My Final Sunrise
Chapter Two.
An iron grip tightened round my upper arms.
I whirled round to see my captor.
"Daniel!" I squeaked. I breathed a sigh of relief.
He stood, still gripping my upper arms, studying my face intently.
"I came to meet you from your bus. What happened?" he asked gently, loosening his strangle hold on my upper arms.
"Nothing. I just felt a bit odd... Don't worry." I pasted what I hoped was a convincing smile onto my face. Daniel looked at me for a moment longer, before pulling me into a gentle hug. "You're not mad at me then?" I asked, talking into his chest.
"Huh? No, course not, silly!" I relaxed into his chest, suddenly exhausted and unsteady on my feet. He tensed. I pulled back to look at him. He was fixated on something over my shoulder.
"What is it?" I asked, turning to find what had bothered him. The square behind us was deserted.
"Nothing Daryl, Listen, you should get home, you look tired. I'll call you later?" He pushed me gently towards the edge of the square. Giving him a quick peck on the cheek, I turned towards home, looking back at him as I left. He stood still, focused on the same spot across the square. Shrugging, I left for home.
***
I curled up on my bed, exhausted. After getting home I had chatted with my mum as she fed Lissa, filling her in on the events of my day. She had offered to talk to the headmaster about my Algebra teacher, but I refused, not wanting to make a scene. Soon after, I headed up to my room, wanting to lay down a while.
Through eyelids like lead, I looked at my bedside clock. It was only just after six, but I could barely hold my head up. I pulled my duvet over my legs, deciding I would have a nap before dinner.
***
"Daryl, Wake up sweet pea." I became aware of being shaken gently.
"Hey Mum." I murmured, unwilling to open my eyes.
"Come on Daryl, you need to get up, you'll be late." I finally opened my eyes, confused. Glancing at the clock, I read the time. 7:35.
"Late?" I asked, confused.
"For school, honey. You slept through. You seemed to need it."
Wow, I had slept for thirteen hours, even missing a meal, which was very odd for me. "In fact," my mother continued, "You still look a little peaky. Do you feel okay?" She pressed her cool palm against my forehead.
I sat up, making a quick assessment of myself. My limbs felt heavy, as if I were wading through treacle.
"I feel...tired, I guess." I shrugged, swinging my feet onto the carpet. From the kitchen, Sammy began to wail. Distracted, my mother patted my leg absentmindedly, before returning to the kitchen.
Standing, my room swirled around me. Gripping onto the dresser, I closed my eyes until my head stopped swimming. Glancing in the mirror, I was shocked at my reflection.
My usually pale skin was almost grey in colour. Huge bruise like shadows lay beneath my eyes, making it look like I hadn't slept in weeks. In fact, that was how I felt. Despite my long sleep, I was exhausted.
Slowly, I pulled my school uniform on, pulling my hair back into a messy bun, glancing again at my shocking reflection. For the last few weeks I had been tired, but I had put this down to the start of the new school term, and the increased workload. I turned my back on the mirror, trudging down the stairs to the kitchen.
I delicately picked at the pancakes my mother had laid in front of me. Despite missing dinner last night, I wasn't hungry. I looked up at my mother, who was watching me intently again, a concerned look on her face. Catching her eye, she looked way embarrassed.
"I've got to run Lissa to play school this morning, would you like a lift to school?" She asked. I smiled, nodding.
***
"Hey girly." Tara flung her arms round me. I winced, her arm heavy on my tired body.
"Hey Tara." I gently removed her arm, linking my arm through hers as we walked down the corridor.
"So what's going on Daryl? I mean no offence, babe, but you look like shit." She looked down at me in concern. This was really getting old today, Way to build a girl's confidence.
"I'm fine, just a bug I think." She smiled, satisfied.
"So where is the boyfriend?" She asked. It struck me that I hadn't seen Daniel today. He had said he would phone me last night too. Maybe I had missed the call. Pulling it out of my pocket, I flipped open my phone and scrolled through the history. Nope, no missed call. Odd.
"Dunno." I responded. We took our seats in our registration class, as the warning bell began to ring.
Opening my phone under the desk, I sent of a quick text to Daniel. "R U at school? Have not seen U. xxDxx"
I waited a minute, watching the miniature screen. The phone buzzed. I quickly opened the message.
"Not yet. Felt odd. Be in @ lunch x". I slid my phone back into my bag, satisfied at the answer. Perhaps we had caught the same bug.
***
The morning seemed to last years. During the lessons I could barely hold my head up, and walking through the hallways was slow torture. I let out a huge sigh of relief as I collapsed onto a seat next to Tara. She chattered away to the others on our table, as I kept a watch on the door, waiting for Daniel to appear. As if I had conjured him, he paused in the doorway. I expected to feel relief, but a stab of worry pierced my heart.
He looked about as well as I felt. His usually tanned skin had taken on a pallor. His expression seemed different, an odd haunted look. He perched beside me, landing a cool kiss on my cheek.
