Finishing Up

I looked at her, just staring, like she had spoken French and I needed her to translate. "Wait. Rewind and Pause." I demanded. "You have Leukemia, Amanda." This time that was all she said. I glanced at my mother, her eyes welling up with tears. "Mom, it's gotta be a mistake. I mean, I'm only 15 and-" she cut me off with a hand signal.

The doctors left, giving us alone time in the office. We basically cried together until they came back in 15 minutes later. My mom had managed to pull herself together, but I was still in hysterics. "What do we do, and how soon can we start?" The doctor's said that first, I needed to decide between chemotherapy, radiation therapy, a bone marrow transplant, or biological therapy. They suggested chemo, so that's what we went with. My first appointment was at the hospital on Monday, and it would last for 4 hours.

We drove home in silence, me thinking about losing my hair, and Ella, and my parents. I had to be strong for them and I would beat this. I couldn't take the silence and finally broke it. "I always wanted to be a brunette. Will you take me wig shopping?" I asked, trying to lift her spirits. She nodded slowly, like I had reminded her of something else she needed to think of.

I pulled my cell out of my purse and checked the time. It glowed 12:16 p.m. I texted Ella, telling her the news in a very simple way.

'I have leukemia. :[ -Manda'

'I'm crying Manda! I'll be at your house in 5. :[ -Ella'

As promised, when I walked through the door, Ella was there hugging me and telling me she was sorry and how she'd be there for me and so on. We went up to my room and cried, while I explained everything (in detail) between sobs.

Then I asked my mom if she could stay the night (the answer was yes of course) and we walked to her house to get her things and tell her parents. They couldn't object, seeing as how sick I was. But I was still normal and acting the same. That is, until Monday comes...

We talked about my cancer, then cried ourselves to sleep.