One sick love story

Ocean ward - Part 2

Bens P.O.V

"What happened? What's going on?" I ask her mum so desperately, but I can tell by her look that I'm not going to be getting any more answers out of her. So instead I decide to rush to her room.

I stand just outside of the isolation room and start banging on the glass.
I know it's probably not the best way to introduce myself but i can't think straight.
Straight away a tall, nerdy looking man in a white coat comes over to me on the other side of the glass.
"Excuse me what do you think your doing? We have a critically ill patient in here. "
"My names ben... I'm er..." I speak so fast I can barely get the words out properly. "I'm her boyfriend, and I need to see her."
"Sorry ben, but it's family only."
"I know...but-"I calm down a little as I say this. " she's the closest thing I have to family."
"No excuses, now if you could just back away from the door"
"Do you people have no humanity. I want to see the one I love, is that so much to ask?"
Tears start streaming down my eyes, it's unusual for me to cry in public, or at all. But this is something that means more to me than anything.
So I don't give up.
I'm about to start shouting again until a young lady, probably not much older than me walks up next to the other doctor.
"Ben. Is it?"
"Yes. Can I please just see Darcy?"
"She's told me a lot about you ben"
"That's great, now can I come in."
To my luck, Mrs greenwood comes and stands next to me, because she is allowed to enter she grabs my hand and pulls me inside with her.
This time no-one protests, and they watch me as I walk through.

"She's in here" the young nurse points towards a blue, sea-themed curtain.
"Now the Darcy you know, isn't the Darcy your about to see. She's sick, very sick. Now before you go in there let me explain what-"
I interrupt her by walking straight towards the curtains and pulling them apart. "Darcy!" I shout. Then freeze. Just the sight of her is enough for my heart to melt, my legs won't take me any closer towards her.
"I'll let you have some time with her."
Everyone walks out, but it's not like I'm alone, they're only behind the curtains.
Gradually , I start to make my way towards her. Each step is hard to take,
Not knowing what I'm going to come face to face with when I see her fully.
Eventually I manage to take a seat next to her bed.
This is enough to cause a bomb to go off inside of me, I'm destroyed. And no one can save me.
Her hands and feet look as if they have been burnt, they have swollen to triple the size of what they were originally. Golf ball sized blisters lay uncomfortably on her hands. Not even the white bandages are enough to cover up the scorching red flesh underneath.
Each individual hand and foot has been laid on to a separate white pillow. But one seems to have found its way outside of the bed.
I reach out to touch her once soft yet tough hands. But I back away as now they look just too delicate, like they could shatter at even the slightest of touch.
There's no room to put my hands on her rosy cheeks either. Too many tubes are in the way. Even though they look deadly, I know they are really life saving.
I quickly scan her swollen body, and disintegrating flesh. And realise this isn't the first time I've seen this.
My sister had the exact same thing during her chemo. And it wasn't pretty.

I quickly turn away so I don't have to face her any longer. Too many memories pass through my mind,
Memories that once destroyed me inside.
Memories... Of another problem... That I could not help.
Then as the male doctor, that originally tried to chuck me out, enters through the curtains I look up at him and whisper "methotrexate toxicity"

"Well done, your a clever boy." He says.
"Hi, I'm Darcy's head oncologist. Dr. Kartor And I would like to know how you know what she had."
"This isn't the first time I've seen this. My sister... When she had cancer, she er... Went through the exact same thing."
I still refuse to look at Darcy, but then her mum and the younger female doctor comes in.
"Hi ben, I'm Bella hardy, me and Darcy have become very close while she's been here. She's told me lots about you."
"That's great, but I'm not really interested in all your girly talks right now."
"I know I know, but I thought you would be interested in knowing a bit more about whats going on." Bella says. She seems nice, but she's not kind of person I want to be talking to right now.
"Unless you already know everything because of your sister." Neither is her head oncologist or whatever. I can tell already he's the type of person who would annoy me. I don't know why, he's just... He seems like the kind of person who projects that he knows everything about how hard dealing with Cancer is. When really... He has no idea. He's more in it for the money and the recognition, not for actually saving the kids life.
"So how is your sister now? Is she okay?" He asks non sympathetically.
"SHES DEAD!" I shout. "Anything else you want to know about my personal life?" I say really sarcastically.
He doesn't reply this time, instead Another doctor (but less nerdy)speaks up and tells me more about what's going on.
But before he does, Darcy's mum comes and sits on a chair on the opposite side of Darcy's bed.
"So ben," he looks over at me. "And Sarah." So that's her mums first name. "This is what's going on"
I lean in, and prepare myself for what he's about to say. Hoping that it can't be as bad is at looks.
"Unfortunately ,during Darcy's chemo she developed something called methotrexate toxicity. This is what caused her hands and feet to burn from the inside. Also-" there's an 'also'. Isn't one thing bad enough. " because chemo suppresses her immune system, she's also developed a bad case of sepsis."