Charlotte's Battle - Jason's Recovery

Chapter 11

Charlotte smiled as she was gently pulled by Belle through the parking lot and into the mall entrance. She could see billboards like a map to her right and a few children and families to her left. She was wearing a light sweater and had a beanie on her head to hide the lost hair from chemo. She smiled to the families and they smiled back. She glanced over to Belle who seemed content with the environment. It wasn't too chaotic, but there were some children running around in the playground place.

Charlotte's mother began speaking. "I remember when you used to run around and go through the little tunnels in there. You always had so much fun. Especially when you were playing tag with Jason. It's just one of those things, you know..." Her mother sighed softly as she walked beside Charlotte. Belle was to the left of her wheelchair and her mother was to the right.

The sound of children running and playing could be heard to her right as well as they turned to look at the small little play area. There were many different ages of children there, between two and twelve even. Charlotte wished she could still do that, but her body was a bit too weak. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to. Well, she could try but she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of so many children and parents. She kept these thoughts to herself as she looked around, Belle turning to look at her.

Belle wasn't an ordinary service dog. She was specially trained by her Aunt Regina, like said before. Her Aunt taught her many important tasks and commands. If, for example, Charlotte was seizing on the floor, Belle could alert someone if no one was in the room. It would've been useful for that one time. Belle also knew how to retrieve items, open cabinets, and carry items to another person. Belle could also sense a seizure by putting her paw on Charlotte's lap. Not only was she a family pet, but she was also the one who saved her life.

Charlotte and her mother decided their first place to visit would be Claires as Charlotte was still young and enjoyed dressing up with cat ears, jewelry, and other items that interested her. Her favorite place had almost everything she liked. There was makeup, accessories, cute bracelets and other jewelry.

As she entered the store, she instantly grew excited for the new merchandise that she saw. Her eyes first landed on the cute animal hats with the long sides where her hands could go in. She picked out a panda themed one and showed it to her mom, which grew amused by it. "Can we get it, please mom?" She asked sweetly.

Her mother hesitated at first, then nodded. "Only because you've been doing really good on catching up on schoolwork. Maybe we can get a few more things in here and head to the Vans store to get you some new shoes." She told her as she gently kneeled down beside her.

Charlotte smiled and looked at her mother in excitement as she held the animal hat on her lap. She gently pushed herself forward some as her mother stood back up. "Thank you mommy!" She said as she hugged her tightly. She slowly let go and moved herself towards the jewelry. She was allergic to anything that had nickel in it so she had to be careful in choosing what she could wear.

Charlotte's mother decided to buy something for her daughter in secret, so she let her daughter look around on her own while she went to a store that had animal vests and patches, choosing a light pink vest with loosely made hooks so it wouldn't irritate Belle. She carried it after purchasing it in a brown paper bag with handles.

Charlotte hadn't even noticed her mother's disappearance as she was too into all of the items that store had to offer. She picked out a set of lip gloss and a few cute headband beanies, as well as a soft blanket she found that had an animal on it. More specifically, a tiger with white and black stripes. When she was finished, she saw her mother waiting for her at the register so she pushed herself towards her and handed her the small amount of items she chose out for herself. She didn't even notice the paper bag her mother was carrying.

Once they were finished in that store, they moved their way to the Vans shoe store to find Charlotte some new slip on Vans as her older ones were starting to tear. Her mother went ahead of her into the store, knowing she would get there on her own time.

As soon as she got to the door, a kid approached her and began teasing her, asking why she was in a wheelchair and pointing out that dogs aren't allowed in the mall. Charlotte began to tear up as she didn't know what to say at first. After a minute of thinking, she spoke up. "I have a type of cancer... that causes me to be very fatigued and I fall a lot because of it... I'm in a wheelchair to prevent anything bad happening. My mom explained to me that when I don't go with my wheelchair, I'm more likely to get hurt because of my episodes, but I now have this little one..." she paused as she pointed at Belle. "This is Belle. She's my service dog who helps detect things and helps me with balance, but she can also get help if somethings wrong." She paused for a bit before explaining more in depth. "My type of cancer is called Medulloblastoma which is one of the most common types of cancer for kids like me. My mom never really explained it too much." She said, slowly looking up at the small boy. She hoped she had explained it well enough so he could understand. She allowed him to pet Belle so he could understand it better, seeing he was hesitant at first. She noticed he was looking at the patches on her vest. "Oh.. these are for other people especially when Belle is on duty. Which is why we brought her this time. So she could start working with me." She began to pet Belle gently, watching as the boy waved and walked away. She had never encountered this before so it was new to her. She was nervous at first, but she no felt more confident about speaking about her illness and her service dog.

When Charlotte turned to head towards the store, her mother was standing there with a bright smile on her face. Sara slowly bent down to kiss her daughters forehead, then looked into her daughters eyes as she spoke. "I'm so proud of you Charlotte. You're doing so well." She said as she gently hugged her daughter. Sara was ecstatic about this, never expecting her daughter to be able to do something like that on her own.