Claire & I

Chapter Twelve: Honolulu, Hawaii

 The trip to Hawaii was relatively short, but we left in the late morning, and we arrived in Honolulu in the afternoon. I had requested to skip some of the smaller items that we were going to do on the island, so the only thing we were going to be able to do was,

"We're climbing a mountain?" Claire asked. I nodded, "It's more of a hike. If we start now, we should get there by sunset." She gave me a concerned look. "What about your leg?" Claire asked. I had almost forgotten about my cancer. "My leg is better," I informed, "And I'll have you there if anything should go wrong."

She still didn't seem convinced. "I don't want to live in fear of my cancer," I stated, "I would really like to see this sunset."

We stared at each other for a few heartbeats. Claire finally agreed, "Okay, fine, but I'm not holding your hand." I smiled, "That won't be necessary."

***

Diamond Head had a rugged terrain as expected from any mountain. The first twenty to thirty minutes or so wasn't so bad as afterwards. Claire constantly slipped on the incline, and she would nag at me if I tried to take pictures of the forestry around me.

The woods were like nothing I had ever seen. Trees towered above us, reminding me of the aquarium. We were like fish underneath the algae. The canopy protected us from the heated sun; a slight wind brushed against the leaves. Roots dug out of the Earth, tripping both me and Claire with an unexpected whish. Birds of all colors sang to each other in the trees, and small woodland creatures scurried across the dirt. Vegetation surrounded us in a beautiful, free chaos.

My legs ached as we journeyed upwards. There were split moments of regret, but they would fade quickly as the sun began to turn towards the west. Claire and I took breaks often, more often than I wanted to admit, but Claire didn't say anything, and she didn't seem to mind.

Many times, when I was behind, Claire would stop and watch me as though she expected me to give up. As though she expected me to turn around and go back to the hotel where there were comforts of something besides standard hospital sheets. But at the same time, it was as though she expected me to fight. As though she expected me to catch up with her, and we would keep going upwards, upwards to the sunset.

Finally, we made it to the top. I dragged myself to the edge with Claire, and we sat down together. "We made it in one piece," Claire stated. I smiled, but I didn't reply. The timing couldn't have been more perfect, I thought.

The sun was cut in half. She was large, larger than I anticipated.

"Hey, I have a question," Claire stated. I turned to her, curious. "If you have cancer, why do you have hair?" she asked. I knew Claire was embarrassed when she said those words as her cheeks blushed. I was slightly embarrassed too. "I'm sorry," Claire said in a rush when I didn't say anything right away, "It's just I'm curious. We still don't know much about each other."

She was right about that. "No, I'll answer," I assured, "It's just, it's been a while."

I began my monologue, "I was diagnosed when I was seven, but everything became serious when I turned eight. Multiple tumors began to form all around me, especially my left leg. I underwent chemotherapy until I was twelve. Either they were gone, or they were small enough to get out with surgery. My hair was gone by that time, and my liver and spleen enlarged shortly afterwards. Chemotherapy can not reduce your organ size, so I stopped using the procedure. I've been growing my hair out ever since."

Claire went quiet, unsure on how to reply. Whenever I told the tale, people would always say they were sorry. I waited for Claire to say those words.

"You did a really good job fixing it back up," Claire told me. I gave her a confused look. "What?" I asked. "Yeah," Claire continued, "Someone who has gone through that much radiation must have had a hard time deciding how to style it. How long were you looking in catalog after catalog, trying to find new ways to empower your hair?"

"Oh, I don't know," I replied, rubbing my fingers through my hair. "Well, you did a great job," Claire complimented. "Thank you," I said. This was weird, but I liked it.

"Can I ask you another question?" Claire asked. I nodded, smiling. "What's wrong with you now? Besides your enlarged organs?" she inquired, "What do you have to do?"

"Since I have low levels of red blood cells, I undergo blood fusions every two weeks. My bones are not exactly the strongest anymore, so I have to be careful," I replied. "Anything else?" I asked. Claire shook her head.

We turned our attention to the sunset. The sky was a mixture of pink and orange and blue, waving goodbye to the day. The colors outstretched past us, and we watched in silence as the sun vanished over the horizon, and the night took the sky. Stars filled the darkness, and the hot air was slightly cooler. I wanted to stay there for a little longer, but it was getting late already, and the mosquitoes were all around us.

By the time we got back to our hotel, it was really late. We were beat, exhausted, and downright tired, so much so that we fell asleep without turning out the light.