Finishing Crazy

Finishing Crazy(5)

Hey guys! Hope you've liked what you've read so far! This is where the story starts picking up a lot, so I hope you enjoy! Comment and vote!:)

Dialysis

When I wake up and put on my biking clothes, I feel a little dizzy, but I push the feeling to the back of my mind and run to answer the doorbell.

“Bryan!” I say, excited we’re biking again.

“Feeling enthusiastic this morning?” He asks me, rubbing one eye. He’s clearly still tired.

“I’m just happy we’re biking again.” I tell him, hugging him quickly before going to get my bike.

He stands there for a moment, not sure of what to think of the sudden affection, but eventually joins me.

“Shall we?” He says.

“Definitely,” I reply, starting up the route to Laguna.

About an hour into the bike ride, I realize how much I really missed these early mornings with Bryan. Exhilaration races through me at the thought that maybe if I train hard, I still have a chance at finishing the Ironman. After all, Bryan and I were doing fifty miles when we stopped just a week ago.

I savor the feeling of the cool morning air blowing through my hair and the soreness I can feel coming on in my legs. It’s already getting to be the end of July. I can’t believe how fast summer has gone. It feels just like yesterday that I was running into Bryan at the library and he was asking me if we can bike together. That was the beginning of June. School’s going to be starting in less than a month. I don’t know where the time went.

The thought of having to go back to school and end the fairytale illusion of summer bike rides makes me incredibly sad, and as soon as I think about it, I suddenly feel really dizzy.

I’ve felt dizzy while biking before, but nothing like this.

I unconsciously hit the breaks as the world in front of me sways drastically from side to side, and I can feel myself falling down in slow motion, hitting the ground with my Schwinn bike landing on top of me.

Everything goes fuzzy, and I can vaguely make out a figure running towards me, picking me up off of the ground and asking me something. He’s yelling at me, but I don’t understand what he’s saying. My brain seems to have stopped working.

I feel someone’s arms reach underneath me and scoop me up, and I sense I am moving back and forth with the movements of my rescuer’s footsteps as he runs forward.

Where’s he going? I ask myself. But even my thoughts become unreadable and I slip into an endless dreamland as everything fades to black.

.   .   .   .   .

When my mind starts to wake up again, I keep my eyes closed for a moment, because they seem heavy and I don’t want to face whatever I’ll see when I open them.

I’m on top of something soft, and it feels like a bed. Maybe I’m alone.

But no- I’m not, because I’m vaguely aware of something on my hand, and I grip onto it a little to see what it is. It feels soft and strong, and when I open my eyes I see it’s another hand holding mine.

Before I can even open my mouth, Bryan is hugging me harder than anyone has ever hugged me. He’s saying words that don’t quite reach my brain, but I can tell they’re relieved. I can just make out the end of his last sentence as he releases me.

“… I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so scared in my life.”

I try to sit up, but the room starts spinning so I lay back down quickly.

 “What happened?” I ask Bryan.

He shakes his head. “We were biking and you hit the breaks all of the sudden and fell down. I got off my bike as quickly as I could and tried to wake you up, but you didn’t answer me… so I ran all the way to your house. Luckily where you fell wasn’t too far away, but…” He trails off and looks to the door.

“But what?” I ask him.

“I have to go get the doctor.” He says. “I’m supposed to tell him the second you wake up so that he can talk to you…”

Bryan looks worried.

“Bryan, what’s going on?” I ask.

He doesn’t say anything.

“Bryan?”

“I’m going to go get the doctor, Kyra. I’ll see you soon.”

He hugs me for a long time and then leaves the room.

A few minutes later, a doctor walks in holding a brown clipboard and a pencil.

“How are you feeling, Kyra?” he asks.

“Dizzy. Tired. Why am I here?” I inquire.

He sighs.

“Right to the point, hmm? Is that usually how you tell your stories?” He asks.

“Sometimes.” I admit.

“Well, my name is Doctor Strider and I’m afraid the news I have isn’t too good.”

I feel my heart pick up pace a little.

“You’ve been out for about a day now- long enough to run the sufficient amount of tests to know what’s going on.” Doctor Strider takes a deep breath and I brace myself for the worst.

“I hear you had an aunt that died recently of kidney cancer. I am so sorry for your loss. Because of this recent medical occurrence, one of the first things we checked was the function of your kidney. It’s showing early signs of failure.”

I hold my breath in and close my eyes for a moment as the doctor continues.

“You have kidney cancer.”

The words echo around in my brain, empty of meaning. Kidney cancer? What’s that? I ask myself, as a tear slides silently down my face.

I know what kidney cancer is. It’s the monster that took Laura and Charis from me. It’s the thing that made them suffer while the rest of us laughed, oblivious to the dark storm threatening to choke the life out of the sunflowers at any moment.

“Don’t get upset just yet.” Doctor Strider tells me. “There’s still hope.”

I perk up at these words, and my tears stop for a moment.

“Your family has placed you on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. If you can get a transplant within the next two months, we’ll be able to save you. We can eliminate most of the cancer by removing your first kidney because you only need one to live, but both organs contain cancerous cells. Soon the cells will spread to other organs, too, but if we can get you a new one soon and start chemo therapy, then you have a good chance at being this thing. We’re going to fight this as hard we possibly can.”

Although the doctor’s words seem encouraging, I can see through the deception. I know what the real meaning of his words is.

I have two months to get a new kidney or I die.