Hotaru was a 17-year-old volleyball player, she was popular, and she was
even nominated for prom queen. She had parents who loved her and a little
sister who looked up to her. Hotaru was your average girl. She didn't know
that when summer came her whole life would drastically change. It had all
started when she started to notice various bruises throughout the uncommon
places (around her ankles etc.) She then had told her parents how in the
locker room when she was changing into her volleyball outfit that she
suddenly got sick. But then right after she felt fine. Being concerned
parents they took her into the urgent care facility. The doctor took her
blood and ran a few tests. After about an hour they were told to go to a
hospital and ask someone to take Hotaru's White Blood Cell count. After one
of the nurses took her white blood cell count they took it to the lab to be
analyzed. When a doctor appeared before them with the most terrifying news.
"Your daughter has been diagnosed with AML leukemia." Her parents were
shocked. After several moments Hotaru broke out into tears. " I'll never go
to the volleyball tournament, and I won't get to be there to know if I'm
chosen for Prom Queen." Then after she had clamed down a bit she asked the
doctor, "What is the treatment?" The doctor after several seconds came out
and said "Chemotherapy." At that moment Hotaru broke out into tears again.
"You should be admitted tonight" one of the nurses said. "That way in a
week or so we can start the treatment." When she was brought up to the 8th
floor they all stopped at room 834. She paused before going in she sighed
and thought to her this is where I'll be staying for the next 6 months. She
then stepped in the room and looked around. There were pink walls a bed a
window and many machines. She could tell they did there best to accommodate
the patients. As they started the treatment she became weak. She had lost
nearly all her hair along with a lot of weight. She weighed 92 pounds. Then
finally came the happiest moment of her life. The time had come where she
was allowed to come home for good after the doctors all told her that. She
left the hospital feeling excited that she would HOPEFULLY never have to go
back there for another 6 months. When the first day of school came around.
What she would have to face would be worse then the treatment. When she had
entered the school with nothing on her head except for a bandana she was
stared at. Gawked at made fun of. People would call her names like
"outcast" and "freak." They pulled cruel tricks on her like tripping her in
the halls and pulling her chair out from under her. Some of them even spray-
painted her locker with names such as "freak" and "outcast." She had
finally decided to switch schools. At her new school she was treated
normally. She was popular again. Even though she didn't have much hair as
it grew back she had the most beautiful Strawberry-Blonde hair. She was
even nominated for prom queen again. After about a year she had decided to
pay a little visit to her old school. She walked in and immediately treated
normal. Guys would come up to her. Girls would try to be her friends. At
lunch Hotaru announced to everyone by saying. "I'm the one everyone of you
made fun of and pulled tricks on, you didn't notice. You were to busy
making fun of me instead of trying to get to know me." Eventually she
graduated school and then college. To go on to be a nurse on the 8th floor
of the children's hospital and to speak publicly all around the world.
