Surviving Cancer

Wednesday, December 20

MACI POV

"You and Levi seem so close." Jennifer said.

She was sitting in a chair next to my bed. Her thick brown hair was down in soft curls. She had on a pair of skinny jeans, a white blouse and a pair of wedged ankle boots. She was sophisticated but at the same time effortless. I wanted to be that. I rubbed my cheek under the oxygen tube with the sleeve of my gigantic sweater.

"We are." I said, letting out a yawn.

I was trying to stay more awake because Jennifer was here. She'd been sitting with me for an hour making small talk but I just wanted to shut my eyes. The chemo and radiation was wreaking havoc on me. I had thrown up a couple times earlier and my body felt like it was a million pounds. I had zip, zero, zilch, notta ounce of energy.

"It sounds cheesy but he's my best friend." I added.

"That's not cheesy. It's good." She smiled at me.

I mustered up a small smile. We fell into silence and I could feel my eyes trying to slam shut. I blinked a couple of times, chanting in my head 'stay awake'.

"Where's the coolest place you've traveled to?" I asked. "Don't journalists get to travel a lot?"

She laughed. "I'm not that kind of journalist, I wish though. My job is pretty flexible though so I do get to travel a bit." She pulled out her phone. "I went to Brazil not too long ago. Just for a couple weeks."

She handed me her phone so I could swipe through photos of her in summer dresses, bikinis, and big hats in a tropical wonderland.

"You just go by yourself?" I asked.

She was alone in every picture. I wondered if she was lonely or if being by herself didn't bother her.

"Yeah. It's exciting. Being in a new place, by yourself. With no plans and nothing holding you back." She got this longing look in her eyes.

I dropped my eyes to my lap, handing her phone back. My stomach turned. I leaned back against my pillow, taking as deep a breath as I could.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded my head, squeezing my eyes shut. Maybe I could just will it away.

"Maci?"

"There's a bag." I pointed to the table pushed against the wall. "I'm gonna throw up."

I heard Jennifer shuffling around, mumbling things to herself. She sounded slightly panicked.

"Okay, here it is." She handed the bag off to me. "What else?"

My stomach turned again and I groaned. "Will you go get my mom or dad, Levi. Doesn't matter."

I put the bag to my face, leaning to the side. I heard Jennifer's shoes click against the floor. I felt my muscles contract, the bile rising through my throat just as the door to my room clicked shut.

---------------

"Hey, how ya doing?" Levi asked.

I blinked my eyes a couple times to clear the sleep from them.

"Okay." My voice came out raspy and raw. "How long did I sleep for?"

He shrugged. "A couple hours. Mom went to get some food. Dads on a call." I nodded my head. "Jennifer left."

"Left?" My eyes shot to Levi's. "Like left left or went back to her hotel left?"

"Her hotel, sorry." He corrected. "I think she got a little scared."