Seventeen is the age that decides who every young soul is destined to be with forever. Dating back to Neanderthals, humans have always felt this natural pull to the other half of their soul. Made to make sure that the human population is reproducing...
Another update is coming your way soon. Sorry for the wait. Here's a little something to cheer you up a little (hopefully). Next chapter is in Keefe's point of view, so get ready:)
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Elwin knocks me out and does the hip bone marrow surgery extraction thing to send to the lab.
When I wake up after the surgery, I can only assume that the doctor is sending my results off to the lab and will be coming back to tell me I can go or something.
He seems so quiet and calm about this entire thing, despite his being so young that I wonder how many people he's diagnosed with cancer. I can't imagine sharing this bad news with anyone, much less anything worse than this. I could never be a doctor. I have immense respect for Elwin.
I look down, seeing a bandage wrapped around my hip. I almost shiver at the thought of a needle puncturing it, never mind when the image pops into my head of what I think it would look like. I'm fine without imagining things.
I'm still waiting when there are knocks at the door, startling me out of my thoughts.
"Sophie?" a voice asks from behind the door, feminine this time.
"I'm out cold," I call, rolling my eyes. I don't recognize who just asked for me, but I'm definitely wondering why she's here. The last thing I need to hear is more bad news.
The door handle turns, and two familiar people burst into the room, engulfing me in hugs and nearly tackling me before my brain can comprehend who they are.
"I just had a bone marrow test, do you mind?" I ask with distaste, still feeling weak. Apparently, I'm in a sarcastic, angry mood after all of this. I blame how tired I am more than anything. A girl needs sleep, not to be knocked unconscious.
Both people immediately draw back, one of them tutting at me. One scans me protectively, and the other frowns.
"Sophie!" Edaline scolds, giving me one of her signature must you be so rude? looks. "Is that any way to greet your parents?"
My cheeks color. "Sorry, you're hazy," I say in defense. And it's not a lie – I just have a feeling it has more to do with my being dazed and out of it than anything else.
"So, how are you feeling, kiddo?" Grady asks me before his wife can say anything. "These ridiculous people haven't let us in or told us anything about what was going on. The only thing we knew was about the stitches from Dex and that boy."
Edaline instantly backhands his shoulder. "The 'ridiculous' people are helping our daughter. And he has a name, be more respectful."
"Who has a name?" I ask.
My question goes unanswered because Doctor Elwin comes into the room at the exact same moment. "They're sent off to the lab," he tells me, looking slightly brighter than he had been the last time he came into the room.
"What was sent off to the lab?" both of my parents ask simultaneously, Grady adding as an afterthought, "And what does this have to do with Sophie?"
Doctor Elwin nearly dropped his papers when he realized I wasn't alone. "Oh! Sorry, I wasn't aware that anyone else had been let into Sophie's room." He straightens his glasses.
"Get on with it," Grady mutters under his breath, earning another backhand by Edaline.
"As you may know, Sophie collapsed earlier for no apparent reason and hit her head hard on the concrete of what I believe was her school cafeteria. She's since gotten stitches for her head injury, a blood test, and a surgery, which I'll get to in a second," Elwin says very professionally. "The blood test was to test for a few different things that were suspected to be the cause of her collapse in the first place. Results came back and it seems that your daughter may have cancer or leukemia. Of course, this hasn't been confirmed yet, but that's what the hip bone marrow surgery was for, which extracted a bit of bone marrow from her hip to be sent to the lab. It will be back in a few days and will determine whether or not she has leukemia. That said, chances are very high, especially considering how many symptoms she had for it."
Edaline and Grady glance at him for a moment after his small monologue (which he looks quite proud of, might I add) and then it sinks in.
"WHAT?" Edaline instantly shrieks, blowing all of our eardrums.
"I have my own comment, but I might've just gone deaf in one of my ears, thanks, Honey," Grady says under his breath, tilting his head to one side.
Edaline Ruewen pointedly ignores her spouse. "My daughter has cancer?"
"Unconfirmed, but likely, so yes," he replies. "By the way, I'm Doctor Elwin and an oncologist that Sophie will be seeing at least one more time this week."
"An oncologist," Grady echoes. "Leukemia. Cancer. Those are big words."
His wife gives him the side eye, frowning. "Why aren't you freaking out about this? It's making me look bad if I'm the only one freaking out about the fact that my daughter might have leukemia."
I just lay on the bed, watching the entire exchange and wishing I had popcorn. It's quite amusing. Maybe we should start a reality television series. I almost laugh out loud at the thought, but then I see Grady's face go scary mode.
"What does this mean?" he hisses when it all sinks in. Then he starts freaking out the way a true overprotective father like himself is expected to. "Is she going to die? Oh my god, my kid can't die. Sophie, you're not going to die right?"
I blink at him.
"Holy crap, Sophie, we're going to homeschool you and I'm going to quit my job and we're going to watch you very carefully from now on so that nothing happens and—"
Elwin interrupts, thank the lord. "That won't be necessary until the results come back. Until then, Sophie, don't overexert yourself and stay home if you need. Results, like I said, should be coming back in a few days so I'll see you then. You guys are all free to leave when you're ready."
He winks at me, mouths good luck and then proceeds to walk out of the room with a dramatic flourish, leaving my parents staring at the door swinging shut behind him, one fuming and the other in shock.
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A/N: hehe. Welcome to Owl's book meme show. Here's a meme to brighten your day:
Elwin: Sophie probably has leukemia.
Sophie: Oh. Yikes. That kind of sucks, dude.
Edaline: WHAT???
Grady: You're never allowed to leave the house again
