"Sunshine? Can I talk to you for a few minutes?" Elle said. I sighed and walked out to the living room. Jess and Elle were on the couch.
"Um...Sunshine...you have to go to the hospital again today...I'm so sorry..." Elle said. I started to cry, and Jessica hugged me.
"Are you guys gonna be there?" I asked. Elle looked at Jess and shook her head. "We can't. I'm so sorry, Sunshine. We got the call from your doctor at the last minute."
I started to sob, then Elle said, "But Evan and Alice are gonna be there with you the whole time." I heard a knock on the door and Elle opened it.
"Hey. You said 9:00, right?" I heard, and I saw Evan and Alice barge in. I waved, then started clinging to Jessica.
"Hey, Sunshine. How are you?" Evan asked, kneeling down next to me.
"Scared." I said. Evan picked me up and started rocking me back and forth. "Aww. I know this is hard. I'll be there though, the whole time. I promise you." he said.
"You still didn't tell me why I'm going." I said to Elle. She looked at Jess and said, "Um...you just need to get a quick IV treatment." I started to cry, and said, "No...no needles..."
"I'll be there to hold your hand, baby Sunshine." Evan said. "Don't worry, it'll be okay." I grabbed onto Evan and buried my face in his neck. Evan kissed me on the cheek and said, "I'm so proud of you for being brave."
"Well, um, we have to go." Alice said. I jumped out of Evan's arms and ran to the bathroom, crying.
"I got her." I heard, and then I heard a knock on the door. "Cat? It's Alice. Can I come in?"
"Sure..." I said, and Alice opened the door and hugged me.
"Do I have to do this?" I asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. It'll help you get better." Alice said.
"You know how I am with needles..." I said, then Alice dug in her bag and pulled out a small disposable ice pack. "Here. I'll put this on your arm right before you get the needle so you can't feel it as much." Alice said. I nodded, and Alice ran out of the bathroom and came back with my old backpack.
"What's this for?" I asked.
"We all put it together once we found out. Don't open it until we get to the hospital." Alice said. I nodded, and ran back to the living room and hugged Jess as tight as I could.
"I'm gonna miss you." I said, crying.
"You'll be back soon, Sunshine. Do you have your blankie?" Jessica asked. I looked around, then cried, "No!" at the top of my lungs and started sobbing. Jess hugged me and said, "It's gonna be okay, Sunshine. You need to be brave."
"I'll try, Jess. I'll really try."
__________
"I'm nervous. Like really nervous." I said to Evan, clutching my backpack.
"It'll be okay, Sunshine. I'm here." Evan said. "Do you want to open your backpack?" I nodded, and unzipped my backpack. Inside was a scrapbook with a bunch of pictures, a book, one of Elle's many hair ties, and my blanket. I pulled out my blanket and hugged it close.
"My blankie!" I cried. Evan smiled at me and ruffled my hair. "See? I told you." he said.
"Catlynn McLemore?" the nurse asked. I looked at Evan and grabbed his hand. "Here we go..." We walked to a big chair and I started clinging to Evan.
"Do you want to sit on my lap, Sunshine?" Evan asked. I nodded and Evan sat down in the chair and I got in his lap. I curled up in Evan's lap and Alice put my blanket over me and kissed my forehead.
"You got this, Sunshine. I'm so proud of you for being brave." Alice said. I clutched my blanket with one hand and held Evan's hand with the other.
"Alice?" I asked.
"Yes, Sunshine?" Alice responded.
"I'm scared." I said, crying.
"Hey. We're both here, Sunshine. It's going to be okay. Don't worry. I have some ideas to distract you."
"Oh no..." I said. Alice dug in her bag and pulled out her phone. "I got an idea." She tapped on it for a few seconds, then handed it to me. "Here. I found some clips from Heathers. Maybe it'll distract you." I sighed, and said, "No, thank you." and handed the phone back.
"Wow. She must be super nervous. That usually helps." Evan whispered to Alice, still holding me tight. I nodded, and then curled up in Evan's lap, crying a little.
"Shh...Sunshine, I'm right here. Don't cry. It'll be okay." Evan said, stroking my hair. The nurse came back and started preparing the IV. Alice smiled sadly at Evan, who held me tight. "It's going to be okay, baby Sunshine." Evan said. Alice grabbed the ice pack that was in her bag and tossed it to Evan. Evan pressed the ice pack on my arm, then took it off after a few minutes.
"Here we go...deep breaths...good girl." Evan said soothingly, rubbing my back. I started to cry with nerves, and Evan cuddled me. "Hey, Sunshine. Listen to my heartbeat, just focus on it for me." Evan said, still rubbing my back. I listened to the steady rhythm of Evan's heartbeat and took a couple of deep breaths. Evan kissed my head and started stroking my hair.
I started to feel the pinch, but my arm was still a little numb from the ice pack. I heard Alice get on the chair and felt her hug me, but my head was still buried in Evan's chest.
"Okay...take a deep breath...in...and out." Evan said. "You're good, Sunshine, keep going. Just breathe." Evan hugged me tight, and I felt a sharp pinch in my hand.
"You did it." Alice said. "Good girl. Now, we're just going to chill here for a few hours until your body has taken in all the medicine, okay?"
"Okay." I said. I snuggled into Evan and he pulled out the book I brought. He started to read it to me until I fell asleep.
____________
"Wake up, Sunshine. You're home." I heard.
"Elle!" I yelled once I saw her smiling at me. I gave her a huge hug and said, "I missed you."
"I heard you were really brave today." Elle said. "And tomorrow's your band concert."
Jessica looked at Elle and I could see tears form in her eyes. I don't think she knew that I knew about her doctor's appointment tomorrow.
"I'm super excited." I said happily. I couldn't wait to play saxophone on stage for the first time ever.
"I'm so happy that you're happy." Evan said. "I'll see you tomorrow night. It's at your school, right?"
"Yep! Doors open at 6:30, concert starts at 7." I said, smiling.
"I can't wait to see you shine, Cat." Alice said, and I skipped off to my room, smiling.
I'm hoping that Jess and Elle can make it.
AN: Hahaha, ended on a slight cliffhanger there, didn't I? And Cat won't be going to the hospital for a while, don't worry. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!