Confined

All that could be heard from room 383 that Thursday morning were the sounds of the rain hitting the window, and the light drip drops of the IV connected to Aidens’ arm. It was days like this that she wished she could get out of the hellhole they called a hospital and rush through those big silver doors just to enjoy the feel of raindrops on her skin, if only such a thing were possible. For Aiden, whenever she went to the hospital the weather was at its’ best, even if everyone else didn’t think so. She loved the rain, the snow, the wind, anything that would make her smile. She never went out in the sun, her mother said her skin was too sensitive for that but Aiden didn’t mind, she had everything else to cheer her up.

Mere minutes seemed like hours at the hospital. Everything went by too slowly. If it were up to Aiden the hospital would be working way faster and efficiently then this, but what could she have done? She was just a 15 year old patient who has been coming here since she was 9. 6 years of pure torture, she came to the hospital every week just for a checkup. If it wasn’t a checkup it was a transplant, if not a transplant a therapy session, if not that then everything else. Chemotherapy was the last thing Aiden had ever planned on going through, but her mother had other plans.

“You can’t make me go through with this mom; it’s my life, my hair. Shouldn’t I choose what’s best for me, since it is my body?”, but her mother wouldn’t listen.

“I know that you don’t want your hair to fall out, but Hun this is our only hope…”

Aiden had no choice at that point; her only option was to go through with chemo, so she did. This is why on that Thursday morning, 9 doctors in St. Rinardos hospital were preparing for such a complex task. Aiden sighed as she waited for her mother to come back with her lunch. She has only been at the hospital for 2 hours yet it feels like forever—as always.

“Here you go, grilled cheese sandwich with ketchup! Just the way you like it”, Said her mother.

Aiden smiled as she happily munched on her favourite food in the world. All the worries of chemo and her future gone from her mind, all the rough nights she’s been through, the pain she’s felt, the tears she’s cried. All gone. It was just her and her happy place, Aiden Santiera and her mother, Valentina Santiera, sitting side by side under a bright red maple tree, watching the moon and the stars and hoping that they could stay there forever. But everyone knows that all good things come to an end, because just as Aiden was thinking that, the sound of a door closing and footsteps approaching Aiden’s bed were heard. Louise Rutherford, the old nurse that has been working at the hospital since who knows how long—and whom she’s met several times, asked in her sharp monotone voice,

“Miss Aiden Santiera, nice to see you again sweetheart, are you ready to begin?”