the port was hiding under her skin. It felt strange.
Lying here with all the noises, still feeling a little weird from the anesthesia, she desperately wished she was back at the academy. At the time, she had loathed the bustling of the other students, finding them primitive and immature. But compared to this place, it seemed like a paradise. And not everyone was immature. There was also Enid… Enid who had always gone out of her way to be a loyal friend. She tried to picture her, wondering what she was doing right now. She felt so far away.
And just as she was thinking about her, Wednesday’s phone started making sounds. She jumped a little, found the phone in the creases of her sheets, and her heart sped up when she read Enid’s name on the screen. She was both excited to see her call, and the same time she felt an embarrassment she couldn’t explain. She felt exposed somehow, not wanting the girl to know she had been thinking about her.
“Hello, Enid”, she greeted, trying to keep her voice steady and confident.
“Wednesday!” Enid called out. “How did the surgery go?”
Wednesday had been keeping her updated via text on what was going on with her treatment, but this was the first time they spoke since she left the academy.
“It went well”, she assured her. “I was asleep, so can’t really tell you much.”
“I know, silly”, Enid said with a small laugh that made Wednesday smile. “But did they say it was successful? Did they get everything that they needed? And how are you feeling afterwards? Is it hurting? Are you feeling okay?”
“Contain yourself, this isn’t 20 questions”, Wednesday answered with faux annoyance.
“I can’t be calm when my best friend is in the hospital!” Enid exclaimed. “Please, answer my questions.”
Wednesday smiled at that. Enid considered her her best friend. It didn’t matter that she was far away, getting to be around their other classmates all day. She still cared about Wednesday the most, and this caused an unexplainable warmth to settle in Wednesday’s stomach.
“Yes, yes, okay, kind of, yes”, she finally answered.
“You took so long to answer, I’ve already forgotten what questions I asked!” Enid complained. “But you’re okay and the surgery was successful, that much I picked up?”
“Yes”, Wednesday reassured her. Not wanting to spend too long talking about her own feelings, she quickly added: “And how are things with you?”
Settling into a more comfortable position, she listened to Enid’s stories like her favorite cello records. Back when they first met, Wednesday used to find her voice to be one of the most annoying and disrupting sounds in the world. That version of herself would never have dreamed that it would now be one of the most enjoyable sounds to her. She almost felt herself get lulled to sleep by it.
“How soon can I come visit you?” Enid asked.
“Well, the only thing I’ll be doing is going back and forth between my parent’s house and the hospital, being slowly driven mad by both places”, Wednesday answered. “So it’s safe to say that any time is as good as the other.”
“Good, I’ll come as soon as I can get away from school then!”
The morning of her first treatment, Wednesday’s parents were both nervous wrecks. At the same time, they were all happy that she would start getting treated. The tumor was still blocking her airway, and her cough still sounded terrible. Hopefully, once the first cycle was over, the tumor would have shrunk enough that it didn’t cause her such difficulties.
Wednesday, on the other hand, wasn’t nervous at all. She remembered the contrast liquid that she had before her last scan. Apparently, everyone else found it terrible, while she enjoyed it. Who’s to say that she wouldn’t enjoy chemotherapy too? It didn’t do her any good to worry in advance, so she refrained from doing so.
It was her mother’s turn to take her into the hospital, so they left together after having had breakfast with the whole family.
They started off meeting with Wednesday's new oncologist Dr. Sanderson, who was going to go through everything they needed to know about chemotherapy and radiation. But first, Wednesday was weighed and had blood drawn. Since she now had a port, this was easily done. The doctor brought out a tube with a flat, white, plastic part, about the size of a quarter, in one end. There was a small needle on one side of the flat part, and the tube easily connected when the doctor located the port under Wednesday’s skin and pushed the little needle into it. A large, transparent sticker was placed on her chest to keep the tube in place and make sure the needle didn’t fall out. Then, a few vials of blood were easily filled.
“I will give you an introduction about all that you need to know”, Dr. Sanderson told them when she was done. “First of all, the chemo drugs that you will get are called Cisplatin and Etoposide. When you are on this specific regiment, one cycle looks like this: On day 1 you are given both drugs back to back intravenously through your port. You will start by receiving Etoposide, which takes around one hour. After that, it’s time for the Cisplatin IV, which takes two hours.”
Morticia was shocked to hear how long it would take to receive the medications, but Wednesday wasn’t bothered. She didn’t usually get bored, as she could always use her spare time to come up with new details for her book.
“On day 2 and day 3”, Dr. Sanderson continued. “you will come back in and be given only Etoposide. After that, you get to have a vacation from chemo for 2,5 weeks. Once day 21 has passed, you start all over again from day 1. We will also have you come in for a scan on day 19 of each cycle to check how the treatment is working. If all goes well and your body responds as we hope to the treatment, this is the same schedule you will follow for 6 cycles. During this first cycle you will also get a radiation treatment before each chemotherapy.”
“And what about the side effects?” Morticia couldn’t stop herself from asking. “How will she feel?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard stories of quite terrible side effects”, the doctor said. “and I’m afraid that it likely won’t be a comfortable experience. It will take its toll on you, Wednesday. Firstly, you will almost certainly lose your hair. Other than that, the most common side effects of chemo are nausea and anemia. We will do our best to keep the nausea in check. It’s important that you take your antinausea medication as we don’t want you to lose too much weight. That is another common side effect. I’ve noticed you’re already a little bit on the light side, so I’m trusting mom to keep an eye on your weight and if it starts to drop we will get on it, okay?”
She gave Morticia a look that told her it was of utmost importance, and Morticia quickly nodded in return.
“As for the anemia”, she then continued. “Fatigue is a normal side effect of chemo, but should you start feeling very tired and have dizzy spells, it’s important that you contact us so we can check your red blood cell count. Aside from anemia, you may also have a shortage of platelets in your blood, which means you’re at an increased risk of bleeding. And, most importantly, as you already know, your white blood cell count is likely to drop, leaving you more sensitive to infection. That’s why we want you to avoid large crowds, don’t be near people that are showing symptoms of an infection and make sure that you and your home are both clean. I will also give you a list of foods to avoid while immunocompromised, such as undercooked or cold meat, raw eggs etc.”
“Before you go”, she added, turning again to Morticia. “I want you to write down this on-call number. Put this number on speed dial. This is the number you call to consult about anything. I want you to call if she has a fever or if she seems to suffer too greatly from side effects. You should call if her cough comes back, if she’s showing signs of infection, if you have questions about her medication, if there’s trouble with her port... Anything, got it?”
“Of course”, Morticia answered.
The severity of her daughter’s illness suddenly weighed a little heavier on the mother’s shoulders. There were so many details, she wasn’t sure how she would remember them, and yet she was the one who needed to make sure her daughter was given the best chance possible of getting well. The responsibility was huge, and the consequences if Wednesday wasn’t cared for properly were unthinkable.
Head spinning with information, they both said goodbye to Dr. Sanderson and headed over to the wing where Wednesday’s radiation treatment would be administrated. Since it was the very first treatment, it took a little longer than it otherwise would, as the radiation therapist needed to put a lot of effort into getting her in the right position. Because the radiation beam was likely to damage and irritate her skin, she had to put a special lotion on the skin of her chest, as well as on her back where the radiation beam would exit her body.
The actual treatment went pretty fast. A large machine aimed the radiation beam at her tumor, and she had to lie completely still for about 10 minutes. She didn’t feel anything, and soon the whole thing was over. She was prescribed a tube of the same lotion that had been used, and she was instructed to use it every evening and every morning while she was getting radiation.
The next stop was the infusion area where chemotherapy was administered. With a very displeased glare, Wednesday looked around the room. It was obvious that it was designed to appeal to children. The floor had a large pattern of different pastel colors. The nurses desk was painted purple and apricot, the walls had colorful, jungle themed artwork on them and there was a play area with Lego, books and a table filled with paper and crayons.
They had to register at the nurse’s desk.
“Welcome, Wednesday”, one of the infusion nurses, whose nametag read Savannah, greeted her. “I hear this is your first treatment, and I want to assure you that we will do our best to make you as comfortable as possible here.”
Would you mind repainting the place and removing the children? Wednesday thought, but didn’t say anything.
“You may pick a chair and I will be right with you to get your IV started”, the nurse continued.
There were 6 light blue chemo chairs spread around the room, half of which were already taken by other patients. There was one teen her own age, another kid around 8 years of age as well as a small girl, maybe 5 years old.
The room wasn’t completely rectangular. In one corner, the wall turned outwards and made a small rectangle connected to the larger rectangle. With a curtain between each chair, it almost looked like a private little room within the room. And it was as far away from the other’s as she could get. That’s where she headed, her mother tagging along to sit in the chair that was meant for the guardian accompanying the patient.
A few minutes later, the nurse from earlier approached them. She started off by giving Wednesday a dose of antinausea medication. After that, she hung a bag of clear liquid high up on an IV pole next to Wednesday’s chair and a long tube connected it to the smaller tube attached to her port.
“There you go”, Savannah said as she got the IV to start running. “As you know, this will take a few hours. We have blankets at hand if you get cold, as well as popsicles and lollipops. Some people find it easier to deal with nausea it they get something flavored to put in their mouth.”
They were finally left alone, and as the drug slowly dripped into her system, Wednesday let her gaze wander. Another small child, no older than 3 years old, came in and was placed in one of the empty chairs. The 5 year old was crying and in the corridor outside the glass door she saw more young kids pass.
She was quickly starting to realize that this place was the ultimate hell on earth. Not because of the obnoxious colors or the perky nurses, but because everywhere she looked she saw bald little heads, and young kids suffering in ways they should never have to.
An hour passed, the Etoposide drip was exchanged for Cisplatin. A couple of kids left, another arrived. She didn’t feel any side effects yet, apart from a little soreness in her throat, which she’d been told was a possible side effect from the radiation beam being aimed at her lungs.
When it was finally time to leave, they’d spent over 5 hours in the hospital and Wednesday was starving. Morticia, pleased to see she hadn’t lost her appetite yet, bought her a panini to eat on the way home, and they went back to spend the evening with the rest of their family.
The next morning, Wednesday woke up in a pool of her own sweat. She wasn’t feverish, she didn’t feel sick or nauseous, but she could hardly say she felt refreshed. Her body felt uneasy, as though it was trying to get rid of the toxins that had entered her system yesterday by breaking out into a cold sweat.
She got in the shower as soon as she got up, and realized that the skin over the area where she’d had radiation stung a little when the water jets hit it. She turned the water pressure down a little to make softer jets and finished her shower feeling better. She then applied the lotion she’d been prescribed.
“How are you, Viper?” her father asked her when she came downstairs.
“It’s not too bad”, Wednesday answered truthfully. “Don’t ask me again.”
She’d been given an early appointment, and this time her father was taking her. 8.15 they entered the children’s oncology ward and repeated the same procedure as the day before, only this time it was faster as it didn’t come with a long introduction, she was only getting Etoposide and the radiation took faster to set up.
Around two hours after they’d arrived the IV of chemo was finished and she was sent home. By this time, her throat had started to hurt really bad after having had radiation two days in a row.
The family all had lunch together around the dining room table later on, and she had trouble swallowing her food down. This did not go unnoticed by her parents, who were instantaneously filled with worry.
“What can we do, scorpion?” Gomez asked anxiously. “Are you feeling sick? Can I cook you something different?”
This was the absolute worst kind of attention Wednesday could imagine getting. She didn’t want anyone to worry about and feel sorry for her. So she sent her father one of her murderous stares and took a bite out of her food out of spite.
As for the parents, they knew they were going to have to get used to seeing their daughter feel unwell, but how could they get used to such a thing?
“If you’re feeling nauseous then maybe we can do something to manage it?” Morticia said.
Wednesday had been prescribed an antinausea medication, that she was to take every 12 hours as a precaution. But if it didn’t seem effective enough they could try other types in hope of finding one that worked better.
“No”, Wednesday muttered.
They fell silent again, but she could still feel their eyes on her. Finally, she couldn’t stand it, so she spoke again in hopes that they would stop.
“I’m not nauseous”, she admitted. “My throat is hurting.”
Gomez immediately got to his feet and a second later she had a painkiller placed in front of her. Without looking up, she reluctantly took the pill and swallowed it down with the water she was drinking.
She spent the rest of the afternoon trying to work on her novel, but found it hard to relax and concentrate. Sitting at her desk, she leaned her head in her hand and wished she was free as the birds outside her window.
Chapter 7: Side effects and a visit from Enid
Notes:
Hellooo! Feeling like a broken record here, but I can't thank you guys enough for following this story <3
It seems I’ve upset some people by removing Uncle Fester from the plot, and I admit I’ve been lazy to not even come up with a good reason for his absence. I’ve thought about it and here’s my explanation to where he is:
When Fester heard about Wednesday’s cancer, he was absolutely devastated. Feeling that he had to take action, he went to Albania to kidnap a renowned specialist to help her, but his plan backfired when he was unfortunately caught by the police. He is currently being detained by the Albanian police for attempted kidnapping. But I assure you there isn’t a second that goes by that he isn’t thinking about his favorite niece! If I can find it in me, maybe he will appear later on….
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After going to bed early and sleeping for almost 10 hours, she woke up on day 3 of treatment and realized she did not feel good. Once again, she was completely covered in sweat and the ache in her throat had gotten worse. In addition, her stomach was rumbling in a very unpleasant way. When she got to her feet, her legs were trembling and a wave of queasiness hit her. She had to stand completely still for a moment and wait for it to pass.
It was like her body was upset with her. It seemed to say:
We told you yesterday we didn’t like what they gave you in that liquid! Why would you allow them to give it to you again?
Her mother was bringing her to the hospital again, and by now Wednesday had the procedure memorized quite well.
Morticia could tell from a mile away that her daughter wasn’t well, and she knew there wasn’t much she could do to bring her relief.
“I’m so sorry you’re feeling bad, my little moonlight”, she said in the car. “Thankfully this is your last radiation, and last chemo of this cycle. Let’s get it over with, and then when we get back home you can lie down on the couch and I can find a few autopsies for you to watch on the tv.”
That normally would have sounded like a very tempting afternoon to her, but while she felt like this it was hard to look forward to anything.
The radiation went smoothly, and soon she found herself back in the infusion area. She took the same chair in the corner that she’d picked on both of her other treatments. She was starting to think of it as her corner.
An infusion nurse named Daniel hooked her up to the IV. By now, her body was starting to make the connection that this medicine wasn’t good for her, and a foul taste appeared in her mouth after 15 minutes had passed.
She would never ask for a lollipop, it sounded terribly childish, and she didn’t want to admit to being weak and handling the treatment so badly. She’d naively thought that she would be the one patient to feel strong and refreshed by the chemo drugs.
Of course, she couldn’t hide from her mother. Morticia saw her daughter’s cheeks turn ashen in color, and she walked over to the nurse’s station to ask what they could offer her. A nurse brought out a basket filled with lollies in different colors. There turned out to be a lot left of a flavor that was so dark purple it was almost black like Wednesday’s favorite color.
“Those are the blackcurrant flavored ones”, the nurse explained. “None of the children seem to like them.”
“That’ll be perfect for Wednesday”, Morticia smiled thankfully, and took one to bring back to their corner.
She unwrapped it and wordlessly held it out in front of Wednesday. She knew that if she in some way verbally insinuated that Wednesday might be feeling sick, the girl wouldn’t accept the lollipop.
She was relieved when Wednesday grabbed it and brought it to her mouth.
The blackcurrant flavor did manage to distract her a little, which she was thankful for when she received a video call from Enid. She placed the lollipop down on the little table beside her, sat up a little straighter and answered, knowing that she didn’t look her best but too eager to speak to the werewolf to care.
If Enid was shocked by her pale appearance, she graciously didn’t mention it.
“Oh, I’m sorry if I call at a bad time. Are you having chemo right now?” she asked, seeing the tube taped to Wednesday’s chest and the blue chair in the background.
Her voice was as pleasant as ever, although a little hoarser than usual.
“It’s no trouble”, Wednesday quickly assured her. “What is your reason for calling?”
She scolded herself for sounding too hostile. She was thrilled that Enid called, why couldn’t she express that?
Luckily, Enid didn’t seem to take offense. She just gave her a warm smile.
“Happy to see you too!” she chuckled. “I wanted to ask if I could come see you this weekend. If you’re feeling well enough, that is. If you’re too sick, you don’t have to say yes. I promise I’ll come as soon as you’ll have me.”
“I’m not too sick!” Wednesday quickly answered.
“Okay, good.”
Enid let out another chuckle, which turned into a cough.
“I’m sorry”, she excused herself. “Ajax passed on his cold to me.”
Morticia, who had been listening in on the conversation from the chair next to Wednesday, overjoyed at the friendship her daughter had found, immediately looked up with a frown when she heard this. She stood up an intruded on the conversation by poking her head into the frame.
“You have a virus?” she asked with a troubled expression.
“Yeah, it’s just a cold going around”, Enid explained.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart”, Morticia sighed regretfully. “You won’t be able to come visit until you’re completely healthy again. Wednesday could get very sick if she catches a virus, even if it is just a cold.”
Wednesday would have liked to throw her mother out the window right then, mortified by her intrusion and enraged that she was getting in the way of her seeing Enid again.
Enid, meanwhile, looked horrified.
“Of course! I can’t believe I forgot!” she breathed. “I’m so sorry, of course I’ll wait.”
Wednesday pushed her mom out of the frame and proceeded to speak to Enid for another 10 minutes. They had to hang up when a nurse came to remove the IV that was now finished. The needle was pulled out of her port and she was good to go.
Still angry, she didn’t say a word to her mother. Morticia tried to mend things in the car ride home.
“I’m sorry I butted in on your call like that”, she tried. “You know it’s only because I care about you. I will have Lurch pick Enid up and drive her here as soon as she’s better.”
Wednesday just glared out the window.
“You can’t stay mad at me all day”, Morticia said in desperation. “You have to understand that nothing takes priority over your health right now.”
Wednesday still didn’t say anything, but Morticia knew she had been forgiven when the girl let her drape a blanket over her and tuck her into bed later that evening.
As it turned out, Wednesday was lucky that Enid wasn’t able to come over the weekend, because the state that she was in over the next few days wasn’t something she ever wanted Enid to see.
She woke up the morning after her third chemo treatment feeling even worse than the day before. Luckily, she didn’t have any more treatments until the next cycle, and she didn’t have to get up early to go to the hospital. She figured she could stay in bed all day, and hoped in vain that no one would bother her.
But she knew, of course, that she wouldn’t be left alone for long. And sure enough, the door slowly opened around 8:30 and her father’s head peaked through the crack. Seeing that she was awake, he made his way over to the bed to check on her.
“Oh, Wednesday”, Gomez whispered when he saw his child more closely, trying not to let it show that his heart sped up by anxiety from seeing her in this state. She was drenched in sweat and her face expressed great discomfort
“I need to check if you have a temperature, scorpion”, he said and hurried to get the thermometer. He also brought a water bottle and Wednesday’s morning dose of antinausea medication.
When he got back to her room, the girl hadn’t moved a millimeter. He was relieved that she didn't refuse when he shoved the thermometer into her mouth, and he waited anxiously for the 'beep' that meant the temperature was ready to be read.
“98,5”, he said with a sigh of relief. “That’s good, no fever. But we do need to get some fluids in you. The doctor said you will feel worse if you’re not hydrated.”
He started trying to help her sit up, but Wednesday pushed his hand out of the way.
“Stop it”, she said. “I can take care of myself!”
Slowly she pushed herself up and sat back against the headboard. She would have preferred to stay motionless under her covers, but as her father was watching she had to force herself to accept the medication. She did hope that it might make her feel a little better.
She hated that her hand was visibly trembling when she unscrewed the cork on the water bottle and forced herself to take a few sips.
“Well done, storm cloud”, Gomez encouraged her, but then he looked troubled. “Do you think there’s a risk you might throw up?”
Wednesday closed her eyes while she nodded, not wanting to see her father’s anxious reaction.
“Okay, okay…” her father stalled, thinking about what the next step would be. “Then you should lie back down and try to keep the medicine down as long as possible. We can wait an hour or two before you try to eat something.”
Wednesday slid back down under the covers and looked up at her father with the same, unreadable expression she always wore.
“What do you need, my love?” Gomez asked. “Is there anything I can get for you?”
What Wednesday would like was to feel like her normal self. She was humiliated enough, having needed to be helped by her father. She wouldn’t dream of asking for anything else, so she firmly shook her head no.
“Okay”, Gomez said, although not convinced that the girl would ask for something if she needed. “If you do need something, please call for me. I will be here in a second. In fact, I’ll have Thing stay with you, and you can send him to come get me or your mother any time.”
When he had left the room, Wednesday got a little time to herself (almost… Thing had taken position on her bedside table and was reading a French romance novel). She tried to enjoy the silence. After all, she used to thrive in this environment: a dark room, all to herself. But she sadly had to admit that these side effects were not enjoyable in any way. She couldn’t even focus long enough to make productive plans for her novel.
Thing was almost as unbearably concerned as her parents. He tried to ask her if he could get them for her, but she refused.
“No, I can’t stand them being around all the time”, she muttered. “This is another opportunity for them to micromanage me, and I won’t allow it.”
As an answer, Thing quickly spelled W-O-R-R-I-E-D to explain their behavior.
“It’s only because they’re so pathetically bound to their emotions that they allow themselves to crumble like this”, she sighed.
W-O-R-R-I-E-D, YOU? Thing pointed the question at her.
“Why would I be worried?” Wednesday asked in annoyance. “Everybody dies at some point. The possibility of death doesn’t scare me. My parents are weak for being worried about something so inevitable.”
They’d been instructed that, if she was feeling nauseous, it was better for her to have frequent smaller snacks than to try and eat full meals. So every hour or so, someone shoved a banana in her hand, or a small bowl of cereal and milk, or a quarter of a grilled cheese.
She did her best to eat as much of it as she could, knowing there’d be further humiliating consequences if she started losing too much weight. And though it wasn’t enjoyable, it actually did seem to work quite well.
Monday and Tuesday she also felt pretty bad, but on Wednesday, which was five days after her third treatment, she actually started feeling more like herself. The good news was also that her cough had gotten much better, which the whole family with great relief guessed was a sign that the tumor had shrunk considerably.
By the time another week had passed, she almost couldn’t feel any trace of side effects, which was good, because Enid was finally rid of her virus and was coming to visit.
The werewolf arrived Thursday night, having gotten permission from Principal Weems to have the Friday off of school so she could stay with the Addams family over three nights.
Wednesday had anticipated her arrival with such excitement that she couldn’t even pretend for a second that she didn’t want to hug her. The moment she stepped out of the black car, Wednesday threw her arms around her, and they embraced for a long time.
Having been away from her for multiple weeks, Wednesday was almost stunned by Enid’s habitual perkiness. The bubbly girl got a tour of the house, and she was amazed by everything she saw. Wednesday’s room was her favorite in the whole house, and they put sheets on a portable guest bed that Lurch brought out of a closet down the hall, so Enid had her own place to sleep in Wednesday’s room.
Wednesday hadn’t realized it until Enid arrived, but she’d actually been… nervous?... to hang out just the two of them like this. Truth was, this was the first time they spent any time together outside of school. During their regular school life, there were so many other things around to keep them busy. Sure, they shared a room, but they both had busy lives going on outside of it. It wasn’t like they actively decided to spend time together all the time. There were days where they might not speak much to each other at all. Sometimes Wednesday was writing and Enid was hanging out in Yoko’s room, or Enid was doing chores and Wednesday was at the beehives.
This weekend, Enid had come solely to spend time with Wednesday, and that thought did scare her quite a lot. This time, she was meant to be a host, and keep her guest entertained. And lord knew, that was definitely not her strong suit.
But she learned over the next few days that she didn’t have to worry about any of this. To her great surprise, spending time together proved to come very naturally. Later on, she wouldn’t even be able to recall what they’d been doing most of the time, as it was so effortless, but anything they did together brought her great joy and comfort.
Sometimes they talked about their common friends at school, sometimes they sat side by side reading books. Enid taught her to knit, and Wednesday was ashamed to admit how thoroughly she enjoyed this seemingly mundane hobby. Other times they went on walks around the area and either didn’t talk at all, or Enid asked her a thousand questions about her childhood and about the places they passed. It was special somehow, to see Enid here, in her world and her history, and to share a part of her that she’d never had a friend to show.
When Gomez walked by the kitchen window and spotted the girls out in the garden, he had to call Morticia over.
“Darling, I think you would like to see this”, he called into the other room.
Morticia was soon by his side, and followed his gaze towards the old swing set.
Wednesday and Enid were sitting on the two worn down swings that hung from the swing set. They were deep in conversation, Enid seemingly speaking a thousand words per minute with a smile on her face, and Wednesday listening intently, throwing in a sentence here and there.
“Oh, what I would give to know what they talk about for hours on end”, Morticia smiled.
She saw the conversation continue, and she couldn’t help but notice the way that Wednesday looked at her friend. Her gaze seemed to linger when Enid looked away and, though her expressions didn’t show many nuances, there was something new glinting in her eyes. Something that looked like awe.
“Do you think…” Gomez carefully picked his words. “That our little death trap might be… infatuated, with the werewolf?”
Morticia met his eyes and smiled.
“I’ve been thinking the same thing”, she admitted. “Enid is the best thing to ever happen to her. I really hope that her heart doesn’t get hurt. Teenage love can be painful.”
Notes:
Wednesday isn’t worried at all, is she? Well, I hope you brace yourselves, because coming up in the next chapter is a very big emotional shift for her… Are you ready for this?
Also: Wednesday enjoying to knit? Major head canon for me. She seems to be the type of person to get way sucked into new hobbies that she discovers, wanting to learn everything and really master the trade (how else is she so damn good at everything??), so I can picture her really clearly, hyper-focusing on a knitting project once she’s learned how it works. Especially because it’s something that she can share with Enid!
Chapter 8: Anxiety
Notes:
Good Saturday to most of you and Sunday, I guess, to anyone in the far east of this planet!
I'm starting this chapter off on a little lighter note, as I really wanted to give Wednesday a moment to just be the teenager that she actually is, before she's thrown back into her harsh reality...
Thank you as always for your support <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The weekend went by way too fast, and soon it was Sunday.
With three days to go until the start of her next cycle of treatment, Wednesday had to go in for a CT-scan to see how the cancer had responded to the first round. Despite all the fun she’d had with Enid as her guest, she was reminded that she could never really take a break from her illness. Since Enid wanted to spend as much time as possible with Wednesday she planned on going back to Nevermore later that evening, which meant that she got to come with Wednesday and Morticia to the appointment.
After a weekend that almost felt like normal, hanging out at Wednesday’s house, it was a shock to watch her friend in the hospital. She would be lying if she said that it didn’t scare her to see Wednesday in this environment, and it was painful know that this had become everyday life for her friend.
Wednesday was given the contrast liquid to drink. Like last time, she chugged the whole thing as she truly did find it enjoyable. The nurse happened to be the same one that she had shocked last time with this move, and his eyes widened again when he suddenly remembered her.
“Oh, it’s you again!” he said, chuckling this time. “I’m going to have to note this down in your file to make sure that we give you less waiting time before your scan. It’s important not to wait too short or too long after drinking the contrast. The timing has to be just right.”
They had to sit in a waiting room for the appropriate amount of time before Wednesday’s name was called and the three of them headed towards the examination room. They were greeted by a rather stern looking scan technologist, who looked like she was already past the age of retirement.
“As you know”, she said. “You’re allowed to have a parent in the room with you. Mom can come on in and your friend can wait in the hallway.”
Wednesday felt bad making her friend wait in a boring hospital corridor.
“I don’t want my mother to come”, she said. “I would like Enid to accompany me.”
“Absolutely not”, the lady answered, looking far from amused. “I know what you teenagers are like. It’ll completely ruin the scans.”
Morticia, seeing how much Wednesday wanted to spend time with Enid, and knowing how sad she was that she was leaving again, pitched in to try and get her daughter’s will through.
“You don’t know my daughter”, she said with an amused smile. “Wednesday is more serious than any adult I have ever met. She was 6 years old when she gave us her first smile. We thought it would never happen.”
She looked fondly at her daughter, loving the unique character that she was.
“The risk of her getting distracted by having a friend in the room is nonexistent.”
Just then the nurse from earlier, the one who was so impressed by Wednesday’s chugging skills, walked by and overheard the conversation.
“Come on, Susan”, he said. “She's the one I told you about! Toughest patient we’ve had. Let her friend come, what harm is it going to do?”
The technician, Susan, as she was apparently called, gave them all a death stare before she raised her hands aggressively in defeat.
“Fine”, she said. “But anything out of line and you will be kicked out immediately, understood?”
Enid, seemingly thrilled to have won this battle, nodded eagerly.
“Yes”, she said. “We’ll behave.”
She had to put on a radiation proof apron in order to be in the room, while Wednesday lay down on the table. Morticia got to follow Susan into the smaller, connected room from which the machine was operated, and she could see her daughter through the large window and hear her over the communication device that connected the two rooms.
Susan pushed a few buttons and the machine came to life. Then started the instructions that Wednesday had to follow.
“Start by putting your hands above your head”, Susan told her in her monotone voice.
As Wednesday stretched her arms up above her head, Enid couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the woman. She sounded about as much fun as a slug that was deep asleep.
“What a buzzkill”, she whispered to Wednesday, so that it wouldn’t be heard into the other room. “I’m imagining all the things I could call her on my blog.”
Wednesday had to suppress a chuckle, too, but couldn’t keep from smiling.
Meanwhile in the other room, Susan looked very unamused as a blurry scan image popped up on her screen.
“She’s not lying still”, she muttered to Morticia, giving her a look that said I told you so.
“Wednesday, lie still!” she then barked.
Wednesday collected herself, though still smiling and held her breath to allow Susan to take another picture.
“She sounds like my aunt Sylvie”, Enid whispered again. “Only, my aunt goes into full wolf mode anytime she’s annoyed. But maybe Susan, too, should try howling. I think it would really lift her spirits.”
Wednesday grimaced, trying desperately not to laugh. But she lost it completely when Enid let out the faintest “aooo”. The breath that she’d been holding came out in a fit of laughter, and the image once again turned out blurry.
“That’s it”, Susan growled.
She looked at Morticia with a glare.
“What did I tell you? This is why I never allow friends in the room. I’ve had it with teenagers and their shenanigans.”
But Morticia could not tear her eyes away from her daughter. It was the first time in her life that she heard Wednesday giggle, actually giggle! Part of her knew that they desperately needed to get these scans taken, but another part of her wanted to tell the woman: “please, let her laugh a little longer.”
“You need to get out of the room”, Susan said to Enid over the speaker.
And both girls laughed again while Enid returned to the hallway.
Unfortunately, Wednesday didn’t get to stay in her good mood for long. The morning after Enid had left, Morticia received a call from Dr. Sanderson, and the news was not what they had hoped for.
“The tumor has shrunk, but not as much as I would have liked it to”, Dr. Sanderson told her. “I still deem it too large for me to feel confident that the remainder of the chemotherapy treatments will remove every trace of it.”
Morticia felt like the entire world froze for a moment.
“So what do we do?” she asked, struggling to keep breathing calmly when all she wanted to do was cry. Wednesday’s chances were already far too low, they needed everything to go just right or she feared her daughter’s life might not be saved.
“I propose that we add radiation to this cycle as well”, Dr. Sanderson said. “If it’s effective enough we can proceed with the remaining cycles with the exact regimen we had planned.”
Because of this, Wednesday found herself back under the radiation beam Wednesday morning before her planned chemotherapy. She had yet to react to the news that everything was not going perfectly according to plan, because she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Anytime she started thinking about it (which was more often than she wished), she pushed the thoughts out of her head as she was approaching feelings that she didn’t know how to describe, nor express. All she knew was that she felt an unpleasant knot in her stomach.
Since she’d felt so bad after her last treatment, Dr. Sanderson had prescribed her an additional two types of anti-nausea medication, in hopes of keeping the side effects at bay. To her great relief, it actually seemed to help a lot, and the nausea was kept in check during all 3 days of treatment.
