The Bucket List {On Hold/Rewriting/Editing}

Chapter One: Kingsley

"I was always a carefree child. If my favorite crayon broke, I didn't have a tantrum. I continued on with my coloring with the little nub that was left. I guess you could say my life was kind of like that broken crayon. I wasn't perfect, but I could still function, so everything was great.
And then came the summer. It was the week before seventh grade would start. Riley and I were at her house, having one last sleepover before school started. Riley was in honors classes, while my parents decided to keep me in the basic classes, so I would only see her at lunch and gym, my two favorite parts of school.
I had been under the weather most of the summer, but I had begged Mom to let me see Riley. It took tears, but my mom finally agreed. Riley, her parents, and I were playing Sorry, us kids against 'the oldies,' as we called them. They didn't appreciate that name very much. We got halfway through the game before the incident."
-
I stood up to refill my drink. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to get lemonade. A wave of dizziness hit me, and I gripped the fridge.
"Kingsley? Are you all right, dear?" Mrs. King asked.
"I'm fine, one second!" I called back, dropping my cup as nausea hit me. The last thing I remember from that night was the worried voices of the Kings' as everything went black.
-
I woke up in a bright room, not hearing anything but the murmur of a television in the background. I coughed, my throat scratchy. My cough must have sent off a signal because before I knew it, five people were surrounding my bed.
"King, are you okay?" Riley asked.
"What happened, Kingsley?" Mr. King asked.
"Guys, give her some space." Mom suggested.
"I am so sorry if I caused anything, Kingsley." Mrs. King frantically apologized.
"Everyone, please! Let's give her some space." A woman in purple scrubs walked in the room, causing the crowd to back away from the bed. Praise the heavens. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm thirsty." I simply answered.
"There's a cup of water right here." I gratefully took the cup, my hands shaking as I drank the water. "Any pain?"
"Not pain, just tired. Kind of achy, but that's all." I set the cup down, swatting at Riley's hand. "I'm more than capable of setting a cup down."
"No need to be so defensive, Kingsley. You just blacked out, we have a reason to be worried." My dad spoke up, gently but firmly. I nodded, looking around the room.
"I'm sorry, I'm just exhausted and you aren't really helping. Could you guys go get me something to eat? All of you?" I ask. I mentally celebrate when they agree.
"We should probably eat as well, no one has left the room since they've allowed us all in." Mr. King stands up.
"You don't need to worry, I'll be fine. Promise." I smile small, trying to seem reassuring. "Riles?"
"Yeah?" Riley walks over to my bed.
"Can you stay? I mean, we're supposed to be having our sleepover right now." I smile when she nods.
"Didn't even have to ask." Riley sits next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. We sit in comfortable silence until the nurse clears her throat.
"Kingsley? Do you feel well enough to answer a few questions?" I nod at her question. "What happened before you blacked out?"
"I was getting a drink. I got dizzy after I opened the fridge. But I'd been having dizzy spells all summer so I wasn't that worried. But then I felt nauseous. I dropped my cup and that's all I remember." The nurse looked up, concern in her eyes.
"You've had dizziness all summer? What about the nausea?" She asks.
"Dizziness, nausea, and always tired. I've been achy for the last week or so." I sit up, wincing. "Now there's a bit of pain."
"I'll be right back, I need to go speak with your parents." The nurse leaves, leaving Riley and I alone in the room.
The nurse, whose name turns out to be Logan Odom, returns to the room with a cart. Nurse Logan smiles sympathetically at me.
"We talked to your parents, and they agreed. We have to do a few tests."
"Tests? What kind of tests?" I ask, nerves building up.
"Two blood tests, a urine test, and we need to do a PET scan." I gulp as she lists everything they're going to do.
"Okay," I stand up. "I'm ready."
-
I return to the room, holding on to Nurse Logan.
"Is everything okay?" Mom asks when I sit down.
"We don't know the results yet, but we'll have the results in a few hours." I look at the clock which reads eleven thirty. "We'll update you at a more reasonable hour. Only two of you can stay, visiting hours are over now." Nurse Logan headed towards the door. "Call for me if you need anything. Goodnight." I waved as she walked out.
"Can Riley stay?" I ask my parents. They exchange looks before nodding.
"I'll go home." Dad walks over, kissing my forehead. "Night, King. Love you."
"I love you too." I kiss my dad's cheek. I hug Mr. and Mrs. King before they leave.
"Don't stay up much longer, girls." Mom yawns, turning the lights off, the television being the only light left in the room. "If you need me, I'm right here." She settles on the couch, sighing softly. Riley and I stay quiet, waiting until we hear soft snores before talking.
"I wonder what's wrong with me." I whisper, leaning back into the bed.
"Me too, Kingsley." Riley lays on her side, facing me.
"Promise you'll stay no matter what?" I ask.
"I'll stay until you tell me to leave. Even then, I'll probably still stay." Riley yawns and I smile.
"Goodnight, Riles." I close my eyes, yawning.
"Night, King." I smile before falling into a deep sleep."
-
"Who would've thought three people could do so much shopping? When I woke up, Mr. King, Mrs. King, and my dad were decorating my room with balloons and banners. I tried to stop them, tried to tell them that I'd be leaving today, but they didn't listen. Maybe the universe told them something."
-
"Good morning, Kingsley. Good morning, everyone." Nurse Logan walked in. "Are you ready for breakfast?" A cart followed behind her, a man following behind the cart.
"I'm starved." My stomach growls on cue. "Thank you so much." I smile, taking the food from the nurse, his tag reading Henry Adams.
"Doctor Salter will be here with the results from the test. He said he'd be here at noon." I look at the clock, seeing it's only eight in the morning. "Is there anything else you need, Kingsley?"
"I'm fine, thank you." Oh I wish that was true.
We talked, laughed, and played games while we waited for noon. We were currently in a Uno tournament, Dad and I were head-to-head.
"This is it guys, each competitor only has three cards left. Who will be the loser? And who will be the champion?" Mr. King narrated our game.
"Uno!" My dad exclaimed. "Ready to lose, King?"
"I should be asking you the same question." I slap a reverse card down. "Reverse back to me, skip you, uno!, and bam!" I yell, all my cards being down. "I am the Uno champion!" I cheer, giving everyone a high five.  Our celebration ends when the doctor walks in.
"Mr. and Mrs. Barnes? May I speak with you outside?" Doctor Salter asks, holding a clipboard. I try to lean up, hoping to get a peek of what he's hiding. My parents go outside, shutting the door behind them.
"I wonder what they're talking about." Riley breaks the silence first. I nod, not saying anything, hoping I can hear anything. I watch as the door opens, my dad walking in.
"Where's Mom?" I ask, worried.
"King.. I need you to listen, okay?" His voice shakes a bit, like he had been crying. I nod, my mom walking in with the doctor.
"Kingsley, I really don't know how to say this." Doctor Salter says. I look at him, anxious to hear the news. "You have cancer."
It felt like someone just dumped a bucket of ice water on me. I was speechless. A few gasps followed his statement. Everyone had different reactions. My mom was sobbing, hugging my dad. My dad comforted her, crying himself. Mr. and Mrs. King were both in disbelief, teary eyed. Riley was crying, hugging me. I hugged her back, trying to process how I feel. I'd never heard of cancer before, I'd only heard about it in movies and books. I never thought I would get cancer.
"The type of cancer is leukemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It's at stage four right now, but it looks like it just developed into stage four." I zoned out as the doctor continued talking.
"What are the treatment options?" Mom ask, her voice scratchy from crying.
"There's chemotherapy, which would be our main treatment. And then we'd do some radiation therapy. Depending on if or how the cancer spreads, it could be possible we'd have to do surgeries." Doctor Salter explained.
"How did I get cancer?" I ask.
"There isn't any definite way you got it. Sometimes it's hereditary and sometimes it just happens. That's one of the many things nobody has quite figured out yet." Doctor Salter sighed.
"When will I start treatment?"
"We can start next week. We'll try to work with it around school." Doctor Salter answered.
"I don't want anyone else to know." I shake my head. "Can't I just do it after school?"
"Some chemo doesn't take long, so sometimes it'll be after school or on weekends. But some chemo can take all day, or multiple days." Doctor Salter hands Mom and I a few papers. "We can start treatment Monday afternoon if that works for you."
"That's good for me." Mom answers, looking at me. I nod.
"Great. You're free to go whenever you'd like, and I'll see you tomorrow." Doctor Salter leaves the room.
"Come on, Riley. Let's give them their space." Mr. King spoke up after a minute of silence. "And Kingsley? If it bothers you that much, I won't tell anyone at school. It'll be our secret."
"Thank you, Mr. King. I'll see you tomorrow." I hug each of them as they leave. "Riley? Don't worry, okay? I'll be fine."
"Bye, King." Riley hugs me once more before leaving. We leave shortly after the Kings' leave.
-
"We went back to school shopping and then went out for ice cream. It's like I wasn't even sick. Even if it's just for a minute, we were back to normal. Were things always like this? Nope."
-

So, welcome to chapter one! This is a new writing style for me. The italics is a flashback. The normal text is current. Kingsley's text "in quotes, like this" is her talking to a video. The italics are memories. And next chapter will be the same format.
Hopefully this didn't suck, but you made it this far, so it can't be that bad.
If you liked it, please vote, comment, and add to library/reading list.

1822 words