Beautiful Lives

Chapter 15

Hi everyone! Sorry for the wait, I'm right in the middle of midterm and curling season, so I don't have a ton of time to write, but I'm still pretty invested in this story, and my goal is to finish it by the end of the year, so we'll see how it goes! Thank you all so much for reading, voting, and commenting. Love you all!

Kate xoxo

Chapter 15 – We Might Fall (Ryan Star)

The euphoria from the road trip wore off quickly once we returned on Sunday evening. After spending the evening catching up with my family, I headed off to bed with one thought looming over my mind – I was starting treatment the next day.

It wasn't even going to be a leisurely start, like it was last time. Apparently they'd called the house over the weekend to give my mom some information about the first session, and judging by the sounds of things they were ramping up my dose to a terrifying level for the very first chemo session. So, as I lay in bed that night the amazing I'd come home with wore off with every minute that ticked past on the clock. I didn't fall asleep until close to 3 a.m.

Unfortunately, my late night made for an even more unpleasant morning than I'd expected. My mom had to all but drag me out of my bed, and I ended up taking a far longer shower than usual because I could barely keep my eyes open. Finally, still rubbing the sleep off my face, I stumbled downstairs with my hair up in a bun, and wearing a pair of sweats with a long-sleeved shirt. Ryder was already sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, and he slid the box of cereal towards me when I sat down, but I didn't take any.

"Lexi, can you eat something before we go?" my mom asked, her voice wrought with concern.

"I'm really not that hungry," I argued, but she shook her head.

"You need to eat something sweetie, you didn't even have dinner last night,"

Sighing in concession I poured myself a bowl of cereal and picked at it until my mom announced that every second we wasted was another second we'd be late for the appointment. I dragged my heels out of the house, and slouched in the car the whole way to the hospital.

We found the check-in desk, and an energetic nurse showed us up to the outpatient procedure room. Once I got there, I looked around for familiar faces, but new hospitals meant new people, and I didn't recognize anybody.

"Here you go, honey," the nurse pulled the curtains back to reveal a tiny hospital cot, with a chair on either side of it. I sat down on the bed, and leaned back against the pillows, while my mom gave Ryder the car keys so he could head to school.

"I'll pick you guys up on lunch break," he said, his eyes darting from my mom to me. I nodded, and tried to smile (although it ended up being more of a grimace). He kissed my mom on the cheek, and then walked out of the room swinging the keys nervously as he went.

"Hi Lexi, my name's Samantha," a petite woman with short black hair walked over to my bed, wheeling a cart with a large IV bag and kit perched atop it. "Are you ready to get started?"

It felt like a trick question – I was never going to be ready for it, but it wasn't like I could just say no, so I nodded, and held out my arm, allowing Samantha to insert the IV needle, and attach the bag to the pole beside the bed.

"You're all set!" she said, smiling hugely. I didn't really know what there was to smile about, but I thanked her, and watched her retreating figure as she went to check on someone else.

My mom passed me a stack of magazines. I could have curled up in a ball and slept for hours, but that would only worry everyone more, so I took the top one, and buried myself in the celebrity gossip as we both tried to forget where we were.