The symptoms that bothered her the most were caused by the radiation. Her throat was even more sore than last time. Furthermore, she developed a very painful rash on her chest, and had to use a second lotion continuously throughout the day, in addition to the one she was already prescribed to take morning and night for the duration of the radiation treatment. She had to dig through her entire wardrobe to find a shirt that was soft enough that it didn’t hurt her.
So it was safe to say that she hardly felt great where she was sat in her corner during the third day of chemo. She’d brought her knitting needles and was practicing a new pattern, when a loud bang was heard outside the glass doors of the infusion room. There was cheering and clapping and someone yelled “Yeah! Go Lilly!”
She recognized the same 5 year old she’d seen on her very first chemo get lifted off the ground by a man, probably her father. Both smiling big.
“What’s that noise?” she asked a nurse when she passed her chair.
“Oh, that’s our gong of celebration”, the nurse smiled. “When a patient has finished all of their treatments they get to ring it. You’ll get to ring it too once you’ve finished yours!”
Wednesday could not care less about ringing a stupid gong. But looking out on the smiling young girl, she did envy her. Wednesday wasn’t even halfway done with her treatments. She already felt like she’d been sick forever, and she didn’t know how she would endure another three and a half months of feeling like this. And that is, if the treatment worked...
That evening she received a text from Enid. There was a link in the message, and when she followed it she came to the site of a stargazing station where you could pay to look at stars and galaxies through a very large telescope. She’d always found them fascinating and wished to try one of them one day.
She went back to Enid’s message, which read:
This place is run by a friend of my family’s. I would love to take you there once you’re better, I’m sure I could get us entrance for free. Miss you lots, love Enid
The knot in her stomach grew larger at once. With a sudden force, she realized how much she really, really wanted to go on this stargazing trip with Enid. This was something she could look forward to, but in order for it to happen she had to still be here. She couldn’t be… What if…
No.
She had to stop her thoughts from wandering at once, although this time it took a massive effort to push them out of her head.
She eventually managed to fall asleep, but woke up again in the middle of the night by the persistent pain in her throat. She immediately felt that anxious knot again, and even though her body felt weak, she was too restless to stay in bed. Instead she stood up on shaky legs, and walked out into the corridor.
As it was in the middle of the night, she figured everyone would be sleeping. Wandering downstairs and to the other side of the large house, she stopped when she heard sounds from her parents' room.
Since the house was so large, she hadn’t heard it from her room, but now that she was getting closer she could hear their upset voices and was too intrigued to resist listening in closer. Her parents’ bedroom had a connecting walk-in closet that could be accessed both from inside their room and from a second door in the hallway. This second door is where she snuck in and hid in the dark, a crack in the door allowing her to observe her parents.
They were sitting on the edge of their bed, with a lantern on one of the bedside tables illuminating the room with a dim light. Morticia was doubled over, resting her face in her hands while her body was shaking with sobs. Gomez had tears running down his cheeks while he held his arm across her shoulders and gently caressed her.
“What are we going to do?” Morticia sobbed in desperation.
Gomez’s face twisted in pain and fresh tears spilled out. Morticia sat up and her face expressed such agony that Wednesday flinched a little where she sat. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged herself close, already regretting her decision to stalk her parents but unable to look away.
“I can’t lose her, Gomez!” Morticia cried, bringing a clutched hand to her chest and struggling to breathe as she let out a whimper. “It hurts too much, I’ll die if I lose her!”
Wednesday felt her own breathing quicken as she watched this exchange, that wasn’t meant for her eyes. She already knew her parents were worried about her, she’d understood that much from their constant hovering, which had done nothing but annoy her. She’d thought that they were weak for not being able to contain themselves, only to now discover that they actually were keeping up a strong facade for her sake. She hadn’t been able to even imagine how much they were holding back, and the extent of the pain that her illness was causing them.
The two parents pulled each other into a tight embrace, before they pulled back and looked into each other’s tear-filled eyes.
“She’s too young”, Morticia whispered. “I need more time… I need more memories with her.”
Wednesday held her breath in the dark, only a small sliver of light falling on her face from the crack in the door as her eyes stayed glued to the scene in front of her. Her heart was beating hard and fast.
“She has so much left to experience, she’s not ready yet!” Morticia cried.
And that’s when tears flooded Wednesday’s eyes, and a sob she hadn’t felt coming escaped from her without any warning. The painful knot of anxiety in her chest throbbed while she fought to breathe through it, trying not to make a sound to alert her parents that she was there. She hugged herself even closer, tears staining her pajamas.
“She should get to finish school and see how much more life has to offer”, Morticia continued. “She’s just started making friends, I want her to get to spend more time with them. And her and Pugsley are supposed to grow up together! How could we watch him turn into a grown man while always wondering what she would have looked like at the same age, or who she would have been? How could we go on to celebrate holidays without her?”
Her mother’s desperate words felt like sharp knives, and Wednesday continued to cry in silence. She finally realized that the things her mother was voicing were worrying her too. The fact of the matter was that she didn’t want to die, not yet. She didn’t want her family and her friends to go on living without her. It was becoming clear to her how much she feared for her own life, and the realization was absolutely terrifying.
Gomez held Morticia’s head in his hands.
“She’s still here, my love”, he tried to reassure her. “We have to keep hoping that we won’t lose her.”
“I know, I know”, Morticia whimpered. “I’m just so afraid.”
Noticing that her parents were shuffling to get back to bed, she quickly forced herself to get up from the floor and sneak back out the door. As fast as she could she hurried back to her own bed, where the emotions continued to course through her with such force that she felt lightheaded. Curling up on her side, she buried her face into the crook of her arm, struggling to find any comfort as her breathing kept coming in painful sobs until she finally fell into an exhausted sleep.
Notes:
There it is... Now someone needs to comfort this poor baby! Actually, someone should probably comfort the parents too... Man, are they going through some tough times.
The good news is that, now that she's hit an emotional rock bottom, she will actually have to seek comfort in someone next chapter... Who do you think it will be? (I've already written it, so this isn't me taking suggestions, but it would be fun to hear your guesses!)
As always, I'm not a doctor, so I'm obviously not sure this is the exact course of treatment that the doctor would choose after getting the results that Wednesday got from her scans, but I needed her to have a bit of a setback in order to fully start to deal with the tough emotions she's been holding back.
Another sidenote: This "end-of-chemo gong" is something that popped up on my instagram feed a really long time ago from some actual hospital's page. The memory reemerged when I started writing this story, and I just felt very inspired to have Wednesday be forced to grumpily take part in childish celebrations once she’s done with her treatments. Of course, she will secretly enjoy it because she’s just so happy not to be sick anymore! So stay tuned for that further ahead in the story.
Chapter 9: The effects of cycle 2
Notes:
Hello again! Yes yes, I know last chapter was quite heavy... Thank you guys for so many well expressed comments that give me inspiration to write this story <3
We probably have to talk about the hair loss. I know a lot of you have been wondering when she's gonna lose her hair, and that it's usually a big part of cancer stories. Maybe some of you won't agree with my vision here, but the way this story came to me, I just felt that Wednesday would actually find this one side effect kind of cool for a while? I mean, the Addamses whole thing is to enjoy things that most others don't. Wednesday is known to not care at all what other people think of her, which is why I feel that she might rock this in-between hairstyle. She will eventually get rid of it all, but this story will focus more on other things. I really hope I'm not being insensitive towards anyone that has been through an experience like this!
If you want an update on Uncle Fester: He is thoroughly enjoying the Albanian prison food, but I assure you he still misses Wednesday terribly
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Morticia and Gomez noticed a big change in their daughter from that day forward, though they would never know what had caused it. Early the following morning, they were surprised to see her enter the living room instead of hiding out in her room all day. She looked exhausted, with a blanket wrapped around herself and her hair tousled like a bird’s nest.
Her hair had been thinning since her treatments started, but the shedding had reached a new level now that the second cycle of treatment was upon her. There was no way she could braid it anymore. Partly because long strands of it came out any time she ran her fingers through it, but mostly because her scalp was sensitive and ached when she pulled on it.
She knew that people around her expected her to be sad about it, but the truth was that she actually loved it.
“I feel like a scarecrow”, she had explained to her father the other day. “I’ve always looked up to those magnificent creations.”
Ever since then, he had taken to using “little scarecrow” as his new term of endearment for her, realizing it was actually a perfectly fitting nickname for her. And, though she would never admit it, she did enjoy it, just a little bit.
This morning, she slowly made her way across the room where she curled up in a little ball between her parents on the couch. Surprised, they met each other’s eyes over her resting form before they greeted her.
“Good morning, love”, Morticia said with a smile.
All traces of the pain she’d expressed during the night were gone. But Wednesday knew now, and she could not go back to not knowing, how much her mother was hurting. She felt a level of respect for her that she’d never felt before. Her mother must have rather extraordinary emotional strength to be able to carry such harrowing emotions within her and still function throughout the day, all while constantly making sure that Wednesday’s needs were met.
Her father leaned down and pressed a kiss to her head, and she didn’t mind. Just like she wouldn’t forget their pain, she couldn’t forget her own, either. She had never felt lonelier than she had that night, and for the first time in her life she felt a need to be close to her family. Her anxiety was less consuming now that she was near them.
She was comfortable enough to fall back asleep for a moment, to the sound of her mother flipping through a book and her father humming some song. When she woke up it was by her father handing her two of her antinausea pills and some water.
“Bottom’s up”, he said as encouragement.
“Thank you”, she tried to tell him, but she realized she was so hoarse she barely had any voice left.
When she tried to swallow the medication down, her throat hurt so badly she immediately winced and tears came to her eyes by reflex.
“I’m sorry, love”, Morticia said. “I know it’s hard, but you need to try and swallow it.”
“I can’t”, Wednesday croaked and shook her head.
“Is it because of your throat?” Gomez asked, and received a nod in return. “Can you at least swallow some water?”
Wednesday tried, but it was like her esophagus was completely blocked. Any attempt at swallowing brought tears to her eyes. Her parents looked at each other in desperation.
“I’ll call the hospital”, Gomez quickly said and rushed out of the room.
Fumbling with the wall phone in the entrance hall, he wrote down the on-call number he had memorized. Since it was a Saturday he was worried that it would take long for someone to answer, but he was relieved when someone answered after only two signals.
“Welcome to Serenity Research, you’ve reached pediatric oncology, how can I help you?”
“Good morning”, Gomez answered. “I’m calling about my daughter, I’m not sure what to do.”
“Is she a patient here?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me, what’s going on with her?” The voice sounded kind.
“Her throat is so sore, she can’t even swallow water”, Gomez told her desperately. “She can’t take her medications… I think we need help.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. What treatment is she on?” she asked.
“She’s on Cisplatin and Etoposide, and she’s been having radiation simultaneously”, he explained. “She had the last treatment of her second cycle just yesterday.”
“In what area of the body has she had radiation?”
“The tumor is in her lung, close to her trachea”, Gomez said, and then added: “What should we do?”
“It’s good that you called”, the voice answered him. “If she’s had radiation that close to her esophagus, it very likely that it’s inflamed. Obviously, she needs to be able to get food, water and any important medications into her system, so I want you to bring her in as soon as possible and we’ll see what we can do to soothe her pain and help her stay hydrated.”
“Thank you!” Gomez said. “We’ll come by with her as soon as we can.”
Wednesday wasn’t thrilled to go back to the hospital so soon during her chemo break, but at the same time she was eager to get her throat to stop hurting, so she was quick to follow her mother out to the car and hop in (well, she wouldn’t exactly say “hop” as much as “drag herself”).
The doctor didn’t have to examine her for long before she had confirmed the problem that was already suspected.
“Thankfully, you don’t have an infection, but your esophagus is severely inflamed”, she said. “It’s no wonder it’s painful to swallow. I will prescribe you some good anti-inflammatories to start taking immediately.”
“Good”, Wednesday croaked out with her hoarse voice. “It’s just… how will I swallow them?”
“That’s a good question”, the doctor told her. “Because it may take a few days for your throat to get better, we have to find another way for food and water to get into your stomach. You’ll need to get a nasogastric feeding tube in the meantime.”
“A what?” Wednesday and Morticia both asked at the same time.
“It’s a small tube that is inserted through the nose and that goes all the way down to your stomach. Through it, you can get medications and food in liquid form. It will most likely be a great relief for you all to not have to worry about malnutrition.”
Morticia did like the sound of that, as one of the things she’d been most worried about this past month was how to get Wednesday to eat.
They were sent to another floor and had to wait almost an hour before it was their turn.
A doctor showed them the long tube, and explained the procedure to them. He then motioned for Wednesday to sit on a gurney. She complied and eyed the tube closely. The doctor first measured the tube against her chest and stomach to figure out how long it needed to be. Marking the right length with a marker, he then got ready to insert it. Next to Wednesday, her mother was looking nervous, so she opened up her hand for Morticia to grab. It was to comfort her mother, and nothing else, because it wasn’t like she needed comfort or anything.
“Normally, I would have you swallow water while I insert the tube”, the doctor explained. “but as you’re having problem swallowing we will have to try without. Your esophagus is quite swollen, so I apologize in advance if it turns out to be tricky.”
She leaned her head back a little, and then the doctor started pushing the tube into one of her nostrils. It was extremely uncomfortable, especially since it did turn out to be tricky. Once it had gone past the nose it seemed to coil and get stuck on multiple occasions, and each time, he had to pull it back up a little bit and try again.
Wednesday pushed back the urge to vomit. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut tight, and held on tightly to her mother’s hand, trying to focus on that sensation instead of the unpleasant one in her throat.
It felt like a really long time, but eventually the tube was in place. To make completely sure that it had, in fact, ended up in the right place, the doctor took out a smaller syringe, attached it to the tube and pulled. When a small amount of stomach fluid appeared (pretty cool, according to Wednesday), he was satisfied with the result and placed a skin colored sticker on her cheek to keep the tube in place.
Then, he gave them instructions on how to use it. The part that hung outside of her was about two feet long and hung behind her ear so that it wouldn’t get in the way. The end of it could connect to a type of syringe that didn’t have a needle, but a flat tip instead. There was a certain brand of nutritional formula that he recommended they buy to give her instead of meals while she couldn’t eat.
“Any medication in pill form can also be given by tube”, he told them. “I can show you right now with your anti-inflammatories.”
Morticia handed him the bottle that she’d picked up from the bottom floor pharmacy during their waiting time, and he took one out. He placed it in a small plastic cup and added 10 milliliters of water.
“As you can see, it dissolves in water”, he said. “To get it through the tube, I like to use the gravity method. For this, you have to hold it up at a certain angle, so it’s easier if someone does it for you or you might spill.”
He then instructed Morticia to try and finish the job.
“It’s really simple to learn, and it’s important that you know how to do it at home. Follow my instructions now, and we’ll get this medication into her system.”
Morticia grabbed the cup and the syringe and listened to his instruction. First she was meant to remove the plunger on the syringe and just keep the hollow barrel.
“So you just mix the pill into the water, just like that, yes...”, the doctor instructed her. “Then you attach the syringe to the end of the tube… hold it up… yes, like that... Now, you can just pour the contents of the cup into the empty syringe and it works like a funnel. The medicine goes right into the stomach. Very good!”
Wednesday watched with intrigue while the liquid went through.
“Now you can pour 15 milliliters of water to flush the medication down, that way we make sure that the whole thing goes in and nothing gets struck in the tube. Keep in mind that the higher up you hold the syringe, the faster gravity will make it go down into the stomach. If you’re having trouble with nausea and vomiting, you don’t want to go fast. In that case, lower it a little. That way the chances of the contents staying down are better.”
When they were confident that they had learned how it worked, they left the hospital with a bag filled with syringes, anti-inflammatories and nutritional formula. As soon as they got home, she was given both her anti-nausea medication, a pain killer and a meal through the tube. Though her throat was still throbbing painfully, it felt good to not have to worry of these things.
As if painful side effects wasn’t enough torture, her newfound fear of dying made cycle number two that much harder to deal with. The worst part was how lonely she felt. She actually longed to share her thoughts with someone, but she was never going to talk to anyone in her family. She knew that they were already anxious enough. Anytime she thought of saying something, she remembered how painfully her parents had cried when they didn’t know she was listening, and she didn’t want to cause them more pain than she was already doing.
Instead, she lie awake at night, unwelcome thoughts whirling around in her head without her being able to stop them.
Her anxiety reached an all-time high the night before her next scan. As two weeks had passed since her last treatment, her body was feeling okay. The soreness in her throat had gone down a lot, and though it was still hurting a little, at least she was able to eat her meals by mouth instead of by her tube. But they had been advised to keep the tube in because she’d already lost a quite a lot of weight since the start of treatment and more chemo was coming up soon. They would find out, of course, after the scan if she could go on with her treatment regimen or if they were going to have to try something different.
She could hardly believe how carefree she’d been during her last scan. She felt now, with her entire being, how much was at stake. She desperately wanted to keep living, and for that to happen these scans had to come out looking good. She was extremely anxious at the thought of things not looking good.
She suddenly wished Enid was there. She hadn’t told her how incredibly strongly she appreciated the emotional support that the werewolf was able to give her. That first night after her diagnosis, when Enid had allowed her to cry in their bedroom in Ophelia Hall… it meant more to her than she was able to express. Who knew that it could be worth something to have someone near you when you were sad?
Grabbing her phone, she considered calling her, but she’d never called Enid before. Enid had only called her. And besides, it was after midnight, she definitely couldn’t call and wake Enid up when she was sleeping.
Opening up the social media that Enid had forced her to download, she realized Enid had posted something 5 minutes ago. So that must mean she was awake? Before she could change her mind, she brought up Enid’s number and pressed the call button.
She answered before the first signal had even finished ringing. Wednesday could picture her in bed, scrolling through social media under the covers as she had witnessed her do so many times.
“Wednesday!” she managed to sound both surprised, happy and worried to see her friend call her in the middle of the night. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing”, Wednesday quickly said, suddenly not as confident to voice her worries as she’d been a second ago. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, you know… Staying up because I was supposed to study for a test tomorrow, but now I’m procrastinating studying and just making sure that I’ll be both tired and unprepared tomorrow…”
She paused a little.
“Can’t you sleep?” she asked.
Enid texted her every single day, demanding updates on how she was doing, so she already knew that Wednesday had her scans tomorrow. In fact, it was the main reason why she could not focus on her homework, instead worrying about what her friend would learn from the scans.
When Wednesday didn’t answer, Enid put matters into her own hands.
“You must be freaking out”, she said matter-of-factly. “About the scan.”
As usual, Enid was spot on, and Wednesday was relieved. Somehow, the werewolf always knew just what she needed, without Wednesday having to voice it herself.
“Yes”, she admitted. “I know it’s stupid…”
“Stop”, Enid interrupted her. “You’re a great friend, Wednesday. The best friend I’ve ever had. And you don’t deserve to have this happen to you. It’s unfair that you have to go through all this while the rest of us just get to enjoy our youth. The universe has done you an injustice, and the least you should get to demand is the right to be upset about it.”
When she worded it that way, Wednesday actually didn’t feel weak for having emotions (which was absolutely revolutionary, kudos to Enid!). She sighed and a couple of tears escaped.
“Thank you”, she whispered. “Can we talk a little longer?”
And Enid stayed up with her over the phone for almost an hour, talking about anything and everything that might take Wednesday’s mind off of the things that scared her.
But eventually, Wednesday felt bad for keeping her up.
“You should go to sleep now”, she told her. “You have that exam tomorrow. If you won’t be prepared, at least you should be rested.”
“Maybe”, Enid sighed. “But I need to know that you’ll be okay. I won’t be able to sleep if I think that you’re lying awake, scared and alone with no one by your side. Maybe you should get your parents?”
“No”, Wednesday answered firmly.
“They really care about you immensely, I’m sure they would do anything to help you feel better.”
“I’m sure they would”, Wednesday repeated dryly.
“So go wake them up!” Enid pleaded. “You’re not meant to carry something like this all on your own.”
“No, Enid”, Wednesday persisted. “They’re already beside themselves with worry. I don’t want to put my worries on them too.”
Enid sighed defeatedly. Wednesday really was becoming too selfless for her own good.
“Please, Wednesday, go get someone to be with you. I wish I could teleport over there and stay with you, but you know it would take too long for me to get there. I won’t get rest until I know you’re not all alone.”
Wednesday stayed silent, refusing to take Enid’s advice. But suddenly, she heard a sound that actually might help her. Through the wall that lead to Pugsley’s room she heard the bed creaking as if he was waking up, and quiet sobs started to echo.
She sat up a little. If Pugsley was upset, she could make it look like she was comforting him and not the other way around.
“Okay”, she agreed. “I’ll get my little brother.”
“Good, Wednesday!” Enid sounded thrilled. “Sleep tight, you know I wish you all the best luck tomorrow.”
“Good luck to you too”, Wednesday answered. “On your test.”
“No no, I don’t care about my stupid test”, Enid said. “Save all your good luck for yourself.”
Wednesday chuckled.
“Good night, Enid.”
“Good night, Wednesday.”
As soon as they’d hung up, Wednesday got out of bed and exited her room. Walking the few steps to Pugsley’s door, she knocked a couple of times to announce her arrival before she let herself in.
Pugsley, looking up from his pillow, immediately wiped his tears away when he saw her.
“Wednesday?” he sounded surprised to see her.
“What are these noises you’re making?” Wednesday demanded, her defense mechanisms making her sound more hostile than she was intending to.
“I’m sorry for waking you up”, Pugsley whimpered.
“Did you have a nightmare?” Wednesday asked, to which her brother nodded his head.
She stared him down for a second, before she firmly told him: “come”
She turned on her heel and walked back to the door. When she turned around and saw that he hadn’t moved, she pinned him under the gaze that had always scared him.
“Pugsley!”
His eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet, approaching her.
“Where are we going?” he asked in confusion.
Wednesday gave him her death stare once again.
“You’re already keeping me up with your wining. Come, so I can get some sleep.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him out into the hallway, all the way into her own room where she held her covers up in an invitation for him to get in. Her brother looked terrified, thinking his sister must have gone mad. But he would never dare to defy her, so he obediently slid into her bed. She placed the covers on him with great precision before she crawled over him and lay down on the other half of the bed, pulling the covers up to her own chin.
They were facing each other, looking into each other’s eyes, and Wednesday found herself finding great comfort in having him there. When thinking about the timeline of her life, she realized that he was the only person that would be by her side at every single stage. He had always been there for as long as she could remember and, like a persistent cockroach, he would still be in her life when she was a 130 year old oracle, as she had always imagined herself becoming if she happened to live that long.
“I hate seeing you sick”, Pugsley suddenly broke the silence. “I wish I could trade places with you.”
Wednesday’s eyes widened in horror at the idea, that was so dreadful she didn’t want to imagine it. If the alternative was to have to watch Pugsley go through all this, then she would gladly choose her current situation a million times over.
“Don’t say that!” she hissed at him.
“I’m sorry”, Pugsley quickly apologized. “But I love you Wednesday, you’re the best sister I could ever ask for.”
When he said this, a couple of fresh tears spilled over, and Wednesday’s expression softened. What she was going through was traumatic, yes, but Pugsley was also experiencing a trauma. A different one, one that she would never be fully able to relate to. And in this instance, she felt that she had drawn the lucky straw.
Hearing him confess his love to her warmed her normally icy heart, and she felt the sudden need to say something back to him. To let him know that she cared about him deeply too.
“I…” she started, but suddenly felt so awkward she couldn’t get any words out.
But instead of speaking she brought her hand up between them and did the hand sign that meant the same thing, I love you. They were well rehearsed in sign language, having grown up with Thing in the family.
Pugsley, having never received such kind words from his sister, lit up like the sun. And Wednesday couldn’t stop the hint of a smile that graced her lips.
They settled down and she closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she found him studying her. She felt both comforted and a little uneasy as he seemed to look right past her walls and see a part of her that she never showed to anyone.
“You were awake before I started crying, weren’t you?”
Wednesday’s little flinch of surprise was so subtle, he only noticed it because he had grown up with her and knew her so well.
“Don’t be mad!” he quickly added. “It’s okay that you were! Anyone would be worried in your situation.”
The emotions his words stirred in her made her blink twice, which he knew was a very clear sign that he had been right in his guess.
“Whatever happens…” Pugsley continued. “We can do it. I’ll help you. You’ll be okay.”
He nuzzled closer, leaning his head on her shoulder, and she released a long sigh as she felt a big load of stress and worry leave her body. She closed her eyes and knew that she was finally ready to doze off.
“Thank you, Pugsley”, she whispered.
Notes:
So I guess the answer to the question regarding who she will seek comfort in is practically all of the above... No but seriously, I think we're seeing her make a lot of progress here in multiple relationships. She might not be completely willing to confide in her parents about her hard feelings, but she knows in her heart that she needs them. And she's definitely able to be open with Enid! And daring to reach out to Pugsley was definitely a BIG stride! Aren't we so proud of her?
Oh, and feeding tubes is actually the one medical thing I have experience with from my job, so I thought I might as well include it...
As for what to expect in the next chapter: Scan results and more treatment, and as you can imagine, being right in the middle of a very tough battle can be quite exhausting.
Chapter 10: Exhaustion
Notes:
Hello everyone! Hope you've had a decent return to everyday life after all the holidays. I was going to update last night, but then Ao3 was down for multiple hours as some of you may have noticed... But I've been impatient to post another chapter so here it finally comes ^^
Thank you to everyone that's following <3 I hope you won't kill me for keeping the angst going
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Since Pugsley was easier to wake than Wednesday these days, Gomez went into his room first the following morning. There, he found an empty bed and wondered where his son had gone to. Checking the kitchen and the living room, he found no trace of him.
“Have you seen Pugsley?” he asked his wife when he ran into her. “He’s not in his room.”
Morticia was perplexed at this and they both started searching the house. They looked in every room, but still couldn’t find him. Finally, the only place they hadn’t looked was Wednesday’s room. Suddenly overcome with worry that she, too, would be gone, Morticia carefully slid the door open to look inside. The sight that met her was so sweet that it took her breath away.
She looked back down the hallway where her husband was coming, put a finger over her mouth to tell him to be quiet and then motioned for him to come. Together they peaked through the doorway to watch their kids, both of them, sleeping in the same bed, face to face in mirror positions, and breathing in unison.
Gomez was supposed to take Wednesday to the hospital in less than an hour, but they couldn’t bear to wake the kids up when they were sleeping so soundly like this. The parents backed back out into the hallway.
“Let’s give them ten more minutes”, Gomez whispered to which Morticia nodded in agreement.
Ten minutes later, Morticia went back in the room to gently shake her daughter awake.
“Good morning”, she smiled when Wednesday jerked awake, waking Pugsley in the process.
The mother knew better than to make any comment on their sleeping arrangement, but Wednesday looked mortified either way.
“Pugsley had a nightmare”, she explained, looking up with her regular, serious stare.
“Yes, of course”, Morticia nodded, with a hint of a smile.
Suddenly worried that her daughter had been up at night, she frowned a little.
“And you were sleeping great, otherwise? You’re not worried about your scan?”
Wednesday shook her head no, but Morticia was not convinced. She leaned in to kiss her head, then leaned over her to give Pugsley a kiss too.
“My loves”, she mumbled.
Wednesday held Enid’s rabbits foot tightly in her hand the whole car ride to the scan.
This time, she had absolutely no problem with keeping herself from laughing while she was in the machine. It was the last thing on her mind. At least the bitter scan technician, Susan, seemed happier than she had last time.
There were still three days until her treatment, before which she would have the opportunity to go through her scans in detail. But knowing that three days would be torturous to wait, Dr. Sanderson had promised to call them with the news when she had gone through the pictures.
They waited anxiously the whole Sunday, but didn’t get the call. Thankfully, the phone finally rang after lunch on Monday.
“Hello”, Morticia quickly answered the entrance wall phone.
Wednesday, having heard the signal, soon appeared by her mother’s side, watching her with wide eyes.
“Good morning, Morticia”, Dr. Sanderson said. “I’m guessing you’re anxious to find out how the treatment has been going.”
“Yes”, she answered, motioning for Wednesday to come closer. “Wednesday is here beside me, you can tell us both at the same time.”
Wednesday stepped closer and Morticia held the phone so that they could both hear.
“Oh, good”, Dr. Sanderson said. “Hello Wednesday, I hope you’re feeling well. I’ll get right to it: the scans look good, so I want you both to take a moment and allow yourselves to breathe. This is good news.”
Morticia drew a shaky breath.
“Thank you”, she whispered.
She put her arm around Wednesday and pulled her close to her, kissing her head and closing her eyes. She felt Wednesday lean into the embrace, her head resting over her mother’s heart.
“Does this mean there’s no cancer left?” she asked into the phone.
“Well, there still is a slight abnormality on the scan”, Dr. Sanderson said. “But we can’t know for sure if that’s because there are still cancer cells, or only because of scar tissue, which is expected to be left after shrinking a tumor of this size. That’s why we still need to do more rounds of chemo as maintenance. But the radiation really seems to have been effective, so I’m very satisfied with the results I’m seeing in these scans. I feel comfortable moving forward with the current treatment as we had planned.”
Feeling a little more hopeful again, she was back in the chemo chair on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday just like in the previous two cycles. It was nice to not have to go to a radiation appointment first, but she did, of course, have to spend quite a long time in the hospital even if she was just getting chemo. The three hours it took on Wednesday morning, when she had both Cisplatin and Etoposide, felt like an eternity.
Since her anti-nausea meds had worked so well last time, she’d figured she had mastered the act of not getting nauseous. She should have known she wouldn’t be so lucky. She’d been told from the start that you could never know with chemo, it would hit differently each time, but she was still surprised when she started feeling nauseous already in the car on the way home from the first of the three treatments.
Her family was once again thrown into the vast void of hopelessness that it meant to watch her like this and be unable to help.
During the ride back for the third treatment she felt as though the contents of her stomach were pressing all the way up in the back of her throat, and in the chemo chair later on it became unbearable.
“Blue bag…” was all she managed to say.
The infusion nurses kept blue vomit bags in stock in case they were needed. Her father was already holding one as a precaution, and he quickly passed it to her just in time for her to empty her stomach into it.
They spent the first couple of days trying every remedy to combat nausea. The parents found a certain brand of ginger candies that seemed to help her quite well. They’d also learned that sipping a cold drink would be helpful, but any time they tried to make her drink she straight up refused, and she wouldn’t tell them why. Even though she’d definitely made progress, they were incredibly frustrated with the fact that she didn’t communicate her needs to them.
It took them a long time of guessing and wondering before Gomez finally solved the mystery. While looking for clues in the long list of side effects that they’d been told to expect, he realized that they’d forgotten that Wednesday’s sense of taste was very likely to change. She wasn’t just refusing to drink because she was nauseous... Plain water probably tasted terrible to her, and the only other thing they had at home was orange juice, which also didn’t suit her taste at the moment.
Gomez scolded himself even more when he realized that Wednesday probably hadn’t had enough to drink in the days leading up to her treatment, which may very well be the reason she was more heavily affected by it this time.
Naturally, he proceeded to go out and buy virtually every flavored drink the store had to offer.
Back in the house he found her where she’d spent all afternoon, sitting on the floor in her room, with her back towards her bed, right next to the bucket they had placed by her bed if she got sick during the night. She was hugging a heating pad that Morticia had offered her earlier and leaning her forehead against her knees.
She hadn’t thrown up, but she wished that she could. At least it might do a little to relieve this unbearable feeling. She felt a desperate need to just crawl out of her own skin somehow.
Carrying 8 different drinks in hopes of finding one she could tolerate, Gomez crouched down next to her, unscrewed the cork on a cherry flavored juice, put a straw in the bottle and held it out for her.
“Try to drink a little”, he urged her.
Wanting nothing more than to be able to offer her comfort, but having no idea how to do it, his other hand hovered just above her shoulder for a moment before he pulled it back. She raised her head in order to eye the bottle with great suspicion before she reluctantly accepted it. The second the beverage touched her tongue she made a face of disgust and almost flinched as she handed the bottle back to her father.
