Chapter Text
“You belong among the wildflowers You belong in a boat out at sea You belong with your love on your arm You belong somewhere you feel free.”
-Tom Petty
Elizabeth Cooper, who goes by Betty, had an ordinary life. She was growing up with everything she ever wanted. She had two loving parents who were successful journalists, an older sister who she adored and an older brother who she annoyed. Betty was loved and cherished by the whole town. She loved Riverdale and Riverdale loved her. Her best friend lived next door to her, so she didn't have to go far when she was upset and needed to vent. Betty loved her life.
It all changed on the eve of her 13th birthday. Her mother noticed an area on her back that was a little off, red and a little purplish. It didn't feel like a bruise. It was bumpy and rigid. it concerned her. So, the next day she set up an appointment with the pediatrician, she couldn’t get her in for a few weeks, but it will have to do.
The day of her Doctor's appointment, Betty was in a mood, which was starting to become more common. Alice passed it off as Betty being a teenager, but deep down she thought it was something else.
“Mom” I don’t want to go. I feel fine.” Betty said as she whined to her mother. Betty wanted to go to the pool party Archie was throwing next door. If she missed it, she felt like it was the end of the world.
“Elizabeth, you have to, it’s just a check up. I've talked to Fred, he won’t end it until you get back, Archie won't allow it anyways.” her mother chuckled.
“Cause he loves me, momma.” Betty smiled.
Alice Cooper wasn't at all worried about Betty and the boy next door. They were friends, and he made Betty happy. But deep down she knew he would never be anything more. Call it mother's intuition.
“Of course, honey. Now car, please.” she said.
Betty nods and get’s in and buckles up.
The drive to the hospital doesn't take more than 15 minutes. Betty was occupied with counting down the time when she could be swimming, so the time went by fast.
It doesn't take long to get in to see the doctor. Betty sits at the exam table, giggling and care free. Her mood has certainly changed. Maybe she should ask the doctor about mood swings.
“Mrs. Cooper, what brings you in today?" Dr Patel asked as she walked through the door, shutting it behind her.
Alice raised Betty's shirt to show the doctor. “This, and also. Betty has been losing weight. It seems a little odd for a 13 year old.” she said. “Plus, she has been having mood swings, I know she is a teenager but this, i mean that isn’t Betty.” Mrs Cooper adds. “Also, Betty has been complaining of pain in her arms and legs” she said.
“Weight loss, that’s not uncommon, especially with someone as active as our Betty here. But this on the back does concern me.” she said. Dr. Petal starts to poke around. “Does that hurt?” She asked Betty.
“A little,” she said.
Dr Petal nods. “I’m just going to take a quick exam and then some blood so I can send it in for testing. Is that okay?” she asked Betty.
Betty nods. The Doctor checks Betty thoroughly. Alice watches everything, worried that there is something wrong.
“As for the mood swings, she is a teenager.” Dr Patel laughed.
“I know.” Alice smiled.
“Also, Betty is at the stage where she could be having growing pains which could be the cause of her arm and leg pain.” she said.
Alice nods.
“Okay, I have everything I need. Betty looks alright, I did notice some more bruising on her hips and calves. I’m going to write a prescription for some calcium pills. That should help with the bruising. Other than that, keep feeding her protein and see if that helps with the weight loss.” The doctor said,
”Thank you.” Alice said. “ Will you call us when the blood work comes back? I'm sorry to be a pain, but-” she looked to see where Betty was. “I feel like something isn't quite right.” Alice adds as she turns back to the doctor.
“You're no pain. Being worried is part of being a mother. And yes, I will have my office call and set up an appointment to go over the results.” Dr Patel said.
“Thanks again.” Alice said as she got Betty and went home.
~
Several weeks later, Alice finally received a call from the doctor’s office asking for her and her husband to come. Alice didn’t like the sound of that. So together they went. It took awhile to get Betty moving, she’s been sleeping more and not wanting to do much.
“Betty, I know you're tired. But the doctor will help.” Her father said.
Betty nods and gets in the car. She looks out the window and sees Archie running towards her.
“Betty.” he said.
“Not now, Archie. We're leaving, she can talk to you later.” Alice said.
“Okay, Mrs Cooper. Bye Betty.” He said, waving as he walked away.
Betty sighed, she missed her friend she just hasn’t been in the mood to see him, or anyone really.
At the hospital, they wait patiently. Dr Patel comes out and there is a woman with her. Hal grabs Alice's hand when he notices it starting to shake.
“Mr. Cooper, Mrs. Cooper. Thanks for coming here instead of my office. This is Doctor Sanderson.” Dr Patel said.
“So, Betty’s blood work came back bad didn’t it?” Alice asked as she played with Betty’s hair who laid in her lap.
