Trouble In Paradise?

Chapter Twenty Five

Tiny Recap: Stef has been diagnosed with leukaemia, or leukemia (different spellings), once again.

When I was younger, I had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. Basically, my leukaemia affected the white blood cells in my body and weakened my immune system. After many cycles of chemo and rest periods, I was given the all clear years later after sitting on my ass at home for all that time.

And now, I've relapsed. Doc explained that some of the bad cells must've survived, and now I would be forced through the agonising process of chemo once more.

After the breaking of the news, I zoned out completely for the rest of the day. My parents came home, and we numbly ate dinner before I slowly walked back upstairs for the night. I didn't know what to say.

My heart felt heavy with frustration and fear, fear that I might lose the battle this time.

My treatment was to start as soon as possible, with each period of chemo ending with a rest before it begun again.

Tossing and turning felt like a chore as I squirmed in bed, forever uncomfortable. My mind would not rest, and it kept going back to the same bad thoughts.

It seemed like two minutes after I fell asleep I was waking up in the morning for school. I got ready and gathered my things, before saying a quick and morbid goodbye to my parents. The bus was a blur, and before I knew it I was at school.

My mood was sour, and I was drained. This was not going to be a good day.

I wasn't greeted by the usual hug from Blake today, him frowning when he saw me.

"What's wrong, S?" He was still frowning, and he pulled me aside before I answered.

I couldn't bring myself to say it. Not here, not now. It was too fresh, too raw. So I simply smiled and replied with, "Nothing."

His usual smile returned, and he walked me to my locker. I briefly wondered where his girlfriend was, but then I realised I should be grateful that she wasn't present at the moment.

Xavier, Jordan and Ethan walked over, chatting about something that I wasn't listening to. I bit my lip and zoned out, staring into the distance.

Someone waved their hand in front of my face. "Stef?" Xavier asked, wearing an amused smile. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm all good," I said, waving nonchalantly. "How you been?"

>< >< ><

Weeks passed, and I had noticed that I had been a little distant from everyone. The four guys weren't around as much anymore, and my lunch times were spent reading in the library.

Ethan didn't bring over his sisters anymore. I hadn't spoken to him since he kindly warned me not to tell anyone about his mother.

Mid year exams were looming as well, and I spent all my time reading and studying for those. There was no way I was going to risk failing one of my most important exams.

This made it extremely hard to play soccer. Time was the enemy. And due to my condition, I was significantly weaker than I should've been. Meaning, I couldn't run for twenty minutes without getting tired. I hadn't been to the most recent games, but I heard, from Amber, that we were doing a bit better.