It's meeee again! I'm back with chapter 18 (bit shorter than usual) for y'all but you're pretty much going to hate me after reading it so I might just post and go into hiding...eep
Charli xox
PS. I've had quite a few reviews saying 'make Gabi better'...sorry guys, but that's not how cancer works – there is no quick fix miracle cure. The treatment is months and even years of hard slog, with plenty of obstacles along the way. So you're going to have to ride this one out with me I'm afraid.
PPS. Thanks for the reviews! ZACHARY TEFLON FOR PRESIDENT LMFAO!!!!!
Charli xox
Chapter 18
Five days after her second lot of chemo treatments, Gabriella returned home. Her hair was almost all gone now, apart from a few wisps at the front which flopped over head like a bad comb-over. Her blood counts had already taken a nosedive, which meant she was housebound at least for the next week – probably more. If she was out in public with her current lack of immune system, she was completely susceptible to infection, the smallest of which could be lethal. So she had been discharged with appointments to get her blood counts checked by the homecare nurse every day following, and strict instructions to come straight to the Emergency Room if she spiked a fever of 100 or more.
She had tolerated this round of treatments reasonably well compared to the first round. She had spent the past five days tired, nauseated and with aching joints but she had only gotten sick once – on the second day – at for that she was thankful. Her Bone Marrow Aspirate and Lumbar Puncture results had also been encouraging – her spinal fluid remained clear, and her bone marrow had shown 26 percent cancer cells, down from the 86 percent it had shown at diagnosis. Things seemed to be heading in the right direction.
Yesterday had been a good day for her. Although she didn't feel 100 percent, Mackenzie had talked Gabriella into accompanying her to the activities room where she had introduced her to five other teenagers with whom she had become close friends over her time in hospital. Gabriella immediately liked every single one of them, and the group of seven had spent over an hour together in the activities room, talking and racing each other on the Playstation2.
Besides Mackenzie, Gabriella's group of 'hospital friends' now included Aaliyah, who was fifteen years old and undergoing treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia – a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, Cody - he was also fifteen and was being treated for Wilms' Tumor – a cancer of the kidneys, Peyton who was sixteen and had been diagnosed with the same kind of Leukemia as Aaliyah around a month prior to Gabriella's diagnosis, Parker, who was seventeen and was battling Medulloblastoma – a brain tumor and finally there was thirteen year old Savannah, who was suffering from Acute Myelocytic Leukemia for the third time in her young life.
Gabriella's happiness about the new friends she had made was tinged with sadness for the circumstances that had brought them together, but she truly believed that there was a reason for everything that happened in life, and she knew that the group of youngsters were meant to meet. Even if she didn't know exactly why right now.
Stretching her tired body, Gabriella rolled over between the soft, warm sheets of her bed. Even though she had enjoyed meeting Mackenzie and the rest of the guys at the hospital this visit, she was still glad to be home and sleeping in her own bed.
She heard her bedroom door open and felt a weight drop behind her.
"Hi Mom." She said softly.
"Hi baby. Are you comfortable enough?"
"Mmhmm."
"Not too cold?"
"Uh uh."
"Need a drink of water?"
"No thankyou."
"Want your over protective mom to leave you in peace?"
Gabriella rolled over to face her mother and patted the spot next to her in reply. Maria lay her head down on the pillow next to her daughter, and Gabriella curled into her. Maria held her close and rubbed her back soothingly, placing soft kisses atop her almost completely bald head. It reminded Maria of when Gabriella was a little baby and she would spend hours just holding her, marvelling at the beauty she had given life to. How she had loved to kiss that soft little head with its dark baby-fuzz, and run her finger back and forth across those velvety-soft cheeks.
Maria ran her hand over Gabriella's cheek, and then moved on to her forehead. She felt a little warm, but not warm enough for Maria to be concerned. She made a mental note to take Gabriella's temperature when she woke up – the deep, rhythmic sound of her daughter's breathing told Maria she was now asleep.
Moving slowly and carefully – so as not to wake Gabriella – Maria climbed off the bed, placed one last kiss on her daughter's forehead and closed the bedroom door softly behind her, sending up a silent prayer for strength for her only child.
HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM
Gabriella woke up several times throughout the night. The first was at around 8pm – she woke up feeling a little nauseated, but managed to ride it out without throwing up. Maria came in and took her temperature, which was hovering just below the fever mark.
She woke again just after midnight, her forehead clammy and her hands a little shaky. Maria got her a drink of water and took her temperature again, finding it had risen a little but was still not high enough to warrant a hospital trip.
