Chapter Eleven
After Wedding Bliss

"So how was it?" James asked.
Hermione blushed slightly, "Magnificent. I couldn't have imagined a better day," she said.
James was smiling at her, he was so happy that she had her dream come true. Sometimes his patients said to him "Oh, Dr. Wilson I just want to make it until my 50th birthday", and "Dr. Wilson I just want to go travelling and then I'll be happy," but sometimes those people, no matter how strong they were, didn't make it. Every time he was able to fulfil a dream of his, he thought of each of his patients who had died before fulfilling their dream. He was happy because, in front of him was a young beautiful woman who had fulfilled her dream. She was one of the lucky ones.
"I saw the photos, someone named Molly sent them in. I assume she is your mother-in-law?" he asked.
Eyes widening, Hermione nodded. She had never thought of Molly as her mother-in-law, even though that's what she was. "It's funny how quickly things change, isn't it Dr. Wilson? I've known for a long time that I've wanted to marry Ron, but I didn't actually think it would happen," she confessed. She had that scared feeling that something would go wrong, but it didn't. "And I didn't even faint!"
James laughed, "I'm glad to hear. But please, stop calling me Dr. Wilson, it's James," he said.
"James," she said, smiling. "Better?"

"Okay, so your fortnightly blood tests have been good so we are going to start you on monthly blood tests and see how that goes," he explained to her, making sure she understood what he was saying.
"Really?" she asked, thinking it was too soon.
James slowly nodded, he thought she would react like this. "Hermione we haven't seen any new cell growth for eight months. It's time to go and live your life a little. If we do find anything, we still would have found it in time to act quickly. Most of my patients relapse after only a few weeks."

Without meaning to, Hermione opened her mouth and said "I... I don't know how to live my life any more." She hadn't realised she had spoken out loud until she felt a hand on her knee. Looking up she saw that James had moved his chair in front of hers, and was looking at her. He looked concerned. About what?
"Hermione, that's natural. Look at everything you have been through! You were diagnosed, went through chemotherapy, through ALL of those ups and downs, and you were married. That's an awful lot to go through, and you should be so proud of yourself. Not once did you give up, or feel sorry for yourself. There's something inside of you, and you hold onto it. It gives you strength," James said calmly.
Listening to all those kind words made her feel a bit better. She sure felt like giving up some days. But what was the point in feeling sorry for herself? Everyone else took care of that for her.

After taking a few moments to think, she said "What if we do find more cells? Is it... is it going to be harder to treat?" she asked.
He considered it, "It might be. Sometimes the cells do come back stronger and more resistant to therapies we had previously used. But, we just bring in stronger guys to fight it off. And more of them," he said.
"And what about if all that doesn't work?" she asked. These were the questions that had been weighing her down for so long. What if something went wrong and she died? What would she do about Ron? She would never want to leave him! If the situation was reversed, how would she go on?
He looked at her for a few moments, "If all that fails then we go to plan B. Bone Marrow Transplant. Remember I put you on the registry last year, but only if we need it."

She thought about all that information. Well, hopefully they would detect it early. Hopefully she would respond to the increased treatment... hopefully the transplant worked. Hopefully... hopefully there would be a donor.