Pink Haired Triplets

PHT 4: Promises

“Time to go Calliden!” Bernie called through the door.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m on the way,” Cal called back.

The two new friends hugged and said goodbye to each other. Cal almost didn’t want to leave the hospital, because of him. She was gonna miss her bald headed friend. His humor and fun adventures were what had kept her sane during school hours when her friends and family couldn’t visit.

Cal picked up her phone, sliding it into the pocket of her pants. She had started wearing her own clothes as soon as they arrived with her brothers. They were only pajamas, but still so much better than walking around half naked. It didn’t matter that most people were doing the same thing; a hospital gown was still an unappealing wardrobe.

“Bye” Alex and Cal both said, and Cal walked to the door slowly, stepping over the scrabble game they had played the night before and never cleaned up.

"Calllliden Richards! Where have you been?"

"Where would I be, other than right here in my bed? I've been here the entire time..." Cal said, trying to appear innocent. She didn't think her dad would approve of her wanderings. He usually didn't care about her behavior, but ever since she got to the hospital he had been more uptight. More like a normal parent.

"We both know that's bullshit..." He said, catching her in her lie. "You have a doctor's appointment in 5 minutes. Do you want to walk there, or should I go find a wheelchair?"

"Dad, they drilled into my brain, not my legs. I'm fine, I can walk." Jeez. Cal hoped her dad wasn't going to treat her like she was a weak pile of jello forever; she wasn't sure how long she was going to be able to take it.

She noticed that her brothers weren't there, even though they said that they were going to come visit her today. Before could ask her dad, Cal decided that they must be in school. Their new rule-following dad probably made them go.

Cal got out of bed on her own, ignoring the hand her dad offered out to her. She followed her new rule-following parent down the hallway, although he followed her for awhile because she felt he was walking to slow. Eventually, he realized that Cal wasn't going to slow down, and he sped up to a normal speed since she had no idea where they were going.

They stopped in front of a door labeled 'Dr. Henry J. Carver,' and her dad knocked.

A man, who Cal assumed to be Dr. Henry J. Carver, opened the door. He wore a white doctor's coat and had several pens in the pocket, just as you would expect a doctor to. They sat down, Dr. Carver on the other side of his desk.

"Hi Calliden. I am Dr. Carver, and I am an oncologist. I am going to be your doctor. First of all, I want to say that you are in good hands and we are going to work through this together." The black haired man was rather nice, but not overly nice. Cal appreciated that quality in people. "Now, let's talk about you. How does that sound?"

"Well, I'd say that that's why I'm here, but then I'd sound conceited. So I'll just nod." Cal hoped that her doctor appreciated sarcasm and her sense of humor, because he was probably going to be getting a lot of it.

Dr. Carver smiled and then continued talking. "After running some tests, we found that you have Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. This type of cancer is fairly common in children, but a little rarer in teenagers. It is still treatable and we will begin aggressive treatment soon.

Dr. Carter described some of the treatments that she would go through, but Cal found it hard to pay attention. He talked about the chemo she would be given, Cal was not really listening. Something about adults going on and on seemed to elicit the doze off effect inside her; the same thing happened in school.

Finally, when he stopped talking, Dr. Carter asked Cal if she had any questions. "If there is anything, anything at all, that you are curious or not sure about, now is the time to ask. I'm all yours."

Cal thought about this. "Will I be able to go to school?" She asked. She wasn't really interested in her academics; she wanted to know if she was still going to be able to see her friends.

"You will most likely remain in the hospital for a little while longer so we can continue to monitor your head, and then begin treatment. But soon you will probably be able to receive the treatment at an outpatient clinic and go to school." Dr. Carter explained. "But you will still get your quality time with me, don't worry."

"Good, because all I could think about was having to go home and being more than a hallway away from you." Cal was glad that her doctor had a sense a humor like hers; a boring man telling her how much her life sucked would just be boring.

Her dad then asked some questions and the adults talked some more. Cal was getting very sleepy, and her eyes began to droop. She had become very tired lately, even before her passing out scene. Maybe that was a side effect of the cancer... Dr. Carter might have mentioned that, though she wasn't sure; maybe because she wasn't paying much attention.

Seeing that Cal was tired, Lyle Richards thanked the doctor and took his daughter back to her room, where she fell asleep almost immediately.

 When she woke up, Cal was taken to a few more appointments where they took blood, ran tests, and examined her. They pointed out some bruises on her legs and back that Cal hadn't noticed before. She had thought that the ones on her legs were from soccer, and she couldn't see the large ones on her back. Apparently bruising was a common symptom of leukemia. She also learned many other facts of leukemia; more than she had ever wanted to know.

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