Viva! - Sequel to More Than Enough

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

I opened my eyes. Ryan was over me, shaking me. My body wouldn't respond. He called someone over, and I was lifted onto a gurney and rolled out of the restaurant. Where am I going? The EMT people brought me into the ambulance and once in there, they inserted an IV into my arm. They shined a flashlight into my eye, too. That wasn't all that comfortable. I couldn't hear them. I didn't understand what was going on, so I just went to sleep.

' ' '

I woke up with a headache.

"There's our girl!" I heard a man's voice say. I turned to see a doctor. Eric Chase, MD. I read his nametag. The fine print read something along the lines of oncologist, but I couldn't tell. "How are you feeling, Vivian? I'm Doctor Chase."

"I have a headache," I sighed, putting my hand to my head. Except there was a bandage around it. And no hair. I broke down into tears. "Where's my hair?"

"Vivian, we had to remove a large tumor in the right side of your brain. It created a lot of internal bleeding in your brain, and it's how you're alive right now. I'm very sorry, but we are predicting that you are in Stage II of brain cancer," the doctor sighed.

"No, they told me the cancer was gone!" I fought off his words.

"It came back. But you're very lucky that we caught it early. We can start chemotherapy immediately," Doctor Chase reassured me, but I felt nothing besides pain. It's back and there's nothing I can do about it but hope it goes away for real this time. "I'll be back shortly with the paperwork. It may take a while, there was a line at the Xerox machine earlier."

And just like that, he left the room. My mum and dad walked in, showering me in love in the form of hugs and kisses. I was happy that they were here. Something about seeing them again gave me strength inside, even though my brain was failing me. I love my parents to the grave, if that's where this will take me.

"I'll get you some of the potato salad from the cafeteria. It's the only stuff that doesn't taste like crap," my dad laughed, my mother hitting him with the back of her hand. I nodded, and off he went to get me potato salad.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Mum asked me, sitting next to my hip on the bed.

"Just a headache. I'm better now," I smiled, and she smiled back.

"You know, Ryan has been waiting outside of your room all night," she whispered, raising her eyebrows.

"You should've told him to go home. The last thing I want him to do is worry," I sighed, feeling the headache increase in intesity. My mum shrugged slightly.

"He refused to leave. Said that there's no way you're going through this without him. Do you want me to bring in your presents?" she was talking a million miles an hour. At least, the headache made it seem that way.

"Presents?" I asked. Was I in a coma past my birthday? No, it was only last night that Ryan and I were on our date. Then what presents is she referring to? My mum exited and came back in with balloons, cards, stuffed bears, etc. Ryan was behind her, bags under his eyes and his hair disheveled. She handed me the stack of cards, but my eyes were still on Ryan.

"Thank God," I heard him mutter under his breath. He grabbed my hand. "I'm so sorry, Vivian, you have no idea."

"Why are you apologizing for something that was out of your control?" I asked him, trying my best to smile, hopefully to give him some comfort.

"I'm going to go help your father. Would you like anything, Ryan?" Mum asked. I could tell she was trying to give us privacy.

"I'm fine, thank you," he politely declined her offer.

"Ryan, you haven't eaten. Mum, get him something," I interrupted the transaction, and my mother nodded before leaving the room. For a second, it was a dead silent.

"I apologized because you were having headaches the whole time. I should've known better," he sighed, looking down at his feet.

"Regardless of you saying something or not wouldn't have changed the outcome," I consoled Ryan to the best of my ability. I can't say I'm too happy about this either. A phone ringing interrupted our conversation. Ryan pulled his phone out of his pocket, and rolled his eyes as he answered it.

"Hello?...Yes, mom, she's fine...Not really, I think I want to stay with her...But...Fine, how soon can you be here?...I'm sure she'd love to see Michaela...Caramel...Should I tell her?...Good idea...See you...Yeah, love you, too." Ryan spoke into the phone in a hushed voice, but I heard everything. "Sorry about that. I'm going to stay with you here until my family comes to pick me up. They're really excited to see you."

"Awesome. How's Matty?" I asked, feeling genuinely concerned about the young boy.

"My mom texted me a few hours ago and said his fever's gone down significantly. He's gonna be just fine. I'm more concerned about you," he held my hand softly. "And I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" I asked, sighing. It couldn't be much worse.

"I'm really sorry to drop this kind of news on you right now, but it's really imporant," Ryan ran his slender fingers down my face. "I'm moving again."

"Where?" I asked, letting out a deep breath. It could be worse.

"California."

************

don't hate me don't hate me don't hate me

Love,

~B~xx