[For George]

[knowthyexits]

It's becoming hard to ignore.

At first, Sarah had blamed the weight loss on a change in her lifestyle -- the stress of being away from John. After months passed, after going back and seeing him again, there's no way to ignore that she's still losing more weight than healthy and she isn't even doing anything differently.

Even though her appointment with George isn't for months, she goes in early with the itch under her skin, needing to know. She raps her knuckles lightly on the door during his shift and clears her throat, terrified to the point that she's hyperaware of her every move, but stubborn enough not to run.

"George," she greets, quietly. "I need your help."

Comments

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

George's life always seemed to become mildly interesting whenever Sarah was involved. It was the reason for his immediate attention to her when she walked in — thankfully terminator-less this time — but when she spoke, he knew.

"Of course," he said, looking around the clinic to make sure their privacy was ensured, knowing how Sarah felt about it. "Do you want to go into one of the rooms, talk there?"

[knowthyexits]

She nods, feeling as if there are strings binding her entire body down and keeping her tense. She knows that isn't the case, but it's like she's going to snap any minute now. She follows after George to one of the private rooms, her hands clasped together tightly enough that her knuckles are white. "Do you need new blood samples?"

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

While there were some aspects of Sarah George had gotten used to, there was still a lot about her that he couldn't put his finger on. She'd been so quick to order him around when trying to dig up a robot with her bare hands, but now she looked just like any other anxious patient he'd ever had.

"New samples would be good, yes," he answered, suddenly concerned. She was a tough nut to crack, sure, but he couldn't help but like her, strangely enough. "How are you doing? Any changes or symptoms?"

[knowthyexits]

It would be so easy to lie. He would never have to know. She could put on a steely expression and he would never know, but all she can think about is John. She has to know for John so she can take precautions. "I've been losing weight," she says, quietly.

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

"That could just be stress, or any number of other issues," George thought out loud. While he wasn't in the business of giving anyone false hope, he also wasn't one to jump to the worst conclusion when a simpler (and yes, more hopeful) one was available. "But I'll take some blood and we'll check you out. Okay?"

[knowthyexits]

"Okay," she agrees, not sure that she wants to get in too deep with him about what Cameron had said, but after George had seen the body, it's not the stupidest thing to confess. "George, back home, I...had a diagnosis. Of a sort."

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

"A sort?" That explains a little bit of her anxiety and her even coming to him in the first place, George realized. Nobody just came up to a doctor and asked to be checked for cancer without good reason. "What were you told?"

[knowthyexits]

Sarah shifts uncomfortably as she stares at George. "A terminator told me that I died of cancer seven years in the future. That if I hadn't jumped through time to save my son's life, I would have died of cancer." She gives him a look that says she's aware of how ridiculous she sounds.

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

A terminator.

Sometimes, life on the island made doing his job a little hard. Being Sarah Connor's second doctor after a freaking terminator told her she was going to die of cancer was one of the very many things he'd never thought he'd ever have to deal with in the course of his life. Not even here.

"Okay," he said, collecting himself. "So...did he— it, did it say what type of cancer?"

[knowthyexits]

"No." Sarah stares right back at George, not flinching once. She's not about to unveil everything that Cameron has ever told her, but this is important. "But she's been able to sense it before. She can weigh the density of bone mass," she explains. "There was a boy." A boy that Cameron thought Sarah didn't know about, but to protect John, she knows everything. "And she knew, then."

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

"Okay," George said, and chose to go with the truth, "I'm going to admit that's a little hard for me to take, but..." But he'd seen a terminator with his own two eyes. "Okay. I'll go ahead and draw some blood, and we'll run some tests."

[knowthyexits]

"And how soon can we know results?" she asks. She's been living in this state of anxiety for too long, already, and she's not looking forward to more time passing while she doesn't know. It's tearing her sanity apart, slowly and steadily.

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

"A few days," George replied. He knew Sarah had to be anxious about finding out her results, but there was only so much they could do with how outdated most of their equipment was. "We'll know for sure then. I'd tell you to relax, but that probably wouldn't work, would it?"

[knowthyexits]

Sarah can't help it. She smiles at that, like there's a joke hidden somewhere in George's words. "I haven't relaxed about this since I found out it's supposed to happen." No fate but what you make is good and all until the moment your body starts turning against you. "See, George. Sometimes," she says, not taking her conflicted gaze off of him, "sometimes my problems are normal."

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

George couldn't help but return Sarah's smile with a cautious one of his own, before starting to prepare a syringe. "We're going to have to find you something even more normal and ridiculous to worry about," he said. "Or just something to take your mind off this for a little while."

[knowthyexits]

Until John is there and until she knows that Skynet will never come to be, she's never going to relax fully. She holds out her arm, so used to taking these tests that it's automatic for her, now.

"I don't know that what you're proposing is possible, Doctor."

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

"Anything's possible," George said as he inserted the needle, and he fully believed that. "If you can fight robots from the future and I can perform heart surgery on a patient while stuck in an elevator, then I think we can be optimistic about you relaxing for a few minutes, Sarah."

[knowthyexits]

"You run the tests," she says, nodding her head as she relaxes her fingers to let the blood flow. "And then we'll see about how much relaxing I'll be doing."

[doubleomalley.livejournal.com]

"Even if this does turn out in the worst case scenario, you can't let it control you." Said with all the confidence of a person who'd only experienced cancer from a doctor's point of view, George at least believed in what he was saying. "The only thing stopping you from relaxing a little is you."

Not that he could really blame her, being Sarah Connor and all, but George had a habit of taking on projects that were bigger than himself. He was going to get Sarah to enjoy something if it killed him.