Relapsed {Our Battle Series- Book 2}

Christmas Chemo

Avia's POV:

Today was Christmas Eve. Normally that would mean: spending time with family, hanging out, going to church, having a huge dinner, going to the gym and more. But this year it meant being stuck in a hospital bed while various drugs pumped through my body. As luck would have it I was scheduled to have chemotherapy on Christmas Eve, while I'd get off tomorrow. I still wasn't overjoyed to be receiving it at this time. It was morning right now and I still the chemo from yesterday attached and John would be coming in soon to connect me to my new one. I was currently trying to fight off this current wave nausea, my theory was to not move because I felt that if I moved the slightest bit from the position that I was currently in that I'd throw up all of the contents of my stomach.

All of a sudden I heard something or somebody move and I moved just the slightest bit and then the need to throw up got stronger, though I still persisted in trying to keep it down. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, hoping that it would help settle my stomach. It didn't work though, I quietly reached over and shakily grabbed the bucket that laid on the table beside my bed. I put it between my knees and leaned my head over, throwing up almost immediately. I tried to be quiet in an effort to not wake my Dad who had spent the night with us, but it didn't work. Within moments I felt his hand rubbing up and down my back, as he took the bowl and held it under my chin.

"Why do you try to keep this from us all the time?" My Dad whispered, rubbing circles on my back.

"Because I want you to sleep." I whispered, coughing a little

"You will never change, will you?" He questioned, going and emptying the bucket.

"Nope!" I smiled, proudly. He chuckled

"Why don't you go back to bed, you're getting a lot of stuff pumped into your system today so that way you won't have to tomorrow and you're going to need your rest to get through today." He told me kissing me on the forehead, I nodded and rolled over. Sinking back into a deep sleep.

Shay's POV:

I sighed as I watched Avia roll over and fall back to sleep. It was so hard to watch all these medications and this disease rip apart her body, it was even harder knowing that tonight was Christmas Eve and that she was stuck in the hospital for Christmas. We knew this was coming, but that didn't mean that it made it any easier. I wanted her to be home, to be running around with her siblings and cousins, to be eating an amazing Christmas Eve dinner prepared by her Mom, to be helping Colette wrangle the younger children as we prepared for the Bible Story, to go to bed excited to be wake up the next morning. I wanted her to be done fighting, to be out of her misery. I just wanted my little girl to be okay. But that is not the case, unfortunately she'll be spending it in the hospital having drugs pumped into her system all day and night, being in pain, eating crappy hospital food, it would probably be her worst Christmas to date and I hated that there was nothing that I could do to make it better. Both Avia and Brock slept soundly until John came in at around 10 to start Brock on his dose for the day and to start Avia's newest round, which consisted of two days worth of drugs. I knew that today was going to be a long day, but we'd get through it. We always did.

"Hello Brock and Avia! Happy Christmas Eve!" John said happily "Are you two excited for Christmas?" He asked, as he started to set up the lines.

"Yeah, I'm so excited! Santa's gonna come!" Brock yelled excitedly. Even the thought of chemo couldn't deter his excitement for Christmas.

"And what about you Avia?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to have and to be able to spend time with my family!" She smiled, I loved that smile.

"Well I'm glad to see you two excited for the big day." He said, making his way over to Brock's bed.

He made happy conversation with the two of them as he hooked them up to their respective doses of chemo, if anyone was going to be giving my kids chemo I was glad it was him because he always made the awful experience of getting chemo a little more enjoyable and he always knew what to say to them when words of comfort and encouragement from beyond Colette and I were needed.