Remembering Sunday

The next day I got up and felt about seventy times better than I had in the last couple days.
My stomach was back to normal, well despite my appetite, which was still wavering, and I wasn't bloated anymore. But I still had a fever, was easily winded and my joints still ached.
But I got to skip another day of school, so I was happy. But that also meant I didn't get to see Jack today. I dent like that. Jack was pretty much the only thing I looked forward to during the day.
I stayed home with my dad. We played video games and watched car shows until my mom got home and made him do house work. Then our fun was over.
As soon as my mother stepped in the door, she bombarded me with questions.
"What did you do today, have you taken any of that medicine I bought, what's your temperature, how are you feeling?" she asked.
"Im fine mom." I replied.
"Don't lie, Wednesday. I'm worried about you."
"Mom I feel a lot better! I promise!"
"Well... I think I'm still going to call the doctor tomorrow."
"Mom! No! Come on, give it one more day. I already feel better. Please???" I begged, using my best puppy dog face.
She stared at me, pondering my question with her hands on her hips.
She sighed.
"Oh fine. One more day. That's all." she replied.
Relief washed through me. Hopefully after tomorrow I would be back to normal.
Boy was I wrong.
***
I think I managed to get a half an hour of sleep that night, between the mysterious coughing that began, the throwing up, the pains and the trembling.
My mom was up with me most of the night and at about 4:30 that morning, she took me to the emergency room.
On the way there I laid across the back seat of my mother's SUV and cried for my best friend.
"Mom call Jack! I need him! I'm not going in without Jack!" I cried. I kicked and screamed like a five year old throwing a tantrum until my dad finally picked his phone up and called Jack and his mom dropped him off just as the nurse was taking me to a room.
I ran into his arms and he scooped me up and followed the nurse out of the waiting room.
I was ushered into a room, Jack set me on the bed, my bucket in my lap. He sat in the chair next to the bed. I gripped his hand as nurses ran around me, sticking needles in my arms, taking blood samples and hooked me to several strange beeping machines.
I closed my eyes and kept a firm grip on Jacks hand until everything was set. Then the nurses left, saying something about a doctor being right in.
"Jack I'm scared," I said, my eyes filling with tears. "What if there's something wrong with me?"
"Wednesday, there's nothing wrong with you. And even if there is, I won't let it hurt you." Jack promised, climbing into the bed with me and wrapping his long, gangly arms around me.
"I'll never let anything hurt you," he whispered.
I closed my eyes as Jack hummed a song, lulling me to sleep.
About a half hour later the doctor walked in. Jack shook me awake.
"Well Wednesday. I have some good news, and some bad news. Which would like first?"
Before I could speak, my mom answered for me.
"The bad news. The bad always should come first so after it wrecks your mood, the good news picks up your spirits and-."
"Mom!" I cut her off before she could ramble and embarrass herself any further.
My mom shut her mouth and gave the doctor an apologetic look.
"Ok the bad news... Well Miss Wednesday, there's no easy way to say this, but we ran your blood samples and we discovered something abnormal." He stopped.
"And that is...?" My dad asked.
"Wednesday, you have cancer. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia to be exact."
"I- I have cancer?" I stuttered, my blood going cold.
"Yes, I'm afraid, I'm sorry," the doctor replied.
"So what's the good news?" my dad asked.
"We've caught it in it's early stages, meaning that if we begin the chemotherapy as soon as possible, we may he able to send it into remission before it travels and worsens."
“I have cancer.” My brain was numb. Me? Cancer? What the fuck.
Tears were streaming down my face.
“What do you mean by chemotherapy?” My father asked.
“You folks don’t know much about cancer, do you?” the doctor asked.
We all shook our heads.
“Well, ALL is not a solid tumor. It affects mostly the bone marrow and blood, which is why your bones and joints may hurt. For ALL I strongly suggest chemotherapy.”
“What does that involve?” my mother questioned.
“Well, for the first stage we would inject the chemicals directly into your bone marrow, hoping to send the cancer into remission, if not kill it. If the cancer persists, or comes out of remission, we would surgically insert the Ommaya reservoir under your scalp and deliver the chemicals directly into your CNS fluid. That’s your cerebrospinal fluid,” he replied.
“What would the side effects be?” Jack imputed.
“The most common side effects are fatigue and anemia. Hair loss is guaranteed with the Ommaya.”
My hands went to my hair. I couldn’t bare to loose my beautiful raven colored locks.
I cried harder, Jack snuggled me tighter, whispering encouraging words into my ear.
“We can do this together. I’m going to be here every step of the way,” he promised me.
“Even when I'm bald?” I sobbed.
“Even when your bald.”
The doctor handed my parents his clip board and had them fill out a few pieces of paper. He also handed them a stack of pamphlets.
“I suggest that you read these. I know its hard to absorb, but I promise everything will be fine. With proper treatment, Wednesday can live a long and happy life.”
The doctor left, leaving my family and I in the room. My mother was bawling her eyes out and my father looked as if he was going to cry. Jack was staring at me, worry in his eyes.
A nurse came into the room and introduced herself as Lacey.
“Well Wednesday, I suppose I’ll show you to the cancer treatment center,” Lacey announced, holding out her hand.
I took it, letting her lead me through the corridors and to the opposite wing of the hospital.
We walked into a brightly colored room, filled with children’s toys and book. There were several children sitting on the floor, laughing and playing with the toys, some reading and others playing their hand held game systems.
“Young cancer patients,” Lacey explained.
I began to cry harder. These kids looked so strong and happy, I didn’t feel strong at all. I felt weak and vulnerable.
How did they do it? Would I be able to look this strong?
Jack gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.
Lacey lead us to a different room, walking through the double doors.
This room had slightly older children in it, about thirteen and older.
“ALL effects children between ages one and nineteen, so you will mostly be around kids your age,” Lacey explained.
I nodded. That was a little bit reassuring.
Lacey lead me into a purple room with two beds, one perfectly made and untouched, and the other was occupied by a girl. She looked about my age with glasses and what looked like remains of what looked like beautiful blonde curls on her pale scalp. There was a bulge on her scalp. I assumed it was where the Ommaya was inserted.
“This will be your room,” Lacey explained. “That’s your room mate, Alissa.”
Alissa looked up from her book and waved.
“Hi. I'm Alissa,” she said cheerfully.
“I'm Wednesday,” I sniffed.
“That’s a cool name!”
“Thanks.” I smiled just a little bit.
Alissa went back to her book as Lacey got me settled and explained how I would spend a lot of time in this room getting treatments and I would be here more permanently if my condition worsened.
“You’ll like it here,” Alissa promised. “Everyone is pretty cool and we can do pretty much whatever we want.”
“I hope so. Sounds like I’ll be spending a lot of my time here,” I sighed.
Alissa put her hand on my shoulder.
“You’ll be alright Wednesday, I promise.”
I had only been here for fifteen minutes and I already had made a friend in this mess.
I hoped we would both see it out until the end.