Thin Embrace

Chapter Five

August 2, 2018                                   
1:43 am
Day 107

Woah, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written in you. A lot has gone on in the past two months and frankly that’s why I have been avoiding writing in you. I knew that writing would remind me of her. God I miss her so much.

I guess I should fill you in on what’s been happening, cause oh boy is there a lot. In the last entry, I was telling you that I was in the waiting room while Lauren was in surgery. Unfortunately, the surgery went wrong. At first, I thought the cause of her death was the newly college graduate that was in the operating room. I mean, I had the right to be nervous. This would’ve been his first surgery. I was about ready to throw some hands and Dr. Barry knew it. To avoid me actually running into the room and beating the guy up, Dr. Barry explained to me what had actually happened.

Lauren’s body reacted negatively to the new heart. He wouldn’t tell me anything else from that point on, due to the fact that I was not related to her. God, I don’t know how long I sat in that waiting room sobbing.

Lauren’s death really hit me hard. For two weeks I barely left my room. I changed to homeschooling and had all my meals delivered to me, but it’s not like I even ate any of them. I had gone to more therapy appointments in result of that, and they honestly helped out a lot. Believe it or not, I actually benefited from the countless hours of conversations with Jennifer.

I guess I could tell you about the good news, which might seem like a surprise after you reading the paragraph above. I’m going home in approximately ten hours, seventeen minutes, and three seconds! I’m honestly so excited to get home.

In one of my early therapy sessions, Jennifer had told me that if Lauren were here to see me after her death, it would break her heart. All Lauren wanted was for me to get better and from then on I was determined to do so. At first, I was only doing it for Lauren, but as my days went on I had learned that I had to get better for myself too.

Anyways, I gotta go finish packing. I had saved it all for tonight.

-Kinsley

•

    “You know, I’m really gonna miss you Kins.” Harry says as he wraps his arms around the brunette.
    “I’m gonna miss you too, Harry.” Kinsley says as she lays her head down on the teenage boy’s chest, breathing in the scent of his cologne.
    Kinsley felt a tear or two drop from her eyes as she thought about leaving her two best friends. Al and Harry had played a huge role in helping her get better and she couldn’t have asked for anything better. Kinsley pulled away from Harry and turned to look at Al, his face filled with sorrow. Al had been one of Kinsley’s biggest supporters form day one and had consoled her the most after Lauren’s death.
    “Come here Kins.” Al said as he held his arms open wide.
    Kinsley walked over to his tall frame and practically launched herself into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his torso and immediately started to cry. She was going to miss these boys more than life itself and she had no idea what she was going to do with herself when she got home. Since they had a strict no cell phone policy, she could not contact them until they were out of the hospital.
    “Don’t cry Kinsley,” Al began. “You could always come visit us.”
    “I know, but I’m just gonna miss you guys so much.” The brunette said as she felt Harry wrap his arms around them.
    “I’m sorry to break up the farewell party,” Dr. Barry said as he waltzed into the room. “But Ms. Oliver’s family is here to pick her up.”
     The three teenagers pulled apart from each other and Kinsley came face to face with her mother. A mother who she had not seen since her last therapy appointment when she was told she could go home. She flashed her mother a warm smile, but her attention was then brought to the small blonde child that was holding onto her mother’s leg. A wide smile broke out upon Kinsley’s face as she squatted down to the child’s height.
     “Hey, Angelina!” The brunette lets out as her little sister runs into her arms.
     “Kinsley!” Angelina’s high pitched voice sang as her body collided with Kinsley’s.
     “You’ve gotten so big! How tall are you know?” Kinsley asks the six year old as she pulls away.
     “42 inches!” she exclaims as Kinsley places a kiss on her forehead.
     “That’s so cool, kid!” Kinsley says as she gets up from the level she was previously at.
      She turns to Dr. Barry and gives him a small smile, leaning in for a hug shortly after. All she wanted to do was thank this man for helping her out with everything; he really did what was best for her both mentally and physically.
  “Thank you so much Dr. Barry, if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be alive,” she said as she pulled apart from the man.
    “No problem Kinsley. I am so proud of everything that you have overcome in the past three months you’ve been here,” he said pausing for a minute. “Now your mother has already signed the release papers so you are free to go whenever you please.”
     Kinsley turns her body to look at Al and Harry, a heaviness in her chest causing her to take a deep breath. As she felt the familiar tears starting to form, she walks back over to the boys and brings them both in for a group hug. When Kinsley had first arrived at the hospital, she did not think that she would have developed this close of a bond with anyone here. As she pulled apart from the guys, she took a look at the two of them.
     Harry’s once bald head now held small little prickles of hair, showing a sign that his cancer was slowly fading. Al was no longer depending on his crutches- his new prosthetic leg helped him move about the hospital everyday. She couldn’t help but smile at her best friends. They had overcome so much.
    “Okay guys, I will be back to visit in about two weeks. Think you can survive until then?” Kinsley asks with a slight laugh.
     “Yes.” The two boys said in unison.
     “You ready to go?” Kinsley’s mother asked as she turned back to face her family.
      Kinsley adjusted Lauren’s black leather jacket that hugged her petite form and pulled the handle out from her purple suitcase. She said one final goodbye to Al and Harry before walking towards the exit with her mom and sister, memories upon memories flooding her mind. She was glad that she had come to stay here. Even though her journey in this hospital felt like a walk through hell, she came out a brand new person. The person that she had always wanted to become.