The Smiles

Life of Lies

I sat in the surgery in the same red chair with plastic handles and metal legs, my body was paralyzed. My palms were moist and I whipped it on my jeans, I felt my hands shake as I tucked a strand of dark brown hair behind my ear.

"Miss Thatcher?" Doctor Kenn spoke in a voice which was spun like silk, he had had this talk many times before "would you like me to get your mother in here so I can tell you the details?" I shoke my head refusing to open my mouth or speak. "Well then I'm afraid to inform you that you have Acute Lymphocyte Leukemia, it's very common among children, your not alone Laura. You can undertake treatment and there are people you can talk to" of course I wasn't paying attention I had just been told my body was turning against me.

"Miss Thatcher" the Doctor spoke in a voice which was caring but sad "I think we should get your mum in before we speak any further." I nodded but didn't know what I was agreeing to until my mum entered the room. She sat down and she squeezed my hand, I smiled slightly and I forced myself to concentrate on her pale pink gel nail vanish. I had bought her the kit about six months ago, and it had just sat in the corner of my parents room gathering dust until she tried it out and got addicted to the spectrum of colours on offer. But as Doctor Kenn began to speak the colour seemed to go from a simple pink to grey as the sun went behind the clouds.

"So you found it in her blood test?" My mum asked after a moment of silent "but Charlie and Bradley were fine. How can this be?" Mum choked to try and hide her emotions.

"Charlie and Bradley are older than Laura and no Leukaemia were found in their systems" he spoke fiddling with his pen on the desk.

"What can we do?" Mum was starting to shake and removed her hand from my hand to cover her face as she started to cry, and she looked up and away to hide her tears. She was getting histerical. She looked back at the Doctor "surely we have found the condition earlier enough to kill the thing".

"Mrs Thatcher" the Doctor paused "due to Laura's condition. Acute Lymphocyte Leukaemia cells usually invade the blood fairly quickly, they can spread to other parts of the body. So places like the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, central nervous system, bone marrow and the brain. If not treated the condition is fatal." My mum tensed. The word "fatal" was a doctor's word to hide the true meaning. Death. Death by excruciating pain and agony. "We will have to do a lot more tests to see where the cancer has spread to but at the moment Laura isn't experiencing any pain so that is  good sign".

A good sign? He didn't know what his was talking about! He didn't have 'fatal' cells travelling and infecting other parts of his body, he wasn't going to have to take months off school and have to deal with the pity from my friends and family. It was then that I decided that they didn't need to know anything, I would be finishing my GCSE's in a year and it takes weeks to authorise tests and treatment. They would never know. Why should they know? All I needed to do was act normal and smile through it, I would make through it just as long as I kept smiling.

And I raised my cheeks and smiled.