Chapter Twenty-Three
Riley's POV:
November 12, Maya was moved to her own room in the recovery wing of the hospital. Part of me was happy. This meant that I could stay with Maya all the time now, when Dad wasn't making me go to school. But part of me hated this. This also meant that soon, Maya could go home. And none of us had any idea of where to pick up. Or begin again. Or anything.
"All this pink is making my head hurt." Maya grumbled as she looked at the thousands of balloons, flowers, and cards packed into her room.
"Well there's nowhere else to put them." I giggled, so happy that Maya was finally sitting up, with open, clear eyes and engaging in conversation. The past few days had been hard. She wouldn't talk after first hearing the news that Lucas had left. Then, when she would talk, she was brief, crisp, and detached. But she was beginning to open back up to us again. "Want me to rearrange them again?" I asked.
"Mm, let's do something else."
"Like what?" I turned around and saw her lifting up her hospital gown for probably the twentieth time today to look at the huge line of stitches running up the left side of her body. "Don't touch it." I reminded her.
"I know." She pushed her gown back down over her stomach and looked up at me.
"Does it hurt?" I walked over to buzz for the nurse, but she stopped me.
"No no. I guess I'm just getting used to it. It'll leave a nasty scar."
"No more bikinis I guess." I joked.
"But it might be kind of fun to show off." Maya rethought the situation. "Kinda like battle scars."
"Kind of." I giggled again and sat down on the bed next to Maya, making sure not to snag any of her IV's on my boots. She was still hooked up to all kinds of things. It was slightly scary, but I was getting used to it.
"What have I been missing at school?" Maya sighed.
"Not much. I mean, nothing big. Everything has been normal. Well, as normal as it can get without you there." I squeezed her hand gently, then turned my phone on and checked my texts. I saw a new one from Farkle. It read: Lucas texted me today.
"What's that?" Maya was looking over my arm.
"Nothing." I tried to put the phone away. But Maya wouldn't let it go.
"Riles, I'm in the hospital. Do not lie to me."
"I wasn't." I replied innocently, but my voice cracked and my throat suddenly felt dry. I was a terrible liar.
"Was that a text from Farkle? What's he say?"
"Nothing important."
"So it went from nothing at all, to nothing important. So I'm willing to guess that it actually is important." Maya huffed. "Tell me."
"Lucas texted Farkle today." I blurted just as Maya ripped the phone from my fingers. Maya froze.
"Oh." Her gaze drifted to the window. "So soon?"
"Soon? Maya, it's been five days since he left!"
"I didn't expect him to stay in contact." She scoffed quietly. "Oh, well I guess I did. I just knew he wouldn't contact me. So I can't say I'm surprised."
"Maya." I put a comforting arm on her shoulder, but she shook it off.
"I don't need a pity party. I don't need him." Total lie! She totally needed him and she knew it too! She was in denial. Oh well. I'd let her be for now. Whatever it took for her to recover. But once she was strong (in theory) she'd have to face the facts. She did need Lucas and Lucas needed her. I just hoped Lucas would face the facts soon as well before it was too late for either of them.
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Infection. I knew it was bound to happen. It was up to Maya's spleen to prevent infection and that's exactly what she stabbed. Her spleen. So I was completely upset, but not very shocked when she was being fussed over again. I took the opportunity to catch up on school work when the nurses wouldn't let me be with her. By the time she had recovered from the infection, it was already November seventeenth. But she was doing very well and there was talk of her being released in time to prepare for a great Thanksgiving.
And sure enough, on November twenty-second she was released from the hospital in a wheelchair, a huge bag of prescriptions, four boxes of cards, five teddy-bears, and an army of balloons and flowers. As soon as we rolled her out into the fresh air, she asked for one of the balloons. I handed her one of the only non-pink ones and she took it.
"I'm so happy to be out. I'm free. So I set this guy free too." She let go and we all watched it float into the expanse of clear blue. She breathed a sigh and I saw her breath in the wind.
"It's cold." I reminded my parents and we hurried Maya home. Katy was over at our house every day after work now. She'd spend dinner and late evenings with us, then head home to sleep. Maya stayed with us now, a permanent bed in my room for her. Our apartment was closer to the hospital and we could be home more to take care of her. By the time I was out of school for Thanksgiving, Maya was doing tons better. She could get up and walk around without her side hurting and the doctor said that if her stitches stayed in a nice line, that meant she was doing a great job of not stretching them. She kept them in a perfect line.
"I want to help cook." Maya pleaded on the day before Thanksgiving.
"Maya, don't be silly." Mom shook her head. "We're not even having that many people over. I don't need any help."
"I'm not offering because I think you need help, Mrs. Matthews." Maya wobbled off the couch and into the kitchen. "I'm offering because I want to cook." So I helped Maya and mom in the kitchen all Wednesday, helping Maya hold different bowls. It was so nice to see her smiling again. Of course she was nowhere near as happy as she had been when Lucas was around, but at least she was walking around and not getting another infection. But I guess I spoke too soon. Because on Thanksgiving Day she woke up and couldn't breathe. We rushed her to the ER. Mom had to get back home before the diagnosis came out because she had to get everything ready for the family we had already invited. So dad and I stayed at the hospital and waited for the news. I called Farkle and Zay to tell them what was going on, but told them not to come, that I'd tell them what happened and that they should be with their families on Thanksgiving.
"Her lungs were full of fluid." The doctor explained when we finally were led to Maya's room, thankfully not in the ICU this time. "I need to speak to you alone, Mr. Matthews." The doctor requested and left me to hold a sleeping Maya's hand as the sun began to go down. I could make out bits and pieces of the conversation coming from the hall.
"Cancer worse than we thought. We need to get her right back into chemotherapy before it's too late."
"She's not strong enough yet. She's still recovering from infection." My dad begged for Maya to stay out of chemo.
"It's not possible. If we leave her be, the cancer will continue to grow. She'll die of suffocation before the cancer actually kills her organs or affects her bones." I clutched Maya's hand tightly as I heard this. She was so much closer to death than I had thought. Oh Lucas, we need you! Where are you when Maya needs you!? She's dying and you left her! She doesn't deserve this!
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Lucas' POV:
"Back in the hospital?" I could not believe this. Farkle had called me the day after Thanksgiving to tell me that Maya was back in the hospital. She had apparently woken up on Thanksgiving Day, not being able to breathe. They had cleared her lungs and ordered her back into chemo as soon as possible.
"Is it Maya?" my mom asked when she heard my conversation. I nodded quietly and continued to listen to the details that Farkle gave. Everything that he said about me coming back, I ignored, but everything about Maya I listened to carefully. When he came to the end of his sentence, I stopped him.
"Has she asked about me?" part of me wanted to know, part of me didn't. "Did you tell her that I left?"
"Well we had to. She asked for you the minute she saw Riley." Farkle snapped. "Of course Riley couldn't keep it from her and told her then and there."
"How did it go over?"
"How do you think?" Farkle's voice was suddenly icy. "She started wailing about you leaving, just like her dad." That was it. I couldn't take it.
"Farkle, I have to go." I needed to forget about Maya for the holidays. I had to. She was killing me right along with her.
"Just like you always do." He sighed and the line went dead. Farkle was icy every time I called, and Riley never answered my calls. I didn't even think about calling Maya. And I doubt she ever thought of calling me.