“No”, she shook her head.
Gomez frowned but refused to give up.
“That’s okay, try another one!”
The apple juice that he passed her was another definite no, but when she tried the grape flavor, he was pleased to see that she didn’t immediately turn it down. Instead, she kept the straw in her mouth, taking a few more hesitant sips.
“You like that one, love?” he asked her.
Meeting his gaze a little sheepishly, she nodded, still sipping from the straw.
“That’s my little firecracker!” he said with triumph.
Yes, the treatment had been tough from the start, but up until now she’d at least felt somewhat normal. But by this cycle she was starting to feel so far from her usual self that she could hardly recognize herself.
While she was quite thrilled to look like a frightening scarecrow, she unfortunately had to accept the fact that she didn’t really scare anyone anymore. Her scarecrow hair actually had the opposite effect on people. In combination with her thin and fragile frame, pale cheeks, weak posture and the feeding tube still taped to her cheek, it all made people look at her like a hurt little animal that needed saving. Everywhere she went she was given either kind smiles or pitiful stares from strangers. Needless to say, it fit very badly with her image and it made her skin crawl. In a very bad way.
What was worse was that she couldn’t even see herself in the same way that she’d used to anymore. Physically, she barely had any strength left at all. She really missed a good old physical fight, but she doubted she could defend herself in any way right now. Besides, it’s not like anyone would pick a fight with a cancer patient. Even Pugsley, who was probably the person she’d had most feuds with, would barely touch her in fear that he might hurt her.
Once the most torturous post-chemo days had passed she’d expected to get to enjoy the “vacation” from chemo that she’d been promised. Instead, she developed very bad mouth sores that covered her entire mouth.
In addition: she had gotten progressively more tired every cycle of treatment, and her fatigue this time around was unmatched by anything she’d felt during her previous cycles. By 8.30 every night she could no longer keep her eyes open, and would fall into a deep sleep that lasted 12 hours.
The part of her that desperately wanted to keep some dignity was clawing in the air for something to hold on to, because taking care of herself like she’d always done was becoming harder and harder. She was trying not to let it get to her, she shouldn’t let herself get knocked down by such a stupid thing as a little pain and suffering. But it was getting really hard to endure.
The final straw came in two parts one evening. First, when she was trying to open one of her juice bottles, she realized that she just couldn’t do it, her grip was too weak. In the ultimate humiliation she had to pass the bottle over to Pugsley for him to open.
This got her so disheartened that a little later in the evening, when she was trying to brush her teeth through the excruciating pain of her mouth sores, she couldn’t stop the tears from coming. It was a combination of tears of pain, tears of exhaustion and tears of frustration.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Morticia asked when she walked by the open door to the bathroom and saw her daughter leaned over the sink with tears running down her cheeks.
“I can’t brush my teeth”, was all Wednesday could mutter through her tears.
It sounded like a pathetic reason to cry but, of course, her mother understood that it wasn’t just this that was causing her tears, it was everything.
“I can tell it must hurt very much”, she said and walked closer to take the brush out of her hand. “Let’s try something that hurts a little less, shall we?”
She then turned around to call down the hall.
“Gomez!” she yelled, her husband soon appearing, frowning when he saw his daughter’s slumped shoulders and tear filled cheeks.
“What can I do?” he asked.
Morticia held up Wednesday’s toothbrush.
“This toothbrush is way too hard for her mouth, darling”, she explained. “Do you think you could make it to the store in time to find her a softer one we can try? The softest one they have.”
“Of course!” Gomez agreed. “Anything for my little scarecrow. I’ll be right back!”
He hurried down the hall and left his wife and daughter in the bathroom. Morticia grabbed Wednesday’s shoulders and led her to the closed toilet seat where she made her sit down on top of the lid. The store was very close and she knew that Gomez would be back in 10 minutes if he hurried.
“It’s okay, love”, she murmured. “You have the right to be upset.”
Wednesday drew a couple of sharp breaths before her expression turned more sorrowful and a sob escaped.
“I don’t want to be sick anymore!” she whimpered.
Later, Morticia would look back on this moment and be thankful that Wednesday could be so open with her, the girl had had to change a lot in these past couple of months. But while living it, all she felt was heartbreak.
“I know, my sweet rain cloud”, she mumbled, knowing there were no words that would take away her daughter’s pain. All she could do was put her arms around her and soothingly rock her a little back and forth. They stayed like that while the girl let out her frustrations.
Not too long after, Gomez returned with a toothbrush still in its package. It was happy and colorful, everything Wednesday hated. The brush itself was very small compared to a regular toothbrush, and on the package it said: For babies and toddlers up to 24 months!
“Thank you”, Morticia said as she grabbed the toothbrush and gave Gomez a kiss on the lips.
He left again to give them space and Morticia unwrapped the little brush and put toothpaste on it.
“Open up”, she said softly and stood in front of Wednesday, where she was still sitting on top of the toilet seat.
Her daughter glared up at her with her large, brown eyes, cheeks still stained with tears, but then complied and opened her mouth, allowing her mother to cup her cheek to get a steady angle. This toothbrush was miles better than her old one, and despite all the colors she decided she loved it. Morticia made sure to brush really, really carefully but despite this, Wednesday flinched in pain a few times.
“I’m sorry, love”, the mother said when it happened. “Almost done… There you are, you can spit now.”
Wednesday got up on shaky legs and walked over to the sink to spit. The toothpaste foam was mixed with blood, but at least she’d been able to have all her teeth brushed, and she considered it a win.
Notes:
Don't we just want to hug her? It definitely isn't an easy road, but at least she has her family to carry her through it...
There was no Enid in this chapter, but she will be very present next chapter! I can promise a lot of complex emotions when she comes to visit to celebrate Wednesday’s 16th birthday mid-treatment. Who do you think will realize their feelings first?
Chapter 11: Birthday
Notes:
Good day everyone! Hope you are all doing good! Are you ready for a birthday party?
Maybe some of you noticed that I changed the story summary. That's because I wrote the first one in like two minutes in the middle of the night when I was sleep deprived, and I was never happy with it. Now, I'm not giving away her condition beforehand, so people get to guess at least for like half a chapter... But idk, summaries are hard lol. Honestly, if anyone of you who are into this story could think of a better summary, would you mind sharing it in the comments? Maybe I will use it if you allow me.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
This cycle was special as it included Wednesday’s 16th birthday. Considering how heavily affected she was from the side effects this time, they all knew that it wouldn’t exactly be the most fun birthday, but her family still thought it was important to celebrate. There was an unthinkable threat that none of them dared to talk about: that if they didn’t manage to get rid of the cancer, or if it came back, this could be Wednesday’s last birthday.
To make the day a little more special, they suggested that Enid should come over. Wednesday was reluctant at first, but in the end her longing to see her best friend won over her embarrassment to appear weak in front of her.
It was on a school day, and naturally Enid couldn’t just leave school any time she wanted. But Morticia called the Principal to explain the situation, and Larissa turned out to be more than willing to allow an exception.
“I can tell that Enid is very affected by all that’s going on with Wednesday”, she told Morticia. “I think it would be good for her to go see her again.”
And to everyone’s great joy, Enid showed up in the evening before the birthday. The two friends had seen each other over video call a couple of times, but this was the first time in about a month that they saw each other in person. Since then. Wednesday had gone through two more rounds of chemo, and it was clearly visible. Last time, she could have almost passed for healthy. This time, she looked very, very ill and Enid was ashamed to admit to herself that the sight scared her at first.
But when their arms wrapped around each other, it was as if nothing had changed at all. This was still her best friend in the whole world, and she was so excited to see her, no matter what shape she was in.
To her puzzlement, Wednesday was starting to realize that there was something more complicated with her feelings towards Enid. She’d known for a while now that she was very fond of the werewolf, and that she cared a lot for her. But there was something else that she was afraid to put her finger on.
When they got changed into pajamas that evening, Enid took off her t-shirt so that she was wearing only a bra to her colorful sweatpants as she was rooting through her bag. Wednesday found herself unable to look away. The way that Enid’s hair fell in sweet little locks, the way that she moved, her smile when she looked up and met her eyes… She’d never realized how strong her arms looked (but maybe that was just because Wednesday was now a frail ghost of her former self). Either way, Wednesday could only describe her as beautiful.
With dread, she looked down at her own body and realized what she looked like. Never in her life had she cared about if other people found her beautiful or not, but suddenly she felt incredibly insecure. Enid, as always, was a tornado of energy and radiating beauty. Wednesday, on the other hand, had barely any hair left and sores lining her lips, there was a scar on her chest where she had had her lymphadenectomy, a tube down her nose and both her bones and her port device were poking out of her skin. She hadn’t missed the way that Enid flinched when she first saw her. She could only imagine what the girl must see when she looked at her.
Knowing it would raise questions if she locked herself in the bathroom to get changed (they were roommates, after all, and had gotten changed in front of each other many times), she turned around instead and got changed as quickly as she could.
They weren’t able to spend much time together at all that first night, as Wednesday didn’t have the energy to stay up very long past her usual 8:30 bedtime.
“I’m sorry, I’m not very fun to be around right now”, she said apologetically.
Enid firmly put her hands on Wednesday’s shoulders and looked her in the eye.
“Wednesday”, she said. “I don’t care if you’re ‘fun’. You’re my best friend and I always want to be around you.”
She gave one of her radiant smiles before she, to Wednesday’s surprise, pressed a quick but affectionate kiss on her cheek. Wednesday was too stunned to speak, but she could feel her heartbeat quicken.
They sat on their separate beds and knitted for a while, until Wednesday got too tired, put her knitting down and was asleep within minutes. Enid looked over on her and could not tear her eyes away from her sleeping form.
She was different in many ways to when she had first gotten to know her. Sure, she looked physically different at the moment, but the biggest differences weren’t superficial. She was also sweeter, kinder, calmer and more thoughtful in every way. Seeing her sound asleep like this, she’d never looked cuter. Enid’s heart felt like it would burst from how much she cared for her. She wanted to wrap her up in her arms and protect her from everything bad in the world.
Morticia snuck in and woke Enid up first the following morning, that way she could take part in preparing Wednesday’s birthday breakfast.
They prepared a birthday cake in her favorite color, and put presents on the dining room table. Enid had brought one of her own, of course. When it all looked ready, Morticia sent Enid to get Wednesday.
As she was being shaken awake, she could feel that her stomach was upset. It still wasn’t all that stable after the latest treatment, that she’d had only a few days earlier. But looking up to see Enid’s radiating smile, she decided she must not under any circumstance ruin this birthday by letting it show.
“Happy birthday”, Enid exclaimed.
Wednesday squinted her eyes at her.
“Birthday? Yes. Happy? Never”, was her answer.
Enid looked at her for a second before she broke out in a fit of laughter. Seeing this, Wednesday couldn’t help but join in. Despite the nausea, maybe she was just a little bit happy after all…
Enid took her hand and tugged a little to make her get up. Wednesday moved slowly, not to upset her stomach further, and they made their way down to the dining room. There, she was met by a pile of presents, more presents than she had ever gotten for another birthday in her life, and a black birthday cake with 16 candles on top.
“Happy birthday, Wednesday”, Pugsley excitedly greeted her.
After her unusually soft behavior that night before her latest scan, he had let down a few walls when it came to her, and was starting to be more affectionate than he had ever dared to be before. This morning, he easily lifted her off the ground and spun her around a couple times before putting her down again.
He looked so excited, she wouldn’t have minded his affectionate attack, if it wasn’t for the fact that it almost made her throw up. He was yet another person she didn’t want to let down today, and she repeated a mantra in her head:
I won’t be sick, I won’t be sick, I won’t be sick…
Both her parents greeted her happy birthday too. Gomez was blinking, trying to conceal the fact that he was close to tears, but Wednesday could see through him. That’s why she took a small step closer to allow him to wrap his arms around her and press a long kiss to the top of her head.
They all sat down around the table, and with all eyes on her Wednesday had to keep up the act of the birthday girl. She needed to pick a gift to open first, and went for the rectangular box that was closest to her. It turned out to be a taxidermy kit from her parents. She also got ink for her typewriter, a Swiss army knife, a beaver scull made into a lantern (from Pugsley), 5 live black witch moth caterpillars to raise, snow shoes so she could realize her dream of travelling north and experiencing a polar night, a set of bagpipes and night vision binoculars amongst other things.
When she opened the present that was from Enid, the first genuine smile of that day graced her lips.
“It’s a snood!” Enid exclaimed. “And you want to know what the best part is? I have one too! We can wear them together.”
As soon as she was done with the presents, Gomez placed the cake in front of her and everybody waited with impatience for her to blow out the candles. She saw their eagerness, and thought of how devastated they would all be come this time next year if she wasn’t still around then. Though it felt cheesy, she couldn’t imagine wishing for anything other than her health as she blew the candles out.
One tiny bite at the time she forced the cake into her mouth. Her family had worked so hard to prepare all this for her, and she didn’t have the heart to tell them that the chocolate was too spicy for her messed up sense of taste, and that the frosting tasted like rotting garbage. The taste was so horrendous, it made her already upset stomach feel much worse.
“Sweetheart…”
Her mom’s voice made her look up.
“You don’t have to finish your cake if you’re feeling bad, love”, Morticia said gently. “We can save some for another day when you’re feeling better.”
She realized she had been exposed and let out a long breath of disappointment that she’d been holding. She looked down to not have to meet anyone’s gaze, stood up slowly and walked out of the room and down the hall. She sprinted the last few steps towards the bathroom, where she leaned over and threw the cake back up.
Wednesday was incredibly disappointed in herself. She had really thought that she’d be able to be more fun while Enid was visiting, and she felt terrible for being so far from her normal self.
Enid must regret coming, she thought, and the thought almost made her start crying.
Since her weight was still a problem and they needed to make sure she met her nutritional needs, her father had to feed her through her tube, which she wasn’t stoked for Enid to see.
She wordlessly lay down under a blanket on the couch, and Gomez connected the syringe with the tube in her nose before he slowly made the liquid go through and into her stomach. Enid sat on the other end of the couch, watching with worry written on her face.
“Is it always like this after every treatment?” she asked.
“More or less”, Gomez answered. “There’s always something.”
Silence followed, as Enid didn’t seem to know what to say.
“Well, this is festive”, Wednesday said dryly, feeling that she’d completely ruined the birthday party for everyone.
Gomez rubbed a few circles on her back.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t enjoy a regular party today”, he said. “We will celebrate you for real another day.”
Then he turned to Enid.
“Maybe you can fill Wednesday in on what’s going on at school?” he told her, hoping that it would lighten the atmosphere in the room.
“Okay…” Enid answered hesitantly, and soon she was deep into her many gossip stories.
Wednesday used to love listening to her talking about every little thing, but this time she could not find it in herself to enjoy it. The more Enid talked, the bigger a raging monster of jealousy grew inside her. Apparently Enid had befriended Bianca while Wednesday had been away, and they’d been doing lots of fun stuff together. The whole gang had gone swimming in the lake one weekend, Yoko had given everyone makeovers and another time Bianca had hosted a movie night in her dorm.
When Enid was at school, she was doing all these fun things together with other people, while Wednesday didn’t have anything to offer her. What good memories could she possibly have when she left the Addams house this afternoon?
Wednesday still had 3 cycles of treatment left (and that was the best case scenario). It would be enough time for them to drift apart and for Enid to replace her with friends that didn’t have to go to sleep before 9 in the evening.
Gomez left the teens alone when he was finished, leaving them both on the couch. Enid was still desperate to help Wednesday in some way.
“Can I get you something?” she asked carefully.
“No!” Wednesday’s answer was seething with anger. “Why are you still here?”
Enid was visibly taken aback by her words. She suddenly seemed unsure of herself, and Wednesday hated herself for making her feel that way. But it was like she wasn’t in control of herself. She had so much anger inside her, anger towards herself, anger towards her illness, anger towards Bianca Barclay who was getting to spend time with Enid… At the same time, she felt a crippling fear that Enid should one day not want to be around her anymore. The thought was so dreadful it made her a little lightheaded, and it almost made her want to push Enid away instantly, just so that she wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore.
Enid stood up, and Wednesday’s heart sped up with anxiety, thinking that she was about to say she was going back to Nevermore.
“I’ll be in your room”, Enid mumbled before she turned around and walked out the door.
Things hadn’t gone at all the way Wednesday had hoped, and with the afternoon approaching she was starting to feel horrified by the thought of leaving things so strained between her and her best friend.
But she didn’t know how she would set things right, this had never been something she was good at.
Finally, a soft thumping was heard as Thing sprinted across the living room floor and climbed up on the couch where she was still resting. He very determinedly pointed towards the doorway, in the direction that she would need to go in order to find Enid.
“No”, Wednesday grumbled.
Thing stomped angrily with his thumb and pointed again.
“No, I don’t know what to say to her”, Wednesday complained.
A-P-O-L-O-G-I-Z-E, Thing fingerspelled, and Wednesday swallowed down a nervous lump.
“What if she doesn’t want to talk to me?” she asked, but then let out an “OUUCH”, when Thing started pulling her towards the door.
“Fine, fine, I’ll do it!” she said, putting her feet on the ground and starting to move toward the stairs.
When she got to her bedroom door, she took a deep breath to collect herself before she slowly pushed it open. She was met by the sight of Enid sitting with her back towards her on the guest bed. It was easy to tell that she was crying, but when she heard the door creek, she inhaled quickly and brought her hands up to wipe away her tears before she turned around.
A feeling like a blunt knife to her stomach filled Wednesday, and had she had more emotional eloquence she would have recognized the feeling as remorse.
Thing caught up to her and impatiently tapped his fingers on the floor. Wednesday gathered herself.
“I was too harsh towards you before”, she admitted. “I made you cry. I’m… sorry.”
A couple of fresh tears spilled out of Enid’s eyes and she wiped them off before she stood up and walked towards Wednesday.
“That’s not why I’m crying”, she sighed.
Wednesday was puzzled.
“Then why are you crying?”, she asked.
“I’m crying because I don’t want to leave you again”, Enid said, holding back a sob. “I miss you too much.”
“But I was… unkind”, Wednesday continued.
“No, I get it”, Enid said with emphasis. “If I were you I would be livid that all my friends were out having fun while I was stuck at home feeling like rubbish. I shouldn’t have talked so much about all the things that you’re not able to partake in. The truth is, I’m not having any fun at all while you’re not there… I would much rather sit around doing nothing than go to a stupid lake, if it means I get to be with you.”
Wednesday didn’t know what to think. She knew Enid to always speak the truth, but how could she possibly mean what she’d just said?
“But… Why?” was all she could say.
“Because…” Enid took a step closer and reached out to cup both of Wednesday’s cheeks in her hands, holding her head like it was a very valuable piece of gold. “You’re special to me.”
Wednesday could feel her eyes widen a little, and her heart sped up to an incredible speed. It wouldn’t stop racing even after Enid had lowered her hands again.
“Haven’t you ever felt that way?” Enid asked.
Wednesday swallowed and shook her head no, even though it was dawning on her right then and there, that her feelings for Enid were very special.
“Well, I need you to believe me when I tell you how much you mean to me”, Enid said firmly. “You can tear yourself down all you want, but when you downplay my feelings it hurts me, okay? Don’t do that anymore, I won’t accept it!”
She almost sounded angry, and Wednesday wasn’t used to this: to Enid putting her foot down and standing up to her. She couldn’t do anything but agree.
“Okay”, she whispered.
This made Enid’s brilliant smile appear once again, and Wednesday’s heart did a somersault.
She really had it bad.
Notes:
Ooooooo, someone is catching feelingsssss!!
I wonder if Wednesday will ever have the courage to tell Enid about them? She will at least have a little heart to heart with Morticia about it in the next chapter
Chapter 12: Feelings
Notes:
Hello! I hope every one of you lovely people is having a wonderful weekend!
One of you asked about Uncle Fester after I posted the last chapter, and I'm sorry to tell you he is still in prison. If you’re wondering how things are going for him, he did unfortunately electrocute a guard and is currently being held in solitary. But despair not, he is plotting his escape! You can expect him a few chapters further ahead...
Alright now, let's get into it!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sadly, Enid had to go back to the academy, and Wednesday spent the following two weeks waiting impatiently for the side effects to subside. To get rid of her ulcers, she regularly rinsed her mouth with a mouthwash she'd been prescribed, and she was incredibly thankful when they finally stopped bothering her. Once she was feeling a bit better, she spent her time catching up on schoolwork (well, mostly thinking about Enid while pretending to study…).
The days that she was away from her dragged by, and it felt like eons of time had passed before she was finally back at the hospital for her next chemo appointment. Before the start of every cycle, she always had a meeting with her oncologist, Dr. Sanderson, to discuss how the treatment was progressing, and how she was doing.
Dr. Sanderson greeted them in the waiting room and showed them to her office. They were relieved to learn that the scans she’d had taken a few days prior still looked good.
“I can’t find any signs of cancer”, Dr. Sanderson told them with a smile. “The term we use for these results is ‘NED’, which stands for ‘no evidence of disease’. This is, of course, very promising.”
Wednesday understood that she still needed to get the remaining treatments done, as the risk of the cancer returning was very big otherwise. But after how terrible she’d felt after the previous treatments, a part of her (and a quite large one at that) wanted to just stop now and wing it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. She was stuck on this merry-go-round of pain without any way to get off it.
Before she was sent off to her treatment, the doctor made her stand on the scales. Since the feeding tube had been in her as long as it could without needing to be changed for a new one, it had to be pulled out of her. To her great relief, Dr. Sanderson deemed that her weight was back to an acceptable level and that she didn’t have to get a new tube as long as she managed to get enough nutrition on her own.
Back in the infusion area, she had gotten to know plenty of the nurses, most of which she despised. As for the patients, she was starting to recognize a lot of them quite well, too. She noticed some of them seemed to have befriended each other. She supposed that a life threatening illness was something more substantial to have in common than the same taste of music, or some other trivial thing that people usually bonded over. However, she did not feel drawn at all to rub shoulders with the other patients, and so she remained in her corner chair (apart from the few times it had been taken, which had annoyed her tremendously when it happened).
For this first treatment of the fourth cycle, she had brought the knitting project she was currently working on to have something to do, as this was a Cisplatin day which meant three hours hooked to an IV. The pattern she had found allowed her to knit a bat out of black yarn. It was fairly simple, and she’d already made three of them.
Morticia stayed by her side to be able to tend to her if she needed anything.
The mother was pleased to see Wednesday engaged in her new hobby, and the small smile that twitched on her lips every now and then left no doubt in her mind that her daughter was thinking about Enid.
Enid’s last visit had further convinced Morticia that Wednesday had feelings for her, and seeing how much Enid cared in return made her think that the feelings very well might be reciprocated. But seeing how Wednesday almost pushed the girl away made Morticia afraid that she might do something to ruin her own chances. She wanted desperately to find a way to talk to her about it all, but seeing as Wednesday would usually rather be skinned alive than talk about her feelings, she wasn’t sure how she should go about it.
She decided to use the knitting as an icebreaker.
“How nice of Enid to teach you how to knit”, she said.
Wednesday just hummed in return.
“You really like spending time with her, don’t you?” she continued.
Wednesday stayed silent, and Morticia cursed herself. No matter how she went about it, it wouldn’t be easy to bring something like this up with Wednesday.
“You know”, she said. “She’s such a sweet girl, I understand why you like her. It would not be weird at all if it turned out that you… that your feelings for her may be… If you would want to…”
Somehow, she couldn’t get the right words out, and by now Wednesday had stopped knitting to pin her under a stare. She looked as annoyed as Morticia had anticipated, but underneath the annoyance she could also spot something else. Wednesday seemed nervous.
“What are you talking about, mother?” she hissed.
Finally gathering the courage, Morticia managed to get out:
“When I see you with her, I can’t help but feel like you may be experiencing some feelings of the romantic kind.”
Wednesday’s eyes widened in horror.
“I do not wish to have this conversation!” she said firmly, before continuing with her knitting.
“I know it’s one of the scariest things to do, but there’s a chance you’d be very pleasantly surprised if you tell her how you feel.”
It was only because Morticia was her mother and she knew her so well that she noticed her shoulders slumping just a tiny bit.
“No thanks, I would rather rip my tongue out”, Wednesday muttered.
Morticia was very aware of the fact that Wednesday had not denied her claims. Feeling like she was making progress, Morticia wanted to help give her encouragement.
“I can tell she cares very deeply for you”, she said softly. “Would it really be so impossible to imagine that she might have feelings for you too?”
Wednesday’s hands had stopped knitting, but she was still looking down on the half-finished project, like she hadn’t noticed yet.
“I can’t imagine why she would”, she finally admitted.
It was heartbreaking to see her so unsure of herself, in a very uncharacteristic manner.
“Why couldn’t she?” Morticia continued to press. “You’ve been really good to her, you guys have fun together and you’ve really opened up to her. She knows how hard that is for you, and I’m sure it makes her feel very special.”
Wednesday let out a long breath, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“I just don’t exactly feel….”
She trailed off, and Morticia had a hard time guessing where she was going.
“You don’t feel what, love?”
The girl straightened her back and took a deep breath.
“I don’t exactly feel beautiful.”
Her sweet eyes met her mother’s for a second, but she quickly looked away. Morticia was shocked to learn what was really bothering her, and her heart sank, hearing those words. She never would have imagined Wednesday feeling troubled by something like this, and she was once again horrified by the reality her daughter was stuck in.
Wednesday’s posture was still stoic, as she desperately tried to seem unbothered. But her mother knew her little rain cloud inside and out, and she could tell from a mile away how disheartened she was feeling about this.
“Wednesday…” Morticia considered her words very carefully, wanting her point to get across. “I understand that what you’re going through right now is really tough. But I think that you already know this: you are so much more than this cancer chapter in your life. When it comes to finding a partner that you want to spend your life with, a relationship that’s going to last, the most important things are how you connect on an emotional and intellectual level. How you communicate and are open to each other’s needs. Looks are just superficial. When you care about someone, that kind of thing doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters!” Wednesday snapped, clearly angered. “She can’t just be blind to all this!”
She gestured towards herself.
“Not when she looks… when she’s so…”
Incredible, breathtaking, stunning. The unspoken words hung in the air.
“You’re right, love, I’m sorry”, Morticia quickly answered. “I don’t mean to downplay what you’re going through. What I mean is that we need to give Enid a chance, it’s not up to you to decide what she feels. She knew you before you were sick, and I’m sure she’d be hurt if she knew that you thought she couldn’t see past your illness. Do you think that your feelings for her would disappear if she ever got sick?”
Wednesday quickly shook her head no. She couldn’t deny that her mother did have a point.
“See?” her mother. “You should at least think about telling her.”
The thought caused a buzzing sensation in her entire body, both from terror (she couldn’t imagine anything more frightening) but somehow also from excitement. The idea of a possibility that something more-than-platonic could happen between them made something move inside her stomach, and she understood suddenly why people called it “butterflies in your stomach”. In her case they were probably dark and unappealing moths but, either way, they fluttered.
Despite this thrilling feeling, she spent the following days completely wiped out. She had thought that she was tired after the last round. Boy, had she been wrong. She hadn’t known tired until now, and the fatigue did not give way.
Wednesday wasn’t all that bothered at first. She had other things on her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about Enid, and the moment they had shared before she left. She couldn’t deny it any longer. Her whole being craved to be close to her, and she knew that it wasn’t just in a platonic way. The idea of not getting to be with her seemed unbearable, and she wasn’t sure what she would do if Enid didn’t feel the same way.
She was content spending her days in bed or on the couch, drifting in and out of sleep while pondering her relationship with Enid in between. But her parents were not as pleased with her lack of energy.
“You’ve only been awake for 2 hours today, my little moonlight”, her father voiced one afternoon. “I think we need to check your blood count, because I don’t think you’re meant to be this tired.”
“I’m fine”, Wednesday insisted. “We don’t need to make an extra trip to the hospital. I’m just lying here because I’m bored, I’m actually not tired, see?”
She stood up as a demonstration.
Though he wasn’t convinced, Gomez decided he would consult Morticia before he made any decisions. Wednesday, meanwhile, decided she would try to get her shit together so that she wouldn’t have to go in to the hospital. She knocked on Pugsley’s door, and when her brother opened he looked surprised to see her standing there.
“Come outside with me”, Wednesday demanded.
“What are we going to do?” he asked her cluelessly.
“Mother and father mistake my boredom for me being sick, I need to go for a walk to prove to them that I’m not”, she explained.
Pugsley looked dumbfounded for a second.
“But… you are.”
“You know what I mean”, Wednesday slapped him across the arm. “Fresh air and exercise is good for me. Now chop chop.”
She walked towards the front door to put her coat on, and Pugsley trailed after her.
“We’re going outside!” she yelled to her parents.
Gomez appeared in the doorway, scratching his head.
“Okay”, he said. “Just… Take it easy.”
He shot a pointed look towards Pugsley, knowing that he would be the reasonable one out of the two.
“We’ll come right back if we have to”, Pugsley assured him.
The two siblings started walking along a nature trail by their neighborhood. The pace they went at was incredibly slow. Wednesday could not find the energy anywhere within her to go faster, and Pugsley watched her closely, realizing she must have some ulterior motive to drag him outside like this.
When they started walking up a small hill, he noticed the very last bit of color leave her face and she swayed in an alarming way. His arms shot out to keep her steady, and with wide eyes he watched as she almost collapsed before she seemingly came to it again and tried to keep walking.
“No”, he said, glued to the ground, refusing to move forward when she tried to pull him along.
“Pugsley”, she said, giving him one of her threatening gazes, that he had always crumbled under.
“No!” he stood his ground this time.
He grabbed her arm instead and pulled her lightly in the other direction, back towards the house. She resisted for a few seconds before she angrily shrugged his hand off, but started moving towards the house as he had wished for.
When they got back inside, Gomez soon appeared in the doorway again, curious to see why they were back so soon.
“Did you have a nice walk?” he asked.
Pugsley shook his head, his expression telling the father everything he had to know.
40 minutes later, Wednesday was back at the hospital with her father, where a nurse accessed her port and drew a couple of vials of blood.
“You can go wait in the waiting area while I have this analyzed”, she told them.
Wednesday’s body felt a thousand times heavier than normal. There was no way to lie down and rest in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs, and she felt the last of her energy leave her. Was it even possible to be this tired?
When a doctor finally came and called her into a room, she dragged her feet across the floor and collapsed into the examination chair that he showed her.
“I’m Dr. Laurent”, the doctor said. “It’s good that you came in, Wednesday. Your blood test tells me you’re anemic, that’s why you’re so tired. The good news is that you don’t have to be this tired: we will give you a blood transfusion and you should feel a lot better once we’ve gotten your red blood cell count back up.”
“Thank you!” Gomez smiled. “That’s excellent news, right, my little viper?”
Wednesday, embarrassed by his excitement, kept her unamused death stare.
“However, I am more concerned about your white blood cell count”, Dr. Laurent continued with solemness. “It’s far too low, and right now we consider you neutropenic. I’m sure you’re already taking precautions, but you need to be extra careful right now and look out for signs of infection. It’s highly important that you follow your diet closely, and stay away from any situation where you may risk catching a virus.”
Gomez was not at all pleased to hear this.
“Isn’t there a way to get her some more white blood cells?” he asked
“Well, there are a few things we need to do”, the doctor explained. “First of all, because her numbers are so low, I can’t let her go through with her next treatment on the scheduled day. Her body will need more time to recover, and the treatment will need to be postponed.”
“Won’t that lower her chances of getting well?” Gomez frowned.
“A few extra days this one time should not impact the overall success of the treatment”, Dr. Laurent reassured them. “But since we don’t want it to happen again, I will inform Dr. Sanderson that your chemo dosage needs to be adjusted a little next treatment and forward. I will also prescribe you a Neulasta shot, also known as a growth factor. It’s an injection that will boost your body’s production of white blood cells. You should inject it a couple of days after each of your remaining two cycles, to make sure that your immune system doesn’t get too suppressed.”
