Chapter 1:
It was the 24th of December. Christmas Eve. I stared out the window as I glanced at the glistening white snow on the roads. A little to the left, I spotted some girls around my age laughing so hard, that they almost spilled half of the hot chocolate from their paper cups onto the snow. Suddenly, one of the girls noticed me staring at them out of the window, and shrieked, with a horrified look on her face, as if I were a monster. A girl with no hair. Bald. I really was a monster . I looked away from the only connection I had from the outer world. My eyes met my reflection in the mirror. I gazed at the monster. Fragile. Weak. Ugly. I wasn’t always like this. I too, was once a normal twelve-year-old girl, pretty, energetic, and full of big dreams. That was before cancer decided to pay, me a visit. Everything was simply perfect before. Cancer just had to ruin my life. I was soaked in my deep thoughts when in heard a familiar voice: “Did you take your pills yet?” “Yes, Barry!” I murmured, exhausted of that same question every time he came to visit me. I broke my fixed gaze from the mirror and looked down at my white comforter. It was probably the only good thing in this hospital, apart from Barry. It kept me warm and soft through the nights and days. Barry approached me with a little box in his hands. He strained to walk any further as he dumped the box the box onto the bed right next to me. He clapped of the dirt off his palms and fixed them on his waist. Barry beamed. Barry looks at me and smiled radiantly.: “It´s an early Christmas gift” he whispered. I returned Barry the broad smile, and my dimples were visible once again. Like I said, Barry was one of the coolest doctors one could ever have. I stared at the box. It didn’t look heavy. Some black ribbons were peeking out. Barry rolled up his sleeves and gently put the box between my feet. I sat up straight so that I could have a better look at the present in the box. Barry eyed the box, while rubbing his hands against each other. He opened the box to reveal a hat. I had a weird habit of collecting hats and Barry and Mum were the only ones who knew about it. I chuckled and picked up the violet hat. It had black embroidery on the top and was filled with black roses. The roses paved themselves a way, top to bottom. There were two black ribbons on the sides, which were apparently to tie the hat onto your head. “It´s really pretty” I remarked, as I kept observing the hat for a while, and then l laid it down. I looked at Barry, whose eyes were full of tears. He stared at a beautiful silver bracelet in the box. Barry noticed me staring and hurriedly wiped his tears. He picked up the bracelet and reached out for my hand. I eyed him with suspicion that he might regret it later on. “Are you sure, Barry?” I asked him. Barry nodded and looked at me. He held the bracelet very tight. “This used to be my daughter´s bracelet” he sniffled. I presumed she passed away and shared my condolences. “I´m sorry” I murmured. Barry smiled. He placed the bracelet on my wrist and fastened the hook “Why are you giving me this?” I asked him out of curiosity. Barry didn’t answer my question. He just smiled. “Well for what we know, I could also be gone by the end of December” I joked to lighten up the mood. Barry´s sincere look gave me a dark feeling that the joke wasn´t as funny as it seemed.
Chapter 2:
The noises on the streets woke me up instantly. Startled, I looked up at the clock: 8:30. I stared out the window. Red and green lights, snowmen, a huge Christmas tree, right in the heart of the city, everything was perfect. I had a strong urge to open the window. As I did so, I felt a sudden gush of wind blow on my face. With much difficulty, I finally managed to see through all the snow and wind. The air was filled with a pleasant aroma gingerbread. I looked around and spotted a choir singing Christmas carols. Although I had no idea what they were singing through all the noises in Big Apple, I started humming random carols with immense pleasure. After being lost in my fantasy world for a dozen of minutes or so, a familiar voice interrupted me. “Ava, honey, the reports are about to get in, so I´ll-” The voice broke off as I heard hurried footsteps. One hand clutched me on my shoulder and the other slammed the window. An angry face glared at me. My blue eyes met piercing grey ones, which were fuming with anger. “Avana , exactly how many times have I told you not to open that window?” Before I could answer that question, my mother asked another one: “And that too in the peak of the winter season. Do you know why I tell you not to?” I didn’t even bother answering that question. “Because you might get sick!” Honestly, I was getting so tired of people constantly worrying about my health. Even my own mum didn’t bother to wish me a Merry Christmas. With a grumpy face and crossed arms, I looked away from my mother. I stared out the window. I heard a faint sigh. I tried to rotate my head as minimum as possible, trying to find out what my mum was up to, still trying to show her I was ignoring her. She was gone. I looked around but there was no sight of her. I kept staring at the door hoping she would come back. After a couple of minutes, I drowsed off. I don’t know how long it was, but when I woke up, I vaguely saw a nurse delivering tea. The church chimed four. I rubbed my eyes as a few eyelashes came off almost instantly. I batted my eyelids to have clearer vision. Suddenly, my mom ran in the