The 50 Day Bucket List

Make Hand prints in Wet Cement

As I walked into the spinning doors that led into the lobby of the hospital, I waved at the secretary.

"Hello Mrs. Johnston, I am here to see Chloe James, she is in Chemo at the moment. Would you happen to know her room number?"

"It's nice to see you, Chloe is in room 309. Is Chloe new? I don't recognize her name."

"Yes, she just moved here. This is her first treatment here."

"Well I am glad she chose to come to us. Have a good day Olivia!"

"You too Mrs. Johnston," I waved heading towards the elevator. When I got to the elevator, someone stepped out, "Hey Olivia! It's been awhile since I've seen you!"

"Wesley! How are you? I haven't seen you in forever? How have you been feeling?"

He smiled, "I'm getting better every day. I've shrunk down to a grape size now, so it shouldn't be too much longer until I'm out of here. How of you been?"

"I could be better, much better. The chemo stopped working, so I'm only here to meet another patient. You want to come up with me?"

"I would love to! My mom is still upstairs in a meeting, so I can stay until the meeting is over."

"That's great!" It had been months since I had seen Wesley Turner. We had grown up in the hospital together. Although he had a cancerous tumor and not Leukemia, we had the same doctor and seemed to have similar chemo times in the past until he had to switch days because of all of his activities. Wesley was fairly tan and normally wore plain shirts with jeans, he didn't appear to be feeling too bad, so his chemo doses must have been lowered.We rode the elevator up to the third floor rather quietly since Wesley was texting his mom.  "So, who are we meeting?" he asked once he put his phone in his pocket.

"A girl named Chloe. She just moved here and this is her first treatment at the hospital. You'll like her, she's crazy."

"Probably not as crazy today though," he said.

"No, definitely not, but she has been though every time I have seen her."

We stepped out of the elevator and went directly to Chloe's room. She was sitting on the bed still hooked up to the chemo, "Hey Olivia! Who's that?"

"This is Wesley. We have spent a lot of time in the hospital together."

"Hello Wesley, how are you?"

"Pretty good, and you?"

"I'm hooked up to chemo aren't I?" she smiled. "I'm kidding. I'm pretty good, just starting to not feel well. You really do get used to chemo after a while, but it does get boring. My phone is almost dead from games and the charger is too far," she said pointing at the outlet near the door.Wesley smiled and suddenly I felt sort of jealous that he was liking Chloe, but I immediately took back the feeling and tried to hide it in my gut. "Maybe you can come hang out with us sometime Wesley," Chloe looked over at me mischievously.

"I'd love to, I am really busy with orchestra and choir, and of course school once it starts."

I nodded slowly, "I'd love to have you come join us sometime though, maybe we can work out a day you are free and everyone is feeling well."

"Definitely, what do you guys like doing together?"

"We are trying to finish a bucket list for Olivia," said Chloe looking excited.

I put my hand in my pocket to make sure my list was still there like it was every day since I had written it."A bucket list?" he asked.

"Yeah, the chemo isn't working, remember?"

"Oh yes, I'm sorry. I would love to help you guys and spend more time with you since I haven't seen you in forever." Wesley pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned the screen on, "Well, I have to go, my  mom is done with her meeting, text me sometime Olivia and we can set up a day together."

"Sure thing!" I said as he left the room.

"Oooo!" said Chloe, "Someone has a crush!""Oh shut up Chloe, he's just a friend."

"Yeah right," she smiled.She looked like she was going to continue but Doctor Carl walked in, "Is the juice almost gone Chloe?"

"Yes it is Doctor Jones."

"Wonderful, just buzz in the nurse when it's done and she'll send word to me so we can talk about you counts and anything else that comes up, your tests are almost finished." Doctor Carl turned to leave and saw me standing up against the wall out of his way. "Hello Olivia! How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad Doctor Carl," I smiled trying to hide the pain of the fate he had given me.

"That is very good. We can test you again soon to see your counts if you would like. I will always be here for you."

Once Doctor Carl left I sat down in one of the plastic chairs. It only took a few more minutes for Chloe's chemo to run out and the nurse to come in. After the nurse had left, Chloe's mom and the Doctor came back in.

"Well, you counts are a little bit higher this week, looks like you can just continue what you are doing. Just stay clear of really busy places."

"Yes sir," said Chloe scooting to the edge of the bed, ready to get moving again.

"I'll let you go now, have a good day. I'll see you at your next appointment." Doctor Carl smiled at me on the way out and I gave him a small smile back.Chloe got up and went towards the door like any normal day, but stopped when she got to the door.

"I need to slow down!"

I giggled, "That would probably be smart, you just stood up and had chemo."

Chloe's mom gave her a sympathetic smile and we went, slowly, to the elevator and down to the lobby to check out. The lady behind the desk quickly checked us out quickly and we went outside to the rush of workers trying to finish pouring cement. On the new area of the building. Chloe went to the edge of the cement and bent down when the workers and her mom weren't looking and stuck her hand into it to leave a print. She then motioned for me to do the same. Against my conscience, I did right as Chloe's mom turned around.

"What are you girls doing?" she asked sternly.

"Just looking at the new cement, we're coming now," Chloe winked at me when her mom turned her back again. "I have always wanted to do that," she whispered.