"Are you okay?" I asked, scrutinising his face.
"Yeah, Just a bug." He smiled, the movement looking strange on his face, the emotion not reaching his eyes. His eyes raked over me once more. "You're not okay." He squeezed my hand, Concern twisting his lovely face. "You feel tired, heavy, exhausted." He looked deeply at me.
"How did you know?" I asked. A look passed over his face too quickly for me to identify it. He shrugged.
"I know you." The bell rang, interrupting Daniel's intense look.
***
"I think we'll just get it checked." My mum said, patting my knee encouragingly. "You might be anaemic."
We were in my mother's car, driving towards my appointment at the doctors surgery.
My mother cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Daryl?" I looked up at her. "This is awkward, but, um, Is there any possibility you could be pregnant? Maybe that's why you're feeling odd?" She went red, not meeting my eyes.
My cheeks burned. "No Mum." I muttered awkwardly.
I didn't want to have this conversation. I didn't want to have to explain I was a sixteen year old virgin. Daniel and I had talked about it, but decided we would wait a while.
While I studied my lap intently, my mother pulled into the car park. I trudged along behind her, taking a seat gratefully as my mother signed me in.
"Ms Howard?" A woman in a neat grey suit called out from an office. My mother and I stood, following the woman in, and taking a seat in her office.
"I'm Doctor Carter. How can I help you today?." The doctor asked, looking at me over the top of her wire rimmed glasses.
"I've been feeling tired. Exhausted." I explained, embarrassed to be bothering the doctor. "My mum thinks I'm anaemic." I shrugged.
"She's stopped eating like she usually does." My mother chipped in hurriedly. I glanced at her. I didn't realise she had noticed.
"And are you stressed, um, err Daryl?" The doctor glanced down at the file on her lap. "Is school okay?" I nodded. "And boyfriends?" I nodded again, the blush rising to my cheeks.
The doctor rose, and retrieved something from a drawer. Sitting back down, I identified the objects as a needle and syringe. My stomach turned.
"I'm going to take some blood for a blood test Daryl. Will that be okay?" I nodded mutely.
She settled beside me, slipping an elastic strap onto my arm. I wildly looked around the room for a distraction. I settled on a framed photograph on the doctor's desk. Two children on the beach, a boy and a girl, both smiling widely at the camera. I smiled. I wanted children one day. I blushed internally as I imagined Daniel and I with a brood of our own.
"All done." The doctor broke into my fantasy. "Results should be back in a couple of days, we will let you know if anything comes up." She stood, ushering us towards the door
***
"Dinner in fifteen." My mum called at my retreating back. I gently closed my bedroom door behind me, grabbing my phone. No messages. I felt a small nudge of disappointment that Daniel hadn't called or texted.
Sitting on the bed, I carefully pulled the plaster off the inside of my elbow. A small round bruise, about the size of tennis ball, had flowered on my arm. I grimaced, bruises always showed up on my pale skin. Standing up to drop the plaster in the bin, my head spun. Swallowing my feelings of nausea, I headed slowly down the stairs to the kitchen.
***
The next few days passed very slowly, my strange feelings only building as the days passed. I had skipped school, feeling too tired to get out of bed in the morning. Tara had called every evening, but I had heard worryingly little from Daniel. I had phoned him countless times, but he didn't phone back, instead leaving me curt text messages. I felt betrayed.
The phone rang, interrupting my feelings of irritation.
"Hello?" I answered, trying to steady the anger in my voice.
"Could I speak to Daryl Howard please?" The cold voice asked at the other end.
"Speaking." I answered, confused.
"This is the Brooklands surgery. We have your blood tests results and would like you to come in to discuss them." The blood pounded in my ears, panic affecting my breathing.
"Today?" I squeaked.
"Yes please." I gently replaced the phone in the cradle, like a zombie, I headed to the kitchen, gripping the handrail. Entering the kitchen, I saw the other phone in her hand, the colour gone from her face.
***
"Miss Howard. Daryl." Doctor Carter sat beside me on the sofa. I could see my mother's knuckles turning white as they gripped the arm rests. The doctor took a deep breath. My eyes snapped to the turmoil on the doctor's face. Panic constricted my throat.
"You're blood test indicated a low white blood cell count. From this and other indicators we believe you have a leukemic syndrome." The doctor continued talking but I could hear no more, the blood pounding in my ears. I watched my mother dissolve into tears, talking madly with the doctor. I felt as if I were watching this scene on the television, she couldn't be talking about me. All I could see were pictures of bald children, hooked up to needles and drips, the heartbreaking end of 'my sisters keeper'. This couldn't be happening to me.
"You 'believe'?" I heard my voice say. It was the voice of a stranger.
"You will need to go to the hospital for further tests, but yes, we are almost certain. I'm sorry."
"Am I going to die?" I asked, the swirling mass of emptiness making my stomach roll.
The doctor looked uncomfortable. "As I said, you will need further tests." I heard the silent answer in her words.
I was going to die.
The world spun, then went black.