Charlotte's Battle - Jason's Recovery

Chapter 25

Charlotte slowly lifted her head as she looked up from the book she was reading. She looked at the door as she heard footsteps. She sighed and put the bookmark in her book and set it down on her lap. She laid back on the chair and closed her eyes, hoping she would be able to get some sleep.

After a while, she began to doze off. By the second she began to fall asleep, alarms and machines started going off. Her heart rate quickened. She sat up and dropped the book on the floor. She watched as doctors and nurses rushed in. One doctor put the bed down flat and another started giving medications through the IV. One other doctor began compressions. All she could hear was the sound of the flatline. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping it was all a dream.

She felt a sensation of movement and opened her eyes. She was being taken out of the room. Tears began to stream down her face as she watched the scene unfold. She was pushed into the waiting room, listening to the sounds of machines blaring and the sounds of the defibrillator. She counted a total of nine. She closed her eyes tightly as the words were spoken, "Time of death: 8:59 pm." She burst into the tears.

The second her mother heard about Ashley dying, she rushed to the waiting room to comfort her daughter. "It's okay baby girl. I'm here." She told to her daughter. Sara tried her best to comfort her daughter.

Charlotte was silent for a few weeks at home. She just held onto her pillow when she slept. She felt she could barely cope. Everything hurt and she refused to eat for the past few weeks. She barely left her room and she was struggling a lot. She felt she could barely cope. She was struggling a lot with how she felt. She would have nightmares of what happened, but it was her on the bed. The sound of the defibrillator and the flatline played in her head when silence was present.

Charlotte felt like she couldn't breathe as she cried into her pillow. She hated the continuous dreams and thoughts that were running through her mind. All she could think about was the pain, emotional pain she was in.

TW

She held onto the piece of metal in her hand, imagining how it would feel to release the pain she was in. She held the small metal and set it on the edge of her wrist. It was sweater season anyway so no one would know. She went ahead with it.
She let the metal slide from her fingers across her wrist. She watched as the blood formed, sliding down her arm. She created a second slice, watching as the blood fell. She felt numb, the only way she could feel at this time. It's been exactly two weeks since her best friend died. The sound of a door closing pushed her out of her thoughts and she quickly put the blade away and covered her arm with gauze and some tape, then fixed her sweater.

She winced slightly as she pushed her wheelchair into her bedroom. She had become accustomed to using it full time at this point even though it was exhausting for her. She just kept pushing until she couldn't anymore. Her head throbbed from all the crying and her chest heaved as she coughed. Not only was she grieving, she was dealing with some kind of virus that someone gave her. It was always bad when she was sick, so she rarely said anything unless she had to.
—-
Charlotte heard a door slam and then, "We're home!" She got excited and went towards the door, Belle helped her through the halls and to the kitchen where he came in and set his bags down. Jessica was smiling at Jason, setting her stuff down on the table. Charlotte smiled as Jason went to her and hugged her tightly. A smile formed on Jason's face as well.

After some time passed, she could hear some bickering in the kitchen and only assumed it was her father. She stayed where she was and eavesdropped on the conversation.

Justin sighed, "I don't think it's a good idea. What if the tumor grows? She'll just get worse." He murmured.

Sara sat down. "Quitting the chemo is the best thing we can do for her. She might gain some weight back and not have to depend so much on the tube. It could make her quality of life better. The doctor even said she didn't have much longer."

Justin slammed his fist on the table. "There's no way I'm letting our daughter stop fighting, especially when she's got this far. We have to continue the chemo since there's a chance it could shrink like before."

Sara sighed. "The cancer has spread, I'm pretty sure it's not going to shrink. Our daughter is already paralysed from the waist down."

Justin spoke, "Exactly why we should continue the chemo... to prevent it from spreading even further. Sara, I'm sorry to say this but I'm not letting our daughter die just like Ashley did. Her parents decided it was best to stop her chemotherapy and look where she ended up."

Charlotte had heard enough, she slammed the bedroom door and got herself onto her bed as she sobbed, hating how her parents were suddenly so rude and judgemental. She couldn't believe her father could say those things.

Sara's POV

She sighed as she heard the door slam. "Look what you did." She said as she shook her head. "Justin you have to be careful what you say."

She watched as Justin hesitated to speak. "No. Sara, no. Just stop. You can't blame this on me. I'm trying to help our daughter..." she cut him off.

She raised her eyebrows. "Justin, you're not helping our daughter by fighting over doing chemo or not. We should ask her what she wants to do. Do we want her to be comfortable and take care of her if the cancer continues to spread? Or do we want to let her suffer the fatigue and constant sickness chemo causes?"

She noticed Justin didn't know what to say. She sighed and slowly got up from her seat at the table and opened the fridge. She pulled out some eggs and bacon, getting ready to make breakfast for most of the family. "I hope you realise that Charlotte is old enough to decide for herself what she wants to do... if the cancer does spread and she wants to do more chemo, then you'd better be supportive of it, especially when Dr. Zeeman and Dr. Brown say it's the best thing to do." She paused as she cracked some eggs and put them in the pan. "I'm pretty sure if you asked them, they would say if we wanted her to be a normal teen in the future, then they would say to continue the chemo and do more radiation."

Justin's PoV

Justin laid his head down on the table. "I guess- fine. Whatever." He mumbled, having no words left to say. He got up and grabbed his coat, holding it behind his shoulder as he walked up to his daughters bedroom. He knocked softly on the door before turning the knob and walking inside. He frowned when he saw his daughter on the bed crying. "Charlotte... I'm sorry..." he said as he tried to sit on the bed and hold her. All he got was a shove and arms pulling away. He watched as his daughter pushed him away, staring at her in sadness and confusion. He eventually left the room.

"No!" Charlotte had said, moving away from him. "I can't believe you'd do that. How could you say that after Ashley dying?!" She said as tears fell down her face. "I don't know why you even tried to come in here! Get out, get out, get out!" She screamed as she pulled the blankets over her.

Justin sighed and shut the door, rubbing his face as he walked down into his bedroom. He sat on the bed and held his head as he spent some time thinking.

Sara was cooking breakfast and when she finished, she waited for Justin to come and eat, but she was worried when he didn't come back. She slowly walked towards the bedroom and opened the door slowly. "Honey... I know she's upset... don't stress yourself so much... she's just mad because she's grieving... just like you did when your father died... remember?" She sat down and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his shoulder. "It's okay." She said as he held him and watched as he nodded.

Justin was astonished when he realised it was his wife holding him, but he shook his head. He had so many thoughts in his mind. When his daughter screamed at him, when his father died, the argument, and so much more. He laid his head back against his wife and closed his eyes.