Selphie and Quistis walked into the tiny examining
room. The fat nurse with frizzy black hair handed Selphie one of
those icky paper gown things. The woman snapped a wad of bubble gum
in her garishly painted pink mouth and glowered at Selphie with her
overly shadowed eyes, "Ok hon! Put that on and the doctor will be
in shortly." The large woman stormed out and Selphie stuck her tongue
out at her.
"The big fat meany!" She snapped.
Quistis smothered a chuckle, "Ah Selphie:
ever the little spitfire!"
Selphie held the gown in her hands, "Um Quistis
could you turn around while I put this raggy thing on?"
Quistis nodded and turned her back and Selphie
unzipped her soft cotton sweatshirt and took her typical yellow jumper
off. It was cold in the room and she shuddered as the air hit her
naked back. The gown made her feel naked and exposed
and she loathed to put it on but it was still better then her underwear.
The large woman burst in again contrary to
her promise, "Ready? I'm Ethel... I'll be your nurse today!
No sass little missy! We're overcrowded and understaffed and will
be until Balamb Hospital opens up."
Ethel shoved a thermometor into Selphie's mouth.
Quistis tried to stop her but the woman brushed her off, "I'm a trained
professional hon! Better let me handle the patient and you go on
out to the waiting room."
Quistis caught Selphie's horror at this suggestion,
"Oh no I think I'll stay with my friend if you don't mind."
The busty Ethel shrugged, "Suit yourself but
I don't want you in my way! Pee in this here cup, hon" She shoved
a little plastic cup at Selphie.
Selphie didn't want to argue. She really
didn't feel up to it. "Um sure... Where's the bathroom?"
Ethel laughed as if Selphie had said something
incredibly hilarious,"What?
You think you need your privacy? Just
do it here! I don't mind and neither will your friend!"
Selphie stifled a scream, "And you need to
watch because why you old bitch?"
Quistis looked shocked at both Ethel and Selphie,
"Ethel maybe you could give her some privacy."
"I don't think so! Now hurry up and
pee!" Ethel barked authoritively.
Selphie couldn't help, it she started bawling
like a child. Ethel started screaming about hospital security coming
in to take away Quistis and poor Quistis gave Selphie a look of sympathy
before she slipped out of the room. Selphie realized then that she
had no choice but to obey the horrid Ethel. But hell she was a SeeD
and why should she have to back down? Selphie began to think of a
way out of it while Ethel advanced menacingly towards her.
"Listen hon, your lil' friend ain't here to help
you," Ethel simpered but she was interuppted by a knock at the door and
a red haired woman in her thirties walked in.
"Ethel? What are you doing? Don't scare
the patients..." The woman was pretty and sweet. She greeted Selphie
with a smile and Ethel with a firm stare, "Hi. Are you Selphie? I'm
Doctor Feldman and I am here to examine you. Ethel was just leaving."
Selphie felt more at ease with Dr. Feldman.
The doctor was much nicer than Ethel and showed her a bathroom where Selphie
could pee in the cup in blessed privacy. The rest of the day went
by in a blur for Selphie. A whirl of blood tests, x-rays and questions
were thrown at her. The various doctors talked in hushed terms using
medical terms Selphie could only guess at. At the end of it all she
was escorted into the little examination room again where she was greeted
by a grim Dr. Feldman and a quiet Quistis. The doctor quietly explained
to Selphie what was wrong with her. Selphie was confused by the scientific
terms of sarcoma and such. She wondered what it all meant.
"Doctor... I don't wanna sound stupid but what exactly
is wrong with me? In plain language I mean?" Selphie asked nervously.
"You have a type of sarcoma which in layman's terms
is bone cancer." The doctor gently informed her.
"Oh God..." Selphie was too shocked and frightened
to do anything else.
"What can we do for her? We can cure her right?
Quistis whispered.
The doctor sighed, "Selphie you're not a little
girl so I feel like I can be honest with you... There really isn't
a lot we can do. We'll start you on chemotherapy and radiation
right away of course but the truth is you have an extremely devastating
form of cancer and I haven't seen a high success rate of remission for
it. I wish I could tell you something better..."
Selphie was sobbing into her hands and Quistis put
her arms around her, "Is there any hope at all?"
"A little bit... She has a 5% chance of survival."
"What does she do for now?"
"She really needs to be in the hospital but unfortunately
we have no room for her. Dr. Kadawaki and I have spoken on the phone
and she feels she can take care of Selphie for the time being."
"So thats it? You can't help her so you're
just going to send her home?" Quistis was angry.
"I-I'm sorry." The doctor looked at the ground
in embarassment.
Selphie tearfully looked from both the doctor to
Quistis, "It's ok Quisty, I'd rather be at home anyway."
The doctor looked relieved, "I'll give you some
painkillers and other medication before you go. I'm truly sorry about
everything."
Quistis nodded, "Ok whatever Sefie wants then."
