My Unlikely Best Friend

Chapter 67

My chemo treatments had to be on hold for a while until I got treated for the pneumonia infection that developed inside my lungs. Pneumonia was a side effect of chemo, however, Dr. Singh explained to me that being outside in the rain, on that dreadful day, was the real triggering factor of the disease.

I had to stay in the hospital for a while longer—an additional three weeks—because the main concern for me was my weakened immune system. I wouldn't make it a step out the hospital doors without also catching a cold, the flu, or something even more harmful than those, so in order to possibly correct that problem I had to take part in immunotherapy to strengthen my health and immunity.

Also, Thomas hasn't been able to visit me on the second week of my stay in the hospital. It was because he came down with something—a cold—so he wasn't allowed to be anywhere near me, at all, not even while wearing a mask. It would be too risky, my doctor said, and since it was under medical advice I had to accept that. Thomas hadn't even come to see in my final week, it was because he was afraid that he still might be somewhat contagious, so he kept his distance from me, however, that didn't stop him from keeping contact with me. He still persisted and either called me or face timed me every day to see how I was doing. His voice was raspy and he coughed every now and then but that didn't stop him from getting an update about my condition. We'd talk about anything that was on our minds and it left me feeling happy and little giddy inside, which honestly left me feeling a bit confused.

Something had changed in him, that I'm sure of—I can't really explain why I feel that way—but it's like he's slowly transforming into a different person, but in a good way, of course. I've noticed that he's become more patient, he smiles more and has been a bit more open with me, and I've come to notice that Thomas had such a tender and sweet side. It took a ton of effort and digging but I think I'm almost down to his core if I'm not there already.

Aside from all this, today was finally the day that I had been scheduled for release. As my mom signed the consent forms before me, I couldn't help but to smile widely. Ah, I can smell the fresh outside air already!

The feeling that I had growing inside of me—this excitement—it's as if I was a prisoner who'd been held behind bars for so long, but was now being released. The feeling was nice, however, I still felt the weight of the chains that were bound around my arms and legs, which weighed me down. The repeated clanging of the chains rang loudly in my ears and the continuous dragging and tugging at the hard metal made my writs raw, exposing my flesh and bone, but I still went on. I can get through this. My fight with cancer isn't over yet, but soon it will be. Hopefully.

***

I had my sight gazing happily outside the car window as my mom drove on the nice and smooth road. Everything looked peaceful outside: the birds, the trees, the clear sky, the people and even that airplane that I could just barely see because it was so high up in the sky—once something has been taken away from you, you really begin to be thankful of small things in life. A while ago I wouldn't think twice about going outside, but now because of my health, going out to face the world is a privilege and not something I can just do whenever I want. It's become a dangerous thing for me to do. For example, now I'm unable to go anywhere without wearing a mask except for my home, mind you that I still have oxygen, so both of them together can be a bit of an annoyance, however, I chose not to focus on that, and instead I continued to look at the different cars that were around and wondered dreamily: I hope to drive one day, a day as perfect as this.

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. I was tired and wanted to rest myself for a little while before I got home. I was thinking that the song, which was on the radio would lull me to sleep, but the volume was too low and I was barely able to hear what was even being sung. The only thing that I was able to make out was that the voice was male.