Andy Wiggle-Do

The story

    A/N: The bolded words will be defined at the end of the story. I hope you enjoy Andy Wiggle-Do!

The haunting wail of sirens rung in Hannah's ears as she was lifted onto a stretcher and taken into an ambulance. Her father gripped one of her hands, fighting the urge to sob like Hannah's mother was currently doing. 

    "It will be alright, Hannah," he choked, "You'll be just fine." 

    Hannah made a muffled mmm-hmm sound through scarred lips. Her face felt as if someone shoved it in a blender. She could feel the blood run down the side of her face before she felt a warm cloth pressed over a gaping wound on her cheek. Her right leg, below her knee, was delivering inexplainable pain. She felt as if she were dying, right there on the stretcher. She fearfully gripped her father's hand back. 

    Don't let me go, she thought throughout the entire ride. 

                                                                                         --- 

   Why'd it have to go this way?, Hannah thought, looking back to a week ago. She wasn't bleeding anymore. She wasn't afraid anymore; she was mad. It wasn't like she planned to get in an accident with her friend. Sarah, her best friend, was driving that night. Sarah was a jokester, but she was serious when it came to driving. She never looked away from the road. Then a driver in a blue-gray Honda hit the passenger side of the car at over 100 miles per hour (Hannah assumed they were drunk) and made the car slide across the highway and into the creek. Sarah and Hannah were unconscious when the ambulance made it to them. 

   Hannah looked at her right leg and felt tears spill down her face. She reached out to touch it and she could only touch the knee of that leg. She blamed the hospital staff. 

   "Why do they have to torture me like this??" she croaked through heaving sobs of bitterness. "Why?" She was able to move her body now and so she turned on her side and reached out for a teddy bear that Sarah had gotten for her. Sarah was already recovered. She didn't have to have an amputation, Hannah thought in spite. She grabbed it and held it to her chest, her internal age dropping from a mature seventeen-year-old to a scared six-year-old. 

   She heard the door creak open behind her. 

   "What are you gonna do? Cut off my fingers now?" Hannah retorted glumly. 

   "No," a small, young male voice replied. 

   Hannah turned to see a male amputee struggle to get in with his Guardian Forearm that had one sole flower, held by a vine that looped the Guardian Forearm from bottom to top (the flower was at the very top of the vine). He had ashy blond hair was pale-tan in skin color. When he looked up at Hannah, he had a sweet smile on his face and he had happy, deep brown eyes. He, overall, looked to be at least twelve.

  "You must be Hannah, right?" he said after getting situated in a chair at her bedside. Hannah nodded. 

   "I'm Andy. Andy Wiggle-Do." he said, shifting and then holding out his hand. Eager to have someone to talk with, Hannah sat up, crossed her one leg, and shook his hand, grinning back. 

   Andy looked at her half-a-leg solemnly. He looked back up at her blue eyes. 

  "Aren't you lucky? You still have half a leg!" Andy exclaimed in awe. "What happened?" 

   Hannah explained the car accident, avoiding eye contact with Andy. When she finished, she looked back up at Andy, who had a thoughtful look on his face. 

   "What about you?" Hannah asked. 

   "Oh," Andy said, his merry disposition dropping just a bit. 

   "Bone cancer. But it's not a big deal. I've seen people with worse outcomes than I." He lifted his hospital gown to reveal, to Hannah's shock and horror, that he had no half-a-leg; he had a brutal looking hip socket where his whole leg had been amputated. 

  "I'm so sorry..." Hannah whispered. Andy grinned. Then he reached for his ashy blond hair. He made a "watch-this!" face and slowly removed his ashy blond hair, leaving behind a bald head that the light bounced off of. 

   "Get my name now?" he asked, still laughing at Hannah's shocked expression. "Andy Wiggle-Do, Any Wig Will Do??" 

   Hannah thought about it and then giggled. For a boy with such and awful ordeal, he was so cheerful. 

  "Hey Andy?"

  "Yeah?" 

   "Why do you have a flower on your..." 

   "Guardian Forearm? Well, my mother originally had bone cancer. We have weird genes." Andy laughed at himself and continued. "She didn't make it, though. She loved to take me outside and garden with me. I've always loved the outdoors and flowers. This particular flower, the lotus, is my mother's favorite as well as mine. With the flower, I feel like she's still here." 

   Hannah was flabbergasted. How could so much happen to someone so merry?, she thought. Andy stroked the flower with a tiny smile on his face. He was embarrassed, for his cheeks were flushed and he didn't say much for a long time. He put his wig back on with a shaky intake of breath. 

   "Andy," she began, not knowing what was coming out of her mouth. The boy's bittersweet eyes looked at her, waiting patiently for what she had to say. "Thank you for your time." 

   The two of them embraced. Hannah felt tears nip at her eyes and her bottom lip quivered. Afterward, Andy waved her farewell and left the room, his merriment leaving an everlasting effect in the room. The bleak walls seemed colorful and more beautiful. The lights were vivid as ever. 

   "Thank God," she mumbled, wiping away silent tears of joy and empathy, "I am alive." 

                                                                            --- (A few months later)--- 

   Andy and Hannah were very close friends. They talked a lot; daily conversations that would make both their days better. Hannah watched the clock, waiting excitedly for Andy to arrive and speak with her. Two hours later, the excitement turned into apprehension. 

   Where is he?, she asked herself. She tossed off covers and slipped on the newly received prosthetic leg. She was soon to be released back into the outside world. She limped to Andy's room to hear muffled sobs. Her heart raced as she feared the worst. 

   She opened the door. The sickening and unchanging beep of the monitor brought tears to Hannah's eyes. 

   "Andy?" she said, limping closer to his bedside. Motionless, Andy's fingers curled around the purple lotus. 

This is not happening. There is no way this is happening. 

   "Andy, please." she pleaded shakily. She grabbed his hand only to snatch hers back at the sudden ice cold dead feeling. Hot tears trailed down her face as she stifled sobs. She felt the supportive arms of a man in his late forties around her. She knew that was Andy's father, so she returned the hug, exploding into a mournful sob. 

   In memorial of Andy, Hannah saw to it that she had a more cheerful disposition. She looked for positivity and later turned out to be a hit priest in a church in her community. She spread the word to anyone who'd listen about Andy Wiggle-Do, a sensitive and caring gift from God who loved his life thoroughly.

   A/N: The end. Now to identify the two bolded words in simplest terms. Here they are: 

  Guided Forearm: When you break your ankle, you require crutches. When you get an amputation on the legs, you require what is called a Guided Forearm to help maintain balance when standing or walking. 

Bone cancer: There are three types of bone cancer, a cancer that creates a tumor on the bones and weakens them. In this case, Andy has Ewing's Sarcoma, a bone cancer commonly found in children.