“SaraBeth is scared to death
To hear what the doctor will say
She hasn’t been well since the day that she fell
And the bruise, it just won’t go away
So she sits and she waits with her mother and dad
And flips through an old magazine
Till the nurse with a smile stands at the door
And says ‘Will you please come with me?’”
Niall sat in the waiting room at the doctor’s office while flipping through an old Better Home and Garden magazine from October of 2009. He sighed and threw the magazine down onto the small table in front of him.
“It’ll be okay, Niall,” his mother, Maura, tried to comfort him; he wasn’t really listening to her. She sighed as well and turned back to his father, Bobby, with a worried expression.
Niall’s left hand wandered in an absentminded stroll to his right shoulder, gently touching the huge bruise that had resided there for the past three weeks. Niall had been leaving the school building, trying to balance all of his things in his arms, when he had tripped and fallen down a couple of stairs. The fall smashed his shoulder into the railing and ripped his backpack open. Papers flooded from his bag into the wind like a mocking tornado. Niall winced at the memory of the searing pain that he had been in.
“Excuse me, Niall Horan?” A nurse poked her head out of the door leading to the exam rooms. She had a warm smile and kind eyes. Niall and his parents stood up, and she beckoned them back. “Please, come with me.”
“SaraBeth is scared to death
Cause the doctor just told her the news
Between the red cells and white, something’s not right
But we’re gonna take care of you
Six chances in ten it won’t come back again
With the therapy we’re gonna try
It’s just been approved it’s the strongest there is
And I think we caught it in time”
Niall felt like bursting into tears right then and there, but he had to be strong; he knew he did. His mother was already sobbing into his father’s shoulder and asking why this happened to her Niall, to her little baby.
Why did he have to have cancer?
“There’s a 60% chance it won’t come back again with the chemo we’re going to try,” the doctor said, wearing his best facade to give the family some hope.
Some hope was better than no hope.
“How strong is it?” Niall asked in a small voice and stared down at his hands as if he had found something interesting in the lines of his palm. He was trying so hard not to cry, but it was proving to be very difficult.
What had he done to make himself deserve this?
Was he a bad person?
“It’s just been approved its the strongest there is,” the doctor’s voice was pained. Niall heard him sigh deeply, ruffling through some papers. “But I’m confident we’ve caught it in time. I believe you can get through this, Niall.”
“SaraBeth closes her eyes…
And she dreams she’s dancing
Around and around without any cares
