it's you, it's always been you

chapter 93

Sam looked between the doctor and her dad. There was a silence in the room before he spoke and Sam had the urge to scream at the doctor.

"Sam, you white blood count is low again. It doesn't mean cancer. You don't have any new cancer cells. But your immune system is very fragile and weak right now. If you come in contact with someone who was sick, you could end up in the hospital with the illness much more severe than the person who had it."

Sam felt a sense of relief when the doctor said no new cancer cells. But she knew the rest was bad news too.

"I want to take you out of school. I know it's your senior year and you don't have much longer, but that's where you can get the most exposed. I know how you felt when you were in the hospital so I'm not going to admit you, but the moment you feel sick you have to call us. This is serious Samantha. There's a medication I will prescribe you that helps with white blood formation. But that was the spleen's sole job so your immune system has to produce the white blood cells without it. And this medication will help. But it won't cure it, you have to be safe."

Sam looked at her feet as the doctor spoke. Her hand immediately went to run her fingers over the D on her necklace.

"So how many people would be allowed to be near her? And for how long?" Sam's dad asked, he looked more scared than Sam.

"As the least amount as possible. No more than four and they can't be feeling sick either. There's no set date on how long it can take but you will need to come in twice a week for blood tests and test how the medicine is affecting you."

Sam sighed, she would have to be isolated again and out of school. Just as she was starting to feel like her old self again and liked being at school.

Sam followed her dad as he made the appointments and filled out paperwork for her. She kept on hand toying with her necklace as she worried about what could happen.

But she was more worried about how it would affect Deena and worry her. And she already felt guilty for how much the cancer worried Deena.

Sam rested her head on her hand as she stared out the window as her dad drove. She was supposed to go to school after this but now the doctor pulled her out of school.

"I want you to stay with me. I know you've been with Deena nonstop for months, since you got into the hospital. But this way we can limit the people that will be in the house. It wouldn't be fair for Josh and their dad to enforce it on them. And we don't know who they come in contact with either."

Sam wanted to argue right away, but she would feel guilty to make Josh and Deena's dad force them to live differently for her.

"I understand that it wouldn't be fair to them. Can I get my stuff from her house now? But this only works if she's allowed over whenever I wanted."

Sam wasn't going to change her mind about this part, and her dad knew better than fight Sam on it or else Sam wouldn't stay at his house.

"Alright. I figured I wouldn't be abled to get you to stay with me unless Deena was there. And I understand. Yeah we will go there now."

Sam still had the pair of keys that Deena gave her and it made Sam feel safe knowing she always had a place to go to. She gathered her stuff from Deena's house and some of Deena's sweaters of course.

She hasn't spent much time in her new room at her dads house but that was going to change now. It felt like it did at the hospital, how she was only to stay there and only certain people could see her.

She understood it was for the better and she knew better than to fight her dad, the doctors and Deena when she found out.

It was lunch and Deena waited at Sam's locker like always to walk with her but there was no sign of her so she went to lunch and sat at their table with Kate and Simon.

Deena scanned the large room nonstop. As she kept checking her watch, she got more worried as the day went by. She knew about Sam's doctor appointment and that they were checking her blood and cancer.

She knew that it didn't usually last this long and it made Deena worry so much she could barely sit still in her classes.

When Sam didn't show up to their last class of the day, she knew something was off. She took her stuff, ignoring the teacher and the students as she walked out.

She couldn't focus on anything other than Sam and she couldn't just sit there and not do something about it.

She drove to her house first. As soon as she walked in she yelled Sam's name but there was no reply.

She ran to her room and was shocked to find all of Sam's stuff gone. She was so confused by it but it terrified her all the situations that ran through Deena's mind of why her stuff was gone.

One of them was that Sam was breaking up with her this way. Another was Sam's parents were forcing Sam away from Deena. And that's all she could think about.

So Deena called Sam's moms house but there was no answer. Then Deena called Sam's dads house.

"Hello?" Sam said over the phone and Deena almost fainted with relief at the sound of her voice.

"Sam what's going on? All your stuff is gone and you didn't come to school?"

"I was going to call you when you came home from school, but they said I needed to isolate from people and only be around a few people. If I catch any sickness then it could make me sick enough to be in the hospital again. They said my white blood count was so low again. So my dad is making me stay here. I only agreed if he allowed you to come over whenever you want. Can you come over now?" Sam asked.

She felt so worried about her body and how she could get sick that she was starting to feel weak again.

"Coming right now," Deena hung up the phone and almost sprinted out of the house to Sam.