Gomez nodded and tried not to let worry consume him, but he could not ignore the fact that it sounded very worrisome that his daughter was too sick to have chemo.
As they had gotten all the necessary information, the doctor brought out a clear bag filled with blood, hooked it up on a pole by the chair Wednesday was sitting in and connected it to her port. She had to admit it was pretty cool, knowing someone else’s blood was entering her veins. By the time she walked back out the main entrance she already felt a lot better.
Notes:
Wednesday actually opening up about her feelings?! Can I hear an amen??
The credit probably goes to her family, who have really been her rocks during this time and showed her over and over that she can lean on them. Even Pugsley was really strong in this one I feel, looking out for her like she always has for him! I imagine he must have been terrified, seeing what he just saw 😥
What’s in store for next time, you ask? Are there any chemo complications left to tick off? The answer is yes. Yes there is. Maybe you can already tell where this is going…
Chapter 13: Fever
Notes:
Howdyy people! You are being so lovely with your comments and kudos <3
I'm kinda sad we're already approaching the end of this story, but you may notice that the final chapter count has grown by one. That's because I went a little nuts and ended up writing a christmas chapter that came out of nowhere that I'm saving for later...
I think you've probably anticipated this title to come at some point. Good thing she's well taken care of.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
With a little more energy back, Wednesday decided it was finally time to shave off the last of her hair, after putting it off for months. She had thought that it would eventually all fall out in clumps, leaving her scalp completely bare. But it turned out that it just kept thinning out more and more with every treatment, leaving her with something resembling a thin black veil over her head. While she had found certain pleasure in her ever thinning hairstyle, she was now so fed up with everything relating to her illness, and the hair situation was yet another sign of it.
But making the decision was still bittersweet. It wasn’t that she felt she would miss the hair… The strands she had left looked so different that they hardly reminded her of a time that she’d been healthy. What bothered her was knowing that her body couldn’t grow any more of it while she was undergoing treatment. Just like it was failing her in virtually every other aspect.
Her father seemed to get emotional when she asked him to do it, although he was simultaneously proud that she’d given him such an important mission.
He made her sit on a stool in the bathroom (standing up for longer than a couple of minutes so soon after chemo was usually not working for her) and he brought out an electric razor. Standing behind her, he met her eyes in the mirror.
“Go on!” Wednesday told him when he hesitated. “Are you afraid I will be hideous?”
“You would look magnificent in any hairstyle”, Gomez smiled at her.
“I agree, but I have enjoyed this one. We’ve always said I look half-dead, so it's particularly fitting”, Wednesday tried to joke.
But Gomez’s smile disappeared at once and a lump formed in his throat.
“Please, my storm cloud, don’t use that word”, he said in a serious tone. “I can’t bear to think of you in that way right now.”
Wednesday met his troubled eyes for a second before she looked down.
“I’m sorry”, she mumbled.
He put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them affectionally.
“Let’s do this, love”, he said, and started working.
When he was done, she stood up and observed herself in the mirror. It wasn’t just the hair on her head that was gone, her eyelashes had already fallen off weeks ago. The sight was different, but didn’t evoke any especially bad feelings in her.
“Can I still call you my little scarecrow?” Gomez asked her.
“You don’t usually take my wishes into consideration when it comes to nicknames”, she answered dryly, by which she meant that she actually quite enjoyed the name.
Gomez opened up his arms, and she stepped into them, allowing him to hold her for a moment while cupping the back of her newly shaved head with his hand.
A little later on, a video call from Enid came through. When the werewolf saw her new hairdo, she broke out into a smile and said:
“You look really, really cute!” with emphasis. “I love it!”
This caused Wednesday’s heart to do yet another somersault, and she hoped that her roommate couldn’t see her cheeks redden slightly over the video. She thought back to her conversation with her mother, and tried to look for signs that Enid might want to take their relationship a step further. What did she mean by cute?
Would she dare to ask her? No, not yet. She would need to gather up a lot more courage before then.
Ever since finding out that Wednesday’s immune system was especially low this cycle and that they needed to watch her extra carefully, Morticia and Gomez had taken their hovering to a new level. Throughout her entire treatment, Wednesday had had to check her temperature twice a day as a precaution. But twice a day had not been enough for her parents these past few days, and it seemed to her that they wanted to shove a thermometer in her mouth every five seconds.
Wednesday knew that an infection could be dangerous, but since she hadn’t had any infections since she started treatment, she didn’t feel worried about it. She didn’t think it would actually happen.
That is, until it did.
A few days after her blood transfusion, she woke up in the middle of the night, shivering more than she had after any other treatment. Sure, she would usually tremble when the nausea was especially bad, but this felt different. Her neck and back ached uncomfortably, and her whole body was telling her something was wrong.
She stayed still (well, as still as she could) for another long moment before she realized that she needed to check her temperature. Since she’d had to keep track very regularly this cycle, there was a thermometer on her bedside table that she’d been using.
When she pulled her arm out from under her thick covers to reach out for the thermometer, the air in her room felt so cold it was like painful needles on her skin. It caused her body to shiver even more, and she could barely get a grip on the thermometer.
She placed it in her mouth and pressed the button. A moment later, the machine made an angry beeping sound. When she read the display, her eyes widened. 104.8. This was not good. Not good at all.
She didn’t know what she would do, though. The time read 01:14 at night. Everyone in her family was surely sleeping. She hated the idea of waking them up. It would make everyone freak out, and ruin their chances of a good night’s sleep. Besides, it felt awkward to go to her parents for help. That was something that 4-year-olds did when they had a nightmare. Wednesday hadn’t ever sought out her parents at night, and she wasn’t used to having to ask them for help.
No, she decided she would ride it out until morning, and they could solve the problem then.
Pulling the covers further up to try and stay warm, she tried to get some more rest. But there was nothing relaxing about it, her entire body ached and the shivering was torturous.
It can wait until morning, she tried to convince herself.
But then her thoughts started wandering. She’d been told so many times by now that a fever was dangerous for her, but she realized now that she hadn't actually paid enough attention to remember what might happen to her if she got one. Exactly how dangerous was it? They said she needed to contact the hospital immediately, but what would happen if she didn’t? Would she actually make it until morning? Was there a risk she might die right here in her bed?
Her breathing turned a little panicked. The thought scared her tremendously, and she realized she couldn’t stay here. She had to get help.
With the thermometer still in her hand, she quickly threw her covers back and sat up with her legs over the edge of the bed, exposing her skin to the icy cold air. The movement made her so dizzy she had to lean over to rest her head in her hands for a moment. Then, she stood up on shaky legs. She was surprised they were able to carry her, as she wobbled out into the hallway, her head pounding with every step.
She got to the staircase and was scared of falling down it, so she sat down and shuffled down to the bottom just to be sure.
She reached her parents’ bedroom door, where she knocked lightly, but her knock didn’t seem to wake them up. Now that she'd managed to make herself anxious, these extra seconds caused her fear to worsen and she started knocking more urgently.
“Mom… dad!”, she called out, failing so sound as calm as she would have liked.
Finally, she heard shuffling and the door opened to show her mother, still half asleep.
Morticia seemed to wake up properly the second she saw her. Having never had Wednesday wake her up for anything, she knew something must be very wrong.
“What’s wrong?” she breathed.
“I have a fever”, Wednesday mumbled, her face almost as blank as usual. But the way her gaze flickered let her mother know she was distraught.
She was pale as a ghost, without any hair left, and Morticia was hit for the millionth time by the painful realization of how sick her child looked. She was sure that she would never get used to it.
She immediately placed one hand on the back of her daughter’s neck and the other one on her forehead. The heat radiating off of her shocked her. Forcing herself to breathe calmly, she tried to stay composed for Wednesday’s sake. She took the thermometer out of her hand and read the most recently measured temperature.
“Oh my god”, she let out, failing to keep her panic completely hidden. “Gomez, have Lurch get the car ready immediately. Her temperature is almost 105.”
While Gomez rushed out of the bedroom, Morticia looked back up, realizing that Wednesday looked scared. She quickly tried to reassure her (and herself, as well).
“It’s okay, love”, she murmured. “You’ll be okay. The hospital will know what to do. Come sit down in the meantime.”
She placed her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and led her towards the bed, letting her sit down on the edge.
“Thank you for coming to get us”, she said.
She knew that it couldn’t have been easy for Wednesday to come knock on their door.
Wednesday just nodded to acknowledge her comment, her eyes closed. Morticia noticed clearly now how much she was shivering.
Luckily, Gomez came back only moments later, carrying Wednesday’s coat and shoes.
“I’ll go with her!” Morticia quickly volunteered.
She knew that they should decide together, like they always did. And she knew that Gomez probably wanted to come as well. But leaving Wednesday’s side in this moment felt impossible, she just couldn’t do it.
To her relief, Gomez nodded, allowing her to be the one to go.
“We’re allowed to give her Tylenol to get the fever down a little”, he said, and while he made Wednesday swallow down a pill, Morticia got dressed and packed everything they might need.
As she attempted to get up, Wednesday once again looked lightheaded, and Gomez had to help her put on her coat. When she looked ready to go, Morticia turned around in front of her and crouched down a little with her back turned towards her.
“Hop up, my little moonlight”, she told her, motioning for Wednesday to get a piggyback ride.
The old Wednesday would have protested, but this new version of her had been through so much, she didn’t have any strength left and gladly accepted. She put her arms around her mother’s neck, and Morticia grabbed her legs and hoisted her up. She started walking towards the car, carrying the most valuable thing she had. Wednesday leaned her head in the crook of her neck, and Morticia could feel that she was impossibly warm.
Lurch, having been alerted of the situation by Gomez, was already waiting by the car.
Morticia put Wednesday down so she could help her get in the backseat. She had to help her buckle her seatbelt, her own hands trembling almost as bad as Wednesday’s, but from fear. Then, the car started moving towards the hospital.
“Please, go faster, Lurch”, Morticia breathed multiple times.
When they got to the emergency room, and the staff found out that she was a chemo patient running a fever that high, it was obvious they considered it very urgent. They didn’t have to wait for long before Wednesday had been taken to an examination room where she immediately had her bloodwork done to find out the exact pathogen causing her fever, allowing them to find the most effective treatment plan of a variety of antibiotics.
“You’ll need to be admitted”, a doctor explained. “If you wait here a moment, I will get a room assigned to you with a proper bed so you can get rest. We have extra beds to allow a parent to stay in the same room when it comes to our pediatric patients, so your mom can stay too.”
Wednesday was shocked by the immense relief she felt, hearing that her mother could stay with her. She had no idea when it had happened, because she used to want nothing to do with her family, and she used to revel in being alone. But she’d started getting used to her parents being there for her, and now that she thought about it, it was becoming clear to her that it would have been absolutely horrible to go through this illness without them. She wasn’t sure how she would have survived it.
To think that she had wanted to stay at the academy and have her treatments there… Who would she have woken up in the middle of the night if she got a fever? She wouldn’t dream of putting it all on Enid. Besides, Enid couldn’t drive, so how would she have gotten to the hospital?
And not just in the case of emergencies like this… How could she have sat in a chemo chair for hours on end, without them by her side? Even though they annoyed her, she realized that they were constantly helping her in a seamless way. Without her even asking they got her lollipops when she was nauseous and blankets when she was cold and juice when she was thirsty… It made it all a little easier to carry.
And in her worst moments, when she was completely drained and had no energy left, she knew she could let go of any responsibilities and trust them to keep her alive. They would make sure she got all important medications at the right time, that she got to her appointments on time. They would keep track of her temperature for her, and make sure there was food and water in her system. Without them she would have given up long ago.
By the time she was assigned a patient’s room to stay in, the Tylenol she took at home had thankfully taken effect and she’d stopped shivering. She had a soft bed to rest in, and she was starting to feel really sleepy. A nurse hooked her up to an IV of fluids so that she would stay hydrated and hopefully fight off the infection faster.
Standing back to let the nurse work, Morticia anxiously watched, unable to stand still. Her heartbeat seemed to have forgotten how to calm down, and had been racing ever since she found Wednesday at her door. If these antibiotics didn’t get the infection under control in time, there was a risk she would go into septic shock which, in turn, could kill her. It had never been clearer to her than now, how thin a line between life and death that her daughter was balancing on.
Before the nurse left, the mother had to take a moment to compose herself. Pretending that she had to use the restroom, she walked out into the hospital corridor, out of Wednesday’s sight and leaned back against a wall. She pressed the palms of her hands hard against her eyes, taking a few uneven breaths while using all her willpower to force herself to stay calm and not start crying.
When she felt she had her emotions under control, she let out a long breath, straightened her back and counted to 10 before she walked back into the room as the nurse wished them good night and left. She immediately approached her daughter, already resting in bed, and cupped her cheek.
“That was quite frightening, wasn’t it?” she said.
Wednesday reached her hand up, and for a moment Morticia thought that she was about to push her away, but instead, she grabbed onto her hand and squeezed a little. Morticia read her expression closely. The girl looked a little embarrassed, and wouldn’t look her in the eye, but at the same time she seemed unwilling to let go of her hand. So Morticia carefully lay down next to her. As soon as she did, Wednesday draped her arm across her mother’s midriff, holding on tightly, her head nuzzled against her. Morticia’s heart soared, and she quickly enveloped her daughter in her arms, holding her close while rubbing her back in a soothing way.
She couldn’t remember a time they had ever had a cuddle like this, even when Wednesday was small. She thanked any higher power that might be listening that the girl was allowing herself to be comforted.
When her daughter’s breathing calmed, letting her know that she had fallen asleep curled up in her arms, Morticia somehow felt calmer than she had ever since the diagnosis.
Notes:
Yesss Wednesday DO be needing a hug, big time, and her momma delivers! Good on both of them, Wednesday definitely scared her parents half to death in this one.
Also, a surprise head shaving! It was definitely about time, and I believe she's quite happy to hear Enid likes it ^^
How would I describe the next chapter? I guess it's sort of like the restless wait to finally get better, and Wednesday just being fed up with everything. But Enid comes back for another visit!
Chapter 14: Slump
Notes:
Hellooo, hope everyone of you lovely people has had a nice weekend!
Before we dive into Wednesday's continued battle, I'll have you know Uncle Fester is still desperately trying to find a way out of prison. His latest shenanigans include befriending a weird looking but kind of sympathetic arsonist. Let's hope he's an asset!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Wednesday had to stay three nights at the hospital, monitored closely while receiving antibiotics to combat the infection. Her body absolutely exhausted from the ordeal it had been through, she spent the time remaining until her next treatment sleeping almost non-stop.
Even though she got a few extra days to recover, it barely felt like she’d had the time to breathe after her last cycle, when it was time to go in for her first treatment of the fifth cycle.
Morticia was coming with her once again, and they were sitting side by side in the backseat of the car while Lurch drove them to the hospital.
Up until now, Wednesday had done everything that was asked of her. Before cancer she hadn’t let anyone else control her in any way. Now, she had let herself get passed around from doctor to doctor, she’d been cut open, poked with needles and injected with poison on the regular, not complaining once (well, barely, at least).
But as she was sitting there in the car, the by now very familiar route passing by outside the window, she felt an anxiety so strong she could barely breathe surge up inside her, and it got stronger the closer they got to the hospital.
The side effects she’d experienced over the past few months were worse than anything she could have imagined. And it seemed she could never know what to expect. Every cycle there was a new and painful surprise.
By now she’d finished 4 out of 6 cycles, so she knew that she’d already left most of the suffering behind her. But two whole cycles was still a lot left. It meant 6 more weeks of feeling like this, and she didn’t know how she would be able to endure it. She felt it with her entire being: she did not want to go back in that chemo chair.
By the time they reached the hospital, she was afraid she might start crying any second. She slowly got out of the car, her body protesting and telling her to run the other direction. Her mother closed the door and started walking a few steps towards the entrance, but Wednesday’s feet stayed glued to the ground in front of the tall, unpleasant building towering over her.
When Morticia noticed that she wasn’t moving, she turned back with a puzzled expression on her face.
“Come one, my little viper, we have to go inside”, she told her.
Wednesday didn’t answer, her breathing quickening as the panic worsened. She was starting to feel dizzy.
“It’ll be alright love”, Morticia said gently, seeing how upset her youngster was. “I understand why you’re fed up with all this, but you know we have to go in there. You only have two cycles left now!”
“I don’t want to”, Wednesday finally managed to say, her words sounded labored, her voice thicker than usual.
Morticia could tell her entire body was tense, and written on her face was fear, stronger than the mother had ever seen expressed by her daughter.
“Please, mom… I don’t want to!” the girl said again.
Tears spilled over now and her stance was rigid while she fought to breathe evenly. Morticia felt like the worst mother in the world. How could she force her child to go in there and get pumped full of poison that would make her feel awful, when she was clearly terrified? But on the other hand, what kind of mother would she be if she didn’t? Not forcing her to go to her treatment might mean giving her a death sentence.
“I know, sweetheart”, Morticia tried to calm her down. “Just breathe for a second.”
Large brown eyes stared off into the distance, refusing to meet her mother’s gaze as she drew shallow and uneven breaths.
“You are going to be okay”, her mother kept trying. “You’ve practiced for this your entire life. Remember when you got the ‘7 banned pesticides kit’ for Christmas when you were 6? You couldn’t wait to try them on yourself and you enjoyed every one of them immensely.”
She waited in silence as the girl kept on breathing shakily for a full minute, trying to calm herself down. Wednesday closed her eyes, making a few more tears run down her cheeks.
“The chlordecone was magnificently torturous”, she then mumbled.
“Yes”, Morticia smiled. “I can’t imagine how uncomfortable this treatment is for you, but you’ve always endured uncomfortable things. You were only a couple of weeks old when you started preferring to sleep in Uncle Fester’s rusty metal collection rather than in my arms.”
Wednesday’s worried eyes met hers for a second as she kept trying to get her emotions under control, before she looked away again. They stayed in silence for a long moment, Morticia giving her space to let these emotions out without drowning in them. After a while Wednesday seemed calmer, but still wasn’t moving, so Morticia gently took her hand, and was relieved when Wednesday didn’t protest when she led her into the building.
Soon after, Wednesday was back in her preferred corner of the infusion area. As soon as the nurse setting up her IV had left, a few more silent tears ran down her cheeks. The teen quickly wiped them off and looked out through the window, but they didn’t go unnoticed by her mother.
Morticia was overcome by a bottomless exhaustion. She’d watched her daughter suffer for so long, she didn’t understand how she’d made it through these past months. A big part of her just wanted to sink into a deep sleep until this was all over.
Sure, Wednesday was the one who was sick, but her illness was greatly impacting the entire family. Morticia could not remember the last time she’d slept through the whole night. She woke up multiple times every night in panic, and every time, she had to go check on Wednesday. She would open a crack in the door and listen intently to make sure she was breathing. Sometimes she would be stuck there for a long time, eyes closed, leaning her forehead against the doorpost, just listening to the soft sound of her daughter’s breathing. It was the only thing that could give her any peace after the horrendous nightmares that haunted her.
Enid called the Addams’s landline that evening and Gomez picked up.
“Hi”, she greeted. “How’s Wednesday, why hasn’t she been answering my calls?”
“She hasn’t?” Gomez asked. “She’s a little down at the moment, that must be why.”
“Is she feeling really bad after her treatment?” Enid asked worriedly.
“No, it’s mostly on the emotional plane”, Gomez explained.
This did not make Enid feel reassured. The idea of Wednesday suffering emotionally was even worse than her suffering from side effects.
“I’ll come”, she said quickly.
“Are you sure?” Gomez asked. “It’s in the middle of the school week.”
“Of course, I can meet you at the hospital tomorrow morning.”
The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she had to be there. She missed Wednesday so much it hurt.
The following morning, Gomez woke Wednesday up for her second treatment of the cycle. Just like the previous morning, she seemed very reluctant to go to the hospital. When he asked her to get up, she turned her back towards him and sulked, but at least this morning, Gomez had an ace up his sleeve.
“I think you’ll want to come along this time, my little scarecrow”, he said. “Enid is meeting us at the hospital.”
Wednesday quickly spun back around, looking at him with a mix of emotions written on her face. Seeing as she’d spent most of her life only using one single facial expression, it was quite remarkable that one werewolf could bring out this many emotions in her. She seemed both excited, nervous, surprised, scared, and possibly a little embarrassed as she didn’t usually like surprises.
“She’s coming to my chemo appointment?” she asked, her voice softer and more uncertain than Gomez was used to.
“Yes, storm cloud”, Gomez confirmed. “I know it’s tough, but we just have to get through these last few weeks. You can scream and cry as much as you want, as long as you come to your appointments. Maybe it won’t be as bad if Enid is there?”
Wednesday was on the fence. On the one hand, she still wasn’t stoked about Enid seeing her at her worst, which is where she was during chemo week. On the other hand, that fluttery feeling inside her that Enid brought out actually managed to chase away some of the queasiness that yesterday’s treatment had left her with.
Looking at the time, she realized that for Enid to make it to the hospital in time for the appointment, she must already be on her way. It wouldn’t be nice to let her wait all alone by the hospital. This is what made Wednesday sit up properly and shuffle out of bed.
“Okay”, she mumbled to her father.
Gomez smiled triumphantly.
The ride to the hospital was definitely more pleasant than the one she’d had the day before. Now, she was mostly a good kind of anxious to meet Enid, and not a bad kind of anxious because she was about to get poisoned again.
Enid was standing by the hospital’s main entrance when they arrived, and soon, Wednesday was surrounded by her intoxicating scent as the werewolf embraced her liked she’d been longing to ever since they last saw each other. Then, like Wednesday’s heartbeat wasn’t already out of control, Enid grabbed her hand as they walked into the building.
Enid got to learn the whole procedure this time. First, Wednesday had her bloodwork done to make sure that her levels were good and she didn’t have an infection. Not a lot had changed since yesterday. Thankfully, her white blood cell count was adequate.
After getting the all clear, they headed towards the infusion area. The nurse greeting her this time was the one called Daniel. He seemed surprised to see her walk through the doors with another teenager.
She knew that she had a certain reputation around here. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by the staff that her family was… peculiar, to say the least. They knew not to try and offer her any of the trivial distractions that the other kids were offered, like the “bravery tokens” that were given after treatments, bloodwork, scans and the like (Wednesday had noticed even the other teens seemed to collect them). Partaking in any of the group activities was off the table and the clown did not come near her anymore.
The infusion nurses had only ever seen her sulking in a corner, as far away from other people as possible, and she supposed it might be difficult for them to imagine she had friends. Honestly, she could hardly believe it herself, even as they walked there side by side.
Wednesday was starting to realize that being physically close to Enid was addictive. It was like her body was being pulled towards her. This infuriated her, because she hated not being in control of her own body, especially after what she had endured this fall.
But nonetheless, being far apart was annoyingly hard to deal with. This is why, when she sat down in her chemo chair, she scooted far over to the right side, leaving half of the chair empty for Enid.
Meanwhile, Enid was just as elated to be close to Wednesday again, although seeing her in these surroundings was painful at the same time. She understood 100% why she had been in a slump lately. Doing the math, she realized this was the 14th time Wednesday had to sit in this chair. Enid had always been impressed by her strength, but she was even more so after these past few months.
She felt terrible, seeing the contents of the IV slowly enter Wednesday’s body. Yes, these drugs were saving her friend’s life right now but, seeing what they had done to her, it was hard to feel gratitude.
In hopes of being able to offer some distraction, Enid decided to use her own talent of talking. Whispering in Wednesday’s ear, she came up with gossip about the nurses, and reveled when she saw the corners of Wednesday’s mouth twitch into a small smile.
Gomez who was watching from the parent’s chair next to them was very thankful to Enid for coming. It was incredible to see how Enid was able to lift his daughter’s spirits even when she was in her very darkest place.
But after a while, Wednesday was visibly starting to feel bad. They had learned by now that the term for this was ‘anticipatory nausea’, and was more of a psychological response to the drugs rather than an actual side effect. Thankfully, nurse Daniel who was responsible for her treatment today had noticed too. Having probably picked up on Enid’s incredibly warm and optimistic vibe, he actually dared to approach their corner with the basket of lollipops.
“Want to treat your guest to a lollipop, Wednesday?” he asked.
Wednesday looked at Enid, and motioned for her to pick one, before she turned to grab one for herself as well. The sight of the dark, blackcurrant flavored lollipop, that had been her go-to flavor the first few cycles, almost made her throw up. The flavor was too heavily associated with the horrible nausea she’d been feeling each time she had them. Instead, she grabbed a blue one that turned out to taste like raspberries.
“Thank you!” Enid said brightly before Daniel left to go back to the nurse’s station.
When they finally left the hospital later on, Wednesday was relieved that she had made it through yet another treatment. Enid would be staying at their house for one night before leaving again in the morning to go back to the academy in time for a test she had after lunch.
It was a very good thing that they had talked things out during Enid’s last visit, because it was clear that the atmosphere between them was very comfortable. Before, Wednesday might have felt like a bad hostess for having Enid over and then spending the entire time wiped out in a corner of the couch. But that calm feeling that filled her when Enid was around made it feel completely natural.
And Enid felt as if she could breathe properly in a way she never felt at Nevermore anymore, where she was so far away from Wednesday. She spent most of the day in Wednesday’s close proximity, like a satellite. But she also enjoyed the company of her family, as she’d grown to love all the Addamses.
She noticed that Pugsley seemed to be in a woeful mood, caused by once again seeing Wednesday in the midst of her most arduous suffering. So she offered to play a board game with him. This caused his spirits to lift notably, and she could tell he felt special for having one of Wednesday’s friends offer to spend time with him. The game he wanted to play included getting small electric shocks, which was a big step outside of Enid’s comfort zone.
The first time she got shocked she jerked violently in surprise in her cross-legged position on the living room floor, and let out a very peculiar noise. But it was all worth it when she heard a small chuckle from the couch, from where Wednesday was watching them. Pugsley looked childishly happy that he was winning, and Enid saw Wednesday watch him with a specific softness in her eyes that she had never seen before. This stirred some very warm and fuzzy emotions inside her. Despite what Wednesday would usually tell people, Enid could tell that she loved her brother fiercely.
When the evening came, the roommates retreated upstairs. Wednesday went to the closet in the hallway to retrieve the guest bed that Enid was accustomed to sleeping in. But as she didn’t harbor more physical strength than a baby deer at the moment, it proved difficult. She only attempted to tug on it once, causing her arms to tremble from exertion, before Enid brushed past her and effortlessly picked up the folded bed with one arm.
Their eyes met and Enid smiled.
“Show off”, Wednesday muttered, but her eyes showed a hint of a smile, too.
She trailed after the werewolf to her room. Though she was starting to feel a little lightheaded from standing up for so long, she still wanted to help make the bed.
Enid saw her pale frame appear next to her in her peripheral as she was unfolding the bed. She didn’t have to look at her to know that she should save her energy for more important things than making a stupid bed, which Enid could easily do herself.
“Wednesday, I’ve got it”, she said softly and grabbed the hand that Wednesday had reached out to help.
Wednesday stiffened a little, and for a second, Enid was afraid that she disapproved of the hand holding. But then she remembered the way that Wednesday had turned down her hugs when they first got to know each other, and she realized that if Wednesday didn’t want to hold her hand, she would definitely know it.
Wednesday’s face shifted into a slightly grumpier version of her normal blank expression.
“Just lying around all day is useless”, she muttered.
“No, not useless!” Enid scolded her. “What I want more than anything is for you to get better as soon as possible. For that to happen you need to rest when you’re tired. Resting is never useless, it means you’re putting an effort in to get to where you want to be. So, off you go to bed.”
She lifted her chin as she said the last part, and cheered internally when Wednesday actually listened and followed her command. Who would have thought that she would ever be able to boss Wednesday Addams around?
When she had put sheets on her guest bed, she turned to see Wednesday shivering slightly under her covers.
“Are you cold?” the werewolf asked her with a bit of a frown.
“It will pass”, Wednesday assured her.
And it was true. Her body could not make up its mind. One minute she was freezing, the next she was sweating.
But Enid was not going to let her just wait around for the suffering to stop. Before Wednesday could protest, she’d hurried out the room. Thinking that she’d spotted more blankets in the closet where the guest bed was stored, she went in there to root around, but she was startled when she heard someone appear behind her.
Turning around, she found Morticia smiling at her.
“I’m sorry for snooping around”, Enid breathed, embarrassed, but Morticia quickly stopped her.
“Don’t worry about it”, she said. “I want you to feel at home here! Can I help you find what you’re looking for? What do you need?”
For someone like Enid, who didn’t even feel at home in her own home, these words meant more than Morticia could ever imagine. She took a moment to answer, and when she did the words came out in a soft breath.
“I was just looking for another blanket for Wednesday”, she said.
Morticia’s smile didn’t waver, but something more mournful swept over her eyes.
“Is she alright?” she asked.
“Yeah!” Enid reassured. “Just a little chilly.”
Morticia seemed to shake off whatever dark, unwelcome feeling had entered her a moment earlier, and she nodded towards Enid before taking a step into the closet and reaching up to the top shelf to bring down a very fluffy, dark grey blanket.
“Let me get you a heating pad, too”, she said, turning to walk in the direction of the stairs.
Enid trailed behind her as the mother retrieved an electric heating pad, that they bought for Wednesday’s sake a few weeks earlier, from a drawer in the living room and handed it to her.
“Thank you”, the teenager said.
Morticia met her eyes again.
“How are you doing?” she asked, and Enid could tell that she truly wanted to know, unlike when her own mother asked the question, when all she really wanted to know was weather or not Enid had been a good enough werewolf.
It was a big question, because the answer was far from simple. How were you supposed to answer it, really?
Enid was pretty sure she was failing multiple classes, her sleep schedule had been completely thrown out the window, the most recent parent’s day had been a disaster, and she was positive her mother hated her. And the worst part was how terrified she felt, constantly, because the person who meant the most to her was at risk of dying from cancer and it was very hard to think about anything else. She’d lost track of the number of nights she’d cried herself to sleep in their shared dorm, and the only thing that kept her going were the times she was able to speak with Wednesday and the fact that she was allowed to come visit her.
“Oh, you know…” she finally said. “It is what it is.”
Morticia closed her eyes momentarily and let out a huff that sounded equal amounts amused and exhausted.
“Yes, I do know”, she answered.
Then, she stood up straighter.
“Just come get us if you think she needs us”, she said, before she gently put a hand on Enid’s shoulder and added: “Or if you need something, for that matter. You know where our bedroom is, right? Don’t be afraid to knock on our door anytime if there’s anything at all you might need.”
Her voice was so very kind, and out of nowhere, a lump formed in Enid’s throat. She wasn’t used to this kind of motherly care, and she couldn’t possibly describe how special it felt to have Morticia talk to her in this manner.
“Okay”, she almost whispered for an answer.
The hand that was still lingering on her shoulder gave her a comforting squeeze.
“Sweet dreams”, Morticia smiled softly.
Her warmth seemed to latch itself onto Enid, and she somehow felt lighter walking back up the stairs towards Wednesday’s room.
Back inside the room, she felt Wednesday’s eyes on her as she unfolded the heating pad and draped it over her best friend’s waist.
“You didn’t have to do this”, Wednesday said, looking a little guarded as she watched Enid, towering above her.
“I know, silly”. Enid smiled, and she draped the grey blanket over her as well before she sat down on her bedside, where she trapped her under a very determined gaze. “But when are you going to understand that I’m not here because I have to but because I want to?”
Though a part of Wednesday was actually starting to come to terms with this fact, the larger part of her did need to be reminded.
The antique clock on Wednesday’s wall reminded Enid that the evening was coming to an end, and she felt her heart sink a little. She dreaded going back to school in the morning. Each time she had to say goodbye, it got a little bit harder. Before she knew what came over her, she’d opened her mouth again.
“Are you warm enough, or do you need me to… warm you?” she asked.
Wednesday’s eyes widened when she realized what she was suggesting. She was asking to share a bed with her!
To her dismay she felt her cheeks redden, and not only because of how hopelessly infatuated she was with her. It was mostly because she was feeling very, in lack of better terms: icky, at the moment.
