The Girl who Thought She could Fly

Chapter 4: Flashback

After Olive left, Mae eventually went to sleep. It was so quiet without her screaming at the television or complaining about the hospital food.

I settled down into one of the cozy hospital chairs, with a neck pillow around my neck.

I eventually fall into a deep uninterrupted sleep.

~~~~~
4 Months Ago...

"Mae, Addy?" Mom opened the screen door to see us playing tag on the lawn with our dog, Pancake.

"Come, Pancake, catch," Mae giggled throwing A chew toy at Pancake.

I laughed as Pancake crushed Mae in her chew-toy loving frenzy.

"Come, Pancake, come here boy," I called, attempting to save Mae.

"Girls, come have a snack." Mom called through called the screen door.

"Come on, Mae," I laughed, grabbing Pancake by the collar. "Mae?" I asked when I didn't here her soft footsteps.

I turned around to see Mae laying on the ground, with her eyes rolled back into her skull, and shaking violently.

"MAE!" I screamed, running over to her. "MOM, MAE IS HURT COME QUICK!"

Mom hurried over and pressed her hand to Mae's forehead. "Sweetie? Are you ok? Talk to Mommy."

Mae didn't say anything and continued to shake. "Oh my god, I think she's having a seizure." Mom whipped out her cell phone and frantically dialed the ambulance. "Addison run inside and call your father and TAKE MAE WITH YOU."

Snap. It was serious. Mom used my full name. I scooped up Mae's convulsing body as best I could and ran inside.

Dad ran out of his room, trying to tell the 9-1-1 operator what happen from what I told him.

"Yes.... Mae Elizabeth Roberts.... M-A-E...." Dad told the operator, running his hands through his hair, worriedly.

When the ambulance arrived Mae had stopped shaking and lay still on the streacher. Mom and Dad got to ride in the ambulance with Mae while I got sent to Olive's house.

When I got there I was shaken beyond belief. All I could see was Mae's small body twitching and jerking.

"Hey!" Olive's voice snapped me back to earth. "Earth to Addy? Anyone home?" She joked tapping me on the forehead with her nuckles. "You look like crap." She commented, reaching over me to grab a handful of chips.

I refused to answer. "We could talk or I can invite Camil over," Olive said, studying me. "S-sorry Olive I'm just a bit shaken." I finally mumbled. Olive gave me one of her famous bear hugs. "I'm sure she'll be fine. I'd be pretty shaken if I saw Cody laying there convulsing like that." She got a far away look in her eyes. "Anyway should I call Camil? You haven't seen each other in like, FOREVER!" Olive said, scrolling through her contacts to find Camil's name.

I knew she would invite her over even if I said no. "Sure," I muttered, looking through Tumblr. "YAY," Olive screamed.

The truth was I hated Camil. Always so perfect with her waist length black hair and her stunning blue eyes. And she says things like, "Hey have you liked my recent posts on my Instagram. No? Well why not?!? So here's me in Jamaica, oh there's my skiing in the Alps. That weekend was so crazy!"

When Camil arrived, my parents saved me. I got an urgent text from my parents to get to the hospital NOW.

"So sorry Camil and Olive I've got to go. Hospital business. Very important."

"Ok that's fine I guess." Camil muttered. "It would have been nice to catch up though. It's been soooo long." She said standing up to give a hug. "Yeah some other time." I said, plastering fake smile on my face.

I ran out of Olive's house after hasty good byes, to the nearest bus stop. Where I sat next to some old guy with a tattoo that said, "I 💖 Babycakes" . I refused to look at him.

~~~~~

I bust into the hospital and straight to the reception desk. The kind but bewildered nurse lady directed me to the room where Mae, Mom, and Dad were. When I arrived, a nurse hooked Mae up with a machine that was supposed to thin her blood.

Mom, Dad, and I sat quietly around watching Mae sleep while the blood thinner dripped through the I.V. When the doctor came in we all stood up. "Hello. My name is Dr. Shultz. You're the family of Mae Roberts correct?"

"Yes that's us," Dad replied. "Does anyone know what happened to young Mae here?" Mom looked at me expectantly. "Um, I do," I muttered.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Dr. Shultz asked.

"Well, Mae and I were playing in the backyard with our dog, Pancake," I began, "Then Mom called us into the house for a snack while I called Pancake off Mae. When I turned around she was just lying there, jerking and twitching." Tears were threatening to pour out of my eyes now.

Dr. Shultz examined his notes for a while, muttering under his breath.

"Well" he said startling is all. "I regret to inform you that young Mae here had a seizure. It was caused by a blood clot that blocked one of the main tubes to her brain." Mom gasped, while tears pricked her eyes. "B-but Mae doesn't have any blood problems. She is always a happy healthy little girl."

Dr. Shultz looked regretful and sad before he said the three words that changed everything,"Mae has cancer."

My dad looked at Dr. Shultz with disbelief. "C-cancer. No no no not Mae. Please not Mae." Mom just sat there staring at Mae's small face while tears ran silently down her face. "What kind?" I heard myself ask. "Well it's leukemia, cancer of the blood, which caused the clot in her brain but she can have surgery to get the tumor removed. We're lucky to have caught the cancer so early on. We think we can get with a few rounds of chemo."

"Oh" my Dad's voice sounded small, unlike his self. My mom started sob gulping down air and staring at Mae's small unconscious form.

"I'm sure she will be fine though," the doctor said hurriedly, trying to calm my mother down.

I however just sat numbly not moving just letting the words washing over me....

~~~~~~
I woke with a start to the sound of Mae's heart monitor beeping.

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Hey I know it's been a while but I just wanted to give you guys some background on how Mae was diagnosed.

Love ya!
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