Waiting on the waves

Chapter 39

***Mike's POV***

I couldn't breathe. I led Grace and Chad back to the waiting room and we sat down.

"Guys, you don't have to stay, you can take the car home." I said.

"Absolutely not. We are staying here, we're not leaving." They both said.

"Ok. Thanks guys." I said.

"Any time, you know that." Grace said

"Anything for friends." Chad said.

Chad had literally met us two hours ago, and he was willing to wait at the hospital with us. I shot grace a look of approval.

I looked down at the paperwork in front of me. There were at least 5 pages. Chad got a pen from the nurse and handed it to me.

Name: Ainsley Hope Ellis

Reason for admittance: bloody nose that lasted over an hour

Diagnosis: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

I would never forget those words. They will haunt me forever.

Age: 19

Treatment plan: chemotherapy

The list of questions went on and on and on. Once I had finished, I sat back and sighed. Then I got up and walked into the hallway. I sank against the walk, head in my hands, and cried. I cried for Ainsley, I cried for her pain, for her cancer, for her chemo, everything.

"Mike?" A voice said to me. "It's me Maddison, what happened?"

"It's Ainsley-she-she-her nose-so much blood..." I sobbed. Maddison sank down on the floor next to me.

"How long was it bleeding for?" She whispered.

"Over an hour. We tried to get here sooner..."

"Shhhh, Mike. Ainsley is in good hands. It's a symptom of the cancer that she has." She whispered. "I know it's hard, Mike."

She just let me sit there and cry. When I was done crying, I tried to pull myself together, embarrassed for crying so much. I looked at Maddison. She looked so sick. So much skinnier than just 5 days ago. I saw she had needles sticking out of her arm, connected to an IV stand she carried behind her. I got up, and bent down to help her up.

"Let's go sit down, I have some people for you to meet, if you want to that is." I said

"Sure!" She said. I led her back into the waiting room, where we made a little circle for our group. She slowly sat down and locked her IV stand behind her chair.

"Maddison, this is our friend Grace and her boyfriend Chad. Guys, this is Maddison." I said.

"Hi Grace! Ainsley's told me so much about you! And hi Chad, nice to meet you!" She said smiling as always.

"How do you do?" Chad asked with a smile. She was beaming.

"Hanging in there, and yourself?"

"Ditto." He said.

"Nice to meet you, Maddison! Ainsley has told me about you too!" Grace said, going in for a hug. I helped Maddison up to hug Grace.

"Maddison has been a saving grace for Ainsley and I! We met at chemo last week." I said.

By the look in Chad's eyes, he put it all together.

"Cool!" Grace said. "So I heard you go to Stevenson!"

"Yah, when I feel up to it! It's a cool school! I'm going to be a sophomore next year!" She said.

All of the sudden, we hear a rapid loud beeping noise coming from somewhere close. Maddison pressed a little button on her IV stand.

"Sorry, guys, I have to get going, my doctor paged me. It was great to meet you all! Mike, text me updates, ok?" she said.

"You got it, kid! See you at chemo on Monday?"

"You got it! I'll be a little late because I have a transfusion before but I'll be there. It's Ainsley's 3rd one so you'll be there a while longer than usual." She said.

"Why?" I asked.

"First dose is small, second is the same, but starting with the 3rd round they do a really heavy dose every other round. 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 are heavy, so they take a longer time." She said. She's so casual about all this, it blows my mind.

"Oh ok. Well thanks, Maddison! For everything. See you Monday! Need me to bring anything?"

"Tic Tacs, tissues, and goldfish?" She asked with a smile.

"You got it, kid! See you!"

I stood up to hug her and help her up, and she left.