It’s not that she was opposed to the idea of sharing a bed, quite the opposite. She was embarrassingly desperate to be close to Enid all the time, every day, always. But considering what her feelings for the werewolf had turned into, and what she wished their relationship would lead to, this is not at all how she wanted their first time sharing a bed to be. She definitely didn’t want to mention to Enid that the reason she didn’t want to was the fact that she got terrible night sweats on the nights immediately following her chemo treatments, making co-sleeping a bad idea.
Enid, sensing her hesitation, started looking mortified.
“We don’t have to!” she added. “I don’t know why I asked…”
“It’s okay!” Wednesday quickly cut her off. “It sounds perfectly enjoyable. Just… When I’m feeling a little better, okay?”
“Of course!” Enid breathed, still flustered.
Before Enid had the time to stand up, Wednesday sat up in bed, so that they were now face to face, only inches apart. Blue eyes met brown, and then Wednesday pulled her in for a hug, closing her eyes as she held her tightly. She felt Enid relax again as the werewolf returned the hug with equal devotion.
“I hope you know, I am immensely grateful that you’re here”, Wednesday mumbled into the crook of her neck.
And these may be the most heartfelt words she had ever spoken. The moths, that seemed to have taken permanent residence in her stomach, were going wild inside her. She was afraid that Enid wouldn’t want to stick around if she knew the kind of feelings she harbored for her. But she wasn’t aware of the thoughts going through Enid’s head. See, the way that Wednesday’s heart would speed up when they were close… The same thing was happening to Enid. Only, this made Enid feel like a terrible friend.
Get it together, Enid! she’d been berating herself for quite some time now. She’s sick, getting romantically involved with someone is probably the last thing on her mind!
She was deeply ashamed of herself for the way that she was craving her, and the idea of letting her feelings be known scared her to no end. She had never had a problem with flirting before. When she liked someone, she would usually let them know. But with Wednesday, it was different. The respect that she had for her was so strong that she got nervous in a completely new way. And, besides, the girl was her best friend. If it turned out that her feelings weren’t reciprocated and their friendship was ruined, she might just have to go lie and rot in a hole somewhere until the end of time.
Notes:
We have officially entered the awkward, on-the-verge-of-dating phase!
It also seems we have a new urgent matter at our hands, ENID needs a hug!! I thought it was time we got to see her taking care of Wednesday, because we all know how much she loves her. As usual, this is very angsty, but I didn’t want to sugarcoat how terrible this experience has been for her as well. I hope I’m making up for it by having Wednesday’s family shower her with some love. I can totally see them embrace her as one of their own, knowing how terrible her own home life is.
Honestly, I did not plan when I started this to have this much emphasis on Morticia’s character, but the stories I write live a life of their own, and I can’t help it! She’s so interesting to write and I just get so much inspiration for scenes with her, I’ve had to add more and more things as I go. But I’m sorry to everyone hoping for more focus on other characters… I try to include them as much as I can!
Another thought about this chapter: I know the Addamses have their unusual habits… But good lord, giving the kid a kit of pesticides? (Which, let’s be real, is EXACTLY something that the Addamses would do, they don’t bat an eye when their children electrocute each other ffs) No wonder she’s gotten sick! I have a feeling they might need to change one or two habits after this ordeal is all over…
Now, Wednesday has obviously had to fight through a few very challenging months, there was no way to get around that if we want her to get better. BUT, with only one more cycle left after this, some more flufflier themes are on the horizon. (Though there’s obviously always gonna be some angsty stuff, I think you know me well enough by now to expect it!)
Next chapter has less medical struggles, and instead: SOME INTIMATE THINGS TAKING PLACE! See you then!
Chapter 15: Escape
Notes:
Hiya!
My brain is starting to become fried from all the hours spent editing this story... This chapter was edited while I'm running on no sleep, so I do apologize if it's a bit of a mess, but I thought it was about time these two idiots finally did something about their undying love for each other...
Also, Uncle Fester recently swapped a kidney for a hatchet, and he has started digging a good ole tunnel!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Just like always, the week following her chemotherapy passed by in a blurry and unpleasant fog. Enid left and Wednesday missed her. She slept, woke up, went back to sleep.
Two days after her third treatment she took her Neulasta shot for the first time. Dr. Sanderson had given her instructions on how to do it on their last meeting, and she felt prepared enough to not feel nervous.
What she wasn’t prepared for was the horrible ache in her bones that followed as her body worked harder to make white blood cells. It left her unwilling to move for a couple of days, and she was pretty much attached to her heating pad until the aching subsided.
Morticia and Gomez made Pugsley help them put up Christmas decorations, in hopes that it might distract him a little from the reality they found themselves in. But it didn’t seem to do much to lighten the atmosphere in the house. It was hard to watch time go by, when they were all stuck in the same bubble. Until Wednesday was better again, time was frozen in their home. They couldn’t make any plans for the future, when they didn’t know what the future had in store for them.
When the first week and a half was over, she actually started feeling more okay. This cycle was definitely better than the last two. Her worst problem was that she was starting to go absolutely crazy from being cooped up in the house for so long. Pretty much the only places she had been for months was her parents’ house and the hospital. She had thought about going out on multiple occasions, but if it was too soon following a treatment she could barely even get out of bed, and if it was too close to the next treatment she didn't want to risk getting an infection and having to postpone it.
But one evening when she was talking to Enid on a video call, an occasion to leave the house arose that she didn’t want to miss. They were in the middle of talking about their weekend plans when Enid mentioned something about an award ceremony the upcoming Saturday.
“What kind of awards?” Wednesday interrupted her, so bored by her own exhausting rut that she was actually intrigued by something as trivial as a school award ceremony.
“Oh, it’s just something to celebrate students that have put an extra effort into extracurricular activities”, Enid explained. “Eugene’s getting an award for his dedication to the beekeeping club."
Hearing this, Wednesday felt an uncomfortable twinge inside her chest.
“Wait, Eugene has won an award?” she asked, pausing the conversation momentarily.
“Yeah”, Enid answered.
“Why hasn’t he told me?” Wednesday continued. Her feelings were actually hurt by this, and the disappointment was evident in her voice.
“He must have thought you wouldn’t be able to make it”, Enid tried. “Maybe he didn’t want to make you feel bad that you haven’t been able to take part in the club?”
Wednesday was lying on her bed, fiddling with Enid’s rabbits foot, that had become like a part of her at this point after coming to every chemo appointment. She looked out the window and craved more than ever to be able to leave this house.
“I could come and watch the ceremony”, she suggested.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to make it?” Enid asked uncertainly. “Are you well enough?”
“Yes”, Wednesday assured her. “The ceremony is a few days before my next treatment. If I come over and stay just one night, there won’t be a problem.”
Enid wanted to be able to feel excited about Wednesday potentially coming to visit, but she couldn’t help the anxious resistance she felt at the idea.
“But what about the risk of infection?” she asked. “There are hundreds of students here, and we're in the middle of winter, so cold season has really kicked off. What if you catch something? Last time you had a fever, you got really sick, remember?”
“I won’t, Enid”, Wednesday said with a glare. “Last time, I was neutropenic. This time I’ve had a growth factor shot, my defense is much stronger.”
Enid gave her a small smile.
“Nothing would make me happier than having you come back here to visit”, she said. “I just think you should ask your parents first just to be sure.”
“Of course I’ll ask them”, Wednesday assured her. “I will be there, what time is the ceremony?”
A few moments later, she entered the living room where her father was reading and her mother was standing by the large wall portraits, dusting them off with an ostrich feather duster. She’d prepared what she might say, to better the chances of them agreeing to her demands. She had the feeling they may be a little weary of letting her leave, but hoped that she’d be able to win them over.
Gomez looked up to see her hesitating in the doorway, and he lowered his book.
“Good afternoon, my little scarecrow”, he said affectionately. “What’s on your mind?”
Wednesday inhaled determinedly.
“I would like to visit the academy this weekend”, she said, figuring it was best to get to the point.
Her mother stopped dusting off the portraits and turned towards her.
“Why do you want to go there right now, love?” she asked. “Can’t you wait a couple of weeks until after you’re finished with chemo?”
“There’s an award ceremony taking place this Saturday”, Wednesday explained. “My friend, Eugene, is receiving an award.”
Gomez looked uncertain, stroking his mustache.
“I don’t know, viper”, he said. “I think it’s best if you wait. Eugene will understand why you can’t make it.”
“I agree”, Morticia quickly continued. “I want you to stay home.”
Hearing how easily they dismissed her wishes, Wednesday quickly angered.
“You’re being irrational!” she said. “There’s no reason why I can’t go there for a short visit. I feel fine, I’m not on house arrest!”
“There’s every reason why you shouldn’t go!” Morticia insisted. “Are you aware of how many viruses are circulating right now? You already had to postpone your last cycle. If you to catch a virus and have to postpone again, you might be putting your future at risk.”
Gomez had always been the calmer one, and while he tried to think things through not to aggravate his daughter, Morticia could not. Their relationship had always been more complicated, and while they had recently gotten closer than ever before, her and Wednesday could really bring out the worst sides in each other.
“I won’t allow you to dictate over everything in my life!” Wednesday’s eyes shot daggers. “What I’m asking for is not unreasonable. I am still a student at Nevermore, and I have the right to visit my school.”
“No!” Morticia’s tone made it clear that she was not going to negotiate. “You are still immunocompromised. A school full of hundreds of teenagers is the last place you should be with only a few days left until your final treatment. You can’t afford to catch pneumonia and then have to postpone chemo for devil knows how long.”
“I’ll be fine!” Wednesday yelled back. “I don’t even have to go near anyone. If I don’t come, Eugene will have no one there to celebrate him.”
“You can’t!” Morticia yelled even louder. “You have to see the bigger picture! If you wait just a couple more weeks, then you can see your friends as much as you’d like. But the cost of letting your treatment fail to go to some award party is too high!”
Morticia saw Wednesday about to open her mouth, and yelled out:
“The answer is no! And I don’t want to hear another word about it!”
Panting heavily she looked at Wednesday with eyes wide with both fury and fear until the girl turned around and left the room. She sunk down in an armchair and met Gomez’s eyes for a moment.
“I’m sorry”, she sighed. “I was harsh.”
“One day, she will understand that this all comes from a place of love”, Gomez reassured her.
“She can’t go to the academy right now”, Morticia continued.
“I know”, Gomez nodded.
Over the next couple of days, Wednesday tried to make it seem as though she’d surrendered. But in reality, she was coming up with a plan to defy her parents and travel to the academy without their permission.
She knew that Enid might not be pleased if she found out that she was trying to go against her parent’s will, and so she told her that they had agreed and that Lurch would drop her off Saturday morning before the award ceremony.
In order to actually get there, she had to go against yet another one of her principles, and she found herself trying to figure out how to get an Uber to drive her. Very early in the Saturday morning, early enough to be able to get a decent head start before her family noticed she was gone, she snuck out to the larger road close to her house, and soon saw the Uber pull over to pick her up. A couple of hours later she was already standing outside the academy, with a little time left before her friends would be having breakfast.
She had thought that things would feel back to normal the moment she stepped foot on the school grounds, but she realized as she walked through the doors that everything was completely different. Not the school itself, it looked as she remembered it (apart from the excessive Christmas decorations covering the ceiling, windows and railings). But Wednesday was not the same, and it was clear to her.
So much time had passed since she’d been here, and considering how much she’d been through in that time, it felt like a whole lifetime. Being back here, it felt surreal. Almost like a dream. It was bizarre to think that she’d walked around here every day a few months ago, hurrying up and down the stairs and outshining her classmates in fencing class. By now, her body could not remember what it felt like to be healthy, and the climb up the stairs felt much longer and harder than she remembered it.
The halls were empty while she passed through them on her way to the dorms of Ophelia hall. That ghostlike feeling of an empty place was something that she normally enjoyed thoroughly, but this time she actually felt a little bit of melancholy at the sight. She was longing to get her normalcy back, and she wanted for things to feel as they had before.
When she found the door to her and Enid’s room, she felt her pulse quicken. Pausing for a moment right outside it, she took a few breaths before she knocked twice to alert Enid that she was there, and then opened the door to step inside. Enid, who had seemingly been awoken by the knock quickly sat up in bed with eyes wide of surprise. Her tousled hair and sweet expression almost caused Wednesday’s heart to explode.
“Wednesday?” she said, her voice still a little sleepy.
Then, her emotions seemed to catch up to her, and she broke out into a wide smile.
“Wednesday!” she said again, and this time she sprinted towards the door and wrapped her roommate in a hug so tight the latter momentarily lifted off the ground. “I thought you were coming a little later?”
“I came early”, Wednesday explained as Enid put her back down and took a step back to look at her. “I wanted to see you for as long as possible.”
Wednesday was used to making people afraid or uncomfortable with her words. What she wasn’t used to was the way that Enid reacted. The utter adoration in her gaze made it seem like it was the most incredible thing anyone had ever said to her. Enid, for once, almost seemed at a loss for words. If Wednesday didn’t know any better she would say she looked nervous.
“I apologize for waking you up”, Wednesday said to fill the silence.
“No, no, I’m sorry for sleeping”, Enid said with a little chuckle. “I wanted to come meet you outside the minute you showed up…”
“Don’t fret”, Wednesday said, giving her a small smile. “The ceremony doesn’t start until 9. We could dwell here in the meantime, if you want?”
She didn’t want to let it show just how much she wanted to stay in their dorm and have Enid all to herself, but thankfully, Enid seemed to be onboard with the idea.
“Of course!” she smiled. “Don’t worry, I haven’t broken any of your stuff.”
She turned around and walked towards the middle of the room, gesturing towards Wednesday’s side of the room, where the things she had left behind still resided. Even though she still had some belongings here, her half of the room looked too neat. Too empty. Her bed wasn’t made, and the open closet door revealed the empty shelves within.
Turning towards Enid, she tried not to let it ruin her mood. That’s when she realized what her roommate was wearing.
“Is that… mine?” she asked.
Enid looked down, and her cheeks turned bright red at once. Apparently she had slept in a black hoodie that Wednesday had left behind, and now she was seemingly embarrassed to have been caught.
“I’m sorry!” Enid started blabbering. “It’s just… it was cold last night, and I found this and… I figured you weren’t using it and… I get it if you think it’s weird, I promise I was just borrowing it.”
She looked very flustered, and judging from the state of the garment, she had most definitely worn it more than this one night.
Wednesday scrutinized her for a moment. She had spent a lot of time observing people and analyzing their behavior. Right now, Enid was acting very unlike herself, and it was clear that she was hiding something.
Wednesday watched her fiddle a little with the sleeves of her hoodie, looking out the window instead of at her roommate. She seemed about as nervous to see Wednesday as Wednesday was feeling to see her. But Wednesday’s nerves were caused by those fluttery moths that nowadays appeared in her stomach when Enid was around. She was nervous because she had feelings for her. But why would Enid be nervous to see her? She couldn’t be experiencing those same feelings, could she?
“I don’t mind you wearing it”, she said, and she absolutely meant it. “It looks nice on you.”
Enid seemed, if possible, even more flustered by the compliment. Wednesday could not figure her out, and she kept her eyes on her for so long that Enid started twisting uncomfortably under her gaze. They were only two feet apart, in front of the large circular window. Enid gulped, and her eyes were filled with something Wednesday had never seen before, and wouldn’t be able to describe.
“You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?” the werewolf breathed.
Wednesday just kept looking into her eyes, which seemed to confirm what Enid had been thinking.
“Well, crap”, the werewolf muttered. “I haven’t been sure how to tell you, but… it’s true, I have the biggest crush on you.”
Even though she looked like a nervous wreck, it seemed like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders as she finally dared utter these words.
“I’m really sorry, Wednesday. I know you have other things going on, and I bet you think it’s really weird that I’m thinking about romance right now. But the thing is, I think I’ve been crushing on you for a really long time, since before you got sick, and I just can’t stop thinking about you. But really, can you blame me? Have you seen your eyes? Or your rare but just… magnificent smile? And you don’t have to say anything. I get it if you don’t want to be with me in that way. I’ll be okay, as long as we can at least stay friends. I really need us to keep being friends.”
Wednesday could not believe it. Her heart sped up quickly, hearing Enid’s confession. It was everything she had dreamed of hearing, and yet it scared her now that she was here. She had never even had a friend before Enid, and now it seemed their relationship may become even more than that.
Maybe she stayed silent for too long, because Enid’s face fell a little and she spoke again.
“I completely get it if you don’t feel the same way”, she tried to smooth over her previous speech.
And suddenly, Wednesday was terrified that the moment would pass.
“Who says I don’t feel the same way?” she dared say, and now there really was no going back.
Enid’s eyes grew wider.
“You like me?” she asked, her voice faltering a little.
“Enid, the mark you have left on me is indelible”, Wednesday said. “Of course I like you.”
Enid lit up, but seemed afraid to fully believe her words.
“Like me how, exactly?” she asked, just to be sure.
And even though she’d never done such a thing before, she had longed to for months now. Wednesday built up the courage to close the gap between them and bring her lips to Enid’s. Enid did not hesitate one second before answering the kiss, her strong arms soon finding their way around Wednesday’s waist while the shorter girl’s arms came to rest over her shoulders, around her neck.
When they broke apart, Enid looked like she might burst from happiness. She let out a squeal and started jumping up and down, grabbing Wednesday’s hands in hers. Wednesday was, like always, astonished by the amount of energy that could fit inside the colorful girl in front of her.
“What are you doing?”, she asked, trying to keep her expression blank like she was used to.
“I’m happy, you nuthead”, Enid laughed. “You should try it, dance with me!”
She kept bouncing, trying to pull Wednesday with her. Wednesday couldn’t stop a smile from tugging on the corners of her mouth, but she would never go as far as bouncing. Instead, she pulled Enid closer to her, the werewolf immediately planting both feet on the ground when she kissed her again.
While Enid was overjoyed, Wednesday’s family was not. Around the same time as his daughter was sharing her first kiss, Gomez entered her room to discover she was gone. Knowing that Wednesday had wanted to visit the academy this very weekend, he suspected almost immediately what had happened but, not wanting to worry Morticia for nothing, he checked every room in the house in a hurry before he was absolutely certain that she wasn’t anywhere to be found.
Now feeling quite panicked to know his daughter had ventured out on her own, possibly putting her own health at risk, he sought out his wife in the kitchen and braced himself for her reaction.
She was sitting with Pugsley at the kitchen table, a coffee in hand and the morning paper before her. As soon as she looked up and saw his grim expression, she froze.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“It appears our firecracker has defied us”, Gomez reluctantly admitted. “I can’t find her anywhere, and I think we both know where she’s gone.”
Morticia put her coffee down so quickly the beverage spilled over, and stood up from her chair.
“Dear lord!”, she exclaimed. “I should have known she wouldn’t give up so easily!”
“Wednesday’s gone?” Pugsley asked anxiously.
Morticia had already started rushing to gather her things, ready to leave in a hurry to bring her daughter back.
“We’ll go get her”, Gomez assured his son. “She will be okay.”
“Can I come?” Pugsley asked.
“Of course!” his father answered.
It didn’t take them more than 5 minutes before they were all loaded in the car, with Lurch in the driver’s seat. As soon as they started rolling, Morticia brought out her cellphone to call Wednesday. She wasn’t surprised when the girl didn’t answer, but in her stressed out state she did manage to leave a very angry voice mail.
She tried calling her former friend instead. Larissa was principal of the school after all, she should be able to find a runaway teenager.
Larissa best was in a meeting with the inter-school organization in charge of the award ceremony when her phone rang. As she was busy, she didn’t answer right away, but stayed focused on the conversation. But when the phone rang a second time, she looked down to check the number in annoyance. When she realized who was calling her so urgently, she frowned a little and looked back up at the organizers.
“I hope you’ll excuse me”, she said. “I need to take this call.”
She stood up and walked out of the meeting, pressing the green button to see what her friend had to say.
“Larissa Weems”, she answered, skipping the more formal introduction she usually used, as she knew Morticia very well.
“Hello, Larissa. How do you do?” Morticia asked at the other end of the line.
She was clearly trying to be polite, but Larissa could tell she sounded very stressed out, and decided to help her get to the point as fast as possible.
“I’m great, thank you”, she said. “What’s going on, Morticia? How’s Wednesday?”
“Good, good…” Morticia said. “She’s doing okay, she’s only got one cycle of treatment left now, but… We’ve got another problem on our hands, one that doesn’t revolve around her health. She seems to have gone missing tonight, and we suspect she has come to the school. We’re on our way right now to bring her back home, but we were hoping you might locate her in the meantime?”
“She’s back to her old habits, I see”, Larissa said. “I’ll go have a look straight away. I suppose in a way it’s good that she’s well enough to act out?”
“I suppose”, Morticia sighed. “But we told her no for a reason. It’s a big risk for her to be around so many people while her immune system is down. She’s probably with Enid in their dorm. Once you find her, do you think it would be possible to keep her away from the rest of the student body?”
“I’ll try my best!” Larissa promised.
Once they hung up, Larissa had to pop her head back in the meeting room and tell them something urgent had come up and she needed to step away. Then, she hurried towards Ophelia hall.
Knocking on the girl’s door, she didn’t get an answer so she carefully opened to peek inside. Unfortunately, the room was empty. This would make it harder to keep Wednesday away from the other students.
Turning back around, she headed towards the stairs again. Luckily, Enid was also gone. She needed to find the werewolf, that’s surely where Wednesday would be, too.
Since it was already December at this point, the weather was quite chilly, and none of the students were outside in the courtyard. Instead, the sound of hundreds of teenage voices was coming from the open doors leading to the indoor dining hall, where breakfast was being served.
Larissa stood in the doorway and let her gaze wander over the students. It didn’t take her long to find the girl she was looking for, sitting at a table surrounded by a large group of friends, but when she did she was taken aback. Despite knowing better, she’d been looking for black pigtails. So used to the feisty girl she had gotten to know, she hadn’t been able to imagine how much these tough months of treatment would change her. Her bald head was paler than she’d ever seen it, and she looked so much younger than her principal remembered.
Having not been noticed by the teens, Larissa snapped a quick photo from afar and sent it to Morticia along with the message:
The harm is already done, what do I do?
Over in the Addams’s vehicle, Gomez and Morticia’s hearts melted at the sight of the photo that Larissa had just sent. As much as they feared the risk it was putting her in, it was heartwarming to see Wednesday surrounded by her friends.
“I guess she might have already been exposed”, Morticia sighed. “We’ll just need to keep her under extra close observation.”
She answered Larissa’s text with the words:
Thank you for trying. She’s not easy to stop once she’s put her mind to something. You can let her be until we get there.
Seeing all of her classmates after so long wasn’t entirely without tension. Though they tried to treat her like normal, they all knew that things were not normal, and it was impossible to ignore.
Her reunion with Eugene carried a few more emotions than she would have preferred. While most students showed some sort of reaction to her weakened state, Eugene found it particularly hard to conceal the twinge of worry he felt for her. Wednesday, reminded of Pugsley as always when it came to Eugene, felt a twist in her stomach that she did not enjoy.
Wanting to wipe that frown off his face, she immediately started inquiring him about the bees, as it was a safe topic of discussion.
“I can’t believe you came all this way to celebrate the beekeeping club”, he said with a smile.
“I couldn’t let you take all the glory, now could I?” Wednesday humored, as he sat down at their table in the dining hall, and started filling her in on everything of interest.
Aside from the usual people she had been forced to spend time around before she left the school, multiple people that she’d barely spoken to chose to sit at her table, too. She could not fathom why all these people were interested in knowing how she’d been.
Maybe they were less afraid of her now that she wasn’t as big of a physical threat as before, but Wednesday suspected it had more to do with the ways that her attitude had changed. Although she would have liked to keep up the thick and hostile walls that used to keep people away, it was getting really hard to stay dark and frightening. Especially after what had happened between her and Enid in their dorm moments earlier. They were now sitting side by side, and every now and then, Enid would intentionally brush her hand against hers under the table. Every time she did, Wednesday felt like she couldn’t breathe, but in a good way.
She hated to admit that there was any truth to what her parents had been telling her all her life: that loving someone was the greatest gift of all. Now that she was here, it was clear that it was torture. But it was a torture that made her crave more. Nevertheless, she could feel the light, fluttery feelings she was having seeping out of her, and she was certain that others could tell.
To her delight, she found that the sense of normalcy that she’d been longing for started to seep back in as the morning progressed. Being around her classmates in the busy cafeteria, cheering alongside them as Eugene accepted his award, it became easier and easier to picture herself back here. She just had to get through a few more hurdles to get there, but she was close now, and for the first time she allowed herself to feel it.
When the Addams bunch walked through the school’s main entrance and into the foyer, Larissa was helping the organizers of the award ceremony put things back to order, while all the students had retreated outside or upstairs to their dorms or any of the common areas. She only spotted them when Morticia was a few steps away from her, and suddenly, the dark haired woman had thrown her arms around her.
“Thank you for finding her”, she breathed.
It felt foreign, being so close, after having spent so many years on bad terms. At the same time, it was incredibly familiar. It was as if all these bad years were erased at once. The fact that the boy she had been interested in wanted Morticia instead of her so many years ago didn’t have any importance anymore. Larissa had built an incredible life in spite of it, one that she wouldn’t change for the world. And the fact that Morticia had won the man had hardly spared her from hardship. It dawned on Larissa how much Morticia probably needed a friend.
She broke free from the hug and looked her friend in the eye, offering a smile.
“She has actually turned into a really sweet girl”, she said. “And I hope you know that I’m hoping with everything I have that she gets better. I’m really sorry that this has happened to your family.”
Notes:
Next chapter is definitely fluffier than any chapter has been so far, I think Wednesday deserves that, doesn’t she? Do you think she’s starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel? I think so because this girl is happiiiii! Stay tuned!
Chapter 16: A Light at the End of the Tunnel
Notes:
Hiya, I'm trying not to be sad over the fact that we're closing in on the end here, I'm enjoying writing and sharing this with you so much! You all deserve a huge thank you, all of you who are still reading this 16 chapters in, and those taking the time to leave your thoughts in the comments ❤ A big hug to all of you
And so, Wednesday's road back to health continues...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Wednesday and Enid found a secluded little nook in a hallway where they could say goodbye, out of other people’s sight. Considering how aggressively Wednesday had rejected physical contact most her life, it was astonishing how reluctant she was to let go of Enid in this moment. They were holding each other in a tight embrace, while Enid pressed a series of kisses to her cheek, each one causing Wednesday’s stomach moths to flip out.
“I guess I’ll see you after Christmas”, Enid sighed.
Christmas was a couple weeks away, but with all the exams Enid was expected to take, and her family expecting her home in San Francisco for the holidays, they wouldn’t have time to see each other for a while.
“You promise we’ll talk every day, right?” Enid asked.
“If you insist”, Wednesday mumbled into her hair, by which she meant she would probably go crazy if she was forced to go without speaking to Enid for that long.
Breaking free of the embrace, Enid cupped Wednesday’s face with both hands and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
“I’ll miss you”, she said. “And also, did I ever tell you how stunningly beautiful you are?”
At the sight of Wednesday’s cheeks turning a pinker shade, and the normally gloomy girl trying to suppress a sheepish smile, Enid felt her own butterflies multiply.
“Oh my goodness, I can’t take it!” she cried out in frustration, grabbing Wednesday once again in a tight hug. “You seriously have to stop being so cute while I’m trying to say goodbye to you, or we’ll be stuck here until next Christmas.”
“I’m not cute”, Wednesday muttered.
But pretending like she didn’t enjoy it was a big fat lie. Why being called “cute” caused her such pleasure was entirely incomprehensible, but it definitely did. The fact that Enid wanted to be with her out of all people, it was a dream (one she never knew she had) come true.
“You aren’t exactly trying your best to facilitate my departure, either”, she added to the werewolf, the intoxicating smell of her shampoo making the idea of parting ways all too unpleasant.
“Okay”, Enid said with determination, taking a step back. “Let’s be entirely non-affectionate for now so you can go back to kicking cancer’s butt, and I can hug you again in a few weeks, when I’ll get to hug only you and no stupid cancer cells and no stupid medications that are mean to you and make you feel bad.”
To make her statement, she reached out her hand, gesturing for them to shake hands instead, like two business colleagues after a long and tedious meeting. But the two of them both stared at the hand, hanging in the air between them, and the ridiculousness of the gesture dawned on them both at the same time. Meeting each other’s eyes instead, it only took them a second to break out into a fit of laughter.
The sound of Wednesday laughing had to be the most beautiful sound in the entire universe, Enid was sure of it. She couldn’t believe she could call herself lucky enough to get to hear it, to share that laugh. This one laugh from the girl of her dreams would fuel her for months, and it was what finally gave her the strength to grab her hand and pull her back down the hallway, towards the foyer where the girl’s family was waiting for her.
Wednesday had expected to get yelled at for running away. But the silence in the car on the way back home was somehow worse. Though her parents weren’t angry with her (they even seemed quite thrilled to see her walk hand in hand with Enid) they looked exhausted. It was obvious she had upset Pugsley as well, and though she didn’t regret what she had done (how could she, after everything that had happened between her and Enid?), she did feel some remorse.
By the time they got back to the house, she couldn’t stand the feeling ruining the giddiness that her time with Enid had left her with, and she figured she could at least make amends with her brother. She apologized in her own way, by entering his room carrying the taxidermy kit she got for her birthday. She hadn’t gotten around to using it yet.
“Help me with this”, she demanded, and sat down on the floor.
His mood visibly lightened at her invite to spend time together, and she knew she had been forgiven.
With her parents it was a little trickier. They went on about their days as if nothing had happened, but as long as they hadn’t talked about it, it felt as though there was something lingering in the atmosphere.
She had her scan taken, and found out everything still looked good, no evidence of disease. Everything seemed to be going so well that when treatment day came she figured no harm had come from her cancer jailbreak, and that they should move on already. But in her pre-chemo meeting with Dr. Sanderson she was thrown a curveball.
“You won’t be able to have your treatment today”, the doctor said. “Your blood test shows signs of a virus, and we will need to get rid of it before you receive your next dose of chemo.”
Wednesday felt her eyes grow wide.
“But… I don’t feel any symptoms?” she said.
“I’m sorry, but we still can’t risk it”, Dr. Sanderson said apologetically. “Luckily, your white blood cell count is much better this time compared to the last time you caught an infection. Since you’re not showing any symptoms of infection, and it seems your body is fighting it off on its own, you can recover at home, as long as you promise to contact us if you get a fever. We’ll postpone treatment for five days to begin with and hopefully you’ll be able to get the all clear after that.”
Gomez, who was accompanying Wednesday this morning, nervously stroked his mustache. This was the second treatment in a row that had to be postponed. Worried that this might affect his daughter’s long-term chances of staying cancer free, it was with a heavy heart that he followed her back to the car and had Lurch drive them home.
Another person who didn’t take the news well was Enid. She called a little while after they got home, expecting to keep Wednesday company over video call while she was having her infusion. She was shocked to see that Wednesday was sitting in her own bedroom in the Addams manor, and Wednesday had to explain the unfortunate situation. To her surprise, this caused Enid to start crying.
“Oh no, it’s because I kissed you!” she said, failing to keep her cool. “I shouldn’t have done it, I knew it could be dangerous for you!”
“I could have picked the virus up from anyone”, Wednesday reassured her. “And as I remember it, I initiated physical contact. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
A little more timidly she added:
“It was one of the most pleasurable moments I have gotten to experience in my life. I enjoyed it, and I’m glad it happened.”
This caused Enid to pull out of her panicked state and a somewhat shy smile appeared on her face instead.
“You enjoyed it?” she said, reveling in the feeling of Wednesday telling her that she appreciated her, which wasn’t a too common occurrence. “Does that mean that… I mean, now that we’ve kissed… Would you like to…”
She couldn’t get the words out right, so Wednesday helped her a little.
“Should we consider ourselves romantic partners?” she proposed. “Yes, I believe we qualify.”
The way that Enid smiled at her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered made all her doubts about going into a relationship like this fade away.
