Pink Haired Triplets

PHT 2: Twenty Questions and Leukemia

Pink Haired Triplets Chapter 2
Twenty Questions & Leukemia 

The next morning, Cal woke up early. Nurses had been in throughout the night to check on her, wake her up, and make sure she was still breathing. The night of interruptions left Cal feeling sleepy. She decided a walk was just what she needed to wake herself out of her intermittent sleep. Seeing that someone had left her bookbag in the chair, she went over to it and pulled out a pair of gym shorts. They were clean; she hadn’t been to P.E. class yet. She slipped them on under her hospital gown; there was no way she going to walk anywhere with only a flapping gown on.

Feeling much less revealed, Cal opened the door and walked down the hall. At first she was just wandering but soon she found herself glancing into the rooms she passed, trying to get a glimpse of the people inside them. In a room at the end of the hall was a teenage boy in bed with the TV on. He wasn’t watching the TV though, he was looking at Cal. She realized that she had stopped in front of his door and felt embarrassed.

“Sorry. I don't know why I stopped…” She tried to explain from the doorway. “I'm Cal,” she said, introducing herself. She wasn’t sure why she did this, but it felt like the right thing to do.

“I'm Alex.” The bald-headed boy, said, introducing himself.

Cal stepped into his room after first making sure he didn't have any visitors.

“So, what’s wrong with you?” The boy, Alex, asked from his reclining position in the bed.

“Huh?” Cal was confused; he hadn’t seemed to mind her intrusion moments before… why now? Then she realized what he really meant. “You want the long story… or the short story?”

“Medium story. I'm not going anywhere, but I don't want to get too bored.”

“I passed out in school yesterday because I had a brain tumor, they said. They got rid of it, but I also have other cancer.” She explained. Somehow, it didn’t seem like she was talking about herself. It seemed so… not real. It felt like she was telling the story of someone else, someone she didn’t know.

“Cancer here too,” Alex stated.

“Oh.” Cal said, not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Leukemia.” Alex said, even though Cal hadn’t asked.

“No one’s told me what kind yet,” She explained, realizing that he was waiting for her to reply with the same information.

“Good luck with the diagnosis.”

“Are we really gonna talk about cancer?” Cal asked. She was not ready to be reminded more than necessary of why she was here.

“No. What do you want to talk about?”

“What’s your favorite color?” Cal asked. She wanted to talk about anything but cancer. She knew she would get to talk about that soon and for a long time after that.

“Green. Yours?” Alex answered.

“Blue.”

“My turn,” Alex said. “What’s your favorite food?”

“Watermelon and spaghetti.”

“Together?” Alex asked, making a funny face. He pushed a button that caused his bed to move, so that he was then sitting up.

“No, I meant they’re tied for my favorite. I don’t know which one is better…” Cal said, smiling.

“Good. Favorite animal?” He asked.