Jake
Kate and I were awake and sitting in our thin narrow white hospital beds when her dad entered. He came over to us and sat down in the empty hospital bed to the left of his daughter.
"Hey Mr. Fitzgerald," I said.
"Hey Jake, how are you?" he asked.
"Alrite, and you?"
He sighed, an answer.
Kate handed her cup of tea to me and I put it on the nightstand between us.
"Hey baby," Mr. Fitzgerald said to his daughter.
She turned her head to him.
"Hi Dad," she whispered, and then coughed.
Mr. Fitzgerald looked over his daughter's head at me: "is she in any pain?"
I nodded: "yeah, a 4. I told her to let me know if it gets to a 6."
"Right, that's when the naproxen will be administered."
"Dad?" Kate said softly.
He turned back to his daughter: "yeah?"
"I've lost 10 pounds."
He inhaled, knowing what this meant.
"Well she's been sick so she hasn't exactly been up to eating," I explained.
Mr. Fitzgerald nodded.
"How's...how's Anna?" Kate managed.
"Well I took her to the doctor's today who told me Anna needed to see an oncologist."
"Oh."
Kate's small body rose and fell: "Who's going to give me blood then?"
"Well, Evan had his blood taken. We'll get the results back in a few days."
"Ok."
"Oh, Jennifer took your comforter to the dry cleaner's this morning."
That meant Mr. Fitzgerald and my aunt were still spending time together.
"It's nice to have another female in the house, around my age," Mr. Fitzgerald said.
"Mom's...?" Kate asked, wondering how she was.
"There hasn't been any change. I'm sorry honey."