“How did I get so lucky!” Enid beamed. “Just so you know, I’m going to start calling you my girlfriend.”
But then she looked serious again.
“Are you sure you’re okay though?” she asked.
“Yes”, Wednesday emphasized. “I get to enjoy 5 more days of chemo vacation. This is good.”
That’s what she said to reassure Enid anyway, but she knew that it wasn’t really great for her to have to postpone her treatment like this. This new turn of events changed things. It turned out that her parents had been right to ask her to stay home, and now there had been consequences to her actions. Since they still hadn’t talked about the events of last weekend, the atmosphere was still heavy between them and it was starting to bother Wednesday.
She had no idea how she would go about apologizing, she’d never had to initiate such a terrifying conversation before, and she knew it wouldn’t be as easy as it had been with Pugsley. Hoping that inspiration would strike her, she hung around the living room longer than usual the evening of her cancelled treatment. She sat in a corner of the couch reading a novel. Meanwhile, her parents went about their evening activities, both taking note of her unusual behavior but deciding it was best if she got to initiate contact.
Finally, Wednesday had stalled so long even her father went to bed. It was just her and her mother left, sitting silently on opposite sides of the room. Wednesday had trouble keeping her eyes open, as her body craved sleep. She hadn’t read a full sentence in quite a while.
“I believe there’s something on your mind, darling”, Morticia stated calmly, breaking the silence.
Wednesday was at once alert again, and she met her mother’s eyes for a long moment before she’d gathered up the courage to take a deep breath and address her.
“I’m sorry for running away”, she said. After another pause she added: “I understand if you’re very disappointed in me.”
Morticia’s face softened.
“No”, she mumbled, before she stood up and walked over to sit next to Wednesday instead.
“I’m not upset with you at all”, she said. “I blame myself, I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I should have known it would lead you to pull away from me.”
“Oh.”
Wednesday’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. This conversation was already not going as she’d imagined, and she wasn’t sure how she should continue.
“Why haven’t you told me?” she finally asked.
Morticia’s eyes were filled with both love and sadness when they met hers.
“Because it’s hard for me to talk about with you, love”, she sighed. “I’m trying my very best to be brave for you, but the truth is… I don’t feel brave.”
The last sentence was almost a whisper, and she shook her head slightly as she looked into her daughter’s eyes.
“I can’t always stay rational when it comes to your health”, she continued. “And when you asked to visit the academy… I just got so afraid that I failed to be the reasonable adult. My emotions got the best of me. Thinking about what would happen if the treatment doesn’t work… You have no idea the anguish it would bring me…”
Her voice faltered and she had to blink tears away.
“I love you so immeasurably much, my sweet little rain cloud” she said, cupping her daughter’s cheek with her hand and keeping her eyes locked to hers, hoping that the sincerity of her words would get through to her. “This family, with you being a very important part of it, matters more to me than anything else in the entire world. I don’t know what I’d do… what I’d be… without you.”
Wednesday, remembering the painful cries her mother didn’t know that she’d witnessed from the wardrobe, felt shame bubble up in her chest. She did have an inkling of an idea of how much it would hurt her mother to lose her. She knew that her illness was causing her parents an immense amount of pain, and she’d just caused them more by running away.
“I’m sorry anyway” she mumbled.
“I know”, her mother smiled, and gently kissed her head. “And you’re already forgiven.”
Hearing this made it feel like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, and she let out a breath she’d been holding. Morticia sat back and looked at her with a curious smile on her face.
“And how did things go with Enid?” she asked. Having seen them holding hands when they picked Wednesday up, she already knew that something had gone down between the two.
Wednesday felt her cheeks turn a little red.
“What do you mean?” she asked, trying to play it off like nothing of importance had happened.
Her mother saw right through her.
“Didn’t you get the chance to… talk… when you saw each other this weekend?”
The memory of the events surged up inside her, and she could no longer hide her smile. Embarrassed, she looked away, but her smile was still visible.
“You could say that we’ve… taken our relationship to a more affectionate plane”, she explained.
Her mother was absolutely delighted.
“I’m so happy for you, darling”, she smiled. “It seems like things are finally starting to turn for the better for you.”
Wednesday only nodded for an answer. Feeling much lighter after having said everything that needed to be said, she got up and started walking towards the stairs. Her mother stood up too and followed her. As soon as Wednesday set her foot on the first step, her mother’s voice came from behind her.
“And where do you think you’re going now?” she asked.
Wednesday stopped and turned around, looking back at her with a hint of annoyance.
“To bed”, she said.
“Not up there you’re not”, her mother stated, her arms crossed over her chest. “You have a virus and we have to watch you extra carefully until the doctor clears you for treatment.”
Wednesday stood still as a statue, not at all liking where this conversation was going.
“Remember last time you got a fever in the middle of the night?” Morticia continued. “You could have died if we hadn’t found out about it and gotten you to the hospital. You scared us so bad it nearly killed me. There’s no way I’m putting myself through that again. No. You’re sleeping downstairs with me where I can keep an eye on you.”
The last of Wednesday’s good mood disappeared at once and her eyes widened in horror.
“Mom!” she protested. “I’m not five, you can’t be serious!”
“As a heart attack”, her mother deadpanned, clearly not joking in the slightest. “You can go brush your teeth and then you’ll go straight to bed in the master.”
“And wake father?” Wednesday tried to argue.
“Oh he’s not there, he’s in the guest room”, Morticia said.
Clearly, her parents had planned this.
A staredown between the two followed. One that ended with Wednesday stiffly turning around and stomping to get her pajamas with a little more force than she needed to. 10 minutes later she reluctantly entered her parents’ bedroom, having admitted defeat. Her mother was still in the en suite bathroom, so Wednesday got under the covers on her father’s side of the bed.
A moment later, Morticia emerged from the bathroom and approached the bed.
“Temperature”, she said, holding a thermometer out for Wednesday.
Wednesday annoyedly snatched the thermometer out of her hand and put it in her mouth. Only when it had beeped and showed them there was no fever, Morticia could allow herself to go to bed. Though the teenager’s back was turned towards her, Morticia smiled a little to herself as she wished the girl good night.
“Sweet dreams, my heart”, she said softly.
“Mhm”, Wednesday mumbled for an answer.
She had to admit she wasn’t all too uncomfortable, and she could already feel herself drifting off. She supposed as far as punishments went, there were worse things to endure. Seeing as she had caused this unfortunate virus situation, maybe she owed her mother the right to hover just a little.
Wednesday was incredibly relieved once her 5 day wait was over, and she was cleared to go ahead with her final treatments. Thankfully she did not develop any viral symptoms, as her own immune system managed to do its job. But after having been excessively fussed over by her parents, she was looking forward to returning to a less insane level of fussing.
The good part was that these extra days of rest resulted in her feeling better than she had since her treatments first started, and it was with a newfound force that she didn’t know she had that she walked back into the hospital for the sixth and final cycle of chemo. Somehow, everything felt much easier to endure, because this time she knew that it was all coming to an end.
Hiding out in her usual corner, she spent the first hour knitting a couple more animals. She’d started off making only bats, then she’d realized that spiders were also quite nice. After that she’d moved on to making orcas, which she figured was a pretty fascinating animal. Now, she had a huge collection sitting at home. She’d made almost every animal that could be made in black, it was quite hard to stop now that she had started.
Right around the time that a nurse started her second IV, the child in the chair next to her started crying. Because of the curtain, that she’d closed as much as possible to shield herself from the rest of the room, she couldn’t see the child, but the crying persisted for an extended amount of time.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She looked down on the little wolf-like knitted plushie in her hand, it kind of reminded her of Enid. As it was just finished, she tied the ends together and inspected the result before she wordlessly pulled the curtain to the side and reached her hand out in the direction of the crying child to offer them the wolf.
It was the little boy’s mother that noticed her gesture, and her expression went from desperate, trying to console her child, to thankful when she spotted the soft little object that Wednesday was offering.
“Oh, look Benjamin!” she said.
The little boy, who couldn’t be older than 2, turned towards Wednesday, and when his large eyes met hers she felt for a second that he reminded her of Pugsley.
“Thank you”, the mother said to her, and reached out to grab the wolf. “That’s so kind of you!”
She passed the plushie over to her son, who forgot all about crying as he grabbed the wolf and inspected it. Seeing the little boy’s expression soften left Wednesday with a type of inner satisfaction that she’d never felt before. Who knew it could feel so good to do something nice for someone else, without even getting anything in return?
Gomez, who had observed the whole thing from next to her, felt much pride seeing what a sweet gesture his daughter had shown.
“Look at you, doing good deeds like this”, he beamed. “You’ve changed, my little storm cloud.”
Wednesday felt embarrassed and straightened her back a little.
“I only intended to stop the crying”, she explained. “It was annoying me. You know I hate the sound of children.”
“Of course, scorpion”, Gomez answered, but his smile told her that he didn’t believe her for a second.
Wednesday’s good mood continued the entire evening, despite the drugs’ side effects beginning to make themselves known. The family shared a tranquil dinner, and then gathered together in front of the tv, all four of them, to watch a documentary on executions.
As she was sitting there, a feeling that she couldn’t explain spread through her body. It was calm but tingling, warm but chilly. For so long, she had been in fight or flight mode. Even though the scans had looked good the past couple of months, it had been impossible to see a light at the end of the tunnel when she knew how hard the hurdles were to get there.
This evening right here… it was the first time that it dawned on her.
I might actually be okay, was the thought that passed through her head, and the feeling was exhilarating.
Without realizing it, the corners of her mouth had twitched slightly, and a small smile was gracing her lips.
“Wednesday, are you… happy?” her mother asked beside her.
The word caused a reaction in Wednesday that she was not used to feeling. It made that warm feeling bubble up even stronger inside her. It almost felt a little dizzying.
The feeling was definitely good, but in a different way than she usually felt. This was not like the feeling of getting revenge on one of your enemies, although that feeling was also good. It also was not like the feeling of infatuation she had recently discovered with Enid. She wasn’t amused or interested, nor was she determined or motivated. No, the only word she could think of to describe it was the one that her mother had just used.
Happy.
She couldn’t keep her smile from growing bigger.
“You are, my little sunshine”, Morticia smiled, and then she pulled the girl towards her, wrapping her arms around her and pressing multiple kisses to the side of her head.
Suddenly, Pugsley had joined them from Wednesday’s other side, and soon Gomez as well had enveloped his whole family in a warm hug. They were all feeling it: a long and strenuous battle would soon be behind them, and the sense of relief was unparalleled.
Notes:
A few happier things happening here! Any thoughts?
I’m just wondering where these fluffy scenes are coming from, I’m honestly surprised I had it in me. I know it’s not exactly tooth rotting, but this is very likely the happiest scenes I have ever written, haha. My default is more Chapter 8 if you know what I mean.
But, on a more important note:
How’s it going with Fester’s tunnel? Is he...? Can it be…? AAAAAAGH!! He is seeing DAYLIGHT! Watch out people, cause one unbalanced uncle is hitting the road, and he is NOT travelling responsibly! Are you ready for a family reunion next chapter?
Chapter 17: Last Treatment
Notes:
Hi! I'm really sorry this update took almost a whole week. I had planned to update sooner but I actually completely forgot that this weekend was my birthday and my family had planned things for me, lol 😅 If I had remembered I would have planned my updates differently...
I'm also really sorry that I haven't answered any comments in some time. I have a lot of things going on, but I REALLY appreaciate all of you who are following this story and sending me your love <3
Let me preface this chapter by saying that I kinda wrote Uncle Fester's return assuming you all had read my updates on him in the notes (I had not originally planned on adding him, and I guess I got kinda lazy). So if you have not been reading my notes... sorry if it's a bit confusing.....
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Day 2 of treatment came and went, and soon, the very last day of chemo was upon them. She had felt better, of course, but she had definitely also felt much worse so her spirits were quite lifted as she got ready in the morning. Because it was the last day, the whole family was coming with her.
Before she left, she hesitated for a moment in her room, looking at the large black sack containing the dozens of knitted animals she’d made in the past months. Finally, before she could change her mind, she grabbed it and dragged it behind her down the stairs to take with her to the hospital.
All four members of the family scuffled around to get ready and put their coats on, but as they opened the front door and stepped outside, everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Stepping out of a taxi and walking towards the house was the long lost family member they hadn’t heard from in months.
Uncle Fester.
Standing there as if he'd never left, it was surreal seeing him again. After a few seconds of completely silence, the shock wore off and Wednesday dropped the sack she was holding. A second later she was running towards him and into his arms, to hell with her personal boundaries. She had been worried she might die before she got to see him again, and she wasn’t going to waste time pretending like she didn’t need a hug from time to time. Fester grabbed hold of her and lifted her into the air, hugging her close.
A powerful cyclone of emotions rushed through him in that moment. Being the free spirit that he was, he wasn’t used to feeling distress. He would normally find pleasure in any situation, and he should have been able to enjoy himself these past few months. Months spent in a prison oversees, it would normally sound like the ultimate vacation to him. And yet it had been the most agonizing months of his existence, in a very, very bad way.
The first couple of weeks had been mostly filled with shame and self-hatred. He had wanted to tear himself to pieces for letting himself get captured at such a horrible time. He feared the things that Wednesday would have to go through, go through without him by her side. But most of all he feared the possibility of her life coming to an end, and not being able to say goodbye. So once those first weeks had passed, a single emotion had grown so strong it left room for absolutely nothing else: worry. This gut-wrenching and perpetual worry. And it only grew stronger the more time that passed.
Because the truth was, the more time that passed, the bigger the terrifying possibility grew, that Wednesday might not be alive anymore. And he had no idea how he would be able to go back to his regular life if she wasn’t still there.
So, now that she was in his arms, the first and most prominent emotion he felt was relief. She was here, she was still here! But for how long? He still didn’t know how she was doing. Her appearance had changed so drastically, it was evident she had walked a very tough road, and this knowledge made his heart heavy as lead.
Holding her for a long moment, he was left speechless, not knowing how he should react.
“Oh, I’m so happy to see you!” he finally mumbled, as it was the most important thing he wanted her to hear.
He then put her down to have a closer look at her. Taking in every detail of this once familiar face, that was in many ways new to him, his eyebrows frowned with worry.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m good”, Wednesday breathed, and it felt fantastic to be able to actually mean it. “This is my last day of treatment. I’ve done it!”
“You’ve done it?” Fester lit up in a radiating smile. “Oh, I knew you could do it!”
He hugged her again, and when they broke apart he looked up at the rest of the family. They were still standing on the front steps of the house, and it was clear that they were not keen on giving him the same warm welcome as Wednesday had. Pugsley looked a little shy in the background, and Gomez and Morticia were not looking happy.
“I’m back…” Fester said with a half-enthusiastic ‘tadaa’-gesture. “Aren’t ya happy to see me?”
Gomez walked down the front steps to approach his brother.
“How do you expect us to react when you return like this after not getting in touch for months?” he said, seething with anger.
“I’m sorry”, Uncle Fester said. “I truly am! I tried to get back here, I really did. It’s a long story but I’ll tell you all about it. The important part is that I didn’t mean to be away for so long. Wednesday knows I would never leave her side at will.”
“Wednesday looks up to you too much to be angry with you!” Gomez snapped. “But I don’t, and I’m furious! How could you leave us like this? Our family has been through the worst crisis we’ve ever experienced, and we needed you here. She needed you here!”
Uncle Fester seemed to shrink a little before his brother’s furious gaze. It was clear that he felt terrible about being away. He turned to Wednesday and took a step closer so that he was standing right in front of her, his face expressing deep remorse.
“I missed it”, he sighed, shaking his head, berating himself. “You’ve been through hell and back and I missed all of it. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you, Wednesday.”
Wednesday could not find it in her heart to be angry with him, so she just offered him a small smile.
“You’re here now”, she said. “Come with us to the hospital. You can tell us where you’ve been in the car on the way there.”
The car ride gave Uncle Fester more than enough time to explain himself, and after hearing that his motives for leaving had been to try and kidnap a specialist to help Wednesday, and that he had sold his own kidney to break out of prison to get back to them, Gomez and Morticia’s mood did lighten a bit.
When they got to the pediatric oncology ward, Wednesday hauled the large sack of knitted animals up on the nurse’s desk in the infusion area.
“The children like trinkets”, she said dryly. “This sack contains meaningless possessions that can help you enable their addiction to material things, pushing them deeper into the claws of our merciless, capitalist society.”
The nurse behind the desk lit up in a very warm smile when she looked inside the bag and saw its contents.
“Thank you, Wednesday. That’s so thoughtful!” she exclaimed. “I’m sure the children will love them.”
When she sat down in the familiar blue chair and the nurse hooked up her IV, it was for the last time. She’d done it so many times at this point, it felt as familiar as braiding her hair, but for Uncle Fester it was the first time he witnessed her in this setting, and it was difficult for him to see.
“You’ve done this for four whole months?” he said with astonishment, not wanting to believe it was true.
All the hours he’d spent worrying about her from his captivity, and wondering how she was doing… He’d understood she’d had it tough, but it was still painful to see it for himself.
Determined not to let nausea control her, Wednesday made it through three lollipops in the time it took until the last drop of Etoposide entered her body. When it was time to disconnect the IV, not one, but three, nurses came towards her.
“That’s it!” one of them smiled as another pulled the tube out from her port. “You have been so brave, Wednesday, and I hope you take the time to be truly proud of yourself for making it through such a tough treatment.”
Another of the nurses turned towards Gomez and Morticia.
“And to mom and dad we also want to say just how brave you’ve been!” She gave them both a hug. “You’ve been here every treatment, and I know it’s not the easiest thing to watch from the sidelines. But you made it through!”
The smile that she gave them caused Gomez to tear up, and he wiped his tears while Morticia took Wednesday’s hand and pulled her up from her chair.
“You hear that, love?” she said. “You made it through! I’m so proud of you.”
She attacked her with kisses, and though Wednesday would have usually preferred to die rather than be victim of such a display of affection in public, nothing could ruin her good mood today.
She didn’t even object when she was led out into the area outside the chemo suite, and a hammer-like object was put in her hand.
“Time to ring that end-of-chemo gong”, one of the nurses smiled at her, but before she had the time to, the hospital clown snuck up on her and placed a black balloon hat on her head that he had made special for her.
This kind of over the top celebration was one of her least favorite things, and yet she couldn’t stop that bubbly, happy feeling inside her. The glare she gave the clown was not very threatening.
“Go on, Wednesday!” Pugsley told her.
The smile he gave her made it impossible for her not to smile back, and she lifted the mallet high in the air before she struck the gong with a loud bang, earning an applause from her entire family, any hospital staff that was watching, as well as the parents of another patient and other random people walking by.
“We will miss you, but we couldn’t be happier that you’re leaving us”, a nurse smiled.
“I will, respectfully, miss nothing about this place”, Wednesday answered, which caused a few people to chuckle.
And just like that it was over, and she left the oncology ward behind her with her family by her side.
Just because this was her last treatment didn’t mean that she could magically skip the side effects and move right on to being well again. But knowing that she wouldn’t have to do it all again in a couple of weeks definitely made it easier to deal with.
The fact that her beloved uncle had returned was another thing that fueled her motivation to not let the side effects control her. When he asked if his niece and nephew wanted to watch a movie after their late dinner that same evening, Wednesday quickly agreed.
“Sounds delightful”, Gomez smiled in their direction across the dinner table.
His daughter looked very set on watching the movie, but he had to suppress a chuckle knowing there was no way she would stay awake throughout even half of it.
Old school as they were, the movie Fester had suggested was running on cable. Before the kids had entered the living room, Morticia turned their VCR onto record mode.
“I’ll have it recorded so that Wednesday can watch it tomorrow”, she said to Fester, who was lighting the fireplace with his electric hands.
“What do you mean?” he asked in confusion.
“Oh, you’ll see”, Morticia answered with a small wink.
And sure enough, once they were all gathered and the movie was on, Wednesday lasted all of 8 minutes before she was deeply asleep, curled up in a corner of the couch under a thick blanket.
“Aaaand, she’s out”, Gomez confirmed from his seat in one of the armchairs.
Uncle Fester looked down in surprise from where he was sitting next to her. He couldn’t put into words all the emotions that ran through him, seeing this version of his favorite niece.
The pain he had felt not being able to get back to her for all these months was an open wound. He was devastated, heartbroken, angry and terrified that this illness had happened to her. At the same time, he couldn’t believe the fondness he felt for her, and the unbelievable gratitude to have her in his life. That she was still in his life, and hopefully would be for a long time.
“I… She’s…”, grasping for words, he looked up at his brother and sister-in-law, who could see in his eyes what his words were failing to express.
“We know what you mean”, Gomez murmured. “I feel it too, every time I look at her.”
The first few days after treatment mostly revolved around surviving and less around having a good time. After she’d taken her Neulasta shot her body felt so sore, she once again wished she could crawl out of it and get a break. When Thing came to her, dragging a soft towel behind him and motioning for her to come get in the bathtub, she realized a hot bath probably wasn’t the worst idea.
She trailed behind him in the hallway, and locked them both in the bathroom, allowing him to fill the tub with water so hot there was steam on the mirror above the sink. Realizing that she didn’t actually care if he saw her naked, she shed her clothes (a pajama that she was ashamed to admit how many days she had worn without washing it) and carefully lowered herself in the water.
Floating in the warm water, she felt the ache in her bones subside slightly, though it still was present. She didn’t realize she was wincing until Thing waved to get her attention.
He mimicked the motion of massaging, and she understood he wanted to help ease her pain.
“Okay”, she whispered, a little sheepishly.
Thing dove into the water, and soon he was putting deep pressure on her neck and shoulders. She took a few deep breaths, and welcomed the relief it brought her. He kept massaging her, and she didn’t tell him to stop. She was disappointed when she finally felt the pressure stop and he dove to the surface, climbing onto the edge of the tub.
COME, BATH T-O-O L-O-N-G, he told her pointedly.
She scoffed at him.
“I don’t care”, she said. “It’s better than being stiff as a stick.”
Thing stomped angrily with his thumb. Wednesday sighed.
“Fine. Give me five more minutes”, she muttered.
When she finally got out of the water, the unwelcome encounter with gravity reminded her legs that they were, in fact, still aching. But she did feel much better than before.
“I’ll sort myself out from here”, she said and grabbed the doorknob to let Thing out so she could dress herself in peace. After a pause she added: “thank you”.
He shook a little from side to side, meaning “no problem”, and then she opened a little crack for him to crawl out through. Once he was out she closed the door and locked it again. Pausing for a long moment, she then turned towards the mirror and walked closer.
She hadn’t really wanted to spend much time studying herself undressed like this in the past months, but now she couldn’t help herself. She looked into her own eyes and tried to picture what her reflection had looked like before she got sick. Tried to picture it looking like that again.
Her eyes traveling down, she brought her hand up to trail the scar from where she’d had her lymph nodes removed. A little higher up, her port still poked out from under her skin. She had another scan planned after New Year's, and if everything still looked good she would have it taken out.
It would mean taking another step away from her illness, but she wondered how long it would take for her to be able to look at herself and not see cancer. Or if she ever would at all.
It scared her to no end to think that under her scar, and in the lungs she was breathing with right this second, there had been cancerous cells that would have taken her life if given the chance. How could she trust that there weren’t any left now?
As relieved as she was for her treatments to be over, she was equally terrified. For months, she had put the responsibility for getting rid of cancer cells on the chemo drugs. Without them, she just had to trust that her own body would be able to distinguish healthy cells from bad ones, which, evidently, it had done a pretty shit job at last time.
She didn’t know how she would go about her life, every day, with this dreadful knowledge. But something she did know was that she really wanted to keep on living, and the realization itself almost gave her vertigo.
Notes:
Ghahkafsfskl, I feel so for her, and how bittersweet it must be to move on from something like this. Kudos to anyone that has done it. What would Wednesday ever do without her family <3
I'm working hard on writing the last part now. The last two chapters are gonna be pretty long compared to this, but I'm just hoping to wrap it up succesfully.
In the next chapter (Christmas time, can I hear a "Jinglebell"?), amongst other things, you get Wednesday and Enid comforting each other (they need it). You also get to see Uncle Fester trying to make up for his absence by doing Wednesday a big favor. I think it's safe to say his niece will have him wrapped around her finger for life after this.
Chapter 18: Christmas
Notes:
Sike haha, I said there'd be two more chapters, but the last one just turned out way too long compared to the rest of them, so I've had to cut it in half... I was gonna post the last chapter next weekend, but now I may give you the first half some time during the week and save the second half for the weekend.
Hope you're all doing good and that you've had a nice week! Thank you for so many nice comments on the last chapter! Here comes some Christmas time family drama.
Just a heads up before you expect the wrong things, let me disappoint you by saying that I’m asexual and there will be no smut in this. But cheesy, fluffy, romantic stuff? Yes. Meaningful emotional connection and support? Also yes.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Enid always felt a knot in her stomach when she had to go home to her parents house. She liked to avoid it at all costs, but Christmas break was upon them, and she didn’t have a choice. School would be closed, and her family was expecting her home. Christmas was more than a torturous visit with her parents. Since it was a big holiday, there would also be aunts, uncles, enough cousins to take down a few dozen grizzly bears… And her maternal grandmother may be worst of all. The woman had stopped speaking to her over two years ago to show her disapproval at Enid’s inability to wolf out, and any time they were in the same room she was treated like air.
She had known what to expect, but that didn’t make it any easier when the moment came. Sat at the kids’ table among children half her age, while the rest of her family (including multiple cousins younger than her) were talking at loud volume by the longer table on the other side of the room, she longed for Wednesday like she had never longed for anything in her life.
She took the opportunity to sneak away between the main course and desert to get a moment to herself. She slumped down in the window seat in her bedroom having longed the entire day to call Wednesday, she brought out her phone, but was sadly interrupted by the door opening behind her and her mother stepping through.
She could tell from her mother’s body language that yet another conversation about her shortcomings as a werewolf was coming, and she let out a long sigh as she just didn’t have the energy to go through this again.
“Please, mom”, she said. “Can we not do this on Christmas?”
Her mother feigned oblivion as she stepped further into the room.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Esther said. “You always think the worst of me. We need to be able to talk about important things without you starting a fight!”
“Me starting a fight?” Enid said. “All I want is just… to breathe a little. You’re the one who came in here, to the only space in this house that’s mine.”
“Well, that’s just because you’ve been avoiding me all day!” her mother responded.
Enid’s father, having heard his wife’s raised voice, stepped into the room too.
“I just thought”, Esther continued. “Since your cousins are all here, it would benefit you to spend some time with them, rather than to hide out in your room! The way you seem to be rejecting the pack… I can’t help but wonder if you’re rejecting your own transformation too! Would it kill you to try a little? I haven’t seen you wrestle once this holiday, and you barely touched the blood pudding!”
Even though Enid had been looked down on by her mother time and again, and she had tried to fortify her heart not to get hurt by it again, it still stung to hear her say such things.
She looked towards her father and realized he looked as uncomfortable as her to have this conversation. She had always felt a connection to him, one she didn’t feel towards the rest of the pack. She knew they were the same, in some way. But right now, she was also infuriated with him for never being able to stand up to her mom, and always letting her go on like this.
“Mom!” she snapped. “I am my own person! You have to let me lead my own life.”
“And watch you make a horrible mistake?” Esther looked like she was close to tears, but Enid got the feeling it was all an act. “You could end up without a pack, outside the werewolf community. Don’t you understand how hard this is for me?”
“Yes, mother, you have made it very clear!” Enid fumed. “But it can’t always be about your hardships. It’s about time you learn to change your perspective and consider what other people are going through. Yes, I haven’t wolfed out, so what? Can you imagine the things that Wednesday’s parents have had to worry about this year?”
Her claws were out now, and she could not control the rage within her.
“They’ve had to watch her get injected with drugs that have excruciating side effects, and see her turn into a shadow of herself. You’re ashamed because grandma disapproves of me and doesn’t want me next to her at the dinner table, but you know I will be here again next year. I will sit obediently at the kid’s table and I will listen to Aunt June’s children making fun of me like every year, because I always do! Wednesday’s family is celebrating with her today, and they don’t…”
The rage dissipated at once and was replaced with a lump made up of all the worry and sorrow she’d carried this semester. Her voice gave out, adressing the horrible possibility that scared her to know end, and she continued with tears in her eyes.
“They don’t know if they will ever get to celebrate another Christmas with her. While you’re worrying about me growing up to be someone who’s different than you, they have to think about the possibility that she might not get to grow up at all! Do you think they have the time to care that she’s different?”
She could tell that her words were making her mother uncomfortable, while her father gave her a sympathetic gaze. Esther shook her head.
“You are twisting things”, she said, in a voice that was too sugary. “I never said I don’t feel sorry for the Addams family. It’s a terrible situation, really. And they have my deepest condolences. “
“So why are you still here criticizing me?” Enid asked in defeat, her cheeks wet with tears. “Why can’t you let what they are going through stop your judgement for just one second? Just to let me know, for once, that you appreciate me in any way. I mean, even if I never wolf out, at least I won’t be dead.”
“No”, her mother said coldly. “But if you get rejected from the pack… you might as well be.”
The temperature in the room seemed to suddenly drop by thirty degrees, and Enid was shocked to her core. She could feel her face drop with a hurt she didn’t want her mother to have the satisfaction of seeing. She had really thought that she’d gotten used to her mother pushing her down, after being stepped on over and over, but there was no way she could have prepared herself for such a blatant and hurtful utterance.
Still speechless, she watched her mother turn around and leave the room. Her father, surely trying to comfort her, approached her and put his hand on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Enid”, he said. “It must have been a hard semester for you.”
“Yeah”, she said, wiping stubbornly at her tears and shrugging him off with annoyance. “Thanks for the help.”
She pushed him out the door and closed it behind him, finally able to have her peace and quiet. She stayed frozen by the door, her tears drying on her cheeks. She was surprised she wasn’t crying even more after this exchange, but she suspected she was too stunned to be able to.
She shambled back to the seat in her window. Her hands trembling a little when she brought out her phone, she finally made the call to Wednesday, making it a video call as she was desperate to see her.
She felt a lot of her sorrows wash away when the girl picked up, and Enid caught sight of her. She was wearing a black Santa’s hat and looked absolutely precious. Her heart skipped probably three whole beats, and once again she felt incredibly lucky that she was allowed to call Wednesday hers.
“Awww!” she couldn’t help but squeal at the sight.
Wednesday looked a little embarrassed and quickly took the hat off. Enid could see her cheeks redden slightly.
“Pugsley made me wear it”, she explained, and stared into the camera.
“He was right to”, Enid smiled. “You are adorable in it.”
Wednesday was distracted for a moment by the compliment, but then she got more serious. She had learned to read Enid really well, and she could tell that something was bothering her. Knowing how difficult her relationship with her family was, it wasn’t hard to guess why.
“Tell me why you’re upset”, she said.
Enid’s smile faltered a little, and even though she was seemingly trying to put on a brave face, she looked unsure of herself. She didn’t want her mother to take up any space in her time with Wednesday, so she stalled for a moment.
“Put it back on”, she finally demanded.
“What?” Wednesday asked.
“The hat!” Enid said. “I’ll only tell you if you put the hat back on.”
Wednesday gave her a long and murderous gaze before she gave in and put the hat back on her head (not that it was ever even a question. She could never say no to Enid).
“There”, she said. “Now… I want to know. What did your mother do and how would you prefer I take her out?”
And so Enid recited what had happened moments earlier, and Wednesday felt a wild beast of rage aimed at Mrs. Sinclair flare up inside her the more she talked. How anyone could have Enid in their life and be so unappreciative was beyond her. She was even left speechless for a moment after Enid had finished talking.
“I’ll come get you!” she then offered, feeling her heart twist painfully imagining how badly Enid was treated by her pack.
Enid scoffed a little.
“Yeah, right”, she said. “Like your parents would let you travel across the entire country right now.”
“You’re right”, Wednesday responded. “But I can send someone else to get you.”
“Wednesday…” Enid said, moved by the proposal. “Getting here would take well over 40 hours.”
