Spiderman's Sister

9

  I decided I would stop being lazy and write it like a real book. Sorry the formats not good, that's why I didn't try to write it like this in the first place. I also just want to say I know next to nothing about cancer, just the basics so if I get something wrong, I'm really sorry and feel free to let me know so I can fix it.

         Tony walks into his room after saying goodnight to Peter and looks at the clock: 2:38. Tony changed and lied down in his bed. He wondered how Peter and Maddie were so sane with everything that happened to them. He couldn't stop worrying about how they would cope with their aunt's death. They were too worried about Maddie being okay before to realize exactly what happened. Their last family member had died. Tony felt bad, but he was really happy he was able to adopt them. Peter was like a son to him, and Maddie seemed really nice. He was sure he was going to like her. He just hoped Peter wouldn't close himself off. He wanted Peter and Maddie for that matter to come to him if they needed anything or someone to talk to. He knew they had each other but he wanted them to be comfortable around him. That's why when an hour later FRIDAY said Maddie was having a nightmare, he didn't hesitate.
Tony got out of bed and went straight to her room. He slowly opened the door so he wouldn't scare her if she had woken up. He walked in to see her tossing and turning. She kept saying stop. Her wet hair sticking to her face.
"She must have showered" he thought.
He was heart broken when she rolled over and saw her face. She was crying, and struggling to catch her breath.
"Stop! Stop! Please Stop! Stop!" Maddie said in her sleep. Her voice full of fear. Tony climbed to the edge of her bed, put his hand on her shoulder and talked quietly.
"Maddie, Maddie wake up." She rolled over towards him, "It's just a dream Maddie. It's okay wake up."
Maddie opens her eyes and darts upright, saying "wha-where." Tony replies "It's okay. It was just a nightmare."
Maddie relaxes and sits back against her headboard. Then she looks over at Tony.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up"
"You didn't, I was up." He lies. He didn't want her to feel bad for something she couldn't control. She was also visibly shaking. "Do you want to tell me what it was about? It might help."
Maddie begins to cry, "I was- was in the hospital. Aunt May was in the room with me." She is crying harder, so Tony pulls her in tighter. "She just collapsed. I went to get help bu-but the door was locked. Peter was on the other side with the keys, but he wouldn't open it. Then he started to walk away. Then I woke up"
      At this point Maddie is sobbing, and shaking harder. Tony moves closer and sits up next to her. He puts his arm around her. "Hey, hey it was just a dream. It was just a dream." She put her head on his shoulder and her crying slows down. "See, it's okay. Can I ask you a question?" Maddie nods. "Have you ever stayed in a hospital before? Is that why you were in one in your dream?"
"I've stayed in one more than once." Maddie responded, to which Tony replied "If you don't want to answer, you don't have to, but why?" Maddie seems confused at the question so he clarifies.
"Why did you have to stay at the hospital". Maddie looks down at her hands and answers.
"Well, that's where you stay when your sick."  Tony smiles at her answer. "What did you have?"
Maddie thinks about what she wants to say and after a minute answers the question. "Cancer. I had all three types of Leukemia."
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. It not your fault."
"How old were you? If your ok with me asking questions.
"You can ask questions. When I was first diagnosed I was a month old. I had a high fever so my parents took me to the doctor. They said I had Leukemia. When they asked the doctor what type, they told him all of them. The day before my first birthday, I was considered in remission. They hadn't gotten rid of the cancer, but they I guess you could say disabled it? It didn't affect me, but there was a 98% chance it would come back. Of course it did. See the problem with Leukemia, I mean besides the fact that you know it's cancer" she looks at Tony to see him listening carefully. He looked like he really cared which made her happy. " the problem is that it's not a tumor that infects your body like most cancers, it's an infection and it starts in your blood cells. You can't exactly remove your blood cells. They haven't found a cure yet that gets rid of it 100%. Some people have never had relapses though."
"How many times have you relapsed?" Tony asked, wondering if she had leukemia now.
"Three time. So I've had it four times. When I was a baby, the next time was when I was three. The doctors said it wasn't as bad as the first time. I only had two types. I didn't really know what was going on though. I mean I was only three. I thought that was more scary than knowing what was going on, but I was wrong. When I was five, a couple weeks before my parents died I was in remission again. This time there was an 80% chance one type would come back, the type that I didn't have when I relapsed and a 95% chance for the other two. It better than the time before at the least. People still walked around me like I could die at any second though. I didn't realize it at the time because they had for as long as I could remember. My dad had always talked to me like I was normal though. He never looked like he was about to cry when he walked into my hospital room like my mom did. He always looked happy. I mean I'm sure he wasn't but he tried to make me think he was at least. I thought that he was the one treating me weird until I went to school where nobody knew that just a few months ago I had cancer. The teachers, none of them talked to me like the doctors did or my mom, or my aunt and sometimes my uncle. He tried, I could tell especially when I was older. I knew he was trying to act like everything was ok.... Sorry I'm off topic. I do that sometimes"
"No, please keep talking, I'm interested." Tony responded. He was almost crying at how sad her story was.
"So anyway the second time I relapsed, I was 8. I stayed in the hospital for a year and a month. I needed treatment and stuff everyday, my hair fell out. I mean all the basic cancer stuff. I wasn't cured when I left the hospital but there was nothing else they could do. I couldn't play baseball because the medicine made me weaker. I took six months for me to be strong enough to pay again and another few months until I was back at my level. A couple months after they let me leave, they said I was in remission again." Tony is listening so intensely that it takes a minute for him to realize how emotionless her face is. She hasn't made eye constancy at all yet, causing him to believe she is trying to hide how much all this stuff bothers her. She takes breath. "The last time the cancer came back was when I was twelve. All three types. I was in the hospital on and off for the first year, I kept playing baseball. But a little while before my thirteenth birthday, I passed out, at one of my games. The cancer was making me weaker so I hadn't been playing as well. And I guess I overworked myself so I passed out. The doctor said I needed to stay at the hospital. I stayed for three months, then I was in remission again. That was about one year ago. And here we are now."
"Oh my gosh" was all Tony could mutter.
"Yup"
"So your okay now though"
"Yes"
"Please tell me if you ever feel like it might have come back. Do you go to the doctor for check ups and stuff?"
"Once a month. I went last week. It used to be every week, the every other. But it's been long enough that I only have to go once a month."
"I can't believe everything you've been through. I'm here if you ever want to talk."
"Everyone goes through something. And thanks it's good to know." Maddie yawns.
"Try and fall back asleep okay?"  Maddie nods in response and puts her head on his shoulder. He pulls her in and soon she is asleep. As Tony begins to fall asleep a thought in the back of his mind is bothering him. He had never seen someone so emotionless when talking about events in their life as tragic and scaring as what she had, except maybe Nat. But Nat was trained to be able to. He realized that she must have practiced being emotionless like that because she didn't want people to feel bad for her. 'Don't be its not your fault" he remembered her saying as his eyes closed.