Jesse
I was lying in a white narrow hospital bed that September morning, waiting for a blood transfusion yet again. I'd been waiting here for an hour. My parents and younger sisters Kate and Anna were in the waiting room, also waiting. Around me were other cancer patients, all waiting for something. I had cancer.
I was 15 and should've been in my first year of high school. But instead I was here, stuck in the hospital. I was sick bc of my cancer.
"But Mo-om. I really want to go-oh," Anna, who was 10, whined from the waiting room.
She was obviously bored and impatient.
"No, Anna," Mom said.
"It's not fair."
"Nothing's fair in this world Anna," Kate, who was 13, replied cynically.
She sounded like she was speaking from experience which, she was. Id had cancer since I was 2 and due to this I often got more attention than my sisters. I always had. It embarrassed me to no end when my mom was the one taking care of me when I got sick. When my dad did it it wasn't as emotional which I liked. They both knew I was old enough to take care of myself but my mom didn't want me to grow up. Just wait untill I graduated high school if I even lived that long.
On the bed next to me was a girl about my age, bald. She was wearing peridot earrings and a white paper hospital gown. But even without hair she was beautiful, albeit thin.
"Hey," she said
"Hey," I returned.
"What are you here for?"
"AML, you?"
"Same. Cool, we match."
"That's a rarity in females," I said.
"Yeah. It is. But we're all rarities I suppose."
"In our own way. I like your earrings."
"I have to dress myself up somehow. And thanks."
"Mmmhmm. You a Leo?"
"No I'm a Cancer."
"Really?"
She laughed; "no. But it's what I have. We have. Yes, I'm actually a Leo."
"Cool so's my sister."
"How old?"
"13."
"And you're?"
"15."
"Uh huh. Waiting for something?"
"Isn't everyone?" she looked at me and smiled.
"Yeah. Me, for my blood cell count. You?"
"Transfusion."
Nurses wandered in and out of the room, talking.
"I'm Shannon by the way," she told me.
"Hey. Jesse."
Her eyes scanned the room.
"You'd think, with all these nurses coming in and out, they'd get to us," she said.
"Yeah. Hurry up and wait."
"You spending the whole day here?" she asked.
"Yeah, you?"
"Most likely."
"What do you do when you're not here?"
"Listen to music. Go to school. Play guitar. Draw."
"Cool."
"And you?"
"I like to read, also listen to music. Write. What kind of music?"
"Oh anything," I answered, "Zeppelin, Loreena McKinnett, Bowie, Coltrane, Eurythmics, Ray Charles. Anything."
"Coltrane, really?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. McKinnett, I never would've guessed."
"Oh. Really?"
"Yeah you seem, kind of angry..." she observed.
Well wouldn't you be if youd had cancer your whole life?
I guess she thought I came off as brooding. And not the nicest person.
"You think I'm angry you should meet my sister," I said.
Who, at that very moment, walked into the room dressed entirely in black.
"What about me?" she asked.
"Hi Kate nice to see you too," I said.
"Oh shut it. I like your earrings," Kate said to Shannon.
"Thank you. You have beautiful hair."
"Thank you."
Kate walked off.
Shannon unconsciously raised a small hand to the back of her bald head.
"Oh wow," she said, surprised.
"Weird?" I asked.
"Yeah. I used to have hair like Kate's. She seems...um. Nice."
I laughed.
Kate had thick black hair to her shoulders.
"Yeah she's a real charmer," I said sarcastically.
Shannon laughed.
"Well. This is boring," I stated.
"You're tellin me. I've been here since 4 this morning."
"Wow. I've been here since 8."
It was now 10.
"You got any pets?" she asked.
"No, you?"
"Yeah a dog."
"Anna loves dogs. What kind?"
"A golden retirever. She's beautiful. Very sweet."
I smiled.
"My sister's here somewhere. Annas yours?" Shannon said.
"yeah. Yours is older?" I asked.
"Yeah she's 17 and...doesn't eat. When she dies, I get one of her kidneys. If I'm lucky. Or, if shes lucky."
"You want her to die?"
"No Jesse I don't want her to. I'm just sayin, since she's a match."
"Oh. She as nice as you are?" I asked smiling.
