The days that came. . .

The days that came. . .(chapter five)

:Reminder:

‘I read it in one of my nursing portfolios that I had to go over. If you can speak, then that means your sense of hearing is coming back.’ I shook my head again and finished the water. Can that be true? That I’m getting my hearing back? I mean that would be great, but then Maria is still deaf and she will never get her hearing back. Ever. I can’t let myself believe that my hearing will come back. It has been gone for over three years or so now. I can’t let myself get my hopes up for nothing when they will soon be crushed when I find out that I defiantly can’t hear. I sighed inward.

Maria’s POV:

I sighed. I was talking to Gina about tomorrow. I knew that Cara was getting her hearing back. The look on Gina’s face when Cara supposedly laughed told me everything. My portfolio that I went over said that after a period of time you will get your hearing back. I was happy for Cara. I really was. But I couldn’t help but by feel totally lost. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cara stand up.

‘Where are you going?’ I caught her attention before she turned around.

‘I have to pick my brother up from school. I will meet you at the bakery.’ I smiled. She remembered that today we take cookies to the nursing home a few blocks away from the apartment we are going to move into.

‘Okay. See you there.’ I tilted my head up to hers and she intertwined her fingers in my pixie hair before she kissed me. I kissed her once and then she had to leave. She waved at Gina and Quinn. I smiled as I saw her hips sway out the door. She made a right when she hit the street. I grinned when I saw that she was out of range. I took out my notebook and a pen from my purse. I wrote down a note to Gina.

‘Do you want to come to the bakery with me? I have to be there early to bake the cookies.’ I slid it her way and she read it over. As she reached for the pen in my hand she tipped over a glass and her coffee covered the table.

‘I’m so sorry!’ She grabbed napkins in an attempt to quickly wipe up the mess.

‘It’s okay. It was bound to happen sooner or later.’ I smiled to let her know that it truly was okay and that it didn’t matter. Quinn got up to get more napkins. I picked up my notebook and tore off the pages that got drenched in mocha latte. I actually find it funny that the coffee cup spilled. I blinked and saw spots in my vision. I tried blinking rapidly to clear it but it just got worse. I shook my head slightly. My fingers that held the book suddenly went limp and I couldn’t move them. I was starting to get nervous that something was wrong. The book fell and as I lunged to catch it before it hit the floor, I fell and landed on my side. I couldn’t move. Gina was in my line of sight. I could barely make out her expression for the spots. The spots were all I saw now. My vision went black and I couldn’t see a thing. I barely felt someone touching me. I realized that my legs were twitching. After a minute, it turned into full on flailing. The twitches slowly moved up my body until I was in a seizure. The only thought that went through my head before I blacked out was,

‘Save me.’

Maria’s Past:

After I had Cara in the ambulance I checked her vitals. I found out her name from her license in her purse. I had the bleeding in her leg stopped for now. I took off my belt and used it as a tourniquet. I was yelling at the driver.

“Hurry the hell up!”

“I’m going as fast as I can without causing others to end up in the hospital.”

“Just get there!” We took a sharp right and I fell over her while she was laying in the gurney. My partner hit his head on the cabinet above him.

“Don’t kill us!” He yelled at Henry. We took a left and this time he slowed down over the turns. From time to time her eyes would open and it looked like she was asking what was happening. I didn’t know how bad her injuries were. All I know that she was bruised from head to toe and she had a chunk the size of my fist missing from her right thigh. She got hit by a tractor trailer while walking down the highway. We finally pulled up at the ER entrance. I jumped out and was trying to get her into see a doctor.

A few minutes later she was being seen by several nurses and doctors. I finally could breathe. It was the end of my shift and I went home. I walked into the door and my cat meowed and pawed at my shoes.

“Hi Boo. How’s my guard cat doing?” She meowed again and I went into the kitchen to feed her. I looked into the fridge and found nothing besides a half gallon of milk, leftovers from a month ago and a half of a cucumber. I sighed and grabbed the milk. I went over to my pantry and found some Captain Crunch. I put the milk and cereal on the counter and washed a bowl and spoon.

I walked into the living room where my futon was and sat down. I located the remote, turned on the TV and Boo jumped into my lap.

“How about some Say Yes To The Dress, Boo?” She purred. I pressed the select button and started to eat my cereal. I took one bite and immediately spit it back out.

“Ew! It’s rotten.” I pushed Boo off my lap and walked to the trash can. I threw out the milk and dumped my cereal from my bowl into the garbage disposal.

“Man, what am I supposed to eat?” I sighed and grabbed my jacket after I got changed out of my uniform. I locked up my door and walked to the nearest Arby’s.

After I ate I decided I was going to go to my P.O. Box in town. I walked in and the lady behind the desk smiled at me.

“Good morning, Mrs. Marcia.”

“Morning, Maria. You’re just in time. The mail man just left.”

“Did I get any mail?”

“I believe so. Why don’t you go check and I’ll be waiting to hear if you got that job in Miami.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I walked over to my mail box on the other side of the small building. I fished inside of my pocket for my keys and opened the undersized door. Two letters jumped out at me. I opened the one from Miami first.

‘Dear Maria Greene,

We are sorry to inform you that you did not meet our qualifications. If you have any questions please contact:

Mike Jones 410-572-**** or by fax 567-****. Please call no later than 4pm between Monday and Friday.’

I didn’t read the rest of the letter. I was heartbroken. I opened the next letter from the doctor’s office thinking that it couldn’t get any worse. Oh, I was wrong.

‘To whom this may concern,

We are sorry to inform you that your test results came back positive for cancer. The type of cancer you have is cancer of the ear. We would like to have you scheduled in for surgery in the next following weeks.

Please contact Dr. Albert Norton for more information.’ It just went on saying that I will defiantly need surgery. I felt tears roll down my cheeks. I walked back to Marcia in the front of the Post Office. I looked up and she saw my tears.

“Oh, honey, don’t cry. There are other jobs out there. You just have to keep looking.” I didn’t say anything. I just handed her the letter from the doctor. She read it over and frowned.

“Oh. I’m sorry, dear. That’s something that you never want to hear.” I finally spoke up.

“I’m going to lose my job.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You need to be able to hear to be an EMT. It says that I will need to have surgery to take my ear drums out. I’m going to lose my job!” I yelled the last part. Marcia came out around the counter and took me into her arms.

“It’s going to be okay. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” I hugged her back and I sobbed into her shoulder.

“I’m so scared, Mrs. Marcia.” I didn’t know what was going to come next. It felt as if my life was over.