Dark Storms - sequel to Silver Linings

Chapter 11

11

You don't know what scary is until you wake up in an ICU by yourself. "Erika Wheeler?" A nurse came in and I looked up. I looked down to see oxygen cannulas in my nose. "What.. What happened?" She sat down with a sigh. "There's no easy way to say this Erika, but the doctors found traces of thyroid cancer in your thyroid and lungs. It causes you to not be able to get enough oxygen, which when it finally got to the point of not being able to breathe you were at the park with your boyfriend." I shook my head looking at my hands shaking. "How long has this been going on Erika? How long have you been hurting?" I shook my head lookin at her. "At cross country try ours three years ago I felt some pain in my leg and they thought it was just a sore muscle.. But I guess not..." I was crying at this point and the blonde haired woman wiped away a tear. She reminded me of my mother. "Do my parents know I'm here?" "Yes. Your father and his girlfriend are in the waiting room and your mother is coming up with your step father." I nodded lying back and closing my eyes a bit. "Shawn.." "He's out there too. So is his family. He can't come in here." "Please.." She sighed rubbing my hand and got up and exited the room. I closed my eyes slowly getting comfortable with the cannulas. I heard a hustle come from the entrance and looked over to see my dad. He was in tears shaking his head. "Dad.. Please don't cry." "I'm not. I'm not."

I'm sure when you were younger your parents told you everything in humorous ways to get you to understand things. You can't sugarcoat cancer. And believe me this was one of those times I wish you could.

My mom arrived later with Adam, which Adam being him had gotten me a teddy bear with a little suit. It made me smile and I think that's all my family needed to see.

I got to go home about a week later and this time with medical equipment. I'd become a real life Hazel Grace Lancaster. Here's the issue. There is no such thing as Phalanxifor so there's not a real way to treat thyroid but your typical cancer treatments. So my doctor decided that if things got worse that I would start chemo. Which meant a lot of side effects. But it's not a side effect of cancer. To put it simply, 'it's a side effect of dying.'

Shawn drove out when he could, since I could barely drive until I got used to the extra oxygen being pumped into my lungs. No one expects cancer. No one expects dying at the age of sixteen. No one. So here I was sitting on the front porch waiting for Shawn to get here. And when he did he got out of a Chrysler pick-up painted a dark blue. I smiled seeing him and watched as he walked up the pavement. "Erika Bella." "Shawn.." "You're not stopping me. I'm determined to make the rest of your life like a book. If I have to become your metaphorical boyfriend with a blind best friend, then so be it." I shook my head and hugged him tightly. "Thank you." It was quiet for a couple of minutes before he whispered. "You're beautiful. You know that, right? I'm not playing here." I nodded and looked at him. "You haven't stopped telling me." He smiled at me and pressed a quick kiss to my lips.

"I'm gonna get you a bunch of encouragements for your room. " Shawn spoke picking up my tank for me and heading upstairs. "I don't think that is necessary." I spoke opening the door to my room to reveal song lyrics, quotes, nicknames and little conversations all over the walls. "Did you do this?" I nodded and climbed onto my bed. "I did most of it while my arm was broken because I couldn't do much else. " "Hey! I said this!" He spoke pointing to one of the things he'd said on my birthday. "The best is not the best, even if you say it is. So don't go throwing that word around." I nodded and looked at them. "They're my own kind of encouragements."

Shawn and I discussed how we were going to keep long distance going along with the whole cancer thing before he had to go to his hotel. I kissed him goodnight before he got in his truck and left. He texted me after he arrived.

"Hey does John Green live in Amsterdam?"

"I believe he doesn't. And you don't have a Wish to give me Mendes."

"Well the world is in fact not a Wish granting factory recall?"

The Fault In Our Stars was probably the only book I owned. And Shawn knew that. He knew I loved the book and now he's trying to make my life like it. I told him he wouldn't have to do that. He said he was going to anyways.