"I see your gently used bedpan and raise you a used needle that was used to draw some of my cancerous blood." Milo says, throwing a hypodermic needle with some dried blood on the table.
"Ew, Milo!" I yell. He laughs uncontrollably. I look at Freddy's watch from across the table. 11:16. Shit. Oh well, too late now.
"What? You know what would've been the best bet ever?" He asks me. I shake my head no. "One, or better yet both, of your amputated legs. Oh my God, do you even know the chaos that would con-sue?" He asks, sounding deadly serious.
"I'm quite positive that the cancer isn't in your blood. You might want your brain checked though." I say. Freddy zones out. "Woah, Freddy, sorry. I forgot, I swear. Sorry, a million times." I say, remembering Freddy's cancer is in his brain.
"No it's fine. We were just joking about you using your amputated legs as poker bets. I'm pretty sure we couldn't be more inappropriate about our current situations if we tried." He said. Sabrina throws her cards on the table. A 5 of hearts, 3 of spades, and 6 of clubs.
"I've got crap. I'm out." She says defeated.
"Me too." Ernie says, throwing down a 2 of hearts, 2 of spades, a 7 of clubs, Jack of clubs, and an 8 of spades. More crap. Milo throws down a 2 of spades, a 7 of diamonds, a 7 of hearts, a 7 of spades, and a Queen of hearts. Three of a kind. Not a terrible hand, but I'm pretty excited to smash apart his cocky confidence. I lay down a 10 of diamonds, Jack of diamonds, Queen of diamonds, King of diamonds, and Ace of diamonds.
"Royal flush mother fuggers!" I whisper yell, pulling everything on the table towards myself.
"Damn you Henrietta!" Milo says jokingly. I get a small round of applause from the other players, and do a small bow. We laugh.
"Now what? I honestly have no clue what to do with these things." I say. The table exchanges knowing looks at each other.
"Milo, grab the wheelchair, we need to show Henri a good time." Sabrina says. We all stand up, and they put most of the objects on my lap, and carry the rest. Milo wheels me along with them, and we start walking around the hospital.
"Now while the poker is fun, this part is better. We talk all these odd, gross items and place them at random places around Reggie. Not an overload, like all at Dr. Simons' office, but scattered all over the place. It puzzles people. It's great seeing the confusion on people's faces for the next week." Freddy says. I'm holding my IV in one hand and Milo's IV in the other. He wheels me along with the rest of the group. We leave bedpans on tables, filling them with potpourri and hiding their original bowls. Making it seem like they belong there. Hypodermic needles get put in the silverware section of the dishwasher in the kitchen. One of Sabrina's fuzzy socks gets put on this one guy (who's apparently a douche, I've never met him) Jared's door knob, just to freak out the nurses. It's really fun. My the time we're done, plastic spoons line the chairs, the cover to cups of apple sauce are stuck to the walls, and ID badges swiped from nurses when they weren't paying attention rest on coffee tables like coasters, some even complete with half-empty glasses of water on top of them.
"I better go, I move into a permanent room tomorrow and I need some rest." I say to the group, all out of breath. They nod and give me awkward hugs through the wheelchair.
"See you tomorrow, Henrietta!" Milo yells down the hall as he and the rest of them walk away, most likely to their permanent rooms. I wheel into the hospital room and check the time on the digital clock. 1:08 AM. I wheel over to the bed and manage to get myself in without calling down a nurse. I sigh and close my eyes. Who knew cancer kids could be such rebels?
YOU ARE READING
Stand By Me.
Storie d'amoreWhen Henri Walter is diagnosed with stage 3 osteosarcoma, her parents decide the best place for her to cope with her disease is Reginald Jones Teenage Cancer Institute, a home for terminally ill teenagers. While there, she meets a variety of charact...
