Sickness AU [COMPLETED]

♡chapter eleven♡

•Maya•

My eyes slowly opened my head lolling to the side. I sat in that position for a few minutes, feeling the dizziness fade away.

I glanced over at my legs and moved the white sheets away, gasping at my legs. My left leg remained the same but my right was gone from the bottom of my knee down. I brushed my hand over the white gauze and wiped away a tear.
I put both of my hands at my side and moved my right leg.

I repeated that action a couple more times then laid down again feeling exhausted. I closed my eyes and began to drift off to sleep when the door was opened.

"Ms. Hart?"
I opened my eyes seeing a nurse standing in the doorway.
"You're awake. Good."

I watched as she came to the side of my bed typing on the computer.
"Can I see my mom?" I asked weakly.
"Not right now, we want to make sure you're okay and then we will bring in your visitors. You have a whole line out there." She smiled.

I smiled back and the nurse came over to the side of my bed peeling back the gauze.
"Well you're recovering well, you might be able to get out of here soon."

"Am I gonna get a rubber leg?"
She laughed.
"It's called a prosthetic. And they're bringing it later."
I nodded and closed my eyes again falling asleep.
~
I felt a warmth wrap around my hand and I opened my eyes looking at the warmth.

"Riles." I grinned.
"Hey beautiful. How you feeling?"
"Hurts less than I expected, so good."
Riley smiled and rubbed my hand with her thumb.

"I'm so excited for you to get out, I can't stay like this and not be able to cuddle you any longer." Riley laughed and I could see a tear.
I wiped it and held her other hand.
"What's wrong Riles?"
"I was scared, and so was everybody else. We thought the cancer had come back."

"There's nothing to be scared about honey, I'm alright and the cancer isn't back. It's the one that's scared because I know I will kick its ass again."
Riley giggled and looked down at our interlocked hands.

"C'mere." I scooted over moving my arm and Riley crawled in bed next to me. She tucked her head in my neck and I could feel her warm breath. I ran my hand up and down her back, twirling her hair in my finger.

"I'm glad you're okay. I couldn't stand to see you in pain anymore."
"It hurt so bad Riles. It was like my leg had gotten hit with a sledgehammer."
"I know. I felt horrible knowing I couldn't do anything."

"But you did, just you being there holding me made me feel better."
Riley smiled and I pulled her in sharing a passionate kiss with her.
"So are you gonna get a prosthetic?"
"That's what they told me. It's being made."

The door opened and the same nurse came in a man holding a brief case behind her.

"Hi girls, we need Maya for a little bit. Is that okay?" She asked a gentle smile on her face.

Riley nodded kissing me on the street before sitting up going out of the room.
The nurse stepped to the side opening the door more as the man with the brief case walked in. He set it on the edge of my bed.

"Hello Maya. I'm Dr. Smith. And I have your prosthetic. We're gonna try it on okay?" He instructed opening the case.
I sat up looking inside the brief case.
The nurse pulled back the blanket unwrapping the gauze around my leg.

Dr. Smith took out a clear, rubber, slip. Putting that on at the bottom of my leg.
Then he lifted the prosthetic. It matched my skin color well but was very weird looking. It was a tan plastic at the top, then metal bars in the middle with a dial on the side, and then tan again at the bottom.

I scooted twords the side of the bed.
"Okay we want you to put your right leg down first, grasp your balance, then we will put down the left."

I held onto the doctor and nurses hands as I set down my right foot bending my left. I nodded at the doctor and set down my left.

I stumbled a little but regained balance.
The doctor helped me to take my first step twords the door, and then another.
"Do you wanna walk down the hallway?" He suggested.
"Yeah. But I wanna try myself." I said and before he could respond I was out the door.

My steps were slow and small at first, but after a few steps I progressed and dragged my hand on the wall as I walked.
I begin to smile feeling good about myself and realized that having one leg was possible. I kept walking till I reached the end of the hallway and stood in the waiting room looking at Riley who was shocked.

I smiled even bigger and she got up walking over to me.
"You're walking."
"I am." I laughed hugging her tightly.
"How do you feel?"
"Independent, confident. Happy." I answered.
Riley kissed my cheek and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear.
"Good, you should feel that way." She said interlocking our fingers.
I glanced back down the hallway and saw the doctor and the nurse by my door, both grinning.

"I'm gonna go back. They're waiting." I told Riley looking back into her innocent brown and white eyes.
"You got it?"
"I got it, thank you." I kissed her one more time before I turned, walking down the hallway... both hands on my sides.
~ *5 days later*

My mom pulled up to the familiar library and rubbed my cheek saying "I love you" before I got out.
I could now mastered walking with the prosthetic, and it was no longer uncomfortable.

By the doors I saw Riley waiting, her beautiful brunette locks blowing in the soft wind, leaning against the wall.
She came over to me waving at my mom then kissing me passionately.

We took each others hands and walked to the support group room.
The chairs were all in a circle and kids were scattered across the room.
I saw Lucas talking to one of his friends and once he saw me, he smiled really big.

"I'm so glad you're here." He said hugging me.
"Me too."
"Alright kids! Let's sit down!" Mrs. Katherine shouted walking in holding a ball of red yarn.

I sat in between Riley and Lucas, holding onto both of them.
Mrs. Kathrine made eye contact with me and grinned warmly.
"Glad you're well Maya. Welcome back."
She waited for everyone to sit down and stop talking.

"Okay, so today I brought in some yarn. But first let's all talk. In society, what is something you all find that everyone strives for?"
A girl with short brown hair and breathing tubes in her nose raised her hand.
"Hazel?"
"Perfection." She answered, her voice raspy.

"Sums it up well. We all look for perfection, happy endings and what not. But how many people in here believe that there is such thing as perfection?"
A few people raised their hands.
"And do any of those people have a hard past? One that might hold bad memories or experiences?"
All the hands went down.

"Nobody is perfect. We are all different and have hard experiences. And everyone in this room has one in common. Everyone stand please."
"Now when you get the yarn, you will wrap it around your finger. State your name, the name of your cancer or sickness, then throw it to a person that's not next to you."
She handed the yarn to Lucas.

"Umm I'm Lucas. I have Retinoblastoma."
He threw it to guy across from him.
"I'm Jackson. I have Alveolar cancer."
He threw it to Hazel.
"I'm Hazel. And I have Thyroid cancer."
She smiled and tossed it to Riley.
"I'm Riley, and I have Lukemia."
This continued each person with a red band around their finger.
I caught the red yarn and wrapped it in my finger as I spoke.

"I'm Maya, and I have the aftermath of Osterosarcoma."

I tossed it to Mrs. Kathrine.
"Look at all of you. All connected in some way. By the sides that are not your perfect places."

///
4 chapters left. The chapters are short now but they will increase as we get closer to the end.
-Georgie O.

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