“Not if my Uncle Fester is driving”, Wednesday answered dryly. “And he owes me one. Will you be able to endure your family until tomorrow?”
“Wait… you actually mean it?” Enid’s voice was soft and rather surprised.
“Of course”, Wednesday said matter-of-factly. “I will text you when he leaves to give you an approximate arrival time. Pack your bags.”
And with those words, she hung up the call before Enid had the chance to neither comment, nor process what had just happened.
Wednesday, who had retired to the kitchen to speak to Enid in peace, walked back towards the living room where her whole family was currently gathered.
The day that they had spent together had actually been very enjoyable. Since Wednesday’s energy level was still very low, they’d taken it easy and just enjoyed the fact that they all got to be together.
They’d played different family games. Wednesday had played a few songs on her cello, accompanied by her mother on a violin and her father on a Mexican harp. They had all had dinner together, and exchanged gifts afterwards. Similarly to her birthday, both Wednesday and Pugsley had gotten more gifts than they needed, not just from their parents but from Uncle Fester as well, who had found some strange things on his journey to prison and back.
Now, the evening was approaching its end (at least for Wednesday, whose need of sleep was greater than that of the others). She found them gathered around the fire place where she had left them. Pugsley was sitting on the floor, throwing the roasted crickets he had gotten as a present from Fester in the air and catching them in his mouth.
Gomez and Morticia were showering each other with affection on the couch. Wednesday had noticed that this habit of theirs had almost ceased completely during the months that they had spent worrying about her. But it seemed their nerves had calmed down enough after her last treatment that they were slowly getting back to their old ways. (They also showered her with unnecessary affection all the time, and she hated that she loved it.)
Wednesday ignored everyone but her uncle (sat in the rocking chair sharpening his knives), who she walked up to with determined steps.
“Fester”, she said. “Do you remember that time when I fell seriously ill and you didn’t visit me for months?”
Fester gulped and looked at her with much remorse. It was hardly something he would ever forget. He didn’t mind for one second that she used it as leverage to get favors out of him. She would get anything she wanted from him for the rest of their lives.
“I have a way for you to make it up to me”, she continued.
He threw the knives to the side and stood up before he had even heard her request.
“Anything you need, Wednesday”, he said.
“How fast is that motorbike I’ve seen you hide behind the graveyard?” she asked him.
She’d seen him stuff away a very strange looking, dalmatian patterned, motorbike with a sidecar when she was spying on him.
Uncle Fester, who had thought that the bike was secret, was a little taken aback by her question for a moment.
“Well… It’s fast enough”, he finally said.
The truth was that he had trimmed it to reach very illegal velocities.
“Good”, Wednesday said. “Enid is being bullied by her family in San Francisco and she needs saving. Go pick her up.”
“You’re asking me to set out in the middle of the night to break the east to west speed record on a motorbike?” he asked her.
Then he broke out into a wide grin and almost teared up.
“That sounds like the best Christmas gift of the evening, thank you!” he hugged her closed and then rushed out of the room to fetch his stuff.
“When should she expect you?” Wednesday called after him.
“Tell her around 12 o’clockish!”
Enid hadn’t been able to actually believe that Wednesday was going to send anyone to get her until she received the text that read:
Fester is coming around noon tomorrow. Have your bags ready.
Then the three dots telling her that Wednesday was writing had appeared and reappeared a few times until another text came that said:
I can’t wait to see you.
This had made Enid smile widely, knowing that it had taken a lot for Wednesday to express herself like this.
It was now the next day, and she was pacing by the window in her room, looking outside every ten seconds to see if Uncle Fester had appeared in the driveway. The morning with her family had been torturous. She had had to watch her cousins constantly compete in strength and courage. While just walking by them she’d been easily tackled and pinned to the ground by one of them wanting to prove himself in front of the others. Her ears were ringing from the ever present noise, and the only thing that gave her the energy to get through the day was the knowledge that she would soon be in Wednesday’s calm presence.
Her family seemed to have forgotten about her, which was a great relief to her and allowed her to pace without interruption. She had waited by the window for over an hour when the strangest vehicle she had ever seen came around the corner faster than lightning (in fact, there seemed to be little sparks of lightning emitting from it?) and came to a very loud stop in her driveway.
She had waited for so long that she momentarily forgot what to do now that he’d arrived, but then she hurried to her wardrobe, grabbing the two bags that she had packed during the night and hidden there.
She could hear her family members’ intrigued voices as she was coming down the stairs. They clearly hadn’t missed Uncle Fester’s loud arrival, and she could hear them gathered in the kitchen, where they were most likely watching this strange man through the window.
She was almost at the bottom of the stairs when her mother came out of the kitchen and spotted her. Noticing her bags, Enid could practically see the inner sigh of disappointment that her mother was making.
“Enid”, Esther said coldly. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Enid braced herself, forced herself to stand tall and look her mother in the eyes.
“Wednesday’s house”, she stated and then walked past her mother towards the door. “My ride is waiting for me.”
“Enid!” her mother scolded and grabbed her shoulder just as she’d opened the front door, forcing her to turn around. “I didn’t say you could leave.”
“No”, Enid said, her heart beating fast as she stared her mother down. “But you aren’t exactly keen on having me stay here either.”
By this point, the rest of the family had appeared behind Esther, and Enid wasn’t just facing her mother. She was facing close to 30 pairs of curious eyes.
“Of course I want you to stay!” Ester said. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”
“No, mother, you don’t!” Enid said, forcing herself to focus just on the woman in front of her. “Because I’m not talking about future, ‘potential werewolf’ me. I’m not talking about the person you imagined I would be. I mean this me!” she gestured towards herself. “The me who just wants to enjoy my Christmas by listening to some nice music, and reading a good book, and talking about things that don’t have anything to do with fighting or hunting!”
The rest of the family’s gazes moved to something behind her, and Enid understood that Uncle Fester must have appeared in the doorway.
“If you would really choose to spend your holiday with these people rather than your own family, then maybe you’re right”, Esther said with distaste.
Enid let her gaze wander over her relatives. Her father stepped out from the group and walked over to grab her hand. Not violently like when her mother had stopped her in the doorway, but rather affectionately.
“I wish you would stay”, he said, and Enid knew that he meant it in a way that her mother never could.
She offered him a small smile.
“Maybe next break”, she said, squeezing his hand back.
Then she turned around without any regrets and stood face to face with Wednesday’s Uncle. He was flashing her a smile so big it was almost creepy. She had never met him in person, but it wasn’t hard to make the connection between him and Wednesday, even though they were vastly different: Fester was more… unhinged. And seemingly more of an optimist. But they were both so peculiar in their own way that there was no mistaking that they were both part of the Addams clan.
He reached out his hand in indication for her to pass over one of her bags, and she complied, smiling back at him. The door closed between her and her family, and she didn’t feel an ounce of regret.
“That was quite the speech you made in there!” Fester told her as they walked towards the vehicle. “I can see what Wednesday sees in you, alright. She would have been very impressed.”
Enid’s heart fluttered at the mention of Wednesday’s name, and she picked up the pace, anxious to get to the Addams manor.
They stuffed her bags under Fester’s seat and she got in the side car, putting on the dalmatian helmet he offered her. That’s when she suddenly remembered how fast he had been driving before.
“You’ll drive… responsibly, right?” she asked nervously.
“Of course!” Fester said with a chuckle. “Hold on tight!”
A second later they shot out of the driveway like a cannonball from its cannon. Enid let out a long and petrified scream. Once she had finally managed to take a couple of breaths, they had already travelled multiple miles.
“THIS… IS… SO… ILLEGAL!” she yelled. “If we drive past a police car they will go ballistic!”
“Yes, but how will they catch us?” Fester answered with a borderline insane laugh. “Just close your eyes for a minute or so, you’ll get used to the speed in a jiff.”
Somehow, Uncle Fester was right. Enid did get used to the speed after a while, she even found it quite thrilling. And even more surprising: she managed to sleep a little during the long ride. They had to stop many times for gas. A couple of times they did see a flash of blinking, blue sirens but, like Fester had predicted, chasing them was impossible.
The drive seemed to last both a short while, and forever simultaneously. After all, they did make a 46 hour trip in just 17 hours. Around 9 in the morning the following day, they were fast approaching the Addams manor.
Meanwhile, Wednesday awaited Enid’s arrival with great impatience. Of course, her parents had no problem whatsoever with Enid coming over. They wanted nothing more than for Wednesday to be happy, and Enid clearly made her very happy.
Furthermore, they felt they would be forever indebted to Enid in a way. They knew that her support had been invaluable for Wednesday while she was sick, and they suspected that she had been more open with Enid than she had been able to be with them. For that they were eternally grateful, and she would always be welcome in their house.
When the unmistakable bang of Fester’s motorbike sounded outside the house, the entire family went outside to greet them welcome. Enid’s hair was very tousled from the heavy wind it had been subjected to, but she looked overjoyed as she jumped out of the sidecar. As soon as she’d planted her feet on the ground though, she stopped moving. Remembering what had happened last time they had met in person, she was a little hesitant to get too close.
“Are you sure you won’t get sick if I get closer?” she hesitantly asked Wednesday. “Do you have enough white blood cells?”
“Yes”, Wednesday assured her with amusement from the front steps.
To be safe, Enid looked towards her parents too.
“Does she?” she asked.
“Her numbers should be okay by now”, Gomez answered with a reassuring smile.
“Can I kiss her?” Enid asked.
Morticia chuckled but nodded.
“Go ahead”, she smiled.
Finally, Enid hesitancy disappeared and she sprinted forwards into Wednesday’s arms, first hugging her close, and then pressing her lips to hers. Wednesday felt those fluttery moths, that she was by now very accustomed to, go wild inside her stomach.
When they broke apart, Wednesday noticed Pugsley out of the corner of her eye, giving her a very dopey grin, and she got a little flustered as she realized her family was watching.
“I take it you’re satisfied with Fester’s delivery service?” Uncle Fester, who had parked the motorbike and approached them, joked with her.
Wednesday gave him a long an unamused stare, as she didn’t like to be made fun of. But the truth was she was thankful.
“You have my gratitude”, she finally said, before grabbing Enid’s hand and pulling her into the house.
It was strange, but walking into the Addams manor, Enid felt like she was coming home. In reality, she hadn’t been here all that many times, but it felt as though she had. Maybe it was because her mind had been with Wednesday every second while they were apart.
They put Enid’s things away in Wednesday’s room and then, in the privacy of the bedroom they continued the kiss they had only begun outside the house. Though this wasn’t their first time anymore, it felt just as thrilling as that first time had felt. Wednesday felt certain she would never get used to this feeling. She could have easily agreed to do this all day, but their moment was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Mom says you should come downstairs and have brunch”, Pugsley’s voice was heard through the door.
Breaking apart, the pair looked into each other’s eyes, and Enid broke out into a giggle, earning one of Wednesday’s rare smiles. Those smiles made Enid feel like the luckiest person in the entire world.
Reluctantly, they headed towards the door, but not without joining their hands together.
Though Christmas had already passed, both teens found themselves in a merrier mood now that they were together. Eating Christmas leftovers with Wednesday’s family, Enid finally got to experience some of the holiday spirit she had wished for. Wanting to show her gratitude, she helped clear the table afterwards, crowding in the kitchen with the rest of them.
She wanted to leave her mother in San Francisco, many miles out of her mind, but the torn the woman had wedged in her heart this time hurt more than she cared to admit. Even though being around Wednesday’s family was helping to heal her, seeing the contrast between them and her own family was painful all the same. When she saw the harmony with which the Addams family was working together, the torn twisted particularly painfully inside her.
She’d thought she’d been doing a good job hiding her troubled state of mind, but as she was putting dishes away in the sink, she suddenly felt Wednesday’s arms sneak around her waist. Her grip was unnecessarily strong. Enid could tell there was anger behind it, and she could vividly picture the ways that Wednesday was imagining hurting her mother in that moment. She let out a sigh and felt herself shrink a little.
“Do you… wish to address your worries?” Wednesday asked, her voice a little stiff, not habituated to this type of conversation.
Enid turned around so she was leaning back against the counter, Wednesday releasing her death grip on her but staying right in front of her.
“Oh, you know…” Enid said. “It’s the same old story, really, but it’s hard to let go. All that matters to my mom is that I be normal, she made that very clear. If I don’t wolf out, I’ll be left out, miss out on something huge, yada yada…”
“Your mother is an imbecile”, Wednesday muttered. “It’s astonishing that she can’t see that she’s the one missing out.”
“What if I never amount to anything in their eyes?” Enid mumbled.
“Enid, you have already accomplished incredible things”, Wednesday emphasized. “You are invaluable to me. I am entirely convinced that, even if you never wolf out, you will lead a most extraordinary life. You have so many fantastic qualities, whatever path you choose… you will shine as blindingly bright as you do already.”
This caused a smile, made up of equal parts gratitude and melancholy, to appear on the werewolf’s face.
“Yes, I know that, but my mom… I think she would rather I be dead than not a fully-fledged werewolf.”
Since the rest of Wednesday’s family were still in the same room, they all learned what terrible things were troubling the young girl’s mind. Gomez and Morticia shared a horrified look.
The teen’s words were so dark, so unthinkable… And yet, it was clear that she was being truthful. Stunned to silence, Morticia was surprised by angry tears threatening to fall. Maybe it had something to do with how inadequate she felt for not being able to protect her own daughter from hardship, but she suddenly felt fiercely protective of the young werewolf.
A wild storm of uncomfortable emotions surged up in her. As she had always had a more positive disposition, she hadn’t known that it was possible to feel such rage towards another person, until now that is. Enid’s mother… Morticia didn’t understand her! Enid was an incredible young woman, sweet and wonderful through and through. Morticia felt she deserved the world.
Esther Sinclair had been lucky enough to get a child like that in her life, and she was healthy. How could the woman allow herself to be picky about anything else about her? Couldn’t she understand how much Morticia wished that she could have what she had: a healthy child?
In an attempt to let out the rage inside her, she took to aggressively scrubbing the frying pan clean. But as the teens started walking past her to leave the kitchen, she couldn’t keep herself from reaching out and stopping Enid in front of her.
“I’m so sorry things have gone this way with your mother”, she said, shaking her head at the heaviness of the situation. “I really hope for her sake that she’ll start seeing clearly one day, because Wednesday is right: she is missing out.”
When she saw the youngsters bottom lip tremble a little, she pulled her closer and wrapped her arms around her, willing the universe to let her feel safe and loved, while Enid mumbled a “thank you” into the embrace.
Wednesday and Enid could have easily spent the entire day just touching each other. But Wednesday, recognizing this for what it was: a result of the powerful hormones of being newly in love, didn’t want to succumb completely to this irresistible addiction, and decided they must do at least something else with their time.
Enid would have been bummed out, but Wednesday’s words left an exhilarated feeling inside her.
“Did you just say ‘in love’?” she breathed, smiling like a fool.
She did not miss the way that Wednesday’s cheeks reddened at this.
“It’s just the scientific term for the occurrence of… for the things that…”
The Latina stumbled on her words in an attempt to explain herself.
“Are you in love with me?” Enid could not stop herself from saying, almost bouncing a little up and down once again.
“Don’t make me say it again!” Wednesday grumbled, but when Enid threw her arms around her and squeezed her tightly with excitement, she let out a grumpy “yes”.
“Don’t worry”, Enid said, and let her go so she could look her in the eye. “Because I happen to be in love with you too.”
After this exchange, Enid agreed to play a game of chess and then, reluctantly, to help the Addams siblings practice charming the snake that Pugsley had gotten for Christmas.
But when nighttime came, they belonged entirely to each other. Not having even bothered to bring out the guest bed this time, Wednesday led Enid back to her room as soon as their nightly chores were done and got into bed, looking expectantly at Enid for her to follow.
Enid broke into a soft but very warm smile.
“So, you’re feeling better now, are you?”
Wednesday nodded subtly, and Enid lowered herself onto the bed. As soon as they were face to face, stretched out on the bed, Enid pressed her lips to Wednesday’s, and she could feel the other girl’s hands run through her hair. The kissed for a moment before breaking apart and resting their foreheads together, each holding the other delicately.
“I can’t believe this is how I get to spend Christmas break”, Enid sighed contently. “To think I would still have to endure my mother if you hadn’t sent for me…”
“Don’t speak of such evil in my bed”, Wednesday muttered.
With eyes still closed, Enid’s hand wandered, stroking Wednesday’s head first, then from her shoulder and to her back.
“You’re right”, she mumbled.
After a moment’s silence, Wednesday spoke again.
“I could pass my cancer onto her, unless you think that’s stepping over the line.”
“Stop it”, Enid chuckled, opening her eyes back up and lightly hitting Wednesday in the side. “You don’t have cancer anymore.”
At her words, she could see Wednesday’s mood darken a little, and the girl grew stiff in front of her. Her face troubled, she was silent for a long moment.
“We don’t know that”, she finally muttered, looking down rather than meeting Enid’s gaze.
And Enid knew there was nothing she could say that would relieve Wednesday of this worry. Even though her treatments were over, the worrying had only just begun. She would have to be monitored for 5 years, going back for scans every few months, before she would be considered completely free of cancer.
Instead of speaking immediately, she shifted so that she could pull Wednesday to her chest, and let the girl’s head rest against her heart. With one hand cradling her head, and the other soothingly stroking her back, she did what she could to take the hurt away.
“I know that we can’t be sure yet…” she said, causing a shiver to run down her own spine. “But there’s a good chance that you have been cured. I’m going to believe that the treatment has worked until proven differently.”
Wednesday didn’t answer, but Enid could feel the tension in her shoulders slowly disappear as she was being held.
They stayed like that for a long time in silence, each person deep in their own thoughts, each needing the other every bit as much as the other. Finally, the silence was broken by a small chuckle coming from Enid.
“Could you have ever imagined, after our very first encounter, that we would end up here?” she said.
Wednesday opened her eyes where she was still resting against Enid’s chest, and smiled.
“No”, she answered. “I believe I would have murdered you if you would have told me.”
“I’m thankful that you didn’t”, Enid smiled.
“So am I.”
Notes:
Merry Christmas, what did you think about seeing a little more of Enid's perspective? I love that their relationship is starting to feel so established now, they love each other so much!!
While this is almost finished, I definitely have ideas to write some sort of epilogue. But if there’s a continuation, it will be after a long hiatus as my brain is fried from all the time spent working on this. Not to mention, while writing this a bunch of my colleagues have been and still are on long-term sick leave so I’m basically pulling 3 people’s weight at work, and my roommate has developed psychosis… (She’s receiving help now!) I’m not fishing for sympathy, although actually yes I am a little bit because it’s been the scariest thing I’ve ever witnessed. But, nevertheless, I hope you’ll take the story as it is now, and hopefully we’ll meet again later on. Writing this and sharing it with you has been the light in my life for the past months <3
Sooo, to give me inspiration for a continuation, now is the time to start giving your prompts, please fire away! Any suggestions you might have! How do you think Wednesday and her family will deal with her long road back to her former strength, and the constant fear of a relapse? What will her and Enid get up to now that she’s well again?
Or maybe there are scenes you thought were missing in the original fic? A specific character’s perspective that we haven’t dived into? What else should I have put Wednesday through? Maybe there could be some flashbacks to fill in the gaps idk. You have my permission to go nuts with the suggestions. Though I need to tell you, I have never actually written anything off of a prompt before, so I’m definitely not making any promises at all!!! But I did change and add a few things in the story after reading your comments (Uncle Fester would never have reappeared without you nagging me about him!), so you never know! If I feel inspired I’ll most certainly try! There’s a first time for everything!
In the next chapter Wednesday prepares to go back to school, while struggling with the fact that she doesn't feel better yet. But as always, she has her family and Enid by her side.
Chapter 19: Recovery
Notes:
Helooo, let's throw another chapter out there
Thank you as always for your feedback on the last chapter. I’m happy to hear you seem to agree with me on the no smut thing, I agree that it doesn’t fit in this story!
I'm sorry if this chapter has too much medical rambling. Like I told you, this chapter and the next were supposed to be just one chapter before the word count slipped out of my control. I kinda wanted to show how frustratingly slow her recovery feels to her.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
With her return to school approaching, it was time for Wednesday to put more focus on her schoolwork, and the Christmas holiday turned into a study workshop for her and Enid. While Wednesday had sent in work sporadically, she had not kept up the same pace as the rest of her class and had a few assignments left from last semester. Enid, as well, had a couple of tests she needed to retake.
Wednesday was very determined to start back up at the same time as her classmates, even though both Enid and her parents thought she was rushing it a bit. But any time they dared mentioning something along those lines, they were met with complete denial.
With Wednesday’s room as their headquarters, the teens used her desk to study side by side. With a copy each of the same biology textbook, they started by studying the same chapter to prepare for their next exam.
Up until now, the work that Wednesday had done had been performed bit by bit during short spurts of energy. But during these winter days with Enid… it was the first time in a long time that she was made to sit and focus for an extended amount of time and, to her dismay, she found herself struggling. She had always excelled in school, getting by without putting any effort in. Now, she found herself losing focus, catching herself staring blankly at the page before her without actually retaining any information.
Extremely frustrated with herself, she repeatedly had to force herself to get back on task, but as the time passed by, she started growing dizzy from the effort.
“Okay, let’s quiz each other”, Enid suggested after their short break for lunch.
Bringing out the example questions in the back of the book, she read the first one to Wednesday.
“What do you call the folds in the inner membrane of the mitochondria?”
She looked up expectantly at Wednesday, knowing she was always the brighter one of the two, but Wednesday felt her heart sink. She tried to look through every part of her brain to find the answer, but it was like everything she had read was completely gone. There wasn’t a trace left.
“I… I can’t remember”, she said with a frown.
Enid tried not to show any concern.
“That’s okay”, she said. “Do you want to try another one?”
“Yes”, Wednesday muttered.
Her eyes were now flashing with anger.
“At what stage does a fertilized egg become a blastocyst?” Enid asked.
Her question was followed by a long silence. Then, Wednesday stood up, grabbed her textbook and walked over to her childhood guillotine in the corner of the room where she angrily sliced the book in two.
Shocked at her sudden outburst, Enid looked at the back turned towards her.
“It won’t be like this forever”, she tried. “It’s only been what, 3 weeks since you last had chemo? It's not that strange if you need a little more time…”
“Cancer has already taken enough time as it is!” Wednesday growled in frustration.
Gulping down a knot of uncomfortable feelings, Enid stood up and walked over to her corner, where she held out the printed article that they were meant to read for their English class.
“Do you want to do some more slicing?” she asked cautiously.
Wednesday kept on staring dejectedly into the corner, but then she reached out her hand and snatched the article out of Enid’s hand. Soon, the pages were sliced in two, just like her biology textbook.
“Did that feel a little better?” Enid asked her.
“A little”, Wednesday muttered. “Thank you.”
“Maybe we don’t have to study any more today?” Enid suggested. “We can watch a movie instead…”
“No”, Wednesday insisted. “I need to be able to do this. School is starting in just a few days, I need to get ready.”
Feeling about done with trying to memorize facts for the biology test, Wednesday decided to try and start writing the history assignment she was late to write. After putting a piece of paper in her typewriter, she went back to trying her very hardest to focus, but her attempts did not turn out fruitful this time either. In the end, she’d only written two lines, but she was so tired she was seeing double and her head was throbbing.
When Gomez came to tell them it was dinnertime, she was passed out on her bed.
The next day, as she was waking up from a nap on the couch, her mother approached her and sat down right next to her on the edge of the couch.
“All this studying seems to be doing a number on you”, she stated.
With a scowl on her face, the grumpy teen refused to answer as she stayed under her blanket.
“I’ve read up some more on possible side effects”, her mother explained. “And it seems problems with memory and concentration is quite a common side effect from the drugs you’ve been getting. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you will always be our sharp little firecracker.”
“I don’t feel very sharp”, Wednesday muttered.
“I know”, Morticia said. “But I don’t want you to push yourself too much. You shouldn’t make yourself work so hard if it takes this much energy out of you. It’s okay to take things slow in the beginning. I don’t want you to get burnt out, darling.”
“How am I meant to take things slow?” Wednesday grumbled. “School starts again on Thursday, no one else will be taking it slow.”
“No one else has had cancer the entire school year either, love”, her mother said softly. “I’m afraid you won’t get back to 100% overnight. Your body needs time to heal.”
“I know!” Wednesday grumbled.
This was exactly what was bothering her.
“That’s why your father and I thought…” Morticia continued. “You have your scan next Wednesday, a week after the start of the semester, and you would have to come back here anyway. Would it be so bad if you stayed here until after you’ve had the scan, and take an extra week to recover?”
Wednesday looked at her in horror.
“No! I won’t stay here a second longer than I have to. I want to get my life back.”
Morticia sighed.
“I know you want to”, she said. “But tell me honestly, do you think that you are ready to go back to being a full time student as soon as the day after tomorrow? To sit through the whole day of classes, 7 hours each day. No nap times.”
Wednesday maintained her death stare for a long time before she looked away in frustration.
“No”, she admitted.
“Do you remember that we talked about having a birthday redo once you got better?” Morticia changed the subject. “I was thinking: what could be better than a combined birthday and getting well celebration? If you stay here, then we can invite your friends from school next weekend and celebrate you being done with your treatments. Then you can all go back to school together after that.”
Wednesday felt far from tempted by this proposal. It felt too personal to have all her school friends over. But feeling it was an important occasion to celebrate, her mother was set on convincing her.
“You can offer them some of Uncle Fester’s delicacies, maybe let them try some of our torture equipment, make them participate in humiliating games…”
The girl perked up a little at these propositions, and she had to admit it didn’t sound all too bad.
“I’ll think about it”, she finally said.
But she didn’t actually decide to stay home an extra week until Enid was given permission by Weems to keep her company. As for the party, she was reluctant to send out invitations before she had even had her scan taken, for obvious reasons.
“I like cruel pranks”, she said at the dinner table one evening. “But even I find it a bit too depressing to send out invitations to a ‘getting well’ party if it turns out I’m not well.”
“Of course, I didn’t mean you should invite them right away”, Morticia said.
She was entirely in agreement with her daughter on this one. If any cancer cells turned up on her daughter’s scan, meaning they would have to watch her go through the hell that was cancer treatment again… All Morticia would want to do was bury herself deep under her covers and scream and cry. She most certainly wouldn’t want to have the house full of guests.
“How about this?” she asked. “You have your appointment to go through the results next Thursday. If all looks good then, you can call your friends after the appointment to invite them over for the weekend. They can come here on Saturday, stay one night, and then you’ll all go back to school on Sunday. Would that work?”
“That would be… acceptable”, Wednesday answered.
Now, she only had to let herself hope that it would happen.
And so while school started back up, Wednesday’s life was kept on pause as she waited. Waited for the day she would finally feel like she’d gotten better. Because even though her treatments were over, she in no way felt well again. It was actually rather anticlimactic.
The week leading up to her scan crept by in slow-motion. Her soul was itching to start living an active life again, while her body felt like an anchor of lead, dragging behind her and holding her back. The frustration it caused her made her feel like she might explode, and the worst part was that she couldn’t stop herself from taking it out on her family, even Enid. One minute she was yelling at her father just for looking at her, the next she annoyedly shrugged Enid away when she offered to help her carry a bag that looked heavy.
But no one could hold it against her, they were all incredibly nervous for the scan.
Wednesday morning finally came, and while their classmates were starting their literature class, Wednesday and Enid were waiting with Wednesday’s dad at the hospital’s radiology department.
Wednesday did not succeed in hiding her anxiety. The girl who could normally easily be mistaken for a statue (and had been on many occasions, too), was antsy. Her leg bouncing ever so slightly was the sign that gave her away. But suddenly, something pulled her out of it. First: Enid’s hand in hers. Then: Enid’s head on her shoulder. Wednesday felt herself relax. She took a few calming breaths and leaned her own head on top of Enid’s.
When it was finally her turn, the person coming to fetch her was none other than their very favorite scan technician, Susan (when would she ever retire, seriously?). Grumpy as ever, she looked at their joined hands with disgust.
“No friends in the room”, she said monotonously, as if they’d forgotten last time.
“And how about girlfriends?” Enid tried with her most innocent and charming smile.
“Not a chance”, Susan answered. “You’re waiting outside. Dad can come inside.”
Unable to keep herself from smiling (the memory of how they had tormented her last time still cracked her up), Enid pulled Wednesday to her feet, giving her a quick kiss and then squeezing her close in a hug.
“You’ll be great”, she said. “See you in just a short moment.”
Wednesday’s dark eyes found strength in hers, and she gave ger a light nod before turning around to follow Susan.
One hour at a time.
No.
One minute at a time.
This was the only way to get through the 24 hours that followed. If Wednesday hadn’t had Enid, doing her best to distract her, she probably wouldn’t have made it. But somehow she did make it, and the moment came when she was back in a waiting room chair between both her parents, waiting for Dr Sanderson to meet them.
They had decided it would be best this way, with Enid and Pugsley staying behind with Uncle Fester. It she was about to receive bad news, Wednesday wasn’t sure how to react with Enid in the room. If it was good news, she kind of looked forward to getting to tell her herself.
A radiant smile. That was what they were met by when Dr Sanderson came into view, and the anxious wait came to an end. Before she even brought them to her office, she said the words they’d been longing to hear.
“Congratulations Wednesday! It looks like I won’t be seeing you for a long time now, because you are healthy as a horse.”
She was astonished that words could have such an impact on her. When she stood up from her chair, her heart felt light as air, soaring in relief. She barely noticed her mother crushing her in a hug, or her father’s arm around her shoulders as he led her towards Dr Sandersons office, wearing a smile, prouder than she’d ever seen before. Not until she was sat in a chair in front of Dr Sandersons desk did she fully grasp what she’d just heard.
“I don’t need any more treatments?” she dared to ask.
“See for yourself”, Dr Sanderson smiled and pushed a couple of scan images across her desk.
Wednesday zoned out a little, staring at her scans, while the doctor kept on talking about the treatment regimen she had just completed. She couldn’t believe that she was actually going to get to leave this all behind her, and she couldn’t wait to get home and tell Enid. Mentally, she’d already started planning what she was going to pack to go back to the academy, when Dr Sanderson addressed her and made her snap out of her thoughts.
“Before you leave here today, I want to look you over and check how you’re doing. It’s expected for a treatment like this to affect you for some time, but I will do what I can to help you recover as fast as possible. We’ll do another general exam on your 3 month appointment, and hopefully it will tell us that you’re moving in the right direction.”
Wednesday had no choice but to let the doctor examine her. She checked her heart, her breathing, her weight, her vision… As the minutes ticked by, Wednesday grew more and more impatient to go home. She had already been told that she was healthy! Was all this really necessary? When the examination finally seemed to be over, Wednesday was bursting to get out of there. That’s when the doctor decided it was apparently time to ask more questions.
“From what I can tell you’re doing well considering what you’ve been through”, she started. “If you can manage to put on a few more pounds it would make me even happier, but I’m really pleased with how well you’re doing. We’ll do a more thorough examination of your lung function on your next appointment. Because of the scar tissue, you may need to be prepared that you won’t feel exactly the same as before, but I don’t see any reason to believe that you won’t be able to lead a perfectly normal life. Now, numbers and technicalities aside… How are you feeling?”
“I feel perfectly fine”, Wednesday quickly answered, glancing at the clock on the wall for maybe the 30th time.
Dr Sanderson smiled at her.
“I’ve heard you’re eager to get back to school”, she said. “I’m happy to hear that you’re feeling up to it. But I do know from my other patients that the transition back to regular life may sometimes be quite exhausting the first few weeks. You may continue to struggle with some of the side-effects for some time, so I need you to remember to take enough time to rest.”
Her parents shared a look of great approval, hearing the doctor say this. It was the message they’d been trying to make their daughter hear.
“I’m not struggling”, was all Wednesday said in answer, making both parents look at her in disbelief.
Dr. Sanderson smiled a little towards the family.