"When she wants to be. She's kind of a mix between myself and Kate."
My dad walked into the room.
"Hey Jess," he greeted me casually.
"Hey."
"Oooh she's cute. Who's the girl with the nice earrings?"
Shannon blushed.
"Dad don't embarass her," I said.
"I'm sorry."
"And I'm Shannon Mr..." Shannon said to my dad, who'd turned to her.
"Fitzgerald, pleased to make your acquantence."
They shook hands.
"My daughter has earrings like that," Dad told Shannon.
"Yeah I just met Kate. Well, kind of. She seems...nice."
Dad smiled; "yeah she's quite a handful."
Shannon smiled.
"When's your brithday?" she asked me.
"November."
"Oh, so you have a month or so."
It was early September.
"Yeah I'll be 16."
Dad sat down in a chair.
"I'm still older," Shannonn said as though it was a competition.
"Only by a few months," I said.
At that moment Anna walked into the room caryring a coloring book and crayons. She climbed onto Dad's lap.
"Jesse, loook what I did," Anna said.
She opened her coloring book to a golden retriever colored in green.
"That's so cool," I said.
"Do we have a little artist in the family? Besides you," Shannon asked me.
"I like coloring," Anna told Shannon looking at her.
"Hey, me too," Shannon said.
"I like the green, very creative," Dad said.
Shannon peered at the picture.
"Hey, that looks like our dog," she said.
Anna turned and looked at Shannon.
"I like dogs," she said.
"That's what your brother was telling me."
"I like your earrings."
"Thank you."
"Are you sick like my brother?"
"Yes."
"Cmon Anna," Dad said, looking down at his small black pager, "I'm needed."
They left the room.
Dad didn't like that anna had asked such an honest question. He thought it had bothered Shannon. I wasn't sure myself. Whether or not it had.
"You were great with her," I told Shannon.
"Well she's so cute! I love kids."
She smiled again. I was beginning to notice this. That she smiled a lot.
"Yeah I can tell. She's like this with everyone."
"How old?"
"10."
"Where's your dad have to go?"
"Oh, he's a firefighter."
"Oh. And your mom?"
"Is a lawyer."
"Your dad's nice."
"Yeah...Kate's a lot like my mom, who you haven't yet met."
At that moment a woman with long black hair, pale skin and eyes the same color as Shannon's entered.
"Have they taken it yet?" she asked Shannon.
"No."
"You would think with all these people milling about...oooh he's cute."
The woman looked at Shannon then me.
"Mom! Don't embarass us."
"Us?"
"Yeah as in...friends, us. Right?" Shannon asked me.
"Um yeah. friends."
I suddenly felt very awkward.
"Hi I'm Lily, Shannon's mom," she told me.
"I figured, being that she just called you 'mom'," I stated.
We shook hands.
Shannon's mom left.
"Sorry about that," Shannon apologised.
"It's ok."
I was hungry but knew enough not to eat since that would disrupt my blood count, somehow.
"So maybe hen you're not in the hospital we could do something," I told Shannon.
"Sure, I'd like that. Maybe Anna could meet my dog."
"She'd love that."
"Ok."
"Um. I'll need your number though...to, you know. Call you."
As though that wasn't obvious.
Shannon handed me a pen. She gave me her digits which I wrote on my hand, then handed the pen back to her.
At that moment the nurse came in to deliver the blood transfusion, which didn't take long.
I changed behind a curtain and walked into the hallway where my family was waiting.
"Oh finally," Kate said.
"Kate, be nice," Mom said; "how'd it go?"
"Good, didn't take long," I replied.
"He met a girl," Dad put in.
Apparently dad hadn't needed to go right away. He just wanted to get anna out of there.
Mom smiled.
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the number written on my hand.
"Hello?" Shanon's voice asked.
"Hey, it's me. Er, I mean, Jesse. Just wanted to make sure you didn't give me a fake number. I guess some girls do that...well, according to my dad, at least."
"Omygod!" she squealed.
Wow. Were all girls like this?
"So I'll talk to you sometime soon. Or maybe we'll see each other before I call. You. Wow. I'm sorry I should probably go," I said, realising I was rambling.
We hung up.