Author's Note: Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait for this next chapter after such a marvelous cliffy in the one before. But as the title says, here is the chapter that tells what happened in the first week of Keith's two week absence. Hope you enjoy (and that it lives up to what you imagined happened during that time!) and please review!
Chapter 11
The First Week
Keith regained consciousness slowly. When he was finally able to open his eyes and see where he was, he closed them again and wanted very much to return to being unconscious or better yet, lying in the back of his truck next to Natalie. But Keith, despite his grogginess decided not to prolong the inevitable and opened his eyes all the way.
He was lying in a hospital bed in what he could've sworn was the same room he had had been during his other rounds of treatment. Yet he had been in so many hospital rooms that they had all started to look the same to him and besides, it didn't really matter if it was the same room because it wasn't his room at home.
The hospital room that he found himself in was pretty much like any other hospital room: bare gray walls, white tile floor, large window and a strong smell of disinfectant.
Once he had swept his gaze over the small room, Keith looked down at himself and saw that an IV tube had been inserted into his left arm and he wore the white identification bracelet around his wrist with ZETTERSTROM, KEITH stamped across it. To further his displeasure at being in the hospital he found that his clothes had been replaced with the typical thin cloth gown.
Keith sighed heavily and leaned back against the pillows as he recalled the shock that he had received with the appearance of the red dots on his chest and his bone aches. He vaguely remembered that he had lost conciseness but he couldn't think of any reason as to why he would.
He lay still for a few seconds before he heard voices outside his door and quickly recognized them as those of his dad's and his doctor's.
"Henry, you've got to understand that acute leukemia is a very fast progressing cancer," his doctor, Dr. Grant was saying exasperatedly. "I'm actually quite surprised that Keith lasted this long between treatments."
"Oh, so you just expected him to drop dead at any minute and not warn me first!" his dad practically yelled at him.
"No, of course not, but I didn't expect the cancer to go into remission like it had but now that its come back, we have to act quickly."
"So, if he has more treatment will he get better? Will it go away?"
"Yes, he's going to have more treatment and we're going to be very aggressive about it and hopefully that will…slow the process."
Keith had a pretty good idea as to what 'slow the process' meant but before he could really think about it, a nurse poked her head into his room and exclaimed. "Richards! What the heck are you doing back here?!"
"Hey, Marcy," Keith groaned.
Marcy had been Keith's nurse since his diagnosis and was also the one who oversaw his treatments. Even though she was in her early thirties, she still knew about all of the new 'trends' and could easily hold a conversation with a seven-year-old or in Keith's case, a seventeen-year-old patient. She also loved to tease Keith about having the same first name as the Rolling Stones bassist and knowing full well that Keith hated the Stones.
"I'm glad you're sitting up finally," said Marcy as she strode over to his bedside. "You were out for quite awhile."
"Why did I faint like that?"
"Just another symptom of the cancer coming back," she said as she tugged his gown down a little so she could listen to his heart, whereupon Keith saw that the red dots were still there but there weren't as many. And apparently his heart sounded good as she took her stethoscope away and asked, "How are you feeling? Any aches or pains?"
"No, I'm just really tired and my head hurts."
"Well, you should feel a bit better once you have some food in you. Otherwise, ya look good to me, Richards." She added with a small smile.
At that moment, Henry and Dr. Grant entered the room. "Hello, Keith," said Dr. Grant. "How are you feeling?"
"I dunno, ask Marcy," said Keith, who really didn't feel like answering the same old questions. "She just looked at me."
"He's still the same old Keith," Marcy told the doctor. "Vitals look good and everything, he just needs some food."
"And more chemo apparently," said Keith dully. " 'Cause the cancer came back, right, doc?"
"Yes, Keith, it has and as I told your dad, we're going to be very aggressive with this round of treatment as acute leukemia progresses very quickly," said Dr. Grant. "We'll start you on chemo within a few hours and both Marcy and I will oversee it, alright?"
"Okay."
"Alright, we'll leave you and your dad alone now. See you later, Keith."
Keith said nothing as the doctor and Marcy left. When they were gone, he turned his head to look at his dad and said, "My life sucks, Dad."
"I know, Keith, it does. But not everyone's dealt a fair hand," said Henry, rubbing his shoulder as a way to comfort him.
"Am I gonna lose all my hair again? 'Cause let me tell you that was the most embarrassing time of my life."