room. She held a wheelchair in her both hands and on her right hand she held a piece of paper, which was neatly folded into a quarter. I looked up at her face, which appeared almost unknown, because of the broad smile she wore. With much enthusiasm, she ran up to me and kissed me on my forehead. My mom held out the paper and unfolded it. She panted as she spoke: “I…. I got your results back. Barry says your health has been improving a lot, so he signed me this release paper for today.” For a moment I couldn’t believe my ears! I smiled of disbelieve. “Can we go now?” I whispered My mom grinned and picked me up. It was too risky for me walk, so I had to be seated on a wheelchair. It had been so many months since I went somewhere except the hospital. I was dressed in warm clothes by my mother. After all the arrangements, I finally managed to escape the hospital. The roads were covered with blankets of snow. My mom pushed the wheelchair. With every step further I was getting from the hospital, I felt I was getting nearer to a normal life. After making a stop at the church to hear the choir, we headed to the Christmas festival, which happened to be right around the corner. Mom bought us some hot chocolate with gingerbread cookies. I looked around while heart fluttered with joy. Warm tears of joy rolled down my cheeks. I hurriedly wiped them. I guess my mum must have noticed me crying. She bent down and wrapped her arms around me so tight I could hardly breath. I suffocated. I was very short of air. I fainted.
Chapter 3:
I woke up in the hospital. The visions of mum and Barry seemed vague. Their voices were inaudible. I felt feeble. With great force I sat up. I could hear faint voices of my mum and Barry quarrelling. With so much heat and tension between them, they barely noticed me observing their whole ` heated ´ conversation. “I told you, Barry, I don’t have the money!” “Well, then I´m sorry ,Susan. You must take her to another hospital!” “I don’t have the money for that either.” “I´m sorry, there´s nothing I can do. They´ll fire me the second they learn about all the other stuff I did. And anyway, you could always ask Lent! He’s basically a millionaire!” “Lent? LENT? He left Ava when she was eight because he found out she had cancer. You think I would beg to someone who is ashamed of his own daughter?” “Susan, this is not the ti-” Barry broke off as he noticed me heeding every word they said, while I gaped. He looked down at his feet and breathed in. He headed for the door as a thought struck my head. “Wait, Barry, wait!” I bellowed. Barry tilted his head as he eyed my heart rate monitor. He squinted his eyebrows and walked up to me. “Ava, lie down straight.” Barry mumbled, with his eyes still fixed on the HRM. My mum sensed a slight note of tensity in Barry’s voice, as she flipped her blonde hair to have clearer vision towards me. I obeyed Barry. I glanced at my release papers, which my mum tightly clutched in her hands, her long red nails as a barrier. “Barry, the release papers, why -” I uttered, as my suspicions rose. To my dismay, I was interrupted by Barry: “I know, I know, I messed up!” he mumbled. He dialled a few random numbers on the landline next to my bed. Barry tore out his hair with one hand and with the other he slammed the landline back where it belonged. “The paper,” Barry stated at my mother, not daring to make eye contact because of `how bad he messed up´. My mom unwrapped the crinkled paper in her hand. She straightened it with her bare hands so that it would be readable once again. “We don’t have time for that!” he uttered as he snatched the papers. He took out his phone from his pocket, which almost slipped back in, because of Barry’s extremely sweaty hands. He scanned the QR code on the wrinkled sheet paper. With his eyes glued on his phone he scrolled down. His eyes glared at the phone as he flopped it on the bed next to me. There was a moment of pitch silence. “When …when you left the hospital, the paper, the QR code, the receptionist ...” Barry broke off the silence as he hyperventilated. Tears of sweat ran down his forehead. My mom tried to form a question with Barry’s broken question. “She didn’t scan it.” My mum squeaked. Barry shook his head as he headed for the door. He was halted by a bulky man. “Mr. Kowalski, I can explain!” stated Barry. “EXPLAIN! What? That you risked two children’s lives?” Kowalski roared. Before Barry could come up with any sentence, Mr. Kowalski declared: “YOU’RE FIRED!” Barry’s shoulders drooped. “Go! NOW!” Mr. Kowalski demanded. Barry glanced at me and stood up with firmness: “No. I will not make another mistake and let this child wither away. I will redeem what I have done! So out of my way! I´m on my way to call the nurses and if you can, clear out the surgery room 702.” Much taken aback with Barry’s sudden confidence, Mr. Kowalski gaped at the place he was given a taste of his own medicine. All of a sudden, two nurses stomped in and picked me up. They placed me on some sort of a rolling bed. Barry pushed me out of the room. It hadn’t been a few seconds when someone held a firm grip on Barry´s left arm. Mr. Kowalski, who was now fuming with rage, hinted on every single word he said through his gritted teeth. “YOUNG MAN, DID. YOU. JUST. SHOW. ME. ATTITUDE?” Barry tilted his head, making direct eye contact. He placed his left hand on Kowalski’s shoulder, after freeing himself of his tight grip. With a glint of savage in his eyes, Barry opined:
“Shut up , Ivan .”
