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I nodded slohile I tried to find the strength to speak “I know, buddy But the doctors kno to fix it now so you won’t get any more”

“Is it gonna hurt like yesterday?” Matty asked, his voice dropping

“No,” I lied as I pulled him into my aro watch soo so we can meet Bullet, okay?”

I felt Matty nod againstfree of me To my surprise, he ran over to Hawke and threw his arms around the man before Hawke could even react Hawke stiffened and tried to hold hihtest relaxing of his body as he wrapped an arm around Matty’s small frame

“Here, you can play with him for a while,” Matty said as he thrust Spider the kitchen I heard the TV come on a few seconds later I reached for the dishes on the table and began cleaning up

“The bruises?” I heard Hawke ask

My entire body ached froainst the kitchen counter, y tile backsplash over the sink “A symptom,” I answered “They were the reason I took Matty to the pediatrician a few days ago He sent us to a specialist”

“And you got the diagnosis”

I let out a strangled laugh “I didn’t believe him I kneas a mistake so when he said I needed to take Matty to the hospital for tests, all I could think was that they were going to look like fools when they toldme my kid had cancer”

I began washing the few dishes in the sink “Other kids get cancer Not ist starts talking about chemotherapy and stem cell transplants and I just lost it”

I heard the chair scrape back and then Haas leaning against the counter next to me I kept my eyes on the dishes in the sink, but at so them “My little boy has cancer,” I whispered in disbelief At some point tears had started to slip from my eyes, but I was powerless to ain