When my brother and I were born, it wasn't for us. It was for our older brother Taylor, who has AML.
Taylor is two years older than me. But when me and my twin brother, Elliot, were at our four year old check ups, they found bruises on me. On my back. Similar to the ones my older brother, Taylor, had. I was diagnosed with a more dangerous type of leukemia than my brother, APL. I was in the hospital for awhile, from when I was four until I was seven, eight to ten, ten to thirteen, so that's why, right now, at age fourteen, ten years after being diagnosed with APL, I'm going to high school. Before I was taught at home or in the hospital, but when I went into remission last year, I started going to a real school. I am nervous for going to a new school, but I still get to go, right? Taylor's in the hospital right now, and Elliot is going to be there with me. At school. I take a deep breath and walk down the stairs carefully, rubbing my hand over my bald head. It's starting to grow back, but not a lot.
"Audrey? Are you coming?" Elliot asks. I smile.
"Yeah, I'm coming." I say, jumping down the last few steps.
"Be careful today, Audrey." My mother warns, handing me my organic, cleaned and steamed lunch. I walk out the door with Elliot to the bus. The bus comes and everyone's quiet for a second while I sit down with Elliot. I get out my phone and try to text Taylor.
"What's wrong with you?" an ignorant boy in the seat across from me asks.
"Nothing, right now." I reply. The boy grimaces, and I feel my stomach turn, but I ignore it. I'm in remission, right? I go to my locker when I get off the bus and get everything set up, taking my stuff for English first. I make my way to my classroom quietly, ignoring the whispers, the pointing. I take my seat and I look around to see the teacher. She was an older lady with glasses falling off her face, looking around for something lost. The bell rings and she stands up straight, skims her eyes over the crowd, and looks straight at me.
"Well! How about we go around and say the name game?" the teacher asks. Everyone goes around saying their name, and it get's to me. I clear my throat and say
"Audrey Ambrose." loudly. I get a look from a familiar girl with freckles and brown hair. She says her name next.
"Anna Fitzgerald." I feel a sweat start to creep up on my and take a deep breath. Elliot see's me, I know it. Because he raises his hand and asks to take me to the nurses office. The teacher looks at me, and says no because I'm guessing she thinks I'm making a statement with a shaved head. I wipe my head ignore it. I go through the day this way. I go home and my mom takes a look at me and has me drink water with gatorade in it. I run up to the bathroom and see I have a nosebleed. Oh no.
I wipe it away and lay down, closing my door, locking it. I just needed some peace and quiet. That's when I started puking. Blood. My mom knocks on my door, but I can't get up. She yells for Elliot to come help her, and they take my door off. Elliot and my mother stand there, but then Elliot goes and get's my dad and calls 911.
The ambulance gets there and I get strapped onto a gurney. They take me to the hospital where I'm admitted to emergency. They give me an IV and when they can, they take blood. I'm in the ER overnight and in the morning they take a bone marrow aspiration. They move me to the Oncology department after they've confirmed a relapse.
I wake up and look around. I'm in a huge room, people only separated at the moment by curtains. I look more and see my mother asleep in the chair next to me, my father was probably with Elliot at the cafe, and in the bed next to me was my brother, Taylor. He's still asleep.
"Mom! Do you see that boy over there? Sleeping? His sister goes to Anna's school." I hear a girl say. The mom points at me.
"Is that his sister?"
"Yeah." I am so tired, but I force myself awake. They have me hooked up to different medications through my portacath, coming through my chest. I fall back asleep, and when I wake up, Taylor's awake, talking to the girl who was pointing earlier. I don't think he knew I was here. Or did he?
"Taylor." I murmur. My brother turns and has shock painted on his face. I close my eyes as my mom presses the nurse button. The nurse brings me meds so I stay awake. I look at Taylor who looks pained. The girl next to him looks curious.
"I'm Audrey, Taylor's sister." I explain. I lean back and then sit up, clutching my stomach.
"Mom!" Taylor says. My mother looks up as I wince, she shoves a basin under my mouth and I throw up. More blood.
"Audrey?" a voice says. I look up to see the girl from school.
"Anna, right?" I ask. She nods.
"What are you doing here?" she asks.
"I have APL." I say. "Why are you here?" I ask back.
"This is my sister, Kate." she points to the girl next to Taylor. I nod, and then Dr. Chase comes.
"Audrey, we are going to start you on chemo." he says. I nod and lean back again. They start it and mom has to go to work, so does dad, so Elliot stays with me.
"So, how did it go down this time?" Taylor asks, amused. I laugh weekly.
"It started during the day." Elliot started.
"I was sweating, and Elliot asked the teacher if he could take me to the nurse."
"She didn't see you were bald?" Kate asks.
"I think she thought it was a statement."
"Wow."
"Yeah, and then she got home..."Elliot trails off. I sigh.
"I got a nosebleed, but didn't tell anyone. Then I locked my door, laid down, and started puking blood." I say.
"How did they get you out?" Taylor asks.
"Umm..I uhh..."
"Mom and I heard her from downstairs, she wouldn't come to the door, we broke it down." Elliot says.
"You broke the door down?" Taylor asks.
"Similar story happened with me, now that I think about it." Kate says.
"How long have I been here?" I ask.
"Less than 24 hours. But you started chemo at 12:00...now it's 3:00." Elliot says. I smile. Taylor smirked at Kate.
"Gimme a time." I say.
"5:00." Kate says.
"7:00" Anna says. Elliot and Taylor think.
"10:00?" Elliot asks. I look at Taylor. His record was 2 days. Mine was four.
"What's your record?" Anna asks. Elliot laughs.
"Four days." Taylor says. We both join in laughing.
Five days later
I still haven't gotten sick. Beat that record.
"Five days, Aud." Taylor says. Kate's eyes pop out of her head. I laugh.
"That means any minute." I say. I start to feel a little nauseous. I look at Elliot who hands me the basin. That's when I puke. For about five minutes. That's when Dr. Chance came out and said that my kidneys are failing. I might die. I will die.