Surgery came up again, but not the way that Aviana expected;
Her parents stared, accosted, at the new doctor who simply shook
his head before they could even form a full sentence in protest; and
this doctor looked directly at Aviana, "Your cancer is not responding
to treatment, and you deserve to know the truth. You are terminally ill,
Aviana, which means you will die. It is not 'if' you will die, it is a matter
of 'when' will you die," and she had confirmation, for the first time, of
what she has long suspected; Aviana's father grabbed a pillow from
the couch and hit it against the arm repeatedly as he sobbed - and her
mother simply curled into herself to sob uncontrollably; Aviana
remained calm, staring down the doctor, "Thank you," she said,
"I have been waiting for someone to tell me how bad it is;"
The ride home was long, full of tears, and many stops to clean up
in fast food bathrooms or fill up on gas station snacks; Aviana
was allowed to eat so much candy; when they arrived home, it was
empty; Mother told Aviana that they asked for Brynn and Lilly
to stay with their grandma for a few days while they discussed her
diagnosis and prognosis; "Because I'm terminal?" Father nodded;
Aviana shrugged, "I think that's okay. I never liked treatments
anyway," but her acceptance had already been in her heart; her
parents were grieving a reality they pretended would never come
to pass; More than anything, Aviana had one request, "Can I
tell Lilly and Brynn myself?" They did not agree, but said they would
have to think about it before they would commit to an answer,
but, before they went to tuck her in, they told her they would
answer any questions she has about dying and what comes
next, Aviana declined, thinking she had a really good grip on
what dying would be like for her, so then they tucked her in and
left her be for the rest of the night; Aviana expected to cry or
at least feel mad about being told she would certainly die;
Those feelings never came, though, and instead she just thought
about how she wanted to be remembered and celebrated
after she was gone; and all of it would have to start with her
upcoming seventh birthday - no gifts for Aviana, no, she wanted
to focus on the living instead; as all of the ideas came rushing
into her little bird brain, she got out of bed and perched at her
desk, writing and drawing all her ideas out so she could show
off her "end of life plans" to her parents in the morning at breakfast.
YOU ARE READING
terminal
PoesíaThis is an epic poem that tells the tale of Aviana - the middle sister in her family of five who is diagnosed with cancer at just six years of age. It will be a raw telling of how terminal illness wreaks havoc in the lives of those touched by it whe...
