Brooke
I stepped out onto the pavement, or more as in, out of my second home. I looked outside, and took in the warm, summer breeze. It’s probably my second time, in the past 6 years, that I’m not wearing the hideous hospital gowns. The first? When I first stayed overnight at the hospital, and thought that my Zoey 101 matching pyjamas spreaded a positive vibe. Well, excuse my six year old mind. I guess the patients would much rather sleep and leave, than watch me waddle around. Anyhow, it’s my second time, and I feel almost like a normal 15 year old. Almost.
I get into Mom’s beat-up BMW, and feel a pang of guilt. She could probably be driving a fancy new convertible, if not for my expensive hospital treatment. Sighing, I ride shotgun. Mom isn’t there, so she must still be inside.
“Whatever”, I mutter silently to myself.
I stare out the window and find myself thinking about my birthday. Not just any birthday, but my 5th. My last one, before I was hospitalized.
“Smile at the camera, Brookie” said Mom
“Cheese!” I replied toothily, enthusiastically, “One more!”
“Hurry it up, guys” grumbled Logan
“Be nice to your sister, Logan” my Dad said, “It’s her birthday”
“Whatever” replied Logan, “Can we cut the cake now?”
“Cake time!” I screamed, giggling
Mom took the knife and cut four huge pieces of the chocolate cake. We dug in, happily.
“Well, Happy Birthday, sis, I’ll see you later” said Logan, standing up and pulling out his phone, “I’m going over to Steph’s”
He walked out of the room, and seconds later, we heard a door slam.
“What do you want to do, princess?” asked Dad, “It’s just us three tonight.”
“Anything I want?” I asked, unable to hide my delight
“Last time I checked, you were the birthday girl!” he answered, laughing
I ran upstairs to get my Monopoly board game, but tripped on a step and I fell. I heard a loud bang, and I stood up. I looked at my knee, and saw an already purple bruise. My parents ran towards me, showering me with questions. Then, their faces paled as they saw my, now blue, bruise.
“I’m fine.” I assured them, and slightly limped up the steps to my room.
As I walked, I found myself exhausted, and slightly out of breath. Nothing to worry about, I thought to myself.
I walked down the stairs, and as I placed the game board onto the table, my vision blurred, and instead, the board fell on the floor. So did I.
Then, everything went black.
I felt the tears threatening to fall, but I held them in, as the car door opened.
"Hey, sweetie," said Mom, smiling, "The sun's nice today, you know, we could maybe do something?"
"Yeah, sure.” I answered, casually, but my voice cracked, and my mom instantly noticed a problem.
“Care to share?” she asked kindly, but keeping to myself was clearly not a choice.
“It’s nothing really, Mom, just thinking about my birthday. You know, the monopoly one?” I attempted to joke. Neither one of us laughed.
“Honey, everything’s going to be okay.” she tried.
“Yeah, it sure is.” I lied, looking away, “We probably shouldn’t play Monopoly anymore though. We wouldn’t want to jinx anything.”
We both laughed and Mom started the engine.
I, once again, looked out the window, and thought to myself, Home, Sweet, Home.
YOU ARE READING
Before I Die
Teen FictionBrooke Carmel was diagnosed with Stage III Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, when she was 9 years old. 6 years, 13 surgeries, and thousands of tears later, Brooke is up and ready to get on with life. The problem? She isn't cured. Not today, not ever. Bu...
