We Band Together

Chapter 2

After about ten minutes of sitting in my room, looking down at my clasped hands, thinking about what Leo said to me moments before. They are going to think you have recovered and you haven't! What are you going to do then, Emma!?" You're a worthless piece of-." mentally scold myself, Leo would never say that! He wouldn't. He's not like that. He's not.

"The party has arrived!" Dash yells, dramatically gesturing to the three of them.

"Hey... um, you guys and pull up a chair if you want." I say, shifting uncomfortably on my bedspread, avoiding Leo's gaze.

"What is going on in this world? Emma is allowing her room to be messed up?" Jordi says sarcastically.

"Ha-ha very funny." I smirk at him. Even though he is in-between chemo treatments, his spirit is still high.

Leo wheels back over from getting a chair for Jordi and places it in front of him. Before turning to the trays of food they brought in, he wheels over to my tray of food, picking it up and setting it next to me on the bed.

"Can I help you?" I ask, pushing the food away from me. Slowly, he stands up, hopping on his left leg, trying to regain balance. He lean towards me, whispering ever so quietly in my arm so Dash and Jordi don't hear him.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he whispers. "I just worry about you. One bite. Please?" he finishes. Slowly I turn my head toward the plate, examining the food.

"Okay." I whisper back to him. Satisfied, he sits down, with a small smile on his face. The room stays in a dead silence, everybody afraid to say anything.

"Awwkkwwaarrdd," Dash sings, before turning his attention to his food. I laugh silently to myself. I turn to look at my food again. Its presence is haunting in itself. I stare at it, slowly taking a shaking hand to get the apple. The boys turn and look at me, their faces all completely different. Leo's was filled with satisfaction, his pink lips pulled into a small smile, willing my hand to go that extra inch to grab the apple. Jordi was trying not to stare, trying not to look like he was watching this whole thing. Such a gentleman. And then Dash, well Dash, he is trying to hide the smirk that is forming on his face. Following Leo's request, I grasp the apple, its skin smooth against mine. I take it to my mouth, touching it against my lips, almost like I'm kissing it, and dig my teeth into the crisp apple. A small bite breaks off, only about the size of an inch, but it was a bite. I put the apple back down on the tray and look at Leo. Thank you he mouths.

"So! What have you guys been up to?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"Well I have chemo tomorrow so that's fun." Jordi says, finishing up his sandwich and moving onto his chips.

"I have PT tomorrow." Leo says.

"Nothing is new in the life of Dash," Dash says, reaching for my chips before Leo slaps his hand away.

"Dude?!" Leo shouts.

"What? I'm hungry, and if Thumbelina isn't going to eat them!"

"That's Emma's lunch."

He puts his hands up in surrender, "Sorry, geez."

"Here Dash," I say, handing him the bowl of chips, "You can have them."

"Thanks." He replies, taking the bowl from my hands while looking at Leo as if he just beat him at a game.

"So-." Before I can tell the boys about the homework assignment that is due tomorrow, Nurse Jackson comes running into the room, her stethoscope slapping her shoulders.

"Emma, can I talk to you for a moment?" she asks, out of breath. I stand up, only to be startled by hearing Dr. McAndrew and Kenji yelling at a person down the hall. I walk over to Nurse Jackson.

"What's going on?" I ask her, trying to look down the hallway. Nurse Jackson side steps and blocks my view.

"Emma, we are going into lock down, we have to lock all of the doors so this man can't hurt anyone. So I am going to close your door and lock it. Jordi, Dash, and Leo are all in here. You will be okay, alright? I promise I will come and get you, alright?" I shake my head, my eyes filling with tears.

"No. You can't lock me in here! Nurse Jackson you can't!"

"Hey, hey," she wraps an arm around my shoulders and leads me to my bed. The boys all look confused.

"Nurse Jackson, what's going on?" Leo asks.

"Not now Leo," she says. She sits me down on my bed, laying my head gently on the pillow, and whispers to me. "Emma, you are in your room, okay? With your pillows, and your pictures all around you. Your friends are right here, alright? I will come back for you, I promise." "Boys, we are going into lockdown, stay here with Emma." She looks back at me, and then rushes out of the room, closing the door. I see her through my vision pull the all access key from her pocket and stick it into the lock, and turn it. As soon as it clicks, memories come flooding back to me. I start to shake uncontrollably, and my breathing becomes rapid.

"You're going to learn one of these days. You're going to learn that the privilege to live in this house isn't free. You need to earn your stay!" She slaps me hard across the face, taking a clump of my hair and dragging me down the stairs.

"I'm sorry!" I cry to Her.

"Well sorry ain't going to cut it anymore!" she throws me down hard onto the cement floor, causing my head to throb. I can feel my hair growing wet, most likely from the blood that was flooding from my head.

"You're going to learn one way or the other! You're going to learn that people that act like animals, are going to be treated like animals!" She shouts at me as she stomps up the stairs. I can hear the floor slam behind her, and the dreaded locking click.