Fighter (Anthony Rizzo)

Recreating Memories

Anthony

Camilla makes it through her first week of chemotherapy and she's been so strong. No wonder they call her fighter. Her body was accepting the drugs well and the doctors were impressed at how well she was doing. Not only physically but her spirit was good to. She was still really weak and always tired but she was still the same happy, creative, and kind hearted girl.

"Yay no chemo for three days" she cheers as we walk out of the hospital. She skips to my car and lets herself in and waits patiently for me.

"Where do you want to eat" I ask buckling myself in.

"Hmmm Portillos" she smiles. I could have guessed that one.

I drive off and find the nearest Portillos before parking the car and going around to help Cam out. She could do most things by herself but I'd rather help her, take some weight off her shoulders. I latch my arm around hers and we walk into the quaint establishment and order our food.

"Some kids from the children's miracle network are coming by before the game tomorrow" she says sitting down with her food.

"That's awesome. I'll have to give them the good tour."

"Do you remember the little boy from the children's hospital who had the same cancer I did?"

"Yeah... Charles right?"

"Yeah him, he'll be there."

"That's cool. Maybe we can talk to his parents about maybe letting him stay in the dugout for the game."

"Considering you guys use the word 'fuck' just about as much as you use punctuation I wouldn't suggest letting him stay down there."

"Oh yeah... didn't think about that. Maybe just a jersey and a clubhouse tour."

"I think that's a great idea."

We eat our food and have a good time. It's hard to even tell she's fighting a horrid disease at times, even I forget. I was so proud of her for taking this like a champ. Life hasn't been kind to her, and I sure as hell know I'm not always the best guy in the world to help her through it. But every day she tells me the best parts about me and it keeps me going. I didn't understand how she can give so much when she's had so much taken from her.

"What's your favorite part of Chicago" I ask.

"That's easy, you" she says with a smile and my heart begins to pound against my chest. I wasn't not expecting that.

"Okay then. Besides me."

"Probably the opportunities. I mean the city itself isn't that big, it's tall, but if we're talking the main part it's actually quite small compared to some of the other popular cities. But there's so much to do here, unique people who all want to make a difference in this world coincide here. It's so cool. Plus it's super pretty" she giggles and I roll my eyes.

"I love your mind. I could listen to you talk all day. You could talk about pickles and I would be entranced."

"Okay... but pickles are great."

"Right, uh huh. Tell me more" I joke and she throws a napkin at me.

"Ha ha very funny" she scoffs cleaning up the table and dumping out the trash.

We go home and she takes a nap in the room. I start to sit in the couch when I hear the sound of throwing up come from the room. I rush in to find her in the bathroom spilling the contents of lunch into the toilet as I hold her hair back. Once the spewing stops she sits back and lets out a long breath.

"God How I haven't missed that" she laughs. Most people do get nauseous or throw up when they undergo chemo. The cancer killing stuff is a extremely strong drug and the body doesn't know how to react so in return it causes side affects. She throws up a few more times before deciding she was done. She brushes her teeth and I help her change before putting her into bed.

I take the time and clean up around the house. I wasn't expecting her to do much but she always seemed to keep this place clean and does what she can to help out around here. I just don't know how she does it. As I wipe down the island there's a knock on the door and David, Jason, and Jon all walk in.

"Sure, come on in" I mumble as they come sit at the island in the kitchen.

"How is she doing" Jon asks sitting in a stool and spinning around on it.

"She's good, just tired. You know how that goes."

"Yeah I do, it sucks she has to do it again" he says and we all nod.

"Where is she at" Jason asks.

"Asleep in her room. She had treatment today" I inform them.

"Gotcha... it's just that we miss her" Kris says somberly. I guess I have been a little too over protective lately. She's been to the field once or twice since she got sick but I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to her, I was terrified.

"Stay here" I instruct and I sneak into our room to grab her drawing book. I kiss her head and she pulls a smile in her sleep. Cute.

"Look through these" I say setting the notebook in front of them. They flip through the pages of drawings and all their jaws hit the counter.

"Wow, these look just like pictures" Jason says. She had been recreating some of her favorite moments from the last few months by drawing them and they looked really good. There was one of the time we got stuck in a rain delay so we had a karaoke party in the clubhouse. Kris and Cam was on top of the couches and David, Jason, Dexter and I were all backup dancers. She drew it just as I remembered it. There was another one from the time David had gone to the diner with his family and she was playing with his kids. As they continue to flip on I feel my heart get heavy. The drawings were beautiful... but only because she was in so much pain. I wish it wasn't like that. They get to the last page and I see one that I haven't seen before. It was us kissing in front of the bean with the reflection of the city in bean in the background.

"Wow, this is amazing" Jason says picking it up and I join them on the other side of the island. This one has color in it, but just her and I were colored. She was smiling through the kiss and it made my heart skip a beat, it was so pretty.

"Hey guys, what's up" a small voice sounds and Camilla stands there wiping at her eyes in her shorts and t-shirt.

"CAMMY" they all yell and pull her into a group hug. I smile at the sight of my favorite people in the world.

"Can't.. breath" she chokes out and they all let go laughing.

"God I've missed you guys."

"Yeah. Sounds like your on lockdown" David says scolding me and I just shrug. I mean he wasn't wrong.

"He's a big care bear, can't be mad at him" she responds giving me butterflies in my stomach. They all catch up and she looked like she really had fun. Eventually it's time for the game and we had to go.

"Can't wait to have you back Cams" David says and she gives a smile.

"Can't wait to be back."