Waiting on the waves

Chapter 3

I woke up screaming, and I sat up just tears streaming down my face. I felt Mike wake up next to me, holding me in his arms as I shook and cried. I was so glad .he was here, that's exactly what I needed, a hug. He rocked me in his arms and waited until I calmed down enough to tell him what was wrong. I had a dream, a dream in which I was drowning, slowly, and screaming but no one could hear me. I have been having that dream for years now. Ever since my parents died in a boating accident, I was so afraid of drowning. I wouldn't sail with anyone but Mike or my best friend Grace. He listened and just told me what I need to hear: "Ainsley, I wont let anything happen to you. I will always be here by your side."

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Now I should probably explain the fact that Mike was in my bed. We have been best friends since we were 7, inseparable ever since we met. I held him when his mother died, took him to the hospital when his dad beat him. He held me when my parents died, and when my Aunt didn't understand me. We were there for each other for everything, and are the best of friends. Nothing could ever keep us apart.

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We had set the appointment for 11:00 and it was 7:30. We put on our bathing suits and went to the beach, only a 4 mile walk from my family's beach house on Lake Michigan. We both attend UofM college in order to be able to sail on the weekends. Most days we swim, but today we just walked the beach. He could tell I was nervous for the doctors appointment, and I was exhausted (I don't know why though) We talked about school, about how break just started, how we wish sailing could be a job that would pay for room and board. We talked about what we want to do in the future, that sort of thing. After what seemed like an hour, we headed back to get dressed for my appointment. I put on just leggings and a sweatshirt, not feeling like putting any effort into my outfit. We walked into the hospital to see my doctor. They called my name. We both went up to the front desk, where a girl handed me a clipboard and pen. They asked the stupidest questions:

Age: 19

Gender:F

Full Legal Name: Ainsley Hope Ellis

And so on and so forth.

Finally I finished the clipboard and Mike walked up and handed it in. We then waited another half hour until we finally heard the doctor call my name.

He asked me why I made the appointment. I told him that I have been having stomach aches constantly, and passed out yesterday. He then asked me a series of questions:

Have you been sleeping well? No

Have you had any muscle pain? Yes

Have you found yourself tired easily?

Yes

Changes in appetite?

Yes

Have you been dizzy lately? Yes

The questions continued until he stopped and said "I am ordering a blood test, if you could head down to the Hematology department that would be great. It will only take a minute or two, and when we get results within a week we'll give you a call."

Mike looked at me with as confused a face as my own. We took the doctors orders and headed downstairs. We finally reached a sign that had a right arrow saying "Neurology" and a left arrow saying "Hematology" so we went left. When the doctor said it would only take a few minutes, he wasn't kidding. We were in and out in a grand total of 10 minutes.

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After we got home, Mike and I decided to get some ice cream in town, then head out to the boathouse to sail. We put on our sailing gear, and biked the 8 miles to town. We stopped at Barbs Bakery, where the small town style shop owners know us by name...and order. They already had our cinnamon twists ready with Mikes coffee. They don't even think anything of us in our sailing gear, me in skin tight everything. We are small town champions, made it all the way to the finals, only to get screwed over by a wind shift we didn't expect. Our competitors didn't expect it either, but their tack was just that much quicker, resulting in them beating us by about 1.5 minutes. We may not have won, but we put our small town on the map. Headlines screamed our names for weeks. It was odd, both of us hate attention. Now, two years later, we're not competing on the international level, but still do big competitions. It wasn't enough time to compete like that with college.

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We took our favorite boat out, simple racing yacht, streamline. Just relaxing on the deck, Mike with his arm around me, resting my head on his chest. The doctor was right, I was tired easily.

We did this just about every day for about a week. That is, until we got the call. The call from the doctor.

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Hey guys,

I don't know if anyone's even reading this...if you are, please PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE comment

Thanks!!