That's just life

2.

When I woke up, all I remembered was the apple pie and mum. I looked around and didn't recognise the white walls or the painting hung on the wall behind me. As my senses slowly  registered that they were awake, I tried wiggling my fingers and toes. I could do it, thank god. As soon as I took a deep breath though, I felt as if someone had put a large stack of books on my chest.

I tried to remember what had happened. Then it all came back and hit me like a wave. I had passed out in the kitchen due to that..... I didn't exactly know what 'that' was. 

I shut my eyes and let out a groan. I was hungry. I sat up and looked  around for a switch or something to signal someone outside. I was just about to press this weird thing that looked like a button on the table beside me when the door opened. 

A heavy built woman walked in. She had to be in her 30s. Her dark brunette hair stood out against her white skin. Her almond eyes were stern and indifferent. 

She looked like someone to not cross.

"Hey kid. I'm Olivia and your nurse. I'm gonna take care of you from now on", she said while putting something on the table beside me which happened to be my dinner. "Don't give me unnecessary trouble while you'll be staying here and I can assure you that you won't get on my bad side. Go around poking your nose in places where it shouldn't be and I'll assure that you do. Oh, and your parents will be coming inside after a few minutes. Those poor souls, they've been waiting outside the whole day." 

The WHOLE DAY? I've been out cold for an ENTIRE DAY? 

A minute later, mum, dad and Claire walked in. Well, mum and Claire ran in with dad trailing behind them. All of them looked worn out and looked as if they hadn't slept in years. Mum immediately gave me a hug that might have broken my ribs. She started sobbing the next moment. Claire came and hugged me too, and so did dad. 

"Ummmm mum what exactly happened?", I asked her feeling a bit sheepish. 

Mum and dad exchanged a look but kept their mouths clamped shut. 

"Mum? Are you gonna tell me or what?", I ask, prompting her.

Her eyes grew moist once again. I was suddenly getting the feeling that whatever had happened it wasn't good. Now I was scared. I got scared every time someone got sick or had a nosebleed or had a fracture. Now something like that happening to myself? That was scary.

"Well honey you see the doctors they found a tumour in your lungs", she managed to choke out between sobs.

WHAT THE-

NO THIS WASN'T HAPPENING. IT COULDN'T BE. 

I just stared at them. Mum was looking anywhere but at me. 

That explained the weight which apparently was in my chest, not on it.

"Is it - am I going to- is it bad?", I asked still crossing my fingers that this wasn't true. When no one answered, I cried out, "why aren't you guys ANSWERING?"

I was frantic right now.

"Well the doctors said that the tumour can be relieved and shrunk by a couple rounds of radiation......." dad replied.

I sank my face in my palms and sighed.

We came back home the next night. I went to bed as soon as I could, hoping that the next day I'd wake up and this would be nothing but a bad dream.

I went up to my room and opened the windows and drew back the white see through curtains. White moonlight flooded my rom which also happened to be the topmost room right below the roof.

I loved the slope of the ceiling. I had put up pictures of my friends and me all over the walls. All those times we either went shopping or to dinner or to birthdays we clicked a lot of pictures, thinking they would be memories to last forever. 

I took out my camera and sat at the windowsill clicking away picture after picture till I got that one frame where the moon was glistening so fiercely that even the densest clouds around it caught the light and had silver outlines.

I sighed and put down my camera for a minute and looked out of the window. The night was so beautiful, it was amazing how the edges of the tall buildings gleamedwhite and the pink flowers of the cherry trees were so bright they almost looked white.

'Who needs heaven when they have this?' I thought. 

I took my camera and started clicking away again this time experimenting with the light and colour saturations.

After a while, I thought it was too good a night to waste, so I took my blanket and went downstairs when I figured that everyone else was asleep.

I went into the backyard and lay down my blanket on the grass, and sat on it.

The sky was so beautiful it broke my heart. All at once, there were stars visible when the black clouds shifted as well as the moon which occasionally hid behind the moving wisps.

Tumour or not, I was going to live.

I fell asleep looking at the sky.