Charlotte's Battle - Jason's Recovery

Chapter 2

Charlotte woke up from her evening nap to the smell of roast beef and potatoes. She absolutely loved when her mom made it. She smiled as she looked over at Jason, then pointed to the wheelchair. "I want to go see mom and dad. Moms making dinner!" She shrieked slightly in excitement as she looked over at him, then scooted to the end of the bed.

Jason turned to look at his sister, "Alright. Relax..." he told her and gently picked her up, carrying her to the wheelchair and setting her down gently. "Okay, so... anywhere specific you want to go tomorrow after your appointment?" He smiled at her.

Charlotte tilted her head slightly, then smiled. "Maybe we could go to the park. I think I'd love to go out and get some fresh air. It would be nice since I've been inside most of today. I did just have the infusion so I would have to take the wheelchair." She grinned at him, then turned as she felt him beginning to gently push her into the living room down the hall.

Jason hummed softly as he could hear music playing from the television in the living room. He gently pushed her into the room by the couch, doing a bit of a dance as he hummed to the music. "Ah I love this song... that's what I like-" He did a sliding thing with his body and danced a bit more.

Charlotte started laughing almost instantly, adjusting her body in the wheelchair so she could see him dance like the weirdo he was. "Jason- I swear, I always wonder how we are even brother and sister. We're like nothing alike."Jason started bobbing his head as he danced to the song by Bruno Mars. Charlotte couldn't help but try to dance a bit herself. "You're so funny Jason." She said as she saw him stop dancing around. "I know who you got that from..." She raised her eyebrows.

Jason chuckled as he saw the reaction on his mother's face. "Yes I know mom." He smirked slightly and looked at his mom before going into the kitchen to help his mom make Charlotte's plate. Charlotte was humming along to the song as she watched the music video play on the flatscreen. She looked out over to the window and noticed the darkness. "Jason, I think it's going to rain or something... I mean it is the middle of November so who knows, but... I kind of want to go outside and watch the rain if that's okay."

Jason turned to face towards the direction of his sister, not really paying attention to what she was saying. He was more focused on blending the food in the blender to put through her tube as she can't eat orally. He turned the blender off and heard sounds of rain hitting the roof. "Ohhh..." He said as he realized that's what she was talking about. "Yeah, of course, but after we get your feeds setup so you have some energy."

Charlotte turned to nod at him, then focused back out the window as she slowly pushed herself to the lowest window and pulled the blinds up slowly. "Hey, I see a rainbow. It's raining!." She smiled brightly and hummed along to the music. Another song began to play which caused her to tear up due to the lyrics and how hard it hit her. A few memories began to play in her mind as she stared off.

The second her feet hit the ground, she smiled brightly to the crowd. She had just performed her solo in front of thousands of people and scored perfectly. She lifted her arms up and looked around at the crowd as she smiled. She then began to dance her next part towards the beam of light that shines on her. She can feel her adrenaline kicking in as soon as she landed the double back handspring.

Charlotte smiled as she remembered the first time she performed a solo, then heard her name being called so she turned to see Jason holding her feeds setup, already getting it hooked up for her. She smiled as she looked at Jason, watching as he hooked everything up for her and gave her the backpack to put on her lap. She gave her brother a warm smile before looked up at him. "So shall we go outside then?" She tilted her head.

Jason smiled, "Of course." He said softly and got behind her wheelchair, gently pushing her to the door and outside. He looked around, gently turning to close the front door. "It's beautiful. I love the rain."

Charlotte chuckled and nodded. "Me too. I wish it would snow already so I could make a snowman. I know I can't really do snowball fights anymore, but I love making the snowmen." She could remember the times when she would have snowball fights with her brother when they were younger. Jason had always seemed to win, which left both of them laughing and rolling in the snow at the same time.

Jason noticed a female and a golden retriever walking down the sidewalk around a hundred feet away from the porch. He looked at the trees, seeing the numerous color of leaves. He could see two small children running around in the rain on the grass across the street. "It really is beautiful out here." He commented.

Charlotte agreed aloud. "You're right. Sometimes I just think about all the little things we've done in our life and I think of how much I miss all those times we had fun. Like the snowball fights, the running around..." she trailed off for a bit, focusing on the rain falling. "I know I shouldn't think about all of that, but it's hard. I'm basically housebound at this point and it's just hard..." she began to tear up.

Jason kneeled down beside her, gently embracing her into a bear hug. "Don't worry about it. It's normal to feel this way. I would feel the same if I was in your situation, but remember... we will get through this, okay?" He smiled as he looked into her blue eyes. His dirty blonde hair blowing a bit from the breeze. He gently wiped her tears from her cheeks. "It's okay to cry, you know..."

Charlotte nodded again, slowly looking into his eyes. She wiped her cheek and sighed softly. "I know, I just hate crying... I wish things would have been different, but I guess I can't change what's already happened so I just need... to focus on today, this moment." She said with a bit of confidence.

There was a long pause before Charlotte spoke up again. She was very intelligent for her age. She slowly looked up with a bit of hope in her eyes. "Maybe in the future... I'm really hopeful about this... maybe they'll find a cure for childhood cancer, just.. cancer in general.. I mean with technology getting better like it is. Medicine is growing. Just like Dr. Brown said. They may have a cure by the time I'm in my thirties." A light seemed to glimmer in her eyes, a sign of hope and faith. She was hopeful and faithful to her doctors. They did everything they could to help her, plus more.

Jason chuckled and gently patted her head. "That's what I'm hoping for as well. Maybe life expectancy will go above the hundreds from medicine growing like it is. Technology wise." He smiled at her and gently tucked a piece of Charlotte's thin, brittle hair behind her ear. She wasn't completely bald thankfully, but she's lost most of her hair. Jason couldn't help but smile at her, "I'm glad you're thinking optimistically. That's my sis. I see you're feeling better as well... that makes me happy."

Jason and Charlotte went quiet for a little while as they watched the rain fall to the ground. Jason broke the silence though. "You know... they may find new treatments that don't have so many side effects, or even discover some kind of new medicine. We never know. This is why we have to stay hopeful." He gently caressed her pale cheek.

Charlotte looked him in the eyes, her hand gently squeezed his. "I want to make it to my graduation... That's what's important to me. If I can make it that far, I'll be happy. I know it will be hard, but it will be worth it."