Glad you were all amused by Zachary Teflon in the last chapter hehehe. Here is chapter 17 yaaay :) With a special shoutout to dear Aunty Gladys hehe ; ) and also my giggle-buddy Jessa lol
To answer a question from Whitney (BlondeSparkles73) – the central line is a catheter/tube that runs under the skin from a main vein in the neck down through into the heart and comes out through the skin of the chest. It means chemo and other meds and fluids can be administered directly without a needle stick every time, and blood can be drawn through it without a needle poke. I explained it a little in earlier chapters :)
Without further ado, here is 17!
Charli xox
Chapter 17
Maria let Gabriella sleep in on Tuesday morning and when she woke up she was feeling refreshed and energized – so much so that she talked Maria into letting her go to school for the last 2 classes of the day. After school Taylor came over and the pair worked on homework and watched a movie. Gabriella was so happy to have the chance to spend some time with her best friend – quality time had been scarce lately.
Wednesday Gabriella made it to school for the morning, Thursday she was too tired but went in after lunch and Friday she lasted the entire day. She had fallen asleep as soon as she got home and slept until lunch time on Saturday when Troy popped in. They spent the afternoon curled up on her bed watching cartoons. Sunday flew by and before Gabriella knew it, it was Monday and time to go back to the hospital.
Gabriella's phone buzzed as she ran a brush through her ever-thinning hair, cursing softly as huge clumps came away with the hairbrush and became tangled there. Tossing the hair-covered brush onto her bed, Gabriella picked up her phone and read the text.
Morning Bella, hope u had a nice sleep :) Gd luck 2day, go kick sum cancer butt! C u 2nite ily xox
Gabriella smiled to herself as her fingers whizzed over the keypad.
Wicked-sweet Ninja skills ready and raring 2 kick cancer butt! Can't wait 2 c u, ily lots n lots xx
Giggling to herself, she hit the 'send' button and turned her attention back to the difficult task of trying to cover the visible bald patch at the crown of her head. Deciding she just didn't suit a comb-over, Gabriella grabbed a cute peaked cap from her wardrobe and pulled it on before picking up her bag, taking one last look around her spotless bedroom, and heading down the stairs.
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Gabriella stared sadly down at her stomach as it grumbled for the five millionth time in ten minutes.
"Not long now honey, you're next on the list," Maria consoled her.
Gabriella was sitting on one of the beds in the day unit, waiting to be taken in for a Bone Marrow Aspiration and Lumbar Puncture. She had had both of these tests the day she was diagnosed, and she would be having them at the start of each chemotherapy cycle, to check the level of cancer cells in her bone marrow, and to make sure that no cells had escaped into her spinal fluid. Because Gabriella was put under a general anaesthetic for the tests, it meant she hadn't been able to eat all day so far, and wouldn't be allowed to until she woke up from the procedure.
Her stomach growled loudly as one of the day unit nurses – Amanda – came into the bay.
"Ok Gabriella, your turn," she smiled, pulling the sides of the bed up and unlocking the wheels.
Maria kissed her on the forehead. "See you when you wake up, baby. I'll go grab some food for you while you're in there. Any requests?"
"Mmm...Chicken nuggets please," Gabriella replied after some thought.
"Ok," Maria laughed. "If that's what you want," Maria kissed her forehead again as she was wheeled off into the procedure room.
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Gabriella blinked a couple of times to clear her vision as her eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Hey sleeping beauty," Maria whispered, stroking Gabriella's cheek.
A tired smile spread across Gabriella's face. "Ok, hand 'em over," she giggled, inhaling deeply as Maria placed a takeaway bag on her bed.
"Careful of your back, honey," Maria reminded as Gabriella shifted on the bed and winced at the sharp sting.
Gabriella bit into a chicken nugget and closed her eyes. "Mmm," she sighed. "Food tastes so much better when you have been deprived of it all morning."
Maria laughed. "Well I'm glad you are enjoying it so much."
Gabriella was just finishing her lunch when Amanda came in.
