baby blue • rafe cameron

fourteen

when i came to, i heard beeping and smelled sanitizer. my head started hurting as i groaned, shifting. i let my eyes open slowly, seeing i was in a hospital room. there were two nurses, both turning to face me. one of them clicked a button as the other came over to my side.

"gracelynn?" she smiled.

"what happened?" i asked, softly.

"honey, you collapsed last night, you had a seizure. you're in the hospital now."

"why did that happen?"

"we're not quite sure yet. how are you feeling?"

"my head hurts and my eyes..." i let them shut. "god, they burn so bad."

i let them open again, watching her as the door flew open and i saw another woman come in.

"gracelynn?" she asked as i nodded. she crossed over as the nurse moved. "i'm doctor stewart. how are you feeling?"

"my head hurts, my eyes burn... i'm so dizzy." i pushed my eyes shut tight. "what's wrong with me? why'd i seize?"

"we're still running some tests."

"where's my mom? my dad?"

"they ran home to grab some things. i just paged them, they're on their way back."

"am i crazy?" i looked at her. "or is this real?"

"this is real," she nodded, giving me a soft look.

"okay," i replied and let my eyes shut again.

"we're going to get some blood from you, is that okay?" she asked.

"yeah, do whatever you need to. it can't get any worse."

after i'd felt the needle go into my arm and the blood drain, she took the needle out and left the room with one of the nurses.

"would you like some water?" the other nurse asked.

"yeah, please." i said and opened my eyes. she handed me the small cup. i took a drink as she grabbed a banana, peeling it and pulling it into small bits, placing it on a plate on the bedside table.

"i'm going to need you to try and eat this banana, can you do that for me?"

"yeah," i said and placed the cup down, knocking it over though. "i'm so sorry."

"it's okay." she nodded and grabbed a towel. i grabbed a piece of the banana. i reached it up to my mouth, but missed, dropping it on my chest. i sighed, grabbing it again and slowly placing it in my mouth. i chewed it slowly before swallowing as the door opened again. i watched my mom and dad walk in with the doctor.

"oh, gracelynn." my mom dropped her bag, rushing to my side. "honey."

"mom, can you feed me this?" i asked, pointing to the banana pieces. "i'm so tired."

"yeah, yeah, i can do that." she forced a smile, even though i knew she wanted to cry. she grabbed a piece, lifting it to my mouth. i let her place it on my tongue before i started chewing.

"has anything come back?" my dad asked the doctor.

"no," she shook her head. "we think we have something so we took some more blood, but we're going to need a head CT scan to confirm."

"what do you think it is?" my mom asked, looking over as i let my eyes follow.

"maybe we should discuss this in the hall?" she suggested.

"no," i said. "please, don't treat me like a child. it's happening to me."

"your blood work from earlier came back a little wonky and we think...we still need the CT scan, but we think you may have a brain tumor."