Through different eyes

4.2 Becca

I walked into the hospital and straight to my dad's department. I waved at the receptionist, who knew who I was and smiled back. I went into the waiting room and saw no one. Also, my dad's door was standing a bit open. So I assumed he had no patients at the moment and walked in without another thought. Yeah, not such a great idea...

"What the hell?!" Thomas shrieked and quickly backed away. He was sitting on the examination table, an IV sticking in his arm, connected to a bag of fluid that hung next to him.
"You can't just walk in here like that! Who do you think you are?!"
Rebecca fucking Lewis, duh... But I didn't say that out loud. I just gave him a confused stare before I remembered. Thomas has cancer. He's one of my dads patients... Right.

"Sorry, didn't know you were in here" I stated, putting my stuff down at my fathers desk.
"I thought the place was empty"
"So you just walk into an office like it's okay?" he asked, still not over the fact I didn't actually cared about his feelings at all.
"Dude, listen, my dad asked me here so here I am. Don't make such a big deal out of it"
"I guess I owe you for keeping quiet..." he muttered.
"Doctor Lewis is getting my lab results, he should be back any moment now"
"Great" I smiled and sat down at his desk.

"So how are things going? Getting any closer to beating this disease yet?"
He shrugged. Guess not. My eyes darted over my dads desk and found his file. I opened it and started to read it. He didn't protest, he probably doesn't know it's his.
"It says you're making progress"
His eyes widened and he shot me a glare.
"Put that down, now. It's none of your business"
"Okay, sorry, Jeez" I sighed and put the fie back down.
"But I'm glad the treatment is working. At this rate you'll be healed by the end of the school year!"

"R-really?" he asked hopeful.
"Mr Lewis never tells me how much progress I make exactly so I don't get my hopes up for when I get worse again..."
"IF you get worse again" I corrected him.
"And I'm not a certified doctor but I'm pretty sure you have every reason to be optimistic"

We smiled briefly at each other before dad walked into the room, closing the door behind him.
"Ah, sweetie, you made it" he said with a hint of surprise.
"Mind waiting next doors while I handle my patient?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, not a problem!" I stated and shot up from his chair.
"See you around Thomas! Bye!"
"Bye!" he replied as I shut the door behind me.

"I didn't know you were friends with my daughter?" I heard dad ask and decided to stay next to the door, listening in.
"Oh no, we uh, we aren't friends" Thomas reacted.
"But you know how it goes with small communities, right?"
"Everyone knows everyone" they said together and laughed a bit. I rolled my eyes and smiled. True though.
"So how's it been at school? You see each other a lot?"
"Well, yeah, kinda... We don't really talk"
"Oh... But in other news, your lab results came back. I haven't got a chance to properly look at it but it seems like nothing is wrong"
I can just see him glancing at the papers, scanning through the file like he was looking at pictures.

I pulled my ear off the door now that the subject had changed and sat down in one of the chairs. I sighed and placed my feet on the table, leaning back in my seat. Hopefully he would be done soon and Thomas recieved a bit of good news about his condition. After a few minutes a girl walked into the waiting area. She was busy on her phone, calling with someone.

"Yeah dad, I know, I'll ask" she sighed and groaned.
"No, no, I'm there now. No, Thomas isn't ready yet. Yes, I'll talk to him about Eric. No, you don't have to worry, really. Dad! Come on! I know how to prep for a date okay?!"
What the hell was she talking about? She was obviously here to get Thomas, probably his sister or something. But what was that about Eric? And a date? With who? Smith? No way...

"Oh! Uhm, sorry, I didn't know there was somebody else here" she appologized once she saw me.
"Oh, no, it's fine" I shrugged.
"So, uhm, I might be a bit direct but are you here for treatment as well?" she asked.
"Oh no! No, I'm not, uh, sick" I smiled.
"But I guess you're here for Thomas? Right?"
"Yes, I'm Eleanor, his sister" she introduced herself.
"I'm Rebecca, daughter of Doctor Lewis" I said, pointing to the door.
"Thomas is making a lot of progress, he should be cured in no time"
She laughed a bit.
"Thanks, but I'll only believe that if I see it" she smiled, staring at the door.

"So, you go to school with my little bro, right?"
"Yeah"
"So what's his reputation like? Still the biggest asshole alive?" Eleanor chuckled. I laughed a bit but nodded.
"But he's pretty close with this new guy in town, Eric Smith"
"Yeah, I've met him" she smiled.
"Seems like a nice guy"
"Yes, you're right" I stated and the door opened. Thomas looked surprised to see us sitting there and cleared his throat.

"I-I see you two met" he chocked out.
"Didn't know Mr Lewis had a daughter" Eleanor stated.
"Is that important?" Thomas asked as he stared her down.
"C-can we just go home now?"
"Just say you wanna nap, I won't judge you" his sister grinned and his face turned a schade darker while staring at the ground.
"S-shut up and take me home" he muttered.

"Alright bro, oh, and dad called to say his trip is gonna take longer than expected so he won't be home this weekend"
"Oh" he mouthed.
"Yeah, he also asked me to make sure I prep you for your date with Smith this weekend" she smirked and his eyes widened. I chocked on my own breath. What?! So they're really dating?! Thomas is gay?! Since when? Wait, Eric is gay to? I was so confused right now...

"Ellie!" he hissed and eyed at me.
"Oh-OOOHH, uhm, right, sorry" she stuttered and grabbed his arm.
"Let's continue in the car"
"Have fun this weekend!" I called after them with a dumb smile on my face. I was happy for the two of them, really. Thomas deserved a little happiness in his life and Eric really seemed like a great guy.

"Uhm, sweetie, you can come in now" dad said, a bit nervous.
"I know" I said, still turned with my back to him, looking at the exit as if considering just walking out of here. I hated the confrontation I was about to face. The talk we were about to have... I sighed and turned around to face him.
"Let's get this over with, I have stuff to do"

...

After what felt like hours I finally left my dad's office. Man, how I hated our serious talks... We both knew what was gonna be said, why go through all the trouble? We were smart enough to figure out each others arguments, it wasn't that hard. But he insisted on it so I guess I'll deal with it. I am still his daughter none the less. But wat I didn't expect was walking into Heather on my way outside.

"What are you doing here? Everything okay?" I asked confused.
"My mom asked me here for a talk" she groaned.
"Probably about you-know-what... What are you doing here?"
"I just came from my dad's office involving you-know-what" I sighed. Silence.
"You think they're coming out?" she asked, fear in her voice.
"Could be" I breathed out and stared at the ground.
"Guess there isn't really anything we can do about it at this point..."
"Hmm..." she hummed, agreeing. I mean, what was there to be done? We were just teenagers after all. We don't have real power in this world, not yet.

"So how did your talk go? W-was it, you know, uh, awkward?" Heather asked. I nodded.
"Succes with yours, I guess..."
"Yeah, uhm, w-we'll talk bout this later okay?"
"Sure" I said and waved slightly.
"See you around"
"Hm, yes, see ya" she muttered as we walked passed each other, minding our own business once more.

I went home, she went to her mom. We acted like there had never been a conversation. But it was better this way so nobody knew we were talking. It would raise questions. And people with questions go search for answers, some eventually finding them. And that's the last thing we want, isn't it?