“It doesn’t look like your parents completely agree”, she said. “Is it okay with you if they tell me the things they might have in mind? There may be ways to manage these side-effects and make your recovery a little easier, but you need to be truthful with me.”
“Fine”, Wednesday muttered, and leaned back in her chair. It seemed she wouldn’t get out of this office any time soon.
Dr Sanderson turned her focus towards the parents.
“What things are you concerned with?” she asked.
“Well, for starters: anything food-related”, Gomez started listing. “We’re struggling a lot with that one. She barely has any appetite, still. And her sense of taste is not at all what it used to be.”
“It’s not that bad…” Wednesday tried to argue.
If they were going to dwell this long on every little detail she was never going to get out of there.
“No?” Morticia asked her with raised eyebrows. “You mean there’s no specific reason at all why won’t you drink anything other than strawberry juice at the moment?”
“It has to be the right brand, too”, Gomez added, shooting a look at the doctor.
“I just don’t feel like drinking other flavors.”
“Because…?” Morticia urged.
Wednesday’s dark eyes glowered at her mother for a long moment.
“Because they taste wrong”, she finally admitted with a sigh.
“So your sense of taste is off by quite a lot, I gather, if it’s this hard for you to find flavors that you tolerate”, the doctor said.
“But I can tolerate it”, Wednesday insisted. “If I must I can endure it.”
“Let me put it another way for you”, Dr Sanderson said. “You shouldn’t have to endure anything. I want you to be able to enjoy things.”
Wednesday, who had always seen the world as a place that had to be endured, had a bit of a hard time grasping this. She also didn’t understand why the doctor’s words almost caused her to tear up. She could never really know what was going on with her emotions these days. The cool indifference she’d always kept up before she fell ill was long gone.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic way to get your sense of taste back”, the doctor continued. “But the good news is that the issue most often disappears within a couple of months. In the meantime, I suggest you make the school cafeteria aware of the situation, so that they can see to it that your needs are met. You can send in a list beforehand of the things that work best for you at the moment, and things that you absolutely don’t want to eat. That way they can make sure that you have options. You shouldn’t be forced to eat things that you find difficult to tolerate. Same thing goes if you’re experiencing any digestive problems. Let them know if there are things your stomach can’t handle.”
Wednesday stayed quiet, but she was silently thankful that the doctor had addressed the problem without her needing to open up about the gruesome details of her uncooperative bowels. The truth was, she’d had to grow very accustomed to stomach aches in her months of treatment, and they had yet to disappear. She had to be very wary of what she ate and some things she’d never had a problem with before, like garlic and dairy products, her stomach rebelled violently against. It was another item added to the list of problems regarding food, that made her still rely on high calory shakes to complement her nutritional intake.
“Is there anything else bothering you?” Dr Sanderson’s gaze travelled between the parents.
“The fatigue”, Gomez said, throwing his hands out in a hopeless gesture. “We just want to see her get her spark back.”
“Of course”, Dr Sanderson nodded. “Since it wasn’t all that long ago you finished your treatments, I’m not surprised you’re tired, Wednesday. It’s not uncommon for patients to continue experiencing fatigue for the first few weeks or months after finishing treatment, but it should be getting better with time. I’m fully convinced that when I see you for your 6 month check-up, you will be in a completely different place energy wise! What you can do to speed up the process is to set time aside each day for both rest and physical activity. You can start by going for walks, and then make the exercise more physically demanding as you gain more strength. I will also recommend you some supplements to make sure that you’re stocked up on Vitamin D and B12.”
“That sounds good, doesn’t it, love?” Morticia said to her daughter. “I’m sure you will settle in fine back at school, as long as you’re taking care of yourself.”
She said it reassuringly, but the person she was trying to reassure most was herself. It caused her pain to send her daughter away when she still had so many health issues, but as going back to school was what Wednesday wanted most…. Maybe what she needed most on an emotional plane… She knew that she had no choice but to let her go.
“While we’re talking about school”, Gomez said, wanting to have the time to ask before they left. “Is there anything that can be done about the… memory thing?”
Dr Sanderson gave them an understanding nod.
“You’re experiencing a bit of ‘chemo brain’, are you, Wednesday?” she asked.
“If that’s the name for it, then yes”, Morticia confirmed.
As Wednesday was too frustrated with this particular side-effect, she opted to stay silent and let the others talk. She hadn’t realized she’d been hoping for an easy solution to her problem, until she learned that there wasn’t one. Once again, it seemed the answer was to wait. The supplements might help her a little, but in the end, it would take time to get back to her usual self. It seemed to her all she had done for half a year now was wait.
She felt herself get pulled into a foul mood thinking about how long she might have to wait to feel normal again, and she had to force herself to snap out of it. Not listening to a word that was being said, she took a moment to empty her head. Then, she reminded herself of the reason they were here. They were talking about her recovery, because she had gotten better. And there would come a time where she would feel it, too.
Just when she thought this meeting might just go on forever, she heard Dr Sanderson starting to wrap things up and her focus was immediately snapped back to the conversation happening before her.
“Now, we just need to schedule an appointment for you to have your port removed”, Dr Sanderson said and pressed a few buttons on her computer. “Would Friday two weeks from now be okay?”
Wednesday looked at her parents for confirmation. Morticia nodded reassuringly.
“That would be great”, she said. “We can arrange that, can’t we, storm cloud? It’s on a Friday so you’ll only have to miss that one day of school.”
“Great!” the doctor answered. “It’s the final thing to tick off, after that you don’t have to come back to the hospital for almost three months! How’s that sound?”
Wednesday could not keep the corners of her mouth from twitching a little into an almost-smile. Three months without a hospital visit did sound good. It was almost a foreign concept after how often she’d had to go back and forth lately.
Dr Sanderson stood up to shake their hands goodbye.
“I hope you all take care of yourselves”, she said with warmth. “Get some well-deserved rest. I wish you the best of luck on your return to school, Wednesday!”
While half of the Addams bunch had been held up in Dr Sanderson’s office, Enid, Pugsley and Uncle Fester were still left in the dark about Wednesday’s scan results, and time back at the manor seemed to be standing still.
Enid had tried to do some schoolwork first, to distract herself from the perpetual wait. But she quickly realized there was no way she could fool herself into thinking she would actually get anything done. Then, she’d paced around Wednesday’s room, trying to find comfort in this place that represented the girl so well. But eventually, she found herself sat on a little bench by the window in the foyer, from where she would be able to see when the car returned from the hospital. Waiting was all that she could do.
A silhouette appeared in the corner of her eye, and Pugsley slumped down next to her, his eyes fixed on the driveway just like hers.
“Shouldn’t they be back already?” he asked her, and she noticed his voice was trembling a little.
And he was right, they should be back. How long could it take to discuss some images? If there was no cancer visible, there couldn’t be that much to say, could there? Unless… unless…
“It’s probably normal”, she tried to reassure him. “You know how it is at hospitals, they’re always running behind… Besides, they probably have a lot to talk about, with her going back to school and all.”
Or, she’s being thrown back into more treatments…
If it turned out she was sick again, the appointment would definitely take a long time as they would need to discuss how to move forward. Enid got more and more nervous every second, as this scenario started feeling more and more real. None of this she voiced to Pugsley, of course. She watched him stare out the window, his elbow resting on the windowsill and his head in his hand.
“You wanna play thumb war?” she suggested, thankful for this opportunity to distract herself from the worry.
Pugsley’s attention shifted towards her instead of the driveway.
“Okay”, he said after a couple of seconds, with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
There was a lost look in his young and innocent features. Is this what Enid, too, looked like sitting here, staring out the window in desperation?
They grabbed each other’s hands, thumbs ready to battle.
“One, two, three, four…”
A mostly silent battle ensued, as they were both very focused, but the game actually managed to pull out a few chuckles from both parties.
But then, it was like they both ran out of energy at the same time. Looking into the younger boy’s eyes, Enid offered a soft smile that lingered for a few seconds as she laid her arms crossed on the windowsill and rested her chin on top of them, going back to looking out the window. Pugsley copied her exact pose, and they sat like mirror images, side by side by the window. The only sound that was heard for a few moments was the long sigh that Enid let out, and a crow outside the window.
“You really love my sister, don’t you?” Pugsley then asked, eyes still fixed on the driveway.
Enid took another slow breath.
“Yeah”, she whispered.
“Me too”, Pugsley whispered back.
Notes:
No more treatments, amen! Now don't leave Enid, Pugsley and Fester hanging like this Wendesday, hurry home and tell them the good news.
Next chapter: getting well/birthday party and Wednesday returning to school <3
Chapter 20: Return to Nevermore
Notes:
This is it! By far the longest story I've written in the shortest amount of time, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the encouragement along the way, giving me the motivation to finish it <3
For the getting-well/birthday party in this chapter I felt we needed more guests (there aren’t that many named students after all), so for the sake of the story, to give Wednesday a proper party, let’s pretend Rowan isn’t an asshole, I’ve given Wednesday and Enid’s teammates from the Poe Cup names so that I could invite them too, and Lucas and Tyler go to their school (Tyler is just an ordinary guy, he’s not relevant to this story in any way so I hope it’s okay for me to deviate from the original mystery like this… You’ll notice I’ve done the same thing with Mrs Thornhill. She’s just Wednesday’s dorm mother in this story.)
I wish you all a wonderful weekend!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When they finally got back to the house, Wednesday realized they’d been gone a lot longer than she had anticipated. Their return had been delayed further as they had stopped at the store on the way back, her parents insisting that they buy something festive to celebrate the occasion. Wednesday herself didn’t really enjoy food all that much at the moment, of course, but in the end she picked out a large box of ice cream with multi-colored sprinkles that she knew Enid would love.
She had barely had time to get out of the car when the front door opened and Enid and Pugsley appeared side by side, eyes wide with anxiety.
Lurking in the shadows behind the youngsters, out of sight from the rest of the family, was Uncle Fester. The 3 hours they’d been gone had been pure torture. His heart was pounding so fast he wasn’t sure what to do. He was worried he might need to electrocute himself to get it to slow down. Not wanting to crowd Wednesday in case the news was bad, he kept a low profile while he analyzed their body language in hopes of guessing how things had gone.
Seeing the worried faces on her girlfriend and her brother, Wednesday didn’t want to torture them longer than possible.
“I believe the words she used was ‘healthy as a horse’”, she said.
Her words were met by stunned silence, and it wasn’t until a smile graced her lips that the message seemed to finally get through. Enid covered her mouth with both hands before she broke free of the position she’d been frozen in, rushed down the steps and threw her arms around Wednesday. Pugsley in the meantime, was squished in a hug between both his parents.
After a while, Wednesday realized that Enid was trembling in her arms, and she heard the soft sound of her sobs.
“Hey, I said it was good news”, she mumbled to her.
Enid just adjusted her arms so that she was hugging her even tighter. A moment later, more arms wrapped around them both as Morticia, Gomez, Pugsley as well as Uncle Fester, emerged from the shadows, joined in. Though the air was charged with every emotion between heaven and hell, all of their hearts were lighter than they had been in a long time.
“Okay, so Eugene, obviously”, Enid listed. “Yoko and Xavier will want to come as well. And can we please invite Bianca? I know the two of you haven’t exactly gotten along in the past, but I promise, she’s not as bad as you think! She’s actually really missed you while you’ve been gone.”
“Fine”, Wednesday said. “If it will make you happy.”
They were out walking on the nature trail close to Wednesday’s house. Determined to get her energy back as fast as possible, she’d decided it was best to start following the doctor’s advice as soon as possible. An hour had passed since she’d held a sobbing Enid in her arms, and those difficult emotions seemed to have left her, leaving room only for happiness. The werewolf was practically skipping beside her. She was so excited, she constantly ended up a couple of steps ahead of Wednesday, and she had to remind herself that her roommate could not keep the same pace at the moment.
“Who else?” Enid asked. “We need more people! This celebration needs to be huge!”
“It does not matter to me who comes”, Wednesday answered.
Enid gave her a frustrated stare.
“Maybe not, but at some point you’ll have to accept that you actually matter to them”, she said. “People really like you, Wednesday. You should let them come and celebrate.”
Wednesday kicked a rock on the ground. She knew she would regret her words before she even spoke them.
“I allow you to invite anyone you want.”
Enid’s eyes gleamed with such excitement, Wednesday was afraid she might explode. She was most definitely going to regret this.
Saturday morning was spent making the last preparations for the party. Gomez had taken the girls shopping for everything they needed the previous day, Morticia and Pugsley had helped with decorations and Uncle Fester had spent all evening in the kitchen.
In the end, 12 of their classmates were coming to the manor: Eugene, Yoko, Xavier, Ajax, Bianca, Rowan, Lucas, Tyler, Divina and Kent as well as Naeema and Lou, who had been Wednesday and Enid’s teammates in the Poe Cup.
Wednesday had objected at first when Enid suggested they invite that many people, where would they all even sleep? But her parents, enthusiastic to have a proper celebration, assured her there was room for everyone. Lurch had taken off early in the morning to pick up the teenagers from Nevermore. Since more people were coming than could fit in the car, they had debated how the remaining 4 people would get there. The solution to their problem had come in an unexpected way, when Principal Weems had volunteered to drive the remaining students there and back.
Wednesday had been confused at first.
“Why would she make such an offer?” she had asked her mother. “How is she even aware of the celebration?”
“It came up when we spoke on the phone the other night”, had been her mother’s answer.
This had shocked Wednesday deeply.
“Why were you talking to her?” she had asked, making a face of disgust.
Morticia had chuckled.
“Because she’s my friend”, she’d explained.
Wednesday had frozen in her horrified expression. It was hard to imagine something worse than your parent being close friends with your principal.
“Since when?” she’d breathed.
“Well”, Morticia had sighed. “She’s been reaching out lately. Sometimes, mothers need to be able to open up a little to someone too, you know.”
When Wednesday had thought about how much it had meant for her to be able to get emotional support from Enid, she supposed she couldn’t deny her mother the same thing. But she was still going to be salty about it.
“Couldn’t you have picked anyone else”, she’d grumbled.
Flash forward to present day, she had come to some sort of acceptance about the fact that her principal was coming to her party (after all, it was the reason all 12 of her classmates were going to make it), and as her and Enid prepared the games she had envisioned in the back yard, she thought of ways Principal Weems could be humiliated in them.
Even though it was still January, Wednesday had insisted they be outdoors. The air was a few degrees above freezing, and Wednesday was disappointed to see the sun was out, but she knew her guests would prefer it.
When they were satisfied with their preparations, Wednesday and Enid sat down on the stone pillars on each side of the front steps to wait for their guests to arrive. They both had their pockets filled with the ginger candies that Wednesday used to have while she was undergoing chemo, taking turns attempting to throw them into each other’s mouths. Her parents had stocked up on a lifetime supply of them when they figured out how affective they were, and now that she was done with her treatments, she figured her and Enid could snack on them instead. Miraculously enough, she still liked them, unlike a lot of other things she’d had while she felt her worst.
When the Addams car eventually rolled up in the driveway, it was a somewhat surreal experience to see her classmates get out one after another. Bianca got out first, followed by Lucas, Tyler, Xavier and Rowan, then Kent and Divina and lastly Yoko.
Squinting in the bright daylight, the vampire held her sunglasses in place with one hand as she leaned her head back and took in the tall building in front of her.
“Shit, Wednesday. Your family is loaded”, she said. “I mean, I guess I should have guessed by the hearse and the butler, but still.”
Enid jumped down from the pillar she’d been perched on and ran up to greet her friend with a hug, while Wednesday slowly slipped down and approached her classmates with more hesitance.
“Thanks for the invitation”, Bianca said to Wednesday. “I have to say, I kind thought you’d lost your mind when I got it.”
“I was forced to arrange this celebration”, Wednesday said matter-of-factly, and then, turning towards the rest, she added: “By no means make yourselves at home.”
This was met with a chuckle from several of her guests. They were all starting to see her in another light. When you took away the fear she used to instill, it was easier to see how smart she was, and what a quick-witted sense of humor she had. She was obviously very loyal, too, seeing as she had been kicked out of her old school for getting revenge on her brother’s bullies. And the way she was with Enid… It was pretty clear that there were some definite perks to being in her good books. As creepy as a party at Wednesday’s house would have sounded at the beginning of last semester, they had all been really excited when they got invited.
The first 8 guests had only just started to unload their bags from the trunk when the second car rolled up beside the Addams hearse and the last 4 guests (plus Weems, who Wednesday refused to count as her guest) arrived. Eugene, Ajax, Lou and Naeema all got out, looking equally as stunned by the large mansion before them.
When they started unloading the trunk, Eugene pulled out the unmistakable shape of a beehive. He walked towards Wednesday and placed it by her feet, the buzzing of thousands of bees emitting from it.
“Happy birthday”, he said a little sheepishly, pushing his glasses further up on his nose. “I wanted to keep it as a surprise, but it was kinda hard to disguise... It’s your own colony! You can keep it on your back yard, and while you’re at school you can put it among all the other hives.”
Wednesday saw how eager he was to give her something she might like, and she couldn’t help but feel fondness for him. Looking around, she saw that everyone else seemed to be looking elsewhere at the moment. Quick, before anyone saw, she pulled him into a hug, and then let him go just as quickly.
“Thank you”, she said. “This will come in very handy.”
The guests were all allowed some time to settle in, place their bags in their various guest rooms and wander around a little to discover. But eventually, Wednesday had had enough of their snooping and demanded it was time she got her fun, by torturing them with the games she had planned.
They gathered outside, her parents, brother and Principal Weems joining them too, and everyone was divided into two teams. The only ones not participating were Wednesday herself, and Enid (who she had no intention of torturing), as well as Uncle Fester who was lighting the barbecue to prepare lunch.
A messy 45 minutes followed. From their spot, sitting on top of the steps to the back porch, Wednesday and Enid witnessed their friends dig around live insects for treasures, pop balloons that turned out to be stink bombs and stuff their mouths with a messy goo that tasted like garbage among other things.
Wednesday might usually like to keep her expression indifferent, but during these 45 minutes, the corners of her mouth were drawn into a smile almost non-stop. When Bianca, who really was too competitive for her own good, accidentally ate some mud instead, Enid was lucky enough to get to hear one of those rare laughs she treasured above anything else.
For the finale, the two teams were tied, and though no one outside of the Addams family seemed to have particularly enjoyed the games, most seemed to have gotten into the competitive spirit and were keen on winning this last game. Wednesday brought out a rope, and made the teams get into position for a classic tug of war.
The back yard had turned into a mud field from the games that had taken place, and Divina looked at the ground with skepticism.
“This is a disaster waiting to happen”, she voiced.
Little did she know it was a disaster fully and intentionally planned to happen by the birthday girl herself.
“Take your positions”, Wednesday urged.
Then, Thing pulled the trigger on a start gun and the teams started pulling.
They weren’t allowed to keep playing for long, though. Right when things were most intense, and everyone had their full body weight leaned back, tugging on the rope, a large axe swung up from where it had been planted in the ground and cut the rope in half, making everyone fall over and get covered in mud.
“What the hell, Wednesday!” someone shouted.
“Wait, who won?” Xavier asked.
“These are meaningless party games”, Wednesday responded. “There’s no such thing as winners. Now, I believe Fester has lunch ready. Bonne appetite.”
Her statement was met with many grunts and eyerolls, but the muddy guests started moving towards the barbecue (Principal Weems coat looked completely ruined, which amused Wednesday enormously). Enid stayed by Wednesday’s side, sporting an amused grin.
“What?” Wednesday asked her.
“Meaningless, huh?” she said, smirking so big it made Wednesday nervous. “I definitely saw you smiling earlier.”
“Your point being?”
“That’s not meaningless”, Enid said, wiggling her eyebrows a little. “It’s like the whole point of party games.”
She skipped away before Wednesday got to defend her point, and her father appeared at her side instead.
“Are you enjoying yourself, my little scarecrow?” he asked her.
The joyful gleam in her eyes as she gave him a short nod was the answer he was looking for. He was trying to soak up every second of her being in his presence, while her return to school approached dreadfully fast.
He offered her a bottle of her favorite strawberry juice, which she accepted and drank a little from. He knew that she felt the need to be strong in front of all her friends, but as her parent, he could tell she was tired. The father in him wanted nothing more than to immediately assess exactly how she was doing, and help her feel better in any way that he could.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Is your stomach bothering you?”
“Do you need to lie down and rest a little?”
His questions were left unspoken as he forced himself to let her have this day without his hovering. She was tired, yes. But if cancer hadn’t managed to kill her, neither would one day of fun. He knew this, but it was still going to take some adjustment to get used to a life that didn’t completely revolve around his daughter’s illness.
Instead of voicing his concern, he reached out and cupped her cheek, using the sleeve on his other arm to rub off a little speck of mud that had splashed onto her face.
“You certainly gave your guests a memorable experience”, he complimented her.
“I wasn’t going to let them leave here unscathed”, Wednesday answered, and then shoved the bottle back into his hand.
Filled with pride, he watched as she walked down the steps to help Pugsley clean up a little after the party games.
On the other side of the yard, a few of her classmates had witness the exchange between father and daughter from the line to the barbecue, unable to hear what they were saying, but not missing the way that her father was allowed in her space without getting a single limb chopped off. They were stunned to say the least.
“Can you believe the way she acts around her family?” Bianca said.
They watched as the Addams siblings carried away a small table between them, and saw Wednesday chuckle a little when Pugsley almost dropped it on his own foot.
“She just looks so… normal”, the siren continued.
“I know”, Xavier answered. “It’s crazy to realize she’s actually someone’s kid.”
“I can’t believe I used to be scared of her”, Lucas added.
The day slowly turned into night, and to Wednesday's chagrin, everyone had a blast. They retreated inside when the afternoon came, and people mostly hung around the large living room. When Uncle Fester suddenly brought out a birthday cake and everyone started singing happy birthday, they finally recognized the murderous look in Wednesday's eyes. She was also forced to open gifts from all her guests. The mix of awkwardness and gratitude she felt left her feeling uneasy in a way she wasn't entirely sure if she enjoyed or not.
Her mood did brighten significantly when Kent and Divina started daring each other to try the head crusher torture device that they found in a corner. And though they stopped before they caused any significant damage, they both pulled a few magnificent screams from the other as they took turns torturing each other.
Eugene disappeared halfway through the night, and when Wednesday finally spotted him through the window, he was out on the back porch with Pugsley, showing him a few tricks as he controlled the bees in Wednesday's new hive. Pugsley looked absolutely mesmerized, and Wednesday felt inexplicably warm seeing how well they got along.
Wednesday's parents obediently stayed away. Gomez retreated to the office to read, while Morticia spent the evening chatting with Weems in the kitchen over multiple glasses of wine. Uncle Fester, on the other hand, the guests seemed to find both cool and disturbing, and Wednesday felt no shame showing him off. He was allowed to cater to them throughout the evening, bringing snacks and making sure the background music was spooky enough.
Weirdly enough, his cuisine proved perfect for this specific mix of people. The sirens loved the fried frogs, the vampires absolutely indulged in the deer hearts and Ajax particularly enjoyed his rock cakes.
The atmosphere was great and the party would continue well past midnight but, of course, the birthday girl herself wouldn't be able to stay up that long. She made it almost until 10 before she got up to leave, Enid moving to follow her.
"You know... you're not required to go to sleep already, if you wish to stay up with the others", Wednesday told her.
"You think I'd miss an opportunity to cuddle you to sleep?" Enid said. "No way."
That evening, Wednesday fell asleep in Enid's arms, surrounded by her packed bags and trunks, spending one final night in her childhood bed before her return to Nevermore the following day.
It was truly astonishing, how much could change in a matter of months. As the car rolled up in front of Nevermore, Morticia’s thoughts travelled back to the last time they had dropped Wednesday off. It was only a few months ago, but it felt like an entire lifetime. That time, they had had no idea that she was actually very sick, that the horror they would soon become acquainted with was already growing inside her. They had been blissfully unaware of the fact that she would only be staying at the school for a few weeks, and that the months that ensued would be the worst of their lives.
If it had been hard to let her go then, it was nothing compared to how much it pained her to this time. After living in constant fear of losing her for so long, she wasn’t ready for her baby to move out of the house. She was only 16, after all. If one thing had become clear to her while watching her daughter’s struggle it was that, no matter how tough of a front she put up, she was still a kid. And she did need her family.
They all spilled out of the cars, and the other teens thanked the Addamses for their hospitality before hurrying off. Meanwhile, the whole Addams family, as well as Enid, started making their way towards their dorm in Ophelia Hall, Lurch and Uncle Fester helping to carry her many trunks.
When they reached the dorm, the trunks were placed in a big pile right in the middle of it. Outside the large window, grey clouds filled the sky, and sleet was starting to come down, Wednesday’s favorite weather.
“What a beautiful day", Morticia murmured.
“Can we help you unpack?” Gomez asked his daughter.
“No, Enid and I will do it later on”, was her answer.
Looking around the dorm, Wednesday felt it already felt much more like home with her trunks in place, compared to how empty it had been before Christmas. While this filled her with pleasure, it filled her family with dread as their inevitable farewell came closer and closer.
Just then, Principal Weems appeared in the doorway.
“Looks like you’re ready to get settled again”, she smiled. “I’m so happy to have you back, Wednesday.”
“You’ll take that back soon enough”, Wednesday answered her, but in her eyes there was an almost playful glimmer, that caused the principal’s smile to brighten.
Weems turned to the rest of the family.
“Before you all go, you’re welcome to have lunch”, she said. “Most of the students have already finished eating, but they haven’t cleared everything away yet.”
“Thank you”, Gomez said. “We were going to find something on the road, but this sounds much better.”
It was true, mostly because it allowed him to be with his daughter a little longer.
They left the trunks unopened and all moved towards the cafeteria instead. Wednesday kept her posture straight, unsure of how to respond to all the “welcome back”s and “good to see you!”s that she was met with along the way. She may have found a new appreciation for the people that really mattered to her, but that didn’t mean she cared much for some random teenagers that happened to attend the same school as her.
The only people still eating in the cafeteria were the guests from Wednesday’s party, having arrived moments earlier. A couple of them waved at the Addams bunch, but the family (and Enid, of course, they all considered her family) chose to sit down at another table.
The conversations around the table flowed so normally, it was like they had never left their own dining table back home. Uncle Fester was showing Pugsley how he cooked his own steak using electricity. Gomez and Morticia were both asking the teens a million questions about school, with Enid answering most of them and Wednesday practically none. She was never going to admit it out loud, but she was starting to realize she actually would miss this. Miss spending time around her family like this.
She looked across the table and caught Pugsley staring at her, looking a little down. Raising her eyebrows at him, she urged him to talk.
“You’ll come visit us, right?” was the question on his mind.
He looked like he was actually trying to look unbothered, but his poker face had never been his strongest asset, and he was clearly upset.
“Possibly”, she answered, not wanting to give away how much she would miss him.
Though her family would have liked to draw it out a little longer, the moment eventually came when they had to say goodbye. Their hearts got heavier with each step as they moved towards the grand foyer where they would part ways.
Pugsley hugged Wednesday first. In contrast to when she was being dropped of last semester, her arms snaked around his waist and she returned the hug. In a voice low enough so that no one else would hear she mumbled:
“Yes, I will visit you… And you may use my crossbow while I’m gone.”
She then let him go, before she lost whatever scraps she still had left of her reputation.
Her uncle then swooped in and embraced her tightly.
“If you need anything, you know I can get here fast”, he said. “I’ve decided to refrain from crime for a while, to make sure I’m available. You can call me anytime.”
Wednesday pushed him back to be able to look him in the eye in disbelief. Uncle Fester, following the law, for her? His vow was as remarkable as someone offering to chop off a limb for her.
“You have my humble gratitude”, she said.
Fester stepped out of the way, and soon both her parents were standing in front of her side by side.
“Our little rain cloud”, Gomez said, his voice filled with emotion.
The parents took a slow step forward and gently brough her closer, silently cradling her between them for longer than they had ever hoped she would let them.
As they stood there, Morticia’s mind flashed back to when Wednesday had been at her very worst. The days when she wouldn’t get out of bed, wouldn’t eat, would barely speak to them… Those days, she would have given anything for Wednesday to be healthy enough to go back to school. She should be able to rejoice now that they were finally here, and she was happy. God, she would do absolutely anything to never have to see her kid so sick again. Besides: the next time they saw each other was only to weeks away as Wednesday was coming back for her port removal. But this reasoning did little to erase the heaviness in her heart. Letting her go was painful in a whole new way. She knew a breakdown was inevitable. She just hoped she’d be able to keep it together until the ride home.
Putting just enough space between them to be able to meet her daughter’s eyes, Morticia kept one hand on her shoulder, noticing Gomez was doing the same on the opposite side.
“You know Mrs. Thornhill is responsible for looking out for you girls in Ophelia Hall”, she said, making sure the girl was listening to what she was saying. “She’ll be the person that you can turn to for anything. You have to tell her anything of importance regarding your health. Or, if it’s something you’re not comfortable sharing with her, you call me, okay? It’s one of my conditions for letting you go. If I find out you’ve been keeping things from us that could put your wellbeing in jeopardy I’ll bring you right home again, do you understand?”
Wednesday stared at her in annoyance, but did not make any protests.
“I’ll make sure she does”, Enid beamed from next to them.
Morticia turned towards her.
“Oh Enid, what would we ever do without you”, she said with affection, letting go of Wednesday in order to give the other teen a hug. “You’ll take care of yourself too, right? Or I might just have to come back here and look after you both.”
“Yes”, Enid answered with a chuckle.
Gomez, who still had his arm draped over Wednesday’s shoulder, looked down at her with affection.
“Don’t forget to have fun”, he said.
Then, he went to give Enid a hug goodbye as well, while Morticia snuck one last hug from her daughter, cradling the back of her head and gently kissing her temple.
“Bye, my darling. I’ll see you next Friday.”
Wednesday and Enid stayed in the open doorway while Wednesday’s family walked out towards the car, having to use all their mental strength to pull themselves away. Pugsley turned around to wave once more before he got in the car and the door closed behind all of them. Enid waved back, and continued to wave until the car was out of sight. When she lowered her hand, it was to grab hold of Wednesday’s.
“What do you wanna do now?” she asked.
In lieu of answering, Wednesday just looked a little pensive as she pulled Enid towards the stairs. They slowly made their way back towards their dorm. Enid watched Wednesday closely, who’s gaze wandered in every direction, seemingly trying to take in every detail. When the door closed behind them and they were finally alone, a calmness settled in the air that Wednesday hadn’t felt in a long time.
She made her way around her many trunks and approached the window, where drops of water were trickling down outside. Her mood was so elated, she turned around and offered Enid a smile. A full, beaming smile.
If Enid had thought she’d gotten used to her heart doing somersaults in Wednesday’s presence, she’d been wrong. Wednesday, here in their shared space, illuminated by the daylight outside the large window, smiling at her like that… Enid felt herself fall in love over and over again.
Her butterflies caused a spring in her step as she approached the breathtaking girl by the window. Unable to take her eyes off of her, she looked at her in a way that made it clear that she would give her the world.
“I love you so much, I don’t even know how it’s possible”, she breathed.
Wednesday, not sure what to do with herself after hearing such a powerful confession, had to swallow down a lump in her throat before she opened her mouth.
“I also… tolerate your presence”, she said.
Enid’s eyes were still glued to her, and while her eyes were filled with every bit as much affection as before, it was clear that she was waiting for something. Wednesday felt the room spin, getting sucked into those hypnotic eyes, and she was hit by how strong her need for Enid had become. Those eyes… she imagined for a second what it would feel like if she ever had to live without them and her heart immediately sped up in panic, making sure she understood the message it was trying to convey: I will break into pieces if that ever happens!
She realized that her previous words were lacking, a very feeble description of how she truly felt. So, with her eyes still deeply immersed in Enid’s, she dared to let her cold and black heart speak its truth.
“And I love you.”
Notes:
☆The end☆
I can’t believe some of you have actually read every single chapter! Now that it’s finished, I’m curious to know: what were your favorite scenes/quotes or chapters out of the entire story?
Wish you all the best, and I hope to see you again in the future! <3
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