Find the Horizon

Sidney stayed true to his word and showed up at the hospital the next day. Katie was laying in bed, holding a scrunched up piece of tissue to her mouth as she coughed into it roughly. Once she saw Sidney, she sat up straighter and smiled his way.

“Hey,” she called, her voice sounding hoarse.

“Hey,” he replied, coming to sit by her bedside. “I brought you something.”

“Really?” she questioned, a look of amusement crossing her delicate features. “Like what?”

Sidney pulled out a black Pittsburgh Penguins flag out of his pocket. “It doubles as a scarf,” he told her. “You can wrap it around your head if you want. You know, to support the home team.”

Katie giggled as she took the scarf in her hands. “I love it. Thank you,” she said, taking it and adjusting it over what little hair she had left. “You know, you guys made me a little nervous there during the game. I wasn’t sure if you were going to come back from that or not.”

“I was a bit worried too,” Sidney confessed. “But I guess that fight between Max and Carcillo was just what we needed.”

Katie chuckled. “Andrew’s going to come by around two by the way. He’s really excited to see you, especially after such a big win.”

“Oh, good, because I brought him something too.”

Katie eyed him carefully. “Do I get to know what it is?”

Sidney grinned and shook his head. “Nope. Not before he does.” She shoved him slightly from where she was resting and Sidney caught a glimpse of the needle and bandage on her arm. “Does it hurt?”

“It hurts worse now to get out of bed,” she admitted. “Whenever I try and get up to go for a walk, I start getting headaches. It’s tough, but I guess it’s working.”

“Are you starting radiation soon?”

She had to think. “I’m not entirely sure yet. But if I do, it’ll probably be in the next few weeks. I’m going to be in this room for a while. I’ve still only done one round of chemo so far.”

Sidney nodded and looked into Katie’s eyes. “You look unhappy.”

Katie had to chuckle at that comment. “Well, I’m trying my best to be positive, but it’s starting to get harder. I feel like I am being optimistic, but no matter what I do, I’ll still be stuck in this room. And this cough I have, it feels like it’s burning a hole through my throat and into my lungs and my chest. They put me on cough suppressants, but it isn’t really helping.”

“Did you tell the nurses that your cough won’t go away?” Sidney offered. “Maybe they can give you a different kind of medication.”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him as she went into another coughing fit. “Sorry. You might want to keep your distance in case I’m contagious. I don’t want you getting sick before round two.”

Sidney just watched as Katie’s body was racked with coughs again. She rolled over onto her right side, away from him so that she didn’t pass on any germs. After the coughing subsided, the two of them were quiet. The sound of her ragged breathing made Sidney’s heart break piece by piece.

Two o’clock rolled around and Andrew ran into the room.

“Sidney!” he squealed, rushing over to hug him.

“Hey little guy,” Sidney grinned. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Katie, who had momentarily closed her eyes, opened them and saw Sidney pulling out one of his jerseys and handing it to her little brother.

“I’ve got a bunch of extras. And I know it might not fit you now, but I figure it’d be better to have the real thing than just a knock-off.”

“Say thank you to Sidney,” Katie told Andrew before she started coughing again. Sidney looked over at her worriedly, but focused his attention back on Andrew as he delightfully accepted the jersey and pulled it over his head. It was about five sizes too big, and he was swimming in the fabric, but he loved it.

Katie couldn’t stop coughing, and so Sidney called a nurse into the room. She came with some sort of breathing apparatus that had a long, plastic tube attached to it. Sidney and Andrew stood back as Katie fit the tube in her mouth and took in deep breaths as she was instructed. The nurse checked a few other things, and then asked Sidney and Andrew to leave the room momentarily.

“What’s going on?” Andrew asked as a doctor came in with a clipboard and closed the door behind him.

“I’m not sure,” Sidney confessed as he watched the events that transpired behind the window of the door. He couldn’t hear what anyone was saying, but saw the expressions on their faces.

The doctor looked stern as the nurse watched closely. Katie’s face looked hard, and Sidney knew that they had just told her something she didn’t want to hear. Her lips were pursed together and she nodded. When she sighed, her lips parted slightly and she stared down at her hands before the coughing resumed. Sidney was worried.

The doctor opened the door and left the room, acknowledging Sidney and Andrew as he did so. The nurse left soon after and told them they could go back in.

“What was all that about?” Sidney asked, gesturing to the doctor and nurse who had just left.

Katie smiled. “It was nothing. Do you think you could help Andrew get ready? My stepdad is coming to get him in ten minutes.”

“Aw, but I practically just got here!” Andrew frowned.

“I know buddy,” Katie told him from the bed. “But Dad wanted you home. He called and told me you have homework due tomorrow you haven’t finished yet and he wants it done.”

“Fine,” he conceded, getting his things ready.

“I’ll walk him to the front,” Sidney offered. “I’ll be right back.”

Once Sidney left the room again with Andrew, Katie let a stray tear roll down her cheek. She picked up her video camera from her bedside table and turned it on.

“It’s Sunday April 26th, sometime around four. And I found out today that I might just die after all.”