Underthink

Chapter Twenty One // Ward Five

- Elise's POV -

I left home for another day of cleaning up the hospital, it's not enjoyable but it's rewarding. Things weren't too good at home after my mum had her party and I practically ruined the whole thing, mum was in a terrible mood after it all. It's been a few days since then and I still don't think she has forgiven me.

Every morning I find myself walking through fog and concentrating on my frosty breath as I rush down the street, I'm never prepared for this cold weather.

As I walked down the street and onto the main road my mums car passed me and Erin waved at me, I could see mum in the front with a straight face. She didn't even look my way once Erin was waving and shouting that I was there. I stopped at the bus stop and waved at her while watching them drive off.

When I got to the hospital I was almost half an hour early, I got changed into my ugly blue uniform and then decided to visit Rae before my boss at arrived into work. I made my way to her room and lifted my hand to knock the door before realising it was open, most hospital rooms are closed over when they are being used.. Especially at this time of the morning.

"Rae?" I said quietly while opening the door and peeking my head through, I had to be quiet because most of the people on the ward were still asleep. I looked over to her bed to expect to see her sleeping but I didn't, the room was empty and all her belongings were gone too. That's when I began to freak out.

I looked around frantically searching for something that belonged to her, like a hair brush or even her phone. Where is Rae?!

I rushed out of the room and glanced down the ward to check if she had been moved out of the private part into the open area, but all the beds were filled. The lady at the desk had just arrived with her coffee and mascara stained face. I sprinted towards her and grabbed onto the desk with both hands.

"Where is Rae!!" I shouted in fear, the woman hushed me angrily and looked around to check I hadn't woke anyone up.

"Rae? Who?" She asked while sitting down at the desk, I pointed to Rae's room.

"She was in there, she's been in there for weeks and now she is gone" I said, my hands began to shake and I felt my eyes tearing up. The woman stared at me for a moment before opening up her computer and going through files.

"Oh Rae Percy!" The woman said before smiling, I stared at her while holding my breath. She printed out a sheet with Rae's name and another ward number.

"She has been moved, it's good news" She said, I sighed with relief and thanked the woman before rushing out of ward three and climbed the stairs to ward five. Rae was in another private room but obviously it was for good reason, I'm so glad she is okay.

I made it to her new room and knocked on the door, then I heard her soothing voice and the fear disappeared.

- Rae's POV -

"Come in!" I shouted as I continued to set up my new room, I had a better view of the city from here and it was much bigger than my last room.

Elise entered my room and before I knew it she was giving me the biggest hug I had ever received.

"I was so worried about you, oh my god" She said while squeezing me tighter, she was shaking as if she was terrified.

"Why were you worried about me? Don't stress about me like that Elise!" I said while pulling away from her and putting my hands on her face, she was really shaken up and I felt bad.

"I came to see you and you weren't there, I thought the worst I'm sorry"

"I'm not going anywhere" I said with a proud smile, she smiled back at me and I got butterflies.

Elise looked around my new room and nodded in approval. It was still a little bit messy but that's because I was woken up in the middle of the night to be transferred to a new ward, I was annoyed at first but now I'm loving it.

"The lady downstairs said you got good news.." Elise said, she sat down on my bed and I nodded.

"Chemotherapy worked! Well sort of.. Basically I've been getting worse recently but since I started chemo it's been staying the same, it hasn't got worse which is really good. So now I'm going to be here for six more weeks getting my stem cell transplant" I explained to Elise, she was smiling widely.

"I'm so proud of you Rae" She said, I rolled my eyes.

"I haven't done anything for you to be proud of" I laughed nervously.

"Have you found a donor for this stem cell?"

"Not yet, hopefully soon.." I said with a sigh. This is going to be a tough few weeks, I'm going to be really ill.. But obviously I wasn't going to tell Elise that, she was already stressed enough because of me.

Elise had to start work, she gave me another hug before leaving and promised she would come to see me again on her break in a few hours time. I'm really grateful for her being here, it is keeping me going.

I messaged everyone on my phone telling them the good news, sadly I wouldn't be able to have many visitors during this time. It was mainly family members who were only allowed to visit in these wards because they had to keep the place as clean and as safe as possible to make sure everyone was getting better and not being affected by the outside world.

I made my way over to the windowsill and opened the window as far as I could, I was very high up. I tried to fit my body out of the window so I could feel the wind in my hair because I knew deep down I'd be losing it soon.

"Come on wind, pick up!" I shouted while laughing to myself, then I was attacked with a gust of wind which made my hair cover my face. I cheered and carefully made my way back into the safety of my hospital room.