The Bright Side

1.

     The Chief of Pediatric Surgery had asked the head nurse of the oncology ward for a special favor. She readily granted it, of course, because he had performed some kind of surgery on her son years past, and she had since then been forever grateful. All of this resulted in Claudia having her own room, private bathroom included. Usually patients had to settle for what they were given, often sharing their room with another person, but being the favorite of the Chief had its perks.

     It had been a week since she was admitted to the hospital and she was slowly befriending all of the staff. She soon realized that those working with cancer patients, just like pediatricians such as herself, had a special kind of empathy and sensibility. So, all of them being very welcoming, it had been very easy to acclimatize herself. As a matter of fact, she had the impression that they had taken her case at heart and were giving her subtly special treatment – it must have been due to the fact that Claudia was one of their own.

     For example, it was like the visiting hours had no limits for her. Unlike the other patients that had from 12 pm to 3 pm, and from 6 pm to 7 pm, to see their relatives, she had a continuous flow of people coming in and out of her room. From her colleagues to her family and friends, there was really no time to be bored.

     Her most frequent visitor was her brother Edoardo. Just as she expected he was the one who took the news the worst and was now being really clingy. Not that she minded, of course. She was used to him being a constant in her everyday life.

     Edoardo wasn't really her biological brother. Their history went way back decades before they were born, when their mothers were the bestest of friends. The two women did everything together, starting from being in the same class in kindergarten and then being pregnant at the same time. So, Claudia and Edoardo were raised as they were twins, their families so attached to each other. At least until their senior year in high school.

     It was a rainy day in late October when Edoardo's mother was killed in a terrible car accident - the same old story of drunk drivers going out and about ending people's lives. Claudia remembered that day perfectly, the moment where her life took a sharp turn to a dark alley. Every single one of them took the loss gravely, especially Claudia's mother who had lost her best friend and Edoardo's father who was deprived of the love of his life. What no one expected was the two of them finding comfort from their grief in each other's arms. Literally.

     It was Edoardo who had found them naked on the same bed where her mother had slept just a couple of weeks before. They had tried to make excuses, tried to justify their actions, saying it was the first and last time. Claudia had never seen his friend that angry and her father so distraught. She, on the other hand, had tried to understand them and forgive them. But it didn't last long. The lie ended when she discovered them together again months later.

     A decade had past and both Edoardo and Claudia had had no contacts with their father and mother respectively. Claudia's father had started just recently to date, believing in love again years after losing not only two of his closest friends but also his wife. Regarding her mother, Claudia found out from an old acquaintance that she and Edoardo's father where not together anymore, the latter now married to another woman. When she managed to find the courage to share the news to her family, his friend – or brother –, who had no idea till she had told him, feigned indifference but didn't talk to her for days.

     Their family problems had made both Claudia and her father's character stronger and kind of cynical, whilst somehow managing to remain optimistic. Edoardo, on the other hand, became more emotionally sensitive gaining through the years a subtle pessimism. That's the reason why he was the one who took the news of her cancer worst.