The Constellation

Chapter Two: Pizza And A Show

Four Years Ago

When Ash first arrived, she had nerves as bad as you could get. She was shaking so hard, and her stomach was twisting itself around, like she was anticipating a roller coaster. Her mind was focusing on one single thing, and blocked everything else out, feeling absolutely no shame when her mother helped her dress into the hospital's dressing gown.

When she woke up again, she was thirsty for knowledge, but her headache made her overwhelmed, and settled for the simple answer of, "You're alright. Go back to sleep."

After that long nap, Ash finally woke up in a more slightly conscious state. Her headache was not ideal, but it was bearable. Her eyes still ached from the surgery, so she could only open them for short periods of time, with barely any light shining.

"Look who's finally awake, our little Laylee." For the small second that she opened her eyes, and in a blur of light, she saw a dark figure of her father stand up and walk over to the side of her bed.

"How are you feeling sweetie?" Ash didn't need to open her eyes to recognize the rough hands that her mother had, in contrast to her smooth voice.

My head and eyes hurt. She told herself, and slowly worked on finding the energy to open her mouth and verbally tell them. Eventually it came out as a croak, and tickled her throat.

"Cheri, are you sure we went to the right doctor?"

"Mason-"

"She sounds like a frog." Mason laughed at his own joke and Ash smiled a little. "Issy and his family are gonna come over, once the doctor gives you an okay."

"Are they bringing water?" Ash croaked. "I'm thirsty." A chair squeaked on the floor as it was pushed away from her bed, and the light footsteps on the rubber floor moved to the tile in the bathroom. A paper cup was tapped against the counter, and the sink faucet was opened to let a fountain of water collect in hollow cup. The footsteps then returned to the side of her bed, and Ash's hand was guided to the paper cup. Hands helped her sit up enough to drink the water, then gently sat her back down when her thirst was satisfied.

"Feel better?" Cheri asked, setting the empty paper cup on the side table.

"Little."

Cheri gave a little, 'That's good' and took Ash's hand, running her fingers along her palm. After a few minutes of silence, Ash broke it.

"Did it work? The surgery?"

"Yes sweetheart, it did." Cheri answered, with a little kiss on her palm. "The doctor said that the surgery was a success, and as long as you don't get too rough in football that we shouldn't have a problem with it for awhile." Ash looked around the mask covering her eyes, but stopped the moment her eyes started to sting.

"So our little Laylee is a survivor of cancer now."

"Mason." Cheri warned again, but just like before, he ignored his wife and kept talking.

"You know people will be very impressed when you tell them that."

"D-dad!"

"I'm just saying." the chair he was sitting on squeaked as he leaned back against it. "Now where is our pizza? It's been at least two hours!"

The door to the room burst open, and a skinny boy jumped into the room and attempted to perform a pirouette while yelling, "We have the pizza!". However, as he the momentum he had was too much, causing him to turn into an unexpected second pirouette and have the pizza slide out of the palm of his hand.

Mason jumped from his chair and dived to catch the pizza box before it crashed to the floor.

A woman furiously walked into the room and pulled Issac onto his feet, and brushed off the front of his jacket. "Issac Hindle! We are in a hospital!"

"Sorry Mom, just got a little carried away." Issac pushed his mother's hands away and retrieved the box of pizza from Mason's hands. "Thanks Mace. You saved my skin there."

"You're welcome." Mason gave him a stern look, which immediately cracked into a smile as he peeked under the lid of the pizza box. "This better be some good pizza, if it took this long to get it."

Issac pressed his hand up to his throat and loudly cleared his throat, before throwing his free hand out dramatically and an Italian accent rolling off his tongue. "For this evenings' delight we have a deluxe margarita pizza. Unfortunately the ovens stopped working outside, so it's cold."

"Well if they are cold, give them to those lunatics over there." Mason waved his hand at Cheri and Ash. "They like cold pizza."

Ash stuck out her hand and blindly moved it in little circles. "Yes! Gimme the piz-ow."

Issac almost dropped the pizza box again, as he ran over to Ash and tightly hugged her with his free hand. "You're awake!"

She laughed, and tapped her hands against his back, because she couldn't fully extend them underneath his weight. "Yes Issy, I'm up, now get off of me."

"Glad to see you'll be the same until your dying breath." he stood up and set the pizza on the side table. "Want cold pizza?"

"Yes!"

"No." Cheri stopped the two. "The doctor hasn't told us if she can start eating again, or what types of food she can eat."

"But it's just a small piece of pizza." Ash begged. "Just a tiny piece, it won't hurt."

Issac pulled apart a slice of pizza that was no more than three inches wide. "Look Mrs. Cheri, this is a really small piece. Perfect for Ash!"

"Go on Cheri, let her eat something reasonable." Mason coaxed. Cheri looked between the group, recognizing how she was outnumbered.

"Fine." she sighed. "But savor it Ashleigh. You're only getting one."

"Yes ma'am." Ash nodded and outstretched her hand again. As she bit into the cold floured crust, she let out a little moan, savoring the taste.

"You're weird." Issac scoffed, but ironically bit into his much larger slice of pizza at the same time. 

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