Esperanza (Hope)

Chapter 4

 „What happened?” I heard someone ask.

“I don’t know. He just passed out”, another voice said.

“But I did find a lot of bruises over his whole body. I took of his jacket and pullover, thinking that this could might help. You know, we are in the middle of the summer and he wears a long pullover and a scarf. No wonder he passes out”.

Those words were enough to bring me back to reality.

I opened my eyes in no time, covering all the bruises I was able to cover.

“Finally. What happened to you? Who did this to you?” she asked, referring to the bruises.

I always knew this day would come. The day when everything would unravel and they would find out what I’m going through every day.

“Well, I see you don’t want to talk about it but you should know that those bruises could be something serious. Some of these cuts gets me worried as well”, she said. I looked at my arm and horror crossed my face. They took of my jacket and pullover. I only wear a white T-shirt anymore, my scars, cuts and bruises perfectly visible.

“It’s nothing. Where is my brother?” I asked.

The facial expression of the nurse changed instantly. “Well, are you sure you’re ok again?” she asked doubtfully.

“I’m just fine. Trust me. Now, where’s my brother?” I asked again, not wanting to waste any more time on nonsense talking.

“Well, I’m really sorry to tell you this. We checked your brother and everything seemed fine. I mean, ok, he has the flu, nothing serious though” she stopped.

I really didn’t know why she looked so sad. I mean, this is good, isn’t it?

“Well, that’s good news right?” I asked. Suddenly it dawned on me.

“There’s something else, isn’t there” I asked, horrified.

“I’m not the one to tell you. I’ll get the doctor. Wait a moment, please” she said and left the room.

I was confused and scared at once. What could possibly be so bad that the nurse couldn’t even tell me?

After what felt like an hour the doctor finally came in, introduced himself as Mr. Tanner and took a seat next to me.

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you that but when we checked your brother we diagnosed not only a harmless flu but also something else”, he said, obviously not knowing how to tell me.

“What is it?” I demanded, not really wanting to know.

“We ran a CBC (Complete Blood Test) with your brother. It measures the amount of various types of blood cells in a sample of your blood. There are however to less type of blood cells found. I don’t want to lie to you. This could be diagnosed as cancer but we aren’t sure yet. We still need to run a few tests and especially checking him for cancer with a bone marrow biopsy. I wish I would have better news for you. I’ll leave it to you whether to tell your brother about it or not but I wouldn’t recommend it”.

My heart felt like it stopped beating and my palms sweat. I could barely breath and probably was about to pass out again. I grabbed the bed for support but I knew I needed to be there for Luis now. The doctor gave me water and I drank it in one gulp. My vision got blurred with tears.

Didn’t I do everything for my brother? I always dragged him away from unknown dogs, from playing in the dirt so that he would never be sick. I never considered this possibility though.

“I need to see him now”, I demanded and pushed my way past the doctor.

“I believe this would be a good idea. He needs you now. Should I call your mother?”