Anna's POV
I woke up at 5:00 am crying. I had another nightmare, but I wouldn't call it a nightmare because it was actually real. It had actually happened before. My foster dad's arms were wrapped around me. He was completely nude and all I had on were the clothes he had ripped and ruined last night. Last night was the worst it has ever been. It wasn't just my foster dad. He had a friend too. They were both drunk and it didn't turn out good. I carefully remove his arms from around me and got up to shower. When I stood up it felt like someone stabbed me between my legs. I winced in pain. I limped to the bathroom. I scared myself when I looked in the mirror. I had a black eye and a bruise on my cheek in the shape of a hand from where he hit me. My face was swollen. I had dried blood all over. I removed my clothes and saw the rest of the damage that had been done. There was more dried blood, bruises, and gashes. I stepped in the shower and the water immediately turned red. It stung the gashes from beer bottles being thrown at me and the cuts I made myself. I carefully scrubbed off the blood and then got out. I dried off and got dressed. I looked in the mirror again. I'd have to find someway to cover this up because I don't want anyone to find out yet. I got the ibuprofen out of the medicine cabinet and took 3 pills. Hopefully that will help the swelling and the pain some. Then I started putting on makeup. Thankfully I have some heavy duty concealer. I put on my normally foundation and then patted the concealer over the bruises. I had to cake it on pretty heavily to cover them up. Then I put on blush and highlighter. I drew on my eyebrows and put on some fake eyelashes then put on my eyeliner. The thing about chemo is that it isn't just the hair on your head that falls out, it is all of your hair that falls out. I mean like body hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, everything. I guess it's a plus that I don't have to shave. I put on my wig and got dressed. By the time I was ready it was already 7:00 am. I went downstairs and got breakfast. Another plus of chemo is that you can eat whatever you want and not gain weight because you end up throwing it all up anyway. I wont eat dairy, gluten, or sugar still. They make me feel really gross and I've heard that it helps with cancer treatment if you cut out sugar.
While I was eating I realized Jake's parents were still out of town and I have no way of getting to X Factor tonight after radiation. I can walk to the hospital. It's not that far, but I couldn't walk from the hospital to X Factor. I could ride the bus or get a taxi. I don't have any money though. I thought for a few minutes then I decided my only option was to call Demi.
Demi's POV
I had just finished breakfast and I was getting ready to go to the gym when my phone started ringing. I answered it without checking who it was. "Hello,"
"Hey Demi, it's Anna. I was wondering if there was anyway you could pick me up from the hospital after radiation to take me to X Factor today. If you can't it's fine. I can find a way to get there," she said quickly.
"Yeah sure, no problem. What hospital and what time?"
"The childrens hospital by my house and I have radiation at 1:30 so probably around 2:00 or 2:15,"
"Okay, I'll be there,"
"Thanks Demi," She said and hung up.
*2:00*
I pulled up to the hospital right at 2:00. I parked my car in the lot by the oncology ward and went in. A little bald kid with walking around with an IV pole and a princess hospital gown pointed at me and came running over to me saying "Demi". Her mom followed me. I bent down to her level and asked her her name. "I'm Olivia," she said.
"Hi Olivia, how old are you?" she held up 6 fingers. Her mom asked if she could get a picture so we took a picture and then I went to the receptionist. "Hi, I'm looking for Anna Brown."
"She just got done with radiation. She should be out any minute. You can just wait over there for her," she said, pointing at the waiting room. A few minutes later Anna came walked out to the waiting room. I stood up and walked over to her. She looked like she was limping a little bit. I greeted her and then took her out to my car. When she got in she winced as she sat down.
"You okay?" I asked. She looked like she was in pain.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just a little achy from treatment," she said smiling, but I could tell that wasn't the full story. I just let it go. She'd tell me if she wanted to so I wasn't going to force her.
The whole car ride was silent besides the radio playing. When we got there she thanked me and went to go do her school work and I went to my dressing room. I had some phone interviews and a few other things to do before the show started. When I got done with everything I went backstage to the dressing/waiting area for the contestants. Anna was on the couch asleep. She was already ready but the show was starting in just a few minutes so I woke her up. She moaned at me and turned over so I tickled her and she shot straight up. She gave me a dirty look and I just laughed. She started laughing too.
We went on stage for the first elimination. You could tell Anna was nervous. I tried to put my arm around her, but she winced in pain. I didn't know what was wrong, but she was in really bad pain. I couldn't talk to her during the show, but I'd talk to her later about it. I grabbed her hand instead and she clutched onto mine tight. She didn't get eliminated so she was now either in 2nd place or she had won. She went back stage to warm up because she would have to sing if she won and I went back to the judges panel to watch the performances. Tonight we had Fifth Harmony and Katy Perry. After the performances it was time to announce the winner. We stood back on stage. Anna was clutching my hand with both of her hands. She was shaking. "The winner of the five million dollar recording contract is... Anna Brown!" I knew it! I had predicted it from the day of her audition. Anna had her her hand over her mouth shocked. I picked her up and spun her around then sat her down. She didn't let go of me. She was crying in shock into me.
"You did it Anna!" I said to her. I was so happy for her. Mario came over to us and Anna let go of me and tried to get herself together.
"Is there anything you'd like to say about your win?" Mario asked. Anna took the microphone.