“Mrs Cooper. There were some abnormalities in the samples. So I referred to Dr Sanderson to help me isolate and figure out what I was looking at” Dr Patel said.
“Okay?” Alice said.
“I am a Hematologist-oncologist-” Dr Sanderson said.
Alice gasped. “Cancer.” she said.
“Momma. I’m tired, can we go soon.” Betty asked.
“Hal?” Alice said.
“Betty, lets go to the gift shop and see if we can find something for you.” Hal said as he handed out his hand to Betty. He looked at Alice with fear in his eyes, a look she has never seen him give.
Tears flowed down her face. She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready now.” she said to the doctor’s in front of her.
“Okay,” Dr. Sanderson said. “I specialize in blood cancers, specifically Leukemia. After testing and retesting your daughter's blood. I found that she is showing signs of Leukemia. For me to properly diagnose her completely. We need to do a bone marrow test.” she adds.
“Oh god.” Alice said as she cupped her mouth, holding her sobs in.
“I know this wasn't the news you were expecting, but once we determine what she has, we can start a course of treatment.” Dr Sanderson said.
“Okay. When do you want to do this?” Alice asked,
“Today if we can.” she said,
“Okay, that won't be a problem. I need to go find my husband,” Alice said.
“Here is my card, I'm located on the 3rd floor, past the pavilion. Come there after you find them.” Dr Sanderson said.
“Okay.” I will as Alice got up and walked away.
Alice has just received the worst news of her life. Her youngest has cancer. Today Alice felt defeated.
~
Alice went searching for her husband and daughter, she found them in the cafeteria. Hal notices her immediately and she shakes her head as he frowns.
Betty smiles at her. “I’m not afraid momma, it’s okay to tell me. I know what cancer is.” Betty said.
“Oh sweetie.” Alice said as she pulled her daughter in for a hug. “I promise, everything will be alright.” she said. Alice looked up at her husband Hal who was in tears.
“What now?” he asked.
“Sweetie, we need to take you to get another test done. This isn’t going to be pleasant and it will be quite painful. But it needs to be done. It helps determine more, I guess. I don’t really know. I’m just-” Alice said, stopping mid sentence.
“Let’s go do this momma.” Betty said as she held out her hand to her.
Alice nods as she takes her hand, Betty turns around and offers her hand to her father. Alice knew she was strong, but this, she wasn’t expecting. Maybe she didn’t give her daughter enough credit.
They reached Dr. Sanderson's office and headed in. The Doctor is waiting for them.
“Is it okay to talk openly?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Alice said.
The doctor walks over to Betty and sits down next to her. “Okay, so I need to do a bone marrow biopsy to determine what type of Leukemia you have.” the doctor said.
“I thought I had cancer.” Betty said as she started to rock back and forth, nervously.
“Leukemia is a type of blood cancer.” Dr. Sanderson said.
“Am I going to die?” she asked. Betty heard her mother's breath hitch at her words. She turns and sees her mother and father embracing each other.
“Not if I can help it.” she said, “But first let me tell you what I want to do. That’s the biopsy. I’m going to numb a part of your hip. Then I’m going to stick a needle in your hip and insert it into the bone there, then take some bone marrow. I’m not going to lie. It will hurt.” she adds.
“Okay.” Betty said. “Can my mom and dad be with me?” she asked.
“Of course.” the doctor said.
Betty nods.
“I will go get everything set up. A nurse will be out in a few minutes to get you prepped.” Dr. Sanderson said.
“Okay, Thank you.” Alice said as the doctor got up and walked away.
Hal’s phone starts to ring. “It’s Polly.” he said as he got up and left the office.
“Momma?” Betty said.
“Yes, Sweetheart.” she said.
“I don’t want to die.” Betty said with tears in her eyes.
“I know sweetheart.” Alice said as she pulled Betty into her lap. They sat there and rocked together as Betty cried.
A few minutes later Hal comes back in. “Polly is stranded at Cheer practice and Chic is at football practice and he doesn’t know when he will be done. I need to go pick her up.” he said.
“Okay, what are you going to tell her.?” Alice asked.
“I have no clue, I’m not sure I should. I think we all need to set them down and let them know what’s going on together.” Hal said.
“I agree.” Alice said.
“I’ll pick up Polly and drop her off, then come back here.” Hal said.
“Okay.” Alice said as she got up and kissed Hal.
“Goodbye pumpkin. I’ll be back. Be strong for me okay.” he said to Betty.
“Okay, Daddy.” she said as Hal left.
~
A while later Betty sits on a table in a room, she’s dressed in a gown. Alice sits across from her in a chair.
A nurse comes in. “I’m just going to take your temperature and blood pressure.” she said.
“Okay.” Betty said.
She quickly does and leaves. Soon Dr. Sanderson came back.
“Okay, I’m going to inject a local anesthetic and it will numb the area, but first we will go to the biopsy room to do it.” she said.
“Okay.” Betty said as a nurse rolled a wheelchair into the room. She gets up and sits in the wheelchair as she is rolled to the other room. Her mother follows behind her.
Betty is put on a table on her stomach. It takes about 30 minutes before they feel confident that the anesthetic is working.
Step by step they tell Betty what they are doing, Once the needle hits her bone she starts to scream. Her mother is beside her holding her hand and whispering into her ear. “You're doing so good. Such a strong girl. I love you so much.” Alice said. Betty just sobs.
It breaks Alice’s heart, watching her youngest daughter in pain. She knows this is only the beginning, she's not sure she can do this. Alice knows she has to though, she has to be strong for Betty and her other children. There is no time to be weak.
After a while Betty is asleep in Alice’s arms as they wait for the doctor to come back.
The door opens and it’s Hal who is returning. “How is she doing?” he asked.
Alice looks up at him with tears in her eyes. “It was horrible, she was in so much pain.” she said.
“I’ll take her now.” He said as he sat down.
“I don’t want to disturb her, just yet.” She said.
He nods.
The doctor soon comes in. “Okay, I have sent this to our lab with a rush order, I should hear something back by tomorrow. I’ll call you then. I have written some prescriptions that I want Betty to start taking. Once I know what we are dealing with then we can start a treatment plan.” she said.
“Okay, Thank you.” Alice said.
“I know this is not what you expected and I can't even begin to know how you feel. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to help her, okay?” Dr Sanderson said.
“I appreciate that?” Hal said. “It was nice to meet you and I guess we will be seeing a lot of each other.” he adds.
She nods, “here.” she said as she handed him some papers. “If you need anything, please call me.” she adds.
“We will.” Alice said.
Hal got up and picked Betty up out of Alice’s lap. “Hi daddy.” Betty smiled.
“Hi, pumpkin. Are you ready to go home?” he asked.
She nods.
They leave and go home.
~
Betty is laying on her sofa, when Chic comes home from football practice.
“She's on the couch again, why can't she sleep in her room?” he asked as he threw his bag down by the front door.
“Charles, that's enough.” Alice said as she walked by the stairs. “Polly, can you come down here please?” Alice asked as she yelled upstairs.
“What's going on?” Chic asked.
“Sit down and we will tell you.” Hal said.
Chic nods and sits down as Polly comes downstairs.
“What's up mom?” she asked.
“Polly, take a seat.” Alice said.
Betty opens her eyes when she hears all the noise. She sits up and her mother and father sit next to her.
“Why do you look sad? What's going on?” Polly asked, getting worried.
“Okay,” Alice sighed and took a deep breath. “So a few weeks ago I noticed some bruising on Betty’s back, she also has been losing weight and has been so tired. The doctor took some blood work. Today, we got called to meet up and go over the results.” Alice said as she looked at her older children who looked terrified. She wanted to cry, but she didn’t. Hal noticed her hesitation,
“So the results we found out were not good.” Hal said. “Your sister has Leukemia.” Hal adds.
Polly gasped and covered her mouth as she started to cry.
Chic turned completely white, he became sick to his stomach.
“Betty had a bone marrow biopsy today and tomorrow we will learn what type she has and the doctor can start their treatment.” Hal said.
“It’s going to be okay?” Betty said.
Both Polly and Chic get up and go and kneel in front of the sofa. Alice leans in and hugs Polly. Hal does the same with Chic and then they all hug Betty. The five of them embrace in a hug that shows unity.
“We will get through this together.” Alice said.
~
The next day Alice is doing some house work when the phone rings.
“Hello?” she said as she answered the phone.
“Mrs Cooper?”
“This is she.” she said.
“Hi, This is Doctor Sanderson”
“Oh. hello.” Alice said.
“I got the results back from Betty's biopsy and we now know what we are dealing with.” she said.
“Okay.” Alice said.
“Can you come to my office so we can go over everything.” she said.
“I can, but can you tell me now? I’m not sure I can wait. I’m already very anxious about everything.” Alice said.
“Okay, well. Betty has what is acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) for short. I think it will be better if you come and discuss the rest in person.” Dr Sanderson said.
“Okay, When will be a good time?” Alice asked.
“Does today at 3 work?” she asked.
“That's fine, we will see you soon.” Alice said.
“Okay.” the doctor said.
Alice hung up the phone and went and sat down at the table and started to cry again. She’s sure her tear ducts should be dry by now but the tears keep coming.
Betty walks into the kitchen when she hears her mother cry.
Alice sees her beautiful daughter and wonders, Why her? Why my beautiful Betty?
“I love you momma.” Betty said.
“I love you too.” Alice said as Betty wiped the tears off her face.
“It will be okay,” Betty said as she sat down next to her mother.
Will it be okay? Only time will tell.