More Than A Scar.

9. Happy heart.

9.

There's a time in life when everything seems new. After that, it all comes crashing down. However, even when everything comes crashing down we can still find that beacon of hope in our lives.

It may be that one loyal friend, a caring family, a true love, a talent or maybe just the fact that you're alive.

I couldn't identify my beacon of hope. I felt safe and that was it.

Even though, I was burdened by a spontaneous disease and a malicious dad, I was finally fine.

I'd literally been on house arrest for two days. Cole stopped going to work. Katherine came and went in the mornings. Eliza had also gone back to work full time. It was just Cole and Hayley now.

Diane walked into my room while I was painting. She was wearing her usual blue uniform with a white lab coat over it. She smiled at me and closed the door gently behind her.

Cole was slouching over in the armchair with a cup of coffee and his laptop. Hayley was very busy decorating the walls with my sketches.

"Good morning, everyone", she said, nodding at Cole and Hayley.

"Hey", Hayley said as she dropped the sketches and pulled out a seat.

"G'morning", Cole said half-heartedly.

I moved over to the bed and climbed in. Diane rooted her feet on the ground beside me.

"Okay. I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news", she said. At that, Cole looked up from his laptop monitor. His facial muscles etched with concern. Even Hayley leaned in closer.

"We've applied the treatment and other necessary precautions like dieting, but instead of getting better, the cancer is getting worse. Your white blood cells, if care isn't taken, may be dead forever".

Remember that feeling of safety I mentioned earlier, it had suddenly drained from my entire being. I felt like I was dying again.

I looked at Cole who also looked terrified. "Okay. So what now".

Diane gulped, "Now, we try chemotherapy".

I had to look at her indeptly to know if she was being serious. "But, you said it wasn't bad. You said that we had a good chance", I said sternly.

Diane looked at me pitifully. I didn't want to be pitied. I wanted to be cancer-free. I wanted her to be honest with me so we could move forward.

"You lied!", I yelled.

"Malaiya. Cancer is never not bad. I just said it was curable", she said innocently.

"You could have been upfront with me. Tell me that it's not getting any better. But why... why give me hope that it's going to get better when it's not", I cried.

They were all watching me like I was an active volcano that would explode at any moment. Why did everyone walk on eggshells around me? It was borderline frustrating. So I was mad. Everyone gets mad. They just presumed I was broken.

I wasn't broken, I was lost. There's a difference.

"I think you should come back later", Hayley said to Diane. Diane looked nervously at us, then she backed away and left the room.

I wiped away at my face. Cole and Hayley looked at me with sad expressions. I didn't want to hear their sorries. I slowly got out of bed and opened my dresser.

My spacious hospital room had become more of a home than an overnighter. I pulled out some clothes and walked towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?", Cole asked.