Cancer

Cancer | 8

It was October 31 and Halloween was just hours away. The holidays of the world had spread years ago, and even our small town on the outskirts of Japan started celebrating everything. Deep down, my closest friends and I knew this was probably the last time we'd get to do something like this all together before I left for the hospital in November. We had the best time of our lives on Halloween night. We stayed up all night and talked. We played games and laughed. We took one picture. All together. We made copies the next day and framed it. Each of us had one. We kept those for the rest of time. It was a memory of something none of us would change for the world.
I left for the hospital on the fourth of November. I took everything I thought I might need with me, seeing as I would most likely be there for at least three months. Hiraku, Hina, and Tooru all came with me to see the place I would be staying. It was a very nice room. Simple but beautiful, the room was perfect. I got settled in and sank into the soft, white hospital bed.
The weeks leading up to my surgery went by slowly. My parents did not come to see me, but my friends did. They came and talked to me at least twice a week and Hiraku came alone every weekend. There were a few other people that came to see me; mostly acquaintances from school. I learned that my friends would be in a volleyball game when I went into surgery. The New Year's match between our school and the Otori academy was a tradition that had been going on for generations. I was impressed that they were all able to get on the team for our school. The match was a mixed gender showdown of the best players at our respective schools. I was slightly disappointed that I wasn't able to participate, but I wished them luck and told them I would be with them in spirit. At the time I didn't mean it literally.