Dreams

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

  "Well darling the first step to avoiding your unavoidable death is to trust me." She said standing up and migrating to the ugly brown armchair in the corner of the room. I shifted uncomfortably and felt the goose bumps on my arms, even though I was far from cold. "You should learn to loosen up a bit darling, because the next few weeks will be pretty intense, that is if you agree." She pulled out a pen and a folded sheet of paper and handed them to me, "Now if you want me to keep talking I'd sign this."

  I opened the sheet of paper and scanned over it,

     Dearest Tuesday,

     It has been called to our attention that your unknown medical condition has worsened over the past few weeks. We have sent out a representative from our corporation to give you some insight about our treatment options for your situation. At DreamCore incorporated, our main goal is to help better hospital patients with supposedly unknown diseases without a commonly known cure. We know the cure, and we want to help. If you agree, our first appointment will be at 10 a.m. Monday on the 6th floor in room 256, if you choose not to sign this paper then you will carry out the unavoidable fate of death. How awful would it be for you to outlive your mother?

                                                         Love,

                                                           DreamCore Inc.

I read it over and over, but I still couldn't decide if the last sentence was real sincerity or a sick joke. After mulling it over in my brain about ten thousand times I picked up the pen, messily scrawled my signature, and shoved the paper back at Elizabeth who was now investigating whether or not she had chipped a nail when she roughly handled my contract. "Okay, so I guess I'll see you on Monday." She quickly stood up and opened the door.  "That's it? This is all I get until I go to some random hospital room on Monday, to somehow magically avoid my unavoidable death?" "Oh darling, you'll be getting the standard treatment for your kind of situation. I wouldn't worry, unless you absolutely can't stand people getting inside your head" She exerted what might be considered a laugh. "Thank you," I said looking at the floor. "For the help, if you could even call it that" "Oh dearie don't mention it, it won't be the last time I help you." She closed the door behind her and I listened to the click of her heels down the hallway until I fell asleep.

  I was woken up the second time by my mother entering the room with another one of her "super foods" and a protein shake. She is somewhat of a health nut, thinking that if she feeds me enough green juice and protein bars that it will perform some kind of ritual to make me any less sick than I already am. She fluffed a pillow and shoved it behind my back to ease the sitting up part of eating, when she sat down the tray her body collapsed into the armchair next to me.  "Baby, I'm tired. Would you mind if I went home for a few hours to do laundry, and-" I didn't let her finish. "Mom, its fine you're not attached to me with handcuffs! I wish you would stop treating me like I'm a dying mess, even if I am one." It was obvious I had ruffled her feathers with that last bit, even though I was only speaking the truth. "Listen, all I'm asking is that you treat me like a girl who hasn't been penned up in a hospital for the last month and start treating me like you treat Phoenix."  She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, but then her phone buzzed. "Honey I have to go, you're sister's already late for choir practice. I'm sorry I have to run in and out so much but-""Mom, there's no reason to use excuses I already get the gist of it. Just go I promise I'll be fine." And with that mom stood up smoothed out her paint splattered jeans, and walked out the door.

 No sooner than she could shut the door my nurse knocked and of course before I could answer, walked in. "Excuse me, Miss Roth, we have your latest test results. They came back negative, again." She sighed "I'm going to leave the report on the table for your parents to read when they get back." "Okay, thanks Karen." After a month and a half I was on a first name basis with my nurses. Give or take the fact that they had to call me "Miss Roth" which I couldn't stand. It made me feel like I was a school teacher, and for me school was a living hell. On top of having an overachieving, mathlete of a sister, I was dyslexic. Since 3rd grade, reading was never a number one priority on my list, I turned to art to express my emotions, no letters, no numbers, just pictures that set my mind straight. Our grade school teachers used to call us 'Left Brain' and 'Right Brain' since we were two very different parts of an inseparable whole. Being cooped up in a hospital somehow inspired me to branch out of my comfort zone and try new things. Watercolors were my favorite to work with, the colors flowed together so smoothly and the simplicity of them caused my pictures to have so much more meaning. Simple things cause my mind to wander, and wandering was one thing I never thought I'd get to do again.