A small and sickly looking teenager glared up at the ceiling of her hospital room. I fucking hate tests, she inwardly grumbled, running a hand through what was left of her dark unruly hair. Maybe I should tell them to shave it off so it doesn’t look so pathetic when clumps come out, she mused, glaring even harder at the ceiling. The chemotherapy she was undertaking combined with the disease was sapping enough of her strength without the doctors proclaiming more tests were necessary.
Sighing, she turned on her side, back facing the door, curled up with her knees almost touching her chest. The nausea was a terrible, terrible thing after the chemo. Curling up even tighter, she bitterly remembered the circumstances that brought her to puking her guts out every month.
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It had all started out at school, where she had been mucking around with the set of the production, pulling tables further apart, and chairs closer to the tables, and the umbrellas that sat on the back tables.
“Tanya! Get a move on it!” A teacher yelled from the lighting area above the entrance to the small theatre.
“I’m rearranging the damn set! Someone came in here and completely messed it up!” Tanya yelled back, turning to lift an umbrella onto one of the back tables.
“Alright, don’t take too long. I want to start the scene in ten.” He called down, fiddling with the spotlights. She snorted.
“It’ll be ready.” She muttered under her breath, suddenly feeling very tired. As she picked up the umbrella, it felt much heavier that the others as she struggled to lift it. Grunting, she pushed it onto the table, glaring at the umbrella. Bloody hell, did someone dip the base in fucking liquid nitrogen or something? She thought angrily, turning around to give the teacher the thumbs up for the set. Her vision swam, and she staggered backwards, tripping over a chair, landing hard on her back.
“Ouch…” She muttered, watching everything spin around her. She vaguely heard the doors to the small theatre open and several footsteps making their way inside.
“Tan, what the fuck are you doing on the floor?” An amused male voice asked as the footsteps came closer to her.
“I’m dizzy, retard.” She growled, gritting her teeth as the room did another sickening spin around her.
“Okay… Jeff, run up to sickbay; tell them we’ve got a situation here.” A female voice ordered. Tanya opened her eyes just enough to catch a flash of blonde hair before the nausea returned. She groaned and rolled over on her side, resisting the urge to puke her guts out.
“Hun, watch who you’re flashing next time.” The blonde said in amusement as she fixed the brunette’s skirt. Inwardly, she was worried about her friend, but she could never actually admit it to her face.
“Fuck you Lizzie, it’s not like I can help it.” Tanya growled as several other people came into the theatre.
“Okay, what’s the matter here?” An exasperated voice asked behind the two girls. Lizzie turned around to find Jeff hovering next to the nurse, a rare concerned look on his face. Usually Jeff was the prankster, the joker of their group, and never seemed concerned about anything, even their schoolwork.
“I’m dizzy, nauseous and probably couldn’t lift a paperclip if I tried.” Tanya replied through gritted teeth, eyes screwed shut. The nurse frowned.
“Alright, well, I’ve got to move you. Do you think you can stand up?” She asked, eyeing the small group of people standing in the doorway to the theatre who were whispering excitedly. What the fuck do you think? Talk about incapable. Tanya thought angrily, not moving a muscle.
“No.” She replied shortly. The nurse nodded and unfolded the stretcher that she had brought with her, just in case.
“Alright. Well, I’m going to lift you onto a stretcher and take you to sickbay until you feel better.” She announced, watching as Jeff moved to help her.
She was taken to the sickbay, and eventually to the hospital where blood tests and bone marrow were taken; and after a thousand questions; she was told she had Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, which represented about 80 per cent of all childhood leukemias.
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Tanya groaned and turned over, deciding that it was probably better for her to be facing the bucket next to her bed if she needed to chuck. Her green eyes shot to the door of the wing as it slid open, a short Asian woman excitedly making her way over.
“Hey Mandy!” Tanya grinned at her, Mandy grinning in response.
“Hey Tan, the appeal was successful! One Starlight Foundation wish is coming your way!” She squealed excitedly. Tanya’s face split further into a grin.
“Shiny, Mandy! Do I have to write a letter or something?” She asked, grimacing as another wave of nausea washed over her. Mandy picked up the bucket and held it as Tanya retched into it, a pitying smile on her face.
“Well, it depends on what your wish is. If it’s to meet a person or something like that, then yes, but if it’s to go to Disneyland or something, then no.” She replied, handing the teen a cup of water.
“Thanks.” Tanya muttered as she rinsed out her mouth. She sat back as Mandy pushed the bucket next to the wall before sitting down.
“So, have you thought about your wish?” Mandy asked, watching the teen pull out more of her hair.
“I didn’t think the appeal would be successful, actually.” Tanya admitted, frowning at the brittle strands she had pulled from her head.
“And I think I need a wig. I refuse to go to my formal bald.” She glared at the wall before dropping her hair into the bucket. Mandy chuckled.
“I think that can be arranged. But for now, concentrate on your wish, because you’ve got to get the request in by this time next week.” She explained, eyes darting sharply to the door where two people hovered anxiously.
“Your friends are here. I’ll see you… today’s Monday… so I’ll see you on Saturday when your results come in, and I’ll submit the wish on Monday morning. Is that okay with you?” Mandy asked, standing up. Tanya nodded.
“Sounds good to me. Thank you so much for everything, Mandy.” She smiled up at the Asian, who smiled back in response.
“Anytime, Tan.” With that, she turned and walked out of the room, giving the two hovering teenagers a smile just before they rushed in.
“Well?” The first demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. Tanya laughed.
“Hi to you too, Lizzie. Hey Jeff.” They stared at her expectantly. The brunette sighed.
“Yes, I got my wish.” Two identical grins made their way onto her friend’s faces. She shook her head in disbelief, lightly smacking her palm against her forehead.
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re related.” She muttered, a small smile on her face. Lizzie smirked at her.
“Yeah, but you still love us.” She declared, winking at the brunette.
“Darn, secret’s out,” Tanya declared, dramatically slapping the back of her hand to her forehead.
“I’m going to have to kill you now.” She grinned, putting her hands up in the form of guns and ‘shot’ at her two best friends who recoiled, laughing.
“Funny, shortie, funny.” Jeff laughed, plopping into the chair beside the brunette’s bedside. Lizzie promptly sat down on Jeff’s lap, eliciting a good-natured grumble and an eye-roll from the only male in the room.
“Well, there’s no other chairs, so you’ll just have to suffer, won’t you?” Lizzie chirped, winking at Tanya who grinned back.
“Admit it, Jeff, women run your life. You like it.” She said, earning herself a half-hearted glare.
“So! