Wheelchair Races

Chapter 8: Here we go

Please remember that everything is fictional.

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Today was the big day. Not the type of 'big day' like a wedding or your first day of school. No, this was the day that would change our lives and hopefully others too. I woke up long before my alarm started quacking. Laying in my bed I don't have a thought or an emotion. I guess that I was pretty much empty. Last night I skyped with everyone back home. The girls won their hockey game and I had to be strong because I knew that when they saw how I felt they wouldn't be in the mood to celebrate their win anymore. But the truth was I was scared. I was so afraid of what was to come today that I hadn't eaten dinner or spoken to anyone for the last two days. Trev was really confused why I had turned mute but Be and Gavin understood. The nurses were trying so hard to be nice and to cheer us up but it was easy to see that we were all scared.

I heard the faint quacking and my body moved on its own accord. By the time I exit my room I realize that I'm in my medical gown. I don't remember getting dressed or anything but I'm soon joined by Be and the guys. We're all sullen even Trev. However, every now and then Gav would make us laugh by flashing a doctor or acting as if he were on the cat walks of Milan. Sure it was strained but it was his way of dealing with the fear and he was just being the older brother that we needed. I turned and looked at each of my new friends. I really was lucky to have them. We depended on each other for strength and that's what kept us strong. . I knew deep down in my heart that I truly loved these people around me.

We entered the ward together but we were soon separated by the nurses who led us each to our different little rooms that were portioned by curtains. "Trev, are you going to be OK?" I had to make sure he was going to be OK going through this experience all alone. "Manda?" He sounded so scared and that scared me because I didn't know how to make that fear go away. "It's going to OK Trev," I couldn't see him anymore and I was now pulling away from the nurse who had stopped smiling now and was trying to get me to lay down on the medical bed. "It's OK Manda; we'll be OK. When this is finished, we can play with my fire truck."Trevor's little voice broke at the end of his attempt to reassure me and I could hear my heart breaking in that moment.   

"Come now Amanda, you need to lay down so we can put this drip in." How could this nurse seem so calm, it just didn't make any sense to why she was dealing with this so well. I mean, if this went wrong, we could die. OK, perhaps I was being a little dramatic now but I know we were all thinking it. Why else would you think we were so sullen. But I was no longer sullen, for some reason I was angry. I don't get angry often but now my anger was keeping me from crying and being scared.

I grimaced as the needle slipped into my vein and the nurse taped the scratchy medical take over the tube. So, a three hour long treatment, here we go. I lay back, put my earphones in and I soon found myself falling asleep to the sounds of Skylar Grey.

-

"Wha, what are you doing?" I said as I woke up to find Trevor crawling onto my bed. Wait, my bed? I was back in my room. "MANDA!" For a kid his size he really weighed a ton, and he just had to body slam into me. "Hey little guy, I missed you." He wrapped his little arms around my neck and held on for dear life. AAAAW! Mom and dad, I know you can't hear my thoughts but please have another baby so I can have a little sibling just like Trev.

"T, come on little man, give Mandy some room to breath." I looked up at the door way and saw Gavin standing there. Wait, if they were both here then where was Be? "Good to see you're alive there hey. You had some people worried." 

"What? Why would people be worried about me?" What was Gav talking about? I felt fine. Sure I was a little tired but that was all. Gavin walked over to the bed and sat down and looked at me the same way my father would when I lost memory. (The loss of memory is temporary. In MS terms people call it an MS fog.)

"Mand, you've been asleep for two days." All the jokes gone, there wasn't any amusement in Gavin's eyes when he said this to me. "Two days? But, why? Did I react badly? God Gav, was I in a coma!?" Hello there freaked out version of me, was hoping not to see you but yeah, I'm freaking out now. Two friggin days!

"Easy, nothings wrong. Trevor didn't even sleep an hour longer than he usually would but us older guys slept a lot. Doc says the medication just takes a lot of energy because our bodies have to work it into our systems or something. That's how I understood all his large words. The meds also make our fatigue worse." 

"Thanks Gav, I feel a bit better now. It's still scary knowing I was out cold for that long." I was actually still trying to process everything that he had said to me.

"I was so scared you died Manda." Trev whispered with a sniff in the cook of my neck where he had nuzzled his head. 

"I'm not going anywhere Trev. I'll always be here for you buddy, okay?" Gosh this poor kid. I loved him so much and here I was putting him through hell by having him think that I had died. 

"She's right little man, we'll always stick together and be there for each other." He smiled down at the little kid that was drying his silent tears.

"Wait, Gav, where's Be?" If we were all here why wasn't she here?

"Oh, um" He rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the floor. What was going on? Trevor started sniffing again and hid in my neck. I looked back at Gavin,"Gavin, where is Belinda?"

"she didn't react well to the first treatment session and had an attack." Oh God no please.

"She hasn't woken up yet Amanda." Gavin looked at me with sad eyes and my heart dropped. Everything was numb and the air in the room turned stale. So, was Be going to be okay?

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Cliffhanger! Only because I still need something to carry onto the next chapter.