The Color Yellow

He Could Die.

I stepped into the hospital and was hit with a wave of a sterile smell. Taking in a deep breath I approached the front desk and got permission to see my dad. I walked to his room and then entered quietly. He was awake and talking to mom. I smiled and sat down on a chair next to the window.

"Hi, honey," smiled dad, "How are you?"

"I'm okay," I responded, "How are you?"

"I'm surviving," he laughed. This was one of the things that I loved about dad. No matter what was happening, he could always release the tension and make everyone smile. Dad just had that personality.

"Did the treatment go well?" I asked.

"It went fine, in a little pain, but good," dad said, placing his hand on moms knee.

"Ah, I've got to get to work. Take care of your father will you?" mom said, checking her phone.

"Of course," I responded.

"Okay, bye then," she said, kissing my dad's forehead and my forehead before leaving the room.

"How are you really, Ivy," he said as I scooted closer to his bed.

"I'm fine, I suppose," I answered.

"How's school? Have you made any friends?"

"Yeah, two actually."

"Good."

"Mhm," I responded.

We sat in silence and dad fell asleep, leaving me time to think. Sitting here and seeing how sick he was made every little bit of my body ache. It made everything feel ten times more real. I mean if the treatment wasn't effective and if they tried other ones and they weren't effective then eventually it would be to late and dad would die. I can't even imagine my life without dad. Even though he was gone a lot on business trips he still managed to always be there for me. He was my best friend after Elsie died. Mom wouldn't let me come to the hospital all of the week before because she didn't want me to be distraught but that just made me more anxious and worried about him even though it was supposed to help me relax. I bit back a sob as tears pricked my eyes. I took a couple shaky breaths to try to stop crying but I couldn't. Someone knocked on the door and I quickly wiped away my tears as they entered. It was the doctor.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Floyd's daughter," he smiled.

"That's me," I responded, trying to smile back.

"Alrighty, I just came in to check his heart rate and make sure the treatment isn't making him any more sick," he explained, dad waking up, "Hello, Mr. Floyd, I just came to see how you are feeling."

The doctor took dads pulse and asked if dad was having any symptoms of nausea or anything of the sort. The doctor said that dad was fine but he's got to get tons of rest. He left the room and dad sighed, picking up a sports magazine off his bedside table. I read along with him and it was nice, it made me forget that dad was sick for a little bit. Dad and I talked and he told me some of his awful jokes that were only funny to him and I, mom had no taste for them. I held dads hand as he fell asleep again. I missed dad being home. Mom came back from work later that night and brought me a sandwich. I stayed quiet and just listened to my mom and dad talk.

***

A couple days later the doctor reported that dad's treatment wasn't working as well as it should be.

"When will you try the new treatment?" mom asked the doctor.

"The soonest we can try is on Monday," he explained.

"Will it work?" I asked.

"Hopefully," he answered.

"So there isn't an actual guarantee he will live?" I responded.

"We are going to try to treat him, but no promises. Leukemia is tricky," he said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Basically, he was saying if the new treatment didn't work, dad could die. I got up and left the room. I didn't want to accept that dad could die. I walked down the hallway and then I saw Ethan. He saw me and smiled.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I responded, "What are you doing here?"

"I just had a bad fever last night," he answered, making me tilt my head a bit. Why would he come to the hospital for a fever? "I had cancer so it was just a scare, but everything is fine."

"Oh, I didn't know you've had cancer," I said.

"Yeah, almost died but, I made it through... obviously," he laughed. I smiled at him and we just kind of stood in an awkward silence. He acted so carefree, it was almost impossible to believe he had cancer.

"I got to get back to my dad," I said eventually, "See ya later."

"See ya," he waved as we parted ways.

***

A/N

Sorry for the short chapter, been super busy and low-key uninspired. trying to get back into the swing of things teehee!

-Theatre Kid ;)