Chapter 4:
To be honest, I was starting to feel frail. I was lying in a bed as a youth walked hurriedly into the room. I watched Barry injecting me with some liquid and I instantly fainted. I don’t know when I woke up or how, but tension was still in the air. The lad who came in earlier was now seated next to me. My mom wept as I heard Barry say: “She must go into proper surgery” “It’s okay”, I mumbled with great might. The boy next to me fell on his knees and wailed on my arm. I looked closely. The lad, it was my brother Brian. He worked overseas, so he could provide for my treatment. “I’m sorry, I'm so sorry,” he wept. I raked my fingers through his golden-brown hair. “Thanks, Brian,” I breathed. I reached out for my mother, who leaned so she could reach me. I tightly held both of them in my arms. I heard the leaves rustle. My attention was caught by two men in turquoise. My mum pleaded to stay but she was dragged out. The first few minutes were complete torture. I felt a throbbing agony within my chest. I heard a muffled conversation between the men in turquoise: “Breast cancer, eh?” “This won’t be easy” “Wait a second, she’s got AML, ain´ she?” I blurrily gazed at the surgeon who nodded at Barry. The last words I heard before I lost sense were “Stem cell transplant”.
Chapter 5:
Turns out surviving Stage 3 of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia has a 40 % probability in tweens. The stem cell transplant saved me from passing out. Brian and Barry together gathered the money for my chemotherapy and transplant. I vaguely remember those days after my surgery. Right after the suffering I asked Barry why he cared about me so much. He chuckled and finally filled me in with his personal life. Apparently, he used to have a family once. Both his wife and daughter, who was around my age, died with cancer. I sensed grief in his voice and wrapped my arms around him to give him some warmth. I also recall Barry apologizing to my family and another one, who coincidentally had a daughter with Leukaemia, around my age. As the other, Alana Brown and I resembled each other a lot, Barry accidentally exchanged our health reports, thus leading to a huge misunderstanding. Alana, who was recovering, was the rightful owner of the one-day release paper I had received on Christmas. My health report, which had been transferred to her, stated third stage of AML. Alana’s parents, alarmed, hurried to Alana’s personal doctor, Firenze, who checked the hospital´s database. The enormous mistake was immediately informed to Barry’s employer, Ivan Kowalski, who got a taste of his own medicine. I felt proud that Barry was taking his own mistakes in account and took full responsibility of it. Mr. and Mrs. Brown, on the other hand, seemed quite displeased and frenzied out of the hospital, while swearing they would never come back, even if their life depended on it. Obviously, Barry got fired from Lenox Hill, but things took a turn for the brighter side. Since the ghastly nightmare was over, we set off for New Jersey City with Barry. Finally, after years of Barry treating me as his daughter, I legally became it. Brian lives with us now, in a small house around the corner of Jersey Gardens. He can proceed with his college studies, while he works a part time job in the library. After the adventures Barry ventured, he decided to lead a peaceful life as a medical writer. I work part time at Woodbridge Centre, as a Sales Associate. Recently, I’ve been trying to work out a way to get a scholarship for Julliard. I guess I´ll have to turn back to New York for that but Julliard has been a dream for me since I was a kid. The one thing I really like about myself now would probably be my wavy bob cut. I didn’t realize how much I missed my hair. Everything is well now. I´m writing this in the dead of the night while Brian is snoring like a pig on the floor. ~The End ~