Stand Up

Chapter 7: Disease

I didn't know how long I was out. I didn't care. I was too confused to care. Where am I? What happened?

I was in a room similar to the one I'd been in before. White and lifeless. A small nurse with light brown hair and light green eyes entered the room.

"How are you feeling, Isabel?" I groaned as I tried to sit up. I stared at my legs in shock. A long cast covered them from top to bottom.

"What happened? Am I okay?" I was too frightened to answer her first question. I was the one who wanted answers. I was the one who deserved answers.

"I'll call the doctor in. He can explain it a lot better than I can." The nurse left the room leaving me to my thoughts.

I stared at the cast. How could this have happened? Why me? Why me? Kate moved away so quickly. We never got a goodbye. Aaron died so quickly. We never got a goodbye. My legs were paralyzed so quickly. My life was speeding by me in a stylish red Ferrari, except it left me behind to walk. There was one problem with that. I couldn't walk. Tears began to run down my cheeks. That's when Dr. Green entered the room. I wiped my tears.

"Hi again, Isabel" He acted like this was no big deal. Like it was just another normal day. I remember when my life used to be normal. Now normal is only a myth to me. And I don't believe in myths.

"What happened to me?" I asked. He walked over to me.

"Would you like to see?" Before I could respond he began uncovering the cast. My legs were both purple. The red spots had grown larger. I had to look away.

"Wha . . . how. . . . uh" I stuttered.

"It seems as though there is some virus in your legs. I can't exactly identify it, but I know it may be life threatening."

Life threatening? I'm too young to die!

"How can we cure it?" My lip was quivering as I spoke. The words "Life threatening" kept repeating in my head.

"Here." He sat down on the bed next to me. Then he began pinching parts of my lower leg. "Does this hurt?"

My face scrunched up with pain. It was like I was struck with lightning.

"Yes! Ow! Stop that!" I could barely get the words out clearly without screaming.

"Sorry. I did get some tests done and I took a blood sample. The blood has a lot of bacteria in it. And I mean a lot. The only possible medication I can think of is this." Dr. Green held up a small needle. I was filled with some greenish liquid. I didn't want to know what it was. Just the thought of that going inside me grossed me out.

Without asking, he plunged the needle into my leg. It stung for a moment then the pain started to relieve. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"There you go! I have to go see another patient. If you feel weird, don't worry, nurses will be checking on it. Feel free to take a nap, it might be good for you." With that the doctor left. Now that he said it, the medication was making me drowsy. I yawned and before I knew it, was off to sleep.

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"You have a visitor." The nurse peeked her head through the door and lead the person into the room. I blinked my eyes a few times before finally recognizing the person.

"Greg!" I shouted with joy. Of all the people I wanted to see, he was on the top of the list. He came and sat on on a chair next to the hospital bed.

"How are you feeling?" I love the way he was always concerned about me. I love how he cares. In fact, I love him.

His green eyes shimmered. He had little freckles right under his eyes. His blond hair was combed, every hair cared for. I adored the way he smiled. His sparkling teeth shone between his pale red lips. This may not be what other people see when they look at him, but when I see Greg I see his beautiful angelic face.

"I feel better." I gave him my cute smile.

"I brought this for you." He revealed a box of chocolates. He knew me so well. I opened it up to find all my favorites.

"Here," I said offering him a chocolate covered cherry. He smiled and grabbed it from my hand. We both began laughing as I took a big bite of a caramel piece and it dripped down my chin. I wiped it off with the back of my hand, giggling.

But my happy laughter soon ended. His carefree smile quickly faded. Pain was all I could feel. It was like an army was stabbing me with knives. When Greg noticed he quickly called a nurse. She examined my legs as Greg was asked to leave the room. My legs were now throbbing. A new doctor was quickly called in. A giant needle was revealed from a table. The doctor plunged it down into my arms and legs. The world faded black once again.

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"I had to do it. I had to put her through surgery. She would've died if I didn't" I blinked my eyes a couple of times. A figure began to appear in front of me.

"Dr. Green?" I was beginning to recognize who he was.

"Yes. I was wondering when you'd be coming around." He smiled and nodded in my direction.

"Then who were you just talking to?" He gestured to some people sitting near him. All I saw was a blur. My vision was still coming in.

"Mom? Dad?" I rubbed my eyes. They only waved to me. They were too interested in what Dr. Green had to say.

"They opened up her legs and began to get rid of the bacteria that was infecting her legs." I uncovered my legs to find a large scar. The color and swelling had gone down. "The reaction she had was because of the food she had eaten. It didn't matter if it was chocolate or not, She still would have almost died." I'm pretty used to these so called "near death experiences". I have been getting them a lot lately.

"Well, can I eat now?" I asked. I was starving. I couldn't take it. It felt like I hadn't eaten in days. I wanted food.

"Oh yes. It's perfectly safe now, but go easy. Don't stuff yourself." Don't stuff myself? It feels like I haven't eaten in days. I was going to feast like it was thanksgiving.

"Where are my chocolates?" I was looking all around the room with no luck.

"I had to confiscate those." Dr. Green said smiling and rubbing his belly. I was surprised that he could find something humorous in this situation.

"Does this mean she can go back to school?" Dad said. He had brown hair slicked back. He was wearing a T-shirt with messy paint all over it. He was the handy-man of the family. Even if it wasn't broken, he was the first to make sure it was. I was a little embarrassed with his clothing choices. I wish he didn't choose to wear the nastiest of shirts and the dirtiest socks.

"Of course. She'll still need her wheelchair though. And it wouldn't hurt to give her some of this." Dr. Green reached into a high cabinet and pulled down some medicine. "It's just pain reliever if she needs it." He handed the bottle over to my mom as she pulled out her glasses and carefully read the instructions.

School was the last place I wanted to be. I would have to answer a whole bunch of uncomfortable questions and mean, untrue rumors. The ones I feared most were from Ashley. She would taunt me until I fessed up. Even though I tried making her feel better, she would never show me any kindness.

The doctor blabbered on while I zoned out. Later at home I was sitting looking through scrapbooks. There was one I made of just Kate. We were having the best time at a soccer meeting. I missed those days. We were both in out little soccer uniforms. She was holding the ball and we were having a great time. The grass was the greenest of the year and there were some trees in the far background. We were in the middle of the soccer field smiling widely. We both had a big toothy grin.

The next page was of all the years I danced. Kate and I in our cute little outfits. Some of the pictures we were in out pink ballerina tutu and others we were in more mature outfits. The backgrounds were like a year book photo while we posed. There was even pictures of us preforming on stage. The bright lights shining right on us. I longed to be on that stage once more.

The phone rang breaking my train of thought. I hastily picked it up, before my embarrassing parents could.

"Hello." I said.

"Meet me at the corner of our street, now."