"There's a great possibility that you will, Keith, I'm sorry."
"Crap." was his only response.
Soon after, another nurse named Shannon delivered him breakfast and Keith spent the rest of the morning willing himself to eat it. He knew it was important but he also didn't want to puke all over the place either. He managed to force down the food and then shortly afterward, it was time.
As they had said, both Marcy and Dr. Grant came into his room together. Although, as before it was Marcy who administered the drugs and as she was setting up, Keith noticed something different.
"I'm not getting the drip this time?" he asked.
"Nope, sorry kiddo, we're using the fast stuff," Marcy replied as she handed him a small cup of two pills that would prevent him from getting nauseous. Once he swallowed them, she inserted a new IV into his arm and said, "This is the 'pump' form of chemo, it's much faster than the drip but it's basically the same thing so you shouldn't experience anything new."
Keith sighed heavily and leaned back against the pillows. "Okay, let's just get this over with."
It really was a lot like his other treatments except for the fact that his fingers and toes hurt terribly, but Keith merely bit his lip against the pain and waited for the procedure to be over. By the time it was over, two hours later, Keith was exhausted and despite the medication, felt very nauseous. He barely touched his dinner that night.
And so it went for four days. Keith would have his chemo in the early afternoon and then spend the rest of the day recuperating. He only vomited a few times and he was tired for much of the time but thankfully his hair did not fall out.
On the afternoon of the fifth day when his dad visited him, Al came along. Keith forced a smile on his lips when he saw his counselor and said, "Well, Al, looks like my dad told you where I've been hiding out for the past few days."
"Yeah, it seems that way," said Al as he sat down near him. "How're you feeling, Keith?"
"Oh, you know, just like every other person whose had a shitload of chemicals pumped into them…like shit," said Keith, his words oozing with sarcasm. "But otherwise I'm good." He paused and then asked, "So, Al, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner but I had some…things to take care of and then, I only got your dad's message last night and here I am," said Al. "I was going to ask you how your concrete goal is going but considering that I already saw…her, I'd say it's going pretty well."
"Yup," Keith agreed. Thinking of that night when he and Natalie had run into Al and Billy, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Al," he said. "Since I kind of blew Billy off that last time, do you think he could come visit me? Some hardcore video gaming would do me some good, I think."
Al pressed his lips together and there was a short pause before he answered slowly, "Keith….I hate to tell you this, but Billy---Billy passed away."
Keith stared at him. "What? When?"
"Monday night. He got the flu and his system couldn't handle it…."
"But I thought he was cured!" Keith interrupted loudly.
"He was, technically, at least he had been in remission for awhile but his immune system wasn't as strong as it was. I---I'm really sorry."
Keith looked at Al for a few seconds before he slowly rolled over onto his side, away from the two men. No one spoke in the small room until he heard someone get up and walk around to his side of the bed and his dad said softly. "Keith…"
"Go away, Dad," Keith snapped. His voice was a little muffled since his mouth was half covered by his pillow. "I don't wanna talk right now."
"Keith, there was nothing you could---"
"The last thing I did to him was I blew him off when he wanted to play video games!" Keith said in the loudest voice that he could muster. "And all because I wanted to spend time with Natalie!"
"He didn't care about that, he was just glad to see you again," Al interjected. "Do you want to know the last thing he said to me before he died?"
"Not really, no."
"He said that you were the coolest person he ever met and that you were---and I'm quoting him here---best darn video game player ever. Doesn't that help that he looked up to you so much?"
"No, not really, 'cause I still blew him off."
"Keith, don't torture yourself over this," his dad said gently.
"Oh, shut up, Dad! Both of you, stop trying to make me feel better, okay?! I've got flippin' cancer and my best friend just died from it! Don't tell me not to torture myself over it and just leave me alone!" Keith yelled and then promptly buried his face in his pillow.
A long silence followed his outburst and Keith felt his dad lay his hand on top of his head for a moment before he heard footsteps as he and Al left the room.
It was when he heard the door close behind that Keith allowed the first tears to fall.
Author's Note: Well, not as good of a cliffy as the first but still sad nonetheless. Oh and as a side note, I have never had chemo (thank god) so I'm basing everything that I wrote about chemo and the procedure from a few informative websites on Google. Just a little disclaimer there. Please review!
