Girl In Red (R.HALE)

20

The hospital lights were too bright. They hurt her head. 

She knew that's where she was before she even opened her eyes. She remembered the sharp, crisp smell of clinical environments that had been sterilised to within an inch of their life. It made her nose wrinkle. 

She could also smell her mother's perfume. Earthy and sweet. 

Lorrie was asleep in a chair beside the bed, head hung down to her chest and snoring lightly. It was dark outside, which Leigh hadn't been expecting. She didn't know how long she'd been out for, but she assumed it was a while. 

Daniel was nowhere to be seen. He'd most likely gone home with their father. She found herself to be unfairly disappointed, as she'd selfishly thought he might read to her all night. 

"Mum?" 

Leigh's voice was a little raspy, her mouth bone dry. 

"Mum!" 

Lorrie's head whipped up. She blinked a few times, tumbling out of her chair and toward the bed, rubbing her eyes. 

"Hey! Hey, honey," she said, practically shuddering with relief. "You're awake. How do you feel? What do you need?" 

"Water," Leigh said softly. 

A white, plastic cup of water appeared in her hand within a heartbeat. She felt a little better once she'd drank it. 

"I'll go get a doctor," Lorrie said, pressing a gentle kiss to Leigh's forehead before moving to the door. 

Leigh didn't say anything. 

She was groggy, and the lights were still too bright, so she settled back in against her pillow, shutting her eyes. 

She didn't really know what'd happened. It hadn't happened before. 

Her head ached, a sharp pain swinging around in her head; sparking at the front and dying down as it swung around the back, only to reappear at the front once again in a cycle. 

"Leigh?" 

There was a soft pressure on her shoulder. A hand. 

"Mm?" Leigh hummed, slowly peeling her eyes open only to find swirling spheres of gold staring back at her. She smiled. "Rosalie." 

"Hey," she said, brushing the pad of her thumb up Leigh's cheekbone. "How are you feeling?" 

Leigh replied with an indecipherable, drowsy noise. 

"I can't stay long, your mum will be back soon," Rosalie whispered, fingers cool against Leigh's cheek. 

Leigh let out a small whine. 

"I'll come back later," she added, a smile tilting her words. 

Leigh sighed, content.

Rosalie disappeared again. 

~~~ 

Leigh wasn't really with it when the doctors were there. 

They kept talking to her, asking her questions that she thought that she answered but couldn't quite remember. Lorrie sat in the corner the whole time, chipping in whenever Leigh's replies didn't make sense or couldn't be considered separate words rather than just sounds. They did all the usuals: temperature, blood pressure, blood test, urine sample. She was used to it. 

From the hazy mess of white coats and murmured chatter, she gathered that she'd had some kind of seizure. 

That was new. A fun side effect of the leukaemia spreading to her nervous system.