Awakening to Life

Awakening to Life 2

Chapter 2

A soft breeze caresses my face as I slowly wake up. Rough sheets crinkle at my sides, making my whole body itch. I open my eyes reluctantly, willing myself to see the glow-in-the-dark constellation I stuck on the roof of my bedroom when I first moved here almost two years ago.

No such luck. The first thing I see is the white, flawless ceiling. My eyes trace along the edges as I pull my focus in to the room I'm lying in. A small window to my left has been left slightly open, drawing my attention to the tall trees that I always fantasise about climbing down to escape the boredom of this white, sterile room. My laptop sits propped up on the end of my bed and the book from my bedside table at home sits on the small table beside me.

After a soft knock at the door, Dr Marsden peers into the room and, seeing me awake, strides into the room - closely followed by my dad.

"Good morning Alison!" the doctor says cheerfully. I give him a weak smile and wait for the bad news. I can barely even remember arriving at the hospital the night before, even though they ran a battery of tests to access my condition.

"Allie, how are you feeling honey? You were pretty out of it last night." Dad sits down on the chair at my side and takes my hand.

"Dad," I whine, "I'm fine. There's absolutely no need to worry."

"We'll know for sure when the test results return in about an hour. I'll see you then Alison." Dr Marsden winks at me and scuttles backwards out the room. I laugh at him and turn to my watch which has been left on the bedside table next to my book.

"Did Josh win his baseball game?" I ask, annoyed that I wasn't able to watch.

"Yep, they're on a role," Dad replies grinning, "He says you can come to the next game, they still have a few more before the end of the season..."

I attempt to burrow further into the hard bed, hiding how upset I feel. Not only was I stuck in this hole, probably for the entire weekend if not longer, but I had missed my little brother's baseball game... again.

Dad continues talking about the game proudly; somehow he'd managed to see the first half before swapping with mum to keep me company. If what everyone said was true then Josh would be a professional sportsman before he turned twenty. I couldn't wait to see for myself, his club team was undefeated and I would give anything to see the smile on his face as he scored a homerun or caught a difficult ball.

We keep chatting for over an hour until Mum and Josh arrive. Josh is wearing his favourite baseball cap with his worn red shirt and jeans. He runs in, skidding to a halt before he lands on top of me. A wide grin illuminates his face as he presents me with an oversized cherry ripe chocolate.

I grin at him. "Bend down so I can give you a hug."

Josh laughs and grabs me in a massive bear hug, he's grown so much in the past year that he would be towering over me even if I had been standing upright.

"So how was your game champ?" I ask.

Josh launches into a detailed re-enactment of the game. I laugh and groan in all the right places, enjoying every minute of his happy enthusiasm. Mum rolls her eyes as he barely manages to contain his excitement, I avoid her glance. Even so, I can feel her watching my reactions carefully, analysing each movement as if I'm going to collapse at any moment. I hate that she looks at me like that, so scared of when I might fall apart. She makes me feel insecure - like I'm a ticking bomb that will explode at any moment.

Josh breaks off midway through his sentence and everyone turns as Dr Marsden re-enters the room - only this time he isn't smiling. Dad's face drops and my spirits plummet. You can always tell when Dr Marsden has bad news; it's like his whole attitude sinks into a solemn, stony expression and then he lays out the facts that cause the drastic change from his bubbly, cheerful self.