Beat Of My Heart

Chapter Four: Recovery

Chapter 4

 That night as I slept I was much more cognizant of not thrashing around so much in my sleep. The blood transfusion ended up working out okay in the end, but it was still a great scare for me and everyone else.

 I was looking forward to today, as my dad's flight was supposedly landing from Florida in six hours from now. I couldn't wait to see him again.

 It got pretty boring after I was instructed not to get up from my bed, although I hadn't been getting up that much in the first place before the whole blood transfusion thing occurred. Nate and Anthony had sure been good about keeping me entertained though. We played card games throughout the day, watched movies, and read a few books. Their company was good for me.

 Anthony stayed by my side almost the whole day, while Nate had been in and out, still busy with additional patients in the hospital. I took the chance with Anthony to ask him a few questions. After all, I had been very curious, and I couldn't hold them in anymore.

 "Anthony?" I asked. He turned facing me to the sound of my voice.

 "Uh huh?" He said, his voice a soft sweet sound.

 "If you don't mind me asking, what kind of cancer do you have?" I wondered.

 "I have Leukemia, diagnosed when I was six years old," He answered.

 I imagined me and Jaden at six years old. We were still playing with dolls then, still reading fairytale books. It must have been horrible for him to go through that at such a young age. I hated that it was taking away from the childhood that he deserved. It just wasn't fair.

 "I'm sorry, Anthony."

 "Don't be. I'm used to it now."

 "Do you get sick a lot?"

 "On a weekly basis. The cancer cells have damaged my immune system, which makes me more prone to it. My body is so much weaker than it used to be. I've lost a lot of weight too." That explained why he was so tiny.

 Anthony was amazingly intelligent for his age. He knew a lot about his condition. I wondered if he worried about death. I bet Nate didn't talk to him about things like that. Positivity was Nate's specialty and I knew I probably shouldn't bring it up.

 "Chemotherapy is the worst though. I throw up a lot, and I hate doing that," He continued.

 Anthony seemed to have no problem talking about his illness. He wasn't in any kind of denial, that's for sure. I admired his open and calmness with everything.

 Nate walked in to the room, interrupting our conversation.

 "Your father is on the phone." Nate said, handing me a black cordless phone. I could feel myself growing with excitement just to talk to him again. I reached for the phone immediately, careful of not damaging anymore stitches.

 I placed it on my ear, speaking clearly in to it. "Hello?"

 "Hey, Charlie. I can't talk long because I just boarded the plane. But I just called to tell you that I'm on my way and I can't wait to see you and your mother." I grimaced at the thought of my mother. "But anyways, I'll see you soon."

 "Have a good flight." I said before hanging up the phone and handing it back to Nate.

"Well that was short," Anthony commented, now sitting upright on his bed.

I shrugged, "He was boarding his plane. He just called to say he'd be here soon."

 "So your dad lives in Florida?" Nate asked.