Irony, therapy and a little bit of Jeremy

Chapter 3

That night I lay on my bed in pure bliss. After the walk home I started to get a headache. And now the  silence of the house was perfect. Only it was short lived. After a while Elsa got home from school and her friends came around. My mum and dad normally get in near the same time but tonight Mum was late. Eventually she got home and I heard Elsa's friends leave. Annoyed I left my bed to get some paracetamol for my head which persisted to torture me. On first glance the kitchen looked abandoned but then my mum came around the corner. When she saw me her face turned stormy. "I think we need to talk." She said pointing a accusing finger at me. Looking at her face I thought she new... about the cancer. So when she said "No more skipping school. Oh and your grounded!" And she sashayed out relief washed over me. She must have heard my exhale and she turned on her heels. Her eyes widened and she grabbed my chin turning my head up to the light. Her Steele eyes reflected my own, her Italian inheritance gave her a bronzed look and for the fist time in a very long time I got a good look of my mum. "Frank get in here now!" she cried. Confusion seeped into me and I pulled my chin back and stepped away from her. My dad came in with Elsa on his heels and he stopped dead in the doorway.

"Ewww she has blood on her face!" She squealed from behind my dad. Her jade green eyes were wide and when I looked at her I felt genuine dislike. But sure enough when I brushed my nose I felt the hot blood smear on my hand. Realization swamped and I remembered when Lilly was really ill she had unstoppable nose bleeds.

"Honey, when was the last time you had a nose bleed?" my dad asked

"Its nothing" I said getting some

kitchen towel and whipping my nose furiously. Lilly had a rare type of leukemia where it developed slowly so she didn't start having nose bleeds till near the end.

"Frank, willow has never had a nose bleed!" exclaimed my mum. Elsa slowly realized something was happening and she pulled out a chair at the table.

"look I have a banging head and I just want-" I stopped mid sentence. Suddenly I felt dizzy and I couldn't think straight. A distorted sound erupted from my mum that sounded like "Call a ambulance!" Elsa screamed and If I could move I think I might be tempted to hit her. After a second I realized I had fell and I was on the tiled floor. After that everything was a blur  and all I could think was 'what if this is it? what if I never wake up and I have accomplished nothing'. The dizziness dragged me from consciousness.

Waking up was weired. Kinda like walking out of the dark. As I looked around I saw faces at first I couldn't think who they belonged to but after a while things started to come back to me. Like that one of the concerned faces was doctor Yashman. He stood at the foot of my hospital bed and a sad look was etched on his face. "Hello willow, do you know who I am?" he asked. Any other time I would have thought it was a stupid question if  I actually hadn't of known who he was 20 seconds ago! I couldn't find words so I just nodded. Something warm enveloped my hand and when I looked I saw another hand. Following the arm I saw it was my dad. His smile seemed a bit false and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, I just didn't know why. "willow, you have been in a induced coma for a week. we have done tests that show you have a rather aggressive case of ALL acute lymphocytic leukemia" he looked down at a yellow folder he was holding formally. "honestly we were hoping you would have  Chronic leukaemia like Lilly, it progresse slower which allows more time to treat it". Who is Lilly? I thought looking into the doctors puddle like eyes, until you really look you don't know how deep they are. "We are going to insert spinal taps to put chemo right into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to try to keep cancer from spreading to the central nervous system. I will repeat all of this when your mother gets here now try to get some sleep" a small forced smile crossed over his face and I tried to return it but I have a feeling it looked just as forced as his.