Miracle in Progress

The Beach

            I was lying on the shore of the lake with Jessie. It was the last day of our freshman year and we were finally free for the summer! All the band kids got together and went to the lake to celebrate the end of the year. Anthony and Isaac were launching some of the girls farther into the water. Jessie and I just laughed at the flirts.

After slathering more sunscreen on my fair skin, I turned over to lie on my stomach. My red hair flopped into my eyes, and I blew it off my forehead. I felt the heat of the sun on my back. Despite the three reapplications of sunscreen, I could already feel my skin burning. I didn’t care though. I was too happy to care. I had finished my freshman year of high school with straight A’s and was the third chair clarinet player in the advanced band. I had an amazing school year, and relaxing in the sun with my best friend was a great way to start my summer.

Suddenly, I heard a small beeping noise. It was very faint, and I thought it was someone’s phone going off. I got up to look around for the beeping phone. After I brushed the sand off my bathing suit, I started walking around everyone’s bags. I didn’t find a ringing phone though.

“Is your phone beeping, Jessie?” I asked her.

“No. I don’t even hear anything. Are you okay?”

My eyebrows furrowed together trying to figure out what was making the noise. I thought maybe I was getting overheated, so I ran into the water to swim with everyone else. My arms folded in front of me as I dived into the cool water. When I came back up though, the beeping was even louder and faster. I suddenly felt the heat from the sun go away, and the light faded, too. I closed my eyes tight, hoping that I was dreaming. When I opened them, I realized I had been dreaming. The only problem was that reality was not any better.

My ears still heard the beeping noise, and I looked to my left to see the alarm on my IV pump was going off. I looked to my right and saw my mom asleep on the small cot. I looked down where I was lying and instead of a beautiful sandy beach on the edge of a lake, I saw starchy white sheets. With my pump still beeping, I desperately tried to close my eyes to get back on the beach where I was having fun with Jessie. But, sleep wouldn’t come back to me. I reached over the railing of my bed and dialed the five-digit number for my nurse. Miss Erika appeared a few minutes later.

“Are you alright Miss Emily?” she whispered as she walked into my room.

“Yea, I’m okay. I think my fluid bag is empty. It’s been beeping,” I told her.

“Well I can take care of that. Since you’re awake, I’m going to go ahead and take your blood pressure okay?”

I just nodded. As she slipped the cuff around my left bicep, tears started sliding down my cheeks. I wiped them away with my free hand before my nurse would see.

“Your blood pressure looks good sweetie. What’s your pain level?”

“About a seven.”

“I’ll bring back some pain medicine with the fluids, okay?”

I nodded again. Then, she disappeared out the door for the next few minutes. I just laid in my hospital bed with my hands on my stomach. Why would the universe be so cruel to give me a dream of me being happy and hanging out with friends only to wake up to a nightmare? This was my fifteenth day in the hospital. My stomach hurt so badly, and the doctors couldn’t figure out why. And I’m not talking about a simple stomach ache. I had this sharp, radiating pain at the bottom of my ribs, right in the middle where they start to split apart- like the bottom of my sternum I guess. It started over a month ago, and it wouldn’t go away. I only wished it would. Tears flowed down my cheeks again as I realized I wasn’t sure when I would even feel okay enough to go home.

Miss Erika returned just then, and she hooked up the new bag of fluids to my IV tubing. Then, she twisted the syringe of pain medicine into one of the branches of tubes. While she stared at her watch to make sure it didn’t go in too fast, her thumb pushed the plunger in. As the pain medicine took effect, my body felt warm, like I felt when I was lying in the sun on that beach. I knew the pangs in my stomach would fade for about a half an hour, but then they would slowly start to resurface. I just took a deep breath, trying to relax to let my body fall back asleep.

“Do you need anything else, honey?”

“No. Thank you Miss Erika,” I replied.

“You’re welcome.”

She slipped out my door, and when the hallway light was shut out, I closed my eyes. I forced my mind to go back to that beach with Jessie. When I could picture myself near the lake, I relaxed into my bed and fell asleep.