Relapsed {Our Battle Series- Book 2}

An Odd Way of Celebrating

Gavin's POV: 

Today after school Mom was taking us up to Salt Lake City so that way we could spend the weekend with her, this week it was Dad's turn to stay with her so he was already up there with Brock. It was also my birthday!! Sometimes they'd stay in a hotel up there because Brock was also undergoing treatment and it was easier than commuting back and forth everyday. I was really excited to see her because I missed having her at home, with her being gone I had no one to play basement soccer with, talk to about books I was reading, play videogames with. Even though Avia and I were very different we were still very close and when we hung out we always did things that both of us enjoyed so that way neither of us hated what we were doing. 

The day seemed to drag on and on and occasionally I felt that I was learning pointless information, although I knew I had to pay attention and get good grades if I wanted to be successful in my ideal profession. You see Avia and Brock's journey had inspired and really driven me to pursue a job that would help other people. When I grew up I wanted to be a doctor, a pediatric oncologist to be exact. After seeing Avia and Brock battle so long I realized that I wanted to do something for a living that allowed me to help kids like them. 

After hours of impatient waiting, the final bell rang signifying that we were all free for the weekend. On my way out I got a few offers to hang out with my friends, but I had to turn them down. They didn't always understand why I could never hang out with them, then again most kids my age aren't spending their weekends at a hospital with their gravely ill siblings. So they didn't seem to understand that I wanted to be there for my siblings while they were battling for their lives, it was really the only thing I could do for them anyway, which sucked. I had talked to Mom and Dad about it a few times, they always said it was because I was more mature than other kids my age. But I knew that if their siblings were in the same situation as mine, then they'd be spending loads of time with their family too. 

I sat on one of the benches outside of the school waiting for my Mom, she told me that she was going to pick Emmi and I up today so that way we wouldn't waste time waiting for the bus. I knew that being away from Avia and Brock for long periods of time was hard for her, she was always paranoid that something bad would happen to them while she wasn't there. It wasn't healthy for her to constantly be worrying, but she was the mother of two children battling cancer. It was inevitable that she would worry. After about five minutes of waiting, I saw Mom's van swing around the corner and pull up in front of the school. I grabbed my backpack off the ground and climbed into the passenger seat. 

"Sorry we're late Gav, had a little trouble getting everything together and getting Daxton out of the house in a timely fashion, especially with a new Power Rangers episode on." She said laughing, as she started to pull out of the school parking lot. 

"It's okay, I get it. Power Rangers are quite important." I chuckled, looking back at Daxton who was playing with some of his action figures. 

"So now we just have to pick up Emmi and then it's off to the hospital we go." Mom said, hooking a left into the elementary school parking lot 

"We don't need to stop home and get our things?" I asked 

"Nope,  you and Emmi both packed your bags last night and during the day I packed mine and Daxton's so I just loaded up the car. Figured we'd save some time." 

I nodded my head in response, I was glad that we didn't have to stop at home and that we'd be able to see Brock, Avia and Dad sooner. We waited for a few moments before we saw all the kids running out of the front doors of the elementary school.  After a few minutes we saw Emmi walking with one her friends bringing up the back of the pack. While I was glad to see Emmi happy and enjoying herself, I wished she would hurry up because I wanted to get to the hospital and see Avia. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, she reached our car.