At a quarter past two in the morning, Gabriella felt like every bone in her body was on fire – she was hurting from head to toe and every movement felt like it was crippling her. Maria gave up on sleep and curled up at the foot of her daughter's bed, keeping a watchful eye.
Just before 5am Gabriella awoke once more, the pain had eased a little and her fever still hadn't quite spiked, but her head was pounding. Maria gave her some painkillers and Gabriella was finally able to get some welcome rest.
Troy arrived after lunch and let himself in to find both Gabriella and Maria asleep in Gabriella's bed. Maria stirred at the sound of the bedroom door opening and sat up.
"Oh, hi Troy...what time is it?" she yawned.
"Almost one thirty," he replied.
"Oh God," Maria groaned. "I didn't think it was that late. We've been up half the night, Gabi has been flirting with a fever and her immune system is at zero right now – if she spikes we have to go straight to the hospital."
As if on cue, Gabriella whimpered in her sleep. Maria reached down and touched her forehead.
"She feels like she's burning up. Could you sit with her for a sec, Troy? I'm going to get her some water and then take her temperature again."
Troy nodded. "You don't even have to ask," he replied as he sat carefully on the edge of Gabriella's bed, kissing her cheek. Maria smiled at him and left the room.
"Troy?" Gabriella mumbled.
"I'm right here bub," he reassured her.
"I don't feel so good."
"I know...I wish I could take it away from you."
Gabriella winced as she shifted her weight and coughed a little.
"Gabi honey," Maria said gently as she came back into the room. "I need to check your temperature."
With Troy's help, Maria propped Gabriella up a little and placed the thermometer inside her pyjama top, under her arm. Gabriella shivered a little at the coldness of the metal and coughed again. When the thermometer beeped a few moments later, Maria looked at it and gasped.
"I need to get her to the ER," she said. "Her temperature is through the roof. Gabi, I have to get you up – we've got to go back to the hospital sweetheart, you have a high fever."
"I need to use the bathroom," Gabriella groaned softly.
Maria looked at Troy. "You look after her, I'll grab her things for the hospital," he said.
"You're a saint," Maria replied gratefully as she supported Gabriella's weight, helping her to stand up and gain her balance. She began to shuffle in the direction of the bathroom, but after a few steps her head was spinning.
"Mom..." she said warily. Suddenly her vision blurred and white-hot pain shot through her entire body. She could feel herself shaking all over and the floors seemed to slope away from her. The room started to fade to black as she became more confused and disoriented. "Mom...Troy..." she moaned as her eyes rolled backwards in her head and her knees buckled as she crashed to the floor.
"GABI!" Maria screamed, racing to her daughter's side and rolling her onto her back. Her head lolled from side to side, her eyes closed. "Oh my God...Troy, call an ambulance!"
HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM
Maria Montez paced back and forth along the corridor, running her hands repeatedly through her hair.
"Maria! How is she?" Troy crashed through the doors into the corridor where Maria was waiting, closely followed by his mother. Troy had called her right after he called the ambulance and she would not allow him to drive in his frantic state, insisting she pick him up from the Montez's and drive him to the hospital herself.
"I don't know," she replied with a voice full of distress. "No one will tell me anything!" tears were pouring down her cheeks. Lucille Bolton gathered her into a hug and rubbed her back soothingly as Troy took over pacing the floor, rubbing his hands over his face in frustration. They all looked up as the door to the emergency treatment room opened suddenly and Dr Zamitt rushed out.
"Maria!" he called, hurrying over to them.
"How is she? What's wrong with her? When can I see her?" the questions came spilling out of Maria's mouth.
"Ok, we've stabilised her for now but her condition is very delicate and very serious. It looks like she has contracted some sort of a blood infection and gone into septic shock, but we won't know for sure until the blood cultures come back. Because the chemo basically destroys her immune system, the massive infection has spread like wildfire and taken a firm hold on her weakened body. For now she's sedated and on a massive dose of broad spectrum antibiotics. We need to move her up to ICU immediately for constant observation and monitoring – things are still very touch and go."
"Meaning?" Maria cried.
"Meaning – honestly – I'm not sure she will make it through the night..."
Oooooh, cliffy much? Next up, Gabriella fights desperately for life, whilst those who love her most struggle to cope...Well, that's what's going on in the next chapter if I haven't been hunted down and burned alive for that cliffhanger, and doing this to Gabi, and am still able to post... -runs off to cave in the mountains-
Pleeeeeease review!!!
Charli xox