"Alright Miss Gabi, your hour under observation is almost up, so we'll be taking you across to the ward in about ten minutes. You'll be sharing a room this visit, though – unfortunately the ward is packed out."
"That's ok," Gabriella shrugged, swallowing the last bite of chicken nugget. "It's always nice to meet new people."
Amanda nodded her agreement. "Mackenzie is around your age, and she's just lovely."
"I can't wait to meet her then," Gabriella grinned.
It turned out Amanda was right. When Gabriella was transferred across to the oncology ward half an hour later (they were quickly discovering the hospital was NEVER running to schedule) and allocated their room, they were greeted by the friendly smile of a thin girl with milky white skin and not a single hair on her head, but the most stunning aqua coloured eyes.
"Hi, I'm Mackenzie Ross," she said brightly. "But most people just call me Kenzi. This is my Mom, Lillian."
Gabriella returned her smile. "I'm Gabriella, I have about a hundred nicknames so anything goes, really," she joked, and Mackenzie laughed. "This is my Mom, Maria."
Maria and Lillian exchanged a 'pleased to meet you' as Amanda helped Gabriella from the wheelchair to her bed. When she was settled, Amanda adjusted her drip, scribbled some notes in her file, and left the room.
"I might just duck downstairs for a quick coffee, Kenz," Lillian said. "Would you like anything?"
Mackenzie shook her head. "I'm fine thanks Mom."
"What about you Gabriella? Maria? Did you need anything?"
"I'm fine thankyou Mrs Ross, but Mom – why don't you go downstairs and have a break too?"
Maria looked uncertain. She hated leaving Gabriella lately; it was bad enough when she was feeling well and at school. Gabriella could read her expression.
"I'll be fine here – I'm sure Mackenzie and I can keep ourselves occupied for a half hour, the call button is right here if I need a nurse, and Troy will be here soon anyway."
"Ok," Maria agreed reluctantly. "But if you need anything, I'll have my cell phone with me," she said as she kissed Gabriella, grabbed her purse and phone and left with Lillian.
Once outside the room, Lillian placed a hand on Maria's arm. "Don't worry," she smiled. "It gets easier."
Back inside the room, the two teenagers had already discovered they had a lot in common and were well on the way to becoming fast friends.
"So...you're new here, right?" Mackenzie asked carefully. "It's just, I haven't really seen you around before and I've been coming in for years, so..."
Gabriella nodded. "I was diagnosed around a month ago. This is my second inpatient visit – last time was when I was diagnosed, for surgery and my first chemo and since then I've just had clinic visits. I'm in for my second lot of chemo now."
"What's your diagnosis? If you don't mind me asking of course," Mackenzie quickly covered.
"It's fine," Gabriella smiled. "B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma – aggressive stage 4."
"That's in the lymphatic system, right?"
"Yeah...mine spread to my bone marrow, liver and spleen too."
"Oh, that sucks," Mackenzie said sympathetically.
Gabriella shrugged. "What about yourself?"
"Stage 4 Osteosarcoma – it's a type of bone cancer," she replied. "But this isn't the first time. I was originally diagnosed when I was 13. I went through all the treatments and we thought it was all behind us. But the cancer came back about six months ago, only this time it has spread right through my bones and lungs."
"Oh," Gabriella said quietly. "I'm so sorry."
Mackenzie shrugged in a similar fashion to Gabriella. "What can you do, right? It's the hand we were dealt, so we deal."
Gabriella murmured her agreement and the two were silent for a moment, before Mackenzie lightened the mood, grinning cheekily.
"So – who is this 'Troy' I heard you mention before, huh?"
Gabriella couldn't help the grin that spread across her face and the blush that crept up her cheeks at the mention of his name.
Mackenzie knew she had been right in her assumptions. "Aaah, lemme guess – he's the boooyfrieeend?" she winked at Gabi.
"Uh huh," Gabriella nodded shyly.
"You do realise I need details now, right?" Mackenzie grinned at Gabriella's raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah – how you met, how you got together, first date, all the cutesy stuff!"
Gabriella sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes, trying to hide her smile. "Well..."
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"They've told us not to expect her to last another six months," Lillian finished, gripping her coffee cup. The two mothers were also discussing their daughters' illnesses.
"Oh Lillian...I'm so sorry..." Maria whispered.
Lillian shook her head and quickly wiped her eyes. "The doctors have told us so many times to prepare for the worst and she just keeps on beating the odds, so we've stopped living by statistics. We just take every day as it comes. And Kenz doesn't really talk about her prognosis. She's so focused on getting better she refuses to believe that it might not happen."
"It must be so hard..."
"We've been on this journey for so many years now I can hardly remember life before it. The hospital is our second home. But really – we are just so grateful for every single day that we have with her and that's what we focus on now."
Maria nodded. "That's probably the only thing you can do, I guess."
"Exactly," Lillian agreed. "Now, we'd probably best get back to those two and make sure they aren't giving the entre ward a migraine," she joked and Maria laughed as they stood up and tossed their cups in the bin before heading over to the elevators.
"Maria!" she turned around at the sound of her name and smiled as a familiar blue eyed teen hurried over to her.
"Hi Troy, I was just going to text your Mom our new room number," she said. "Lillian, this is Troy Bolton, Gabriella's boyfriend. Troy, this is Lillian Ross – Gabriella's new room-mate's mother.
"Pleased to meet you," Troy smiled politely.
"Likewise," Lillian replied warmly as the elevator dinged and they all made their way inside.
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Lillian, Maria and Troy exchanged amused glances, hearing giggling as they neared their room 2-09.
"Hands in the air – this is the Giggle Police, and you're both under arrest!" Lillian joked as they opened the door. This just made the girls laugh harder, tears rolling down their faces.
"Look who I found hanging around downstairs," Maria smiled at Gabriella as Troy followed her in the door.
"Hey superstar," Troy winked at her, giving her a quick kiss before wrapping his arms around her.
"Hey Wildcat," she replied happily, allowing herself to melt into his embrace. Feeling eyes on her, she suddenly snapped back to reality, and pulled back from Troy to find Mackenzie watching her intently, a hint of a smirk playing on her lips. "Uhh...Kenzi – this is Troy Bolton. Troy, this is my new friend Mackenzie Ross. She's from Santa Fe, but she's treated here in Albuquerque," she explained before adding "coz Dr Zamitt is the best!"
"It's good to meet you, Mackenzie," Troy smiled warmly as he reached across to shake her hand. "Any friend of Gabriella's is a friend of mine."
"Told you he was a charmer," Gabriella mouthed and the two girls giggled.
"What was that?" Troy raised an eyebrow at Gabriella.
"Nothing!" both girls answered simultaneously, before looking at each other and spluttering with laughter once more.
"Oh dear god, I'm outnumbered here," Troy wailed, dramatically throwing a hand to his forehead in mock distress.
Lillian and Maria just shook their heads.
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2 hours later, the giggles had vanished and the smiles had faded...for Gabriella anyway. She was an hour into her second round of chemotherapy, and was feeling miserable. She hadn't gotten sick so far this time, but she felt completely drained already and had curled herself up in a ball under the covers, her eyes squeezed shut. Troy held her hand in silence – he had been stroking her hair but so much of it had come away in his hands that he quickly shook it off and looped his fingers through hers instead. Maria was talking quietly with Lillian about what to expect over the next few months, and Mackenzie was asleep.
The atmosphere was so different to how it had been just hours earlier, and Troy wondered vaguely how things could change so fast within these walls, while outside the world just went on.
But, he supposed, running his thumb over Gabriella's knuckles, that is how life goes in the cancer world.
Aaaaand that's 17 for ya! Next up, Gabriella meets some more new faces before returning home, but will an emergency see her back at the hospital sooner than expected...? Stay tuned, and review reviewreview
Charli xox
