Ch. 8

I wish with all my heart that the night I am about to tell you about is the worst one. That we made it through this and it was all over. That this night was the scariest part, the most heartbreaking moment. But that would be a lie. A good one that would make you feel a little better and keep your hope alive, but a lie none the less.

It was the first week of July and we were down at the lake for a party. I was playing poole inside while Sarah was out with her friends on the boat. I was about to take my turn when there was a commotion outside. "What's going on?" I asked.

"It looks like they're carrying someone out of the water," a guy wearing a backwards baseball cap said.

We ran out to meet the crowd of people. "Who is it?" I asked trying to see over everyone.

"They say her name is Sarah," a girl said taking out her phone to call 911.

My heart dropped and then I was running to her. A guy I vaguely recognize as Lanie's brother stumbles out of the lake. "She… she fell in the water. Her head," he mumbles sinking into the sand. "We were all hanging out and then she was just… just gone."

"Sarah!" I yelled, taking her from him. There was so much blood, running down the side of her face. I pulled off my shirt and held it against her temple. "Sarah," I said her name over and over again but she didn't respond. The ambulance sired wailed and some people in uniforms took her from me. All I could do was say her name over and over again.

"Logan, what happened?" Sarah's mom asked me at the hospital.

"I don't know," I said pacing the hallways. They rolled her into the E.R. leaving me alone, scared, and knowing nothing. A nurse came out and I jumped at her. "Is she okay?"

She grabbed my shoulders to calm me. "She is stable."

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

"We are going to run some tests in the morning," she explained.

"Can I see her?" I asked desperately.

"When we move her to her room," she promised.

I tried to sit and wait, but my nerves kept me antsy. Her parents filled out paperwork and were on the phone constantly, trying to keep everyone updated. My fingers drummed on my leg as I walked in a circle. I tried not to think about what 'run some tests' meant.

As soon as they let me, I raced to see Sarah. She sat in bed, one eye covered by the gauze wrapped around her head. "You look like a pirate," I laughed.

"Arg,"she answered. I was so relieved to see her.

"So I know everyone's going to ask you this but, how are you feeling?" I ask, trying not to stare at all the tubes hanging out of her arm.

She shrugged. "I was in the boat, and I got up because I couldn't breathe," she recounted. "Lanie asked me what was wrong and I couldn't talk. Logan, it was like I was drowning on air then it all went black. When I woke up there were lights and people talking fast and serious. Someone was pressing against my chest and then I blacked out again. I just woke up and everything hurts. My head…"

I kissed her hand. "I'm just glad to see you."

I spent the next two days eating hospital food and sleeping on waiting room chairs. They had to run more tests than expected, taking so much of her blood and blood marrow. She kept asking what they were looking for and I said I didn't know. It was hard lying to her, but how do you tell someone you love that they probably have cancer?