Photographs (Luke Hemmings)

Chapter 42

I felt Luke place me in the car and start to drive. I felt groggy like you do after a nap. I was so light-headed. I noticed the street lights as we drove, but my eyelids became heavy and soon my eyes were closing.

-

I opened my eyes slowly, and I immediately felt like I got hit in the head. I rubbed my eyes and then scanned over my surroundings.

White walls, bright lights, and big windows.

The hospital.

I heard the sounds of the beeps from my monitor. I looked around the room and realized I was alone, it made me frown.

I stared at the wall in front of me trying to replay the events from the night before in my head. I last remembered sitting and watching Luke throw some trash in the trashcan. I also briefly remembered being in the car.

I wasn't sure how I ended up here, but I was here and that's all that mattered. I began to worry, then I heard the door open.

I looked up to see Dr. Chase walking in along with my family, Casey, and Luke.

"You're awake," Casey said softly making me nod. I was curious why Ally wasn't here, but I knew she only wouldn't be here if she had something serious to do. She had probably stopped by but had to go.

"How are you feeling Bailey?" Dr. Chase asked.

"My head hurts a bit, but besides that I feel fine. Why am I here?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows and scanning over everyone's faces. I didn't feel that bad anymore, just tired.

"You had gotten really pale last night, and you were being unresponsive," Dr. Chase said.

"It took you like 2 minutes to respond to anything I said," Luke added with a worried voice.

"I was just tired, I feel fine now though," I said trying to make a point. I didn't want to be in the hospital, I didn't see why I needed to be either.

"Bailey," Dr. Chase said with a deep breath.

That's when I knew things weren't okay.

"We did another MRI, your tumor is growing again," he said.

It felt like the wind was knocked out of me. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I didn't know what to say or how to react. It had only been slightly a year since I found out about my tumor anyways. I couldn't believe it. I was seriously feeling fine.

"How much time," I whispered not meeting eye contact with anybody in the room. I was expecting more than a year, now I had probably a span of months.

"We can't be sure, the growth could speed up," Dr. Chase said.

I knew when he said that, that I didn't even have six months. If I had six months, I would be told not to worry and to enjoy the time I had. I would be told we would be careful and monitor the growth, but he didn't tell me that.

"Can I at least go home soon?" I asked still not looking anybody in the eye. I didn't want to spend anymore time that I had left in the hospital.

"Dr. Chase is gonna find out, we don't want you staying here either," my dad said.

Luke walked over to me and grabbed my hand. I gave him a small soft smile even though I really didn't have much reason to smile.

The room remained silent until Dr. Chase came in half an hour later.

"Bailey you can go home," he said with a smile. "Can I speak to everyone in the room in the hall for just a quick second? I need to tell you guys what you need to look that would signal bringing Bailey back here," he said. Luke gave my hand a small squeeze and then followed the others out of the room.