Charlotte's Battle - Jason's Recovery

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Charlotte woke up around nine in the morning on Wednesday. Her eyes scanned her surroundings. She saw Jason asleep on the chair beside her bed. She had a hospital bed in her room as it was easier to adjust. She slowly pressed the button to lift the bed which woke Jason.

Jason looked at her, rubbing his eyes a bit as he woke up. "You okay?" He asked with a deep voice.

She nodded. "Yeah, just adjusting the bed." She said with a soft smile. "I think I may be able to finish my project today. I'm not feeling too tired." She said. Sometimes she wished she could go back to public school, but due to her health, she probably wouldn't last but more than a day at most.

Jason smiled. "That's good. I can give you a bath later if you'd like. I have to go get your formula from the fridge. Is there anything else you'd like?" He asked before getting up from the chair and stretching.

Charlotte smiled and nodded. "Alright. I'll probably have some juice."

He smiled, "Okay, coming up..." he smirked slightly before leaving the room and heading to the kitchen. He returned ten minutes later with the juice box and a bottle of her vivonex formula. Charlotte had a surgical feeding tube due to her being unable to eat much when she was young. Unfortunately, she still had to use it to this day due to her persistent vomiting from the chemotherapy. She just had her infusion the other night and she wasn't feeling too bad today, but she definitely felt the fatigue.

Charlotte smiled when she saw Jason. "Took long enough..." she joked and reached out for the juice, holding it in her hand. She watched as her brother set up her feeding tube pump and feeds. It was a long process that needed priming; plus her hands were too shaky to pour the formula in the bag so he almost always handled her feeding tube supplies. Sometimes it would leak, but they usually handled it with no issues.

Throughout the day, Charlotte was able to do a few minor activities in the house. She was able to fold and put away her clothes, wash a few pairs of shoes and she actually finished her art project.

Charlotte noticed Jason seemed a bit too quiet today and she wondered what was wrong. "Jason, is something wrong?" She asked.

Jason sighed. "Moms going to be late again tonight. They're keeping her overtime because of how busy they've been this week." He explained, a soft sigh escaping his lips.

Charlotte sighed as well, "Oh... well I understand, I mean things happen and anything can change in a matter of minutes."

Jason looked at his sister. "I really hope they can get this tumor to shrink. I know I shouldn't tell you this but they're worried that if the tumor grows, it'll affect your daily life. Like you may not be able to walk..." He whispered the last part, hoping she hadn't heard it.

Unfortunately, Charlotte heard everything he was saying and began to tear up. "It's okay... we all know what could happen and sometimes we just have to accept the fact that it may get worse before it gets better."

Jason ran a hand through his mid length blonde hair. "I know, it's just hard seeing you dealing with this every single day and I just worry about you." He admitted.

Charlotte simply nodded in response, grabbing the television remote and turning it on. She began surfing through the channels in search of something new to watch. "Maybe I can actually find something decent to watch..." After a few hours, she began to doze off. Her vision going black as she felt herself falling asleep.

Suddenly, though she was dreaming, she felt like someone was chasing her. Her heart was racing and she kept running as fast as she could. Her head was pounding, closing her eyes tightly. She felt her body going stiff in her sleep, then something ran across her line of vision. She looked around frantically until something suddenly creeped up on her and she screamed, sitting up and waking up quickly.

Charlotte started coughing and gagging suddenly. When Jason had noticed, he dropped his phone and rushed to her side holding a trash can under her chin. "It's okay Char, let it out..." He whispered softly into her ear as he rubbed her back. This was the worst part of chemo. Charlotte coughed and began vomiting up the meal she had attempted to eat that morning.

Jason glanced at the time when he felt she was finished. A full ten minutes. He took the trash can, handing her some tissues to wipe her face. He took the full trash can and dumped its contents in the toilet, flushing it away. He then went to the tub and began rinsing the bin out in case she may need it again.

Charlotte wiped her mouth and slowly leaned back and relaxed against her pillows. She glanced over at where Jason went, guessing it was the bathroom as it was a bit dark in her room. She usually gets really bad migraines so her parents bought special curtains to block the outside light. She only had a small lamp on the bedside table as the source of light.

Jason returned, setting the bin on the floor. "Are you okay?" He asked, noticing her shakiness and the sweat on her forehead. "Was it a nightmare again?" He tilted his head as he sat down beside her and tried his best to comfort her.

She nodded in response. "Yeah, it was chasing me again, then I woke up and knew I was going to puke." She frowned and looked up at Jason. "I'm glad you're great at taking care of everything. I hate that you have to take care of me though. I wish I was independent like I used to be."

Jason sighed and gently rubbed her arm. "Don't worry about it. You don't need to worry about that stuff. I take care of you because your my little sister and I don't really have much of a life anyways." He murmured the last part. "I just want you to be comfortable as much as possible. I can't imagine how hard this is for you." He looked down.

Charlotte sighed and nodded, glancing at her hands. "It is hard, isn't it?" She murmured. She slowly pulled out her phone and looked at the notifications. "I don't even really use my phone anymore... I guess it's that bad..." she seemed a bit down.

Jason wanted to do so much to help his sister, but there was only so much that could be done. He knew she may not make it, but did he really know what the future held?