At Death's Door

Chapter 1

"Mom,"I calmly whispered, resting my hand on her shoulder. My father was outside the room, talking with my doctor.
"Mom," I repeated again, but this time more sternly. I squeezed my hand on her shoulder and she stopped crying into her hands.
"It's going to be okay," I said trying to soothe her. Surprisingly, I was acting more calm than I planned. Of course I was scared, I mean, I was just told about a war I'd be having to fight for years. Even though I was scared, I was not sad. I was calm. This was reality. I was one of many who had this burden put upon them and I knew it'd be a hard fight so I shouldn't waste my energy on crying. I had to be positive or else the people around me wouldn't be. It seemed like it was my Mom who needed my positivism the most.
"Mom, you've had this before. If you survived than I can to. Before we know it, this mess will all be over. I'll just stay in the hospital for a little bit and then I'm out. It's okay," I said wrapping my arm around her. Before I could say anything more, my mom wriggled out of my arm and turned to face me. Her mascara was running, but it was only a tiny bit so it looked like a tiny bit of eyeliner on her bottom eye. Surprisingly, this brought out her deep, chocolate eyes more. Of course, they're pretty but not now they were. Here eyes were puffy from crying and her whole face was red. Even her tanned skin couldn't stop the red from showing.
Before I could stop her, my mom cupped my face in her hands and pulled my close to her face until our noses were inches away. Her face said nothing as she studied me for a few seconds.
"Mom?" I whispered, uncertainly, as I gently pulled away. She then stared at her hands in her lap.
"You don't know. You don't know what it's like. This is only the beginning," my mom whispered, not looking at me.
"Mom, I can fight this. I only need you an-" I started.
"You're too young, Madison. Just a young girl," she said.
"Mom, I-I wanna go home," I said, the bottom of my lip quivering. No I can't cry. I had to stay strong.
My dad and the doctor came back into the room.
"Daddy, I wanna go home," I said, jumping up and hugging him.
"Okay sweetie, but we need to take a few tests first," he said pulling me in for a tight hug. A single tear forced its way out of my eye. I had to stay strong. This was the only way.