"I want to thank everyone who helped me throughout this journey. The people who voted for me, my doctors, the judges, the staff, the dancers. Everyone. I especially want to thank my amazing mentor Demi," she said looking at me with a smile. I was so happy I was crying too. "and I want to thank my guardian angels, and my nightingale. I love you Jake," she finished. Everyone cleared the stage for her to sing her last song. I had no clue what she was going to sing.
"I'm losing myself
Trying to compete
With everyone else
Instead of just being me
Don't know where to turn
I've been stuck in this routine
I need to change my ways
Instead of always being weak
I don't wanna be afraid
I wanna wake up feeling beautiful..today
And know that I'm okay
Cause everyone's perfect in unusual ways
So you see, I just wanna believe in me
La la la la la la la la
The mirror can lie
Doesn't show you what's inside
And it, it can tell you you're full of life
It's amazing what you can hide
Just by putting on a smile" She was singing to me the whole time. I could be wrong, but it seems like she is pleading for help by choosing this song. It was in a way my plead for help when I wrote it and nobody noticed until I got completely out of hand. I don't want Anna to go through the same stuff I went through. She's already gone through too much so I'm going to do everything in my power to keep her from starting any of the things I did.
"I'm quickly finding out
I'm not about to break down
Not today
I guess I always knew
That I had all the strength to make it through" Now all of the contestants ran on stage to celebrate with her. She was crying tears of joy and barely got out the last chorous.
Not gonna be afraid
I'm going to wake up feeling beautiful..today
And know that I'm okay
Cause everyone's perfect in unusual ways
So you see, now..." She couldn't make it throught the last line of the song.
After we went off air everyone got their stuff together and left to go to the after party. I went backstage with Anna to give her the box Jake told me to give to her. She was in the bathroom so I waited for her to come out. She looked a little surprised when she saw me. "I was told to give this to you when you won," I said with a big grin on my face while handing her the box. She looked confused and started opening it. Her jaw dropped when she got it opened.
Anna's POV
After the show was over I went to the bathroom to cut. I couldn't stop myself. I didn't want to live like this anymore I either wanted to be happy or dead. When I came out of the bathroom Demi was standing there. She gave me a box. I opened it. Inside was a locket necklace of a nightingale. I opened the locked and on one side was a picture of me and Jake and the other side had a note that read:
Congratulations! I told you, you could do it! I love you<3
Your Nightingale,
Jake
I felt a tear roll down my cheek but I had a huge smile on my face. I pulled it out of the box and Demi helped me put it on. I wanted to just sit on the floor and cry. "Do you want to ride with me to the wrap party?" Demi asked. I just nodded because I didn't trust my voice. We walked out to her car. I was feeling a mix of emotions. I honestly didn't know what to do with myself. When I sat down in the car the sharp, stabbing pain came back. I must've made it obvious because Demi looked at me worriedly. "Do you have any ibuprofen? The chemo is making my body ache all over," I lied.
"Yeah here you go. Here you can take a drink out of my water," she said handing my two pills and a half empty water bottle. I took the pills and thanked her. She seemed more exited about me winning than I was. She was acting like a kid on Christmas morning.
We pulled up to where the party was at. It was at some club that they rented out. Inside it was dark with loud music and a black lights and all the contestants and crew were dancing and messing around. Demi dragged me in and made me dance with her. I'm not gonna lie. I was having really fun, especially when Demi tripped and pulled me down with her. Everyone was laughing including us.
Demi's POV
Anna looked like she was having so much fun. I wanted to talk to her, but I decided to do it some other time because I didn't want to ruin her night. Neon Lights started playing and me and Anna were jumping around, singing, dancing, and laughing. All of a sudden Anna froze. I stopped with her. "Anna?" she didn't respond. A couple seconds later she collapsed to the floor convulsing. Everyone was staring. Her face was turning blue and her eyes were rolled back into her head. Simon and Paulina cleared people out and got the lights turned on and the music off. Kelly rushed over to me and Anna. I was trying to get her to calm down. I didn't know if she could hear me or see me or not. I was starting to freak out because she wasn't getting enough air. "Kelly call 911!" I shouted. She got her phone out and gave them the address and everything. I was panicked. Kelly was still on the phone with the operator and they were asking her questions. She didn't know any of the answers so she handed the phone to me and went over to Anna. The operator immediately started firing questions at me.
"Can you explain to me what happened?"
"She just froze and then collapsed and stated convulsing. She has brain cancer. Please hurry!" I was a mess. I was crying and I couldn't keep myself calm.
"Okay. Do you know if she has seizures regularly?" The person sounded way to calm on the other end of the line.
"I don't think she does. I've never seen her have one before," then Anna stopped convulsing and started frantically calling for me. I rushed over to her and gave the phone back to Kelly. As soon as I got to her she started convulsing again. Kelly put the phone on speaker. The person at the other end of the line told us to keep calm because most likely she still knows what's going on around her and freaking out could make it worse. I pulled myself together and sat down next to her. I tried as hard as I could to keep her calm. The ambulance finally got here. The paramedics began rushing around. They strapped her down to a stretcher and put an oxygen mask over her face. They pulled her jacket away from her and put an IV into what I'm assuming was a port in her chest. They loaded her into the ambulance. I was thinking of the worst possible scenarios in my head. I was sobbing. Simon came and hugged me and so did the rest of the judges. I couldn't stop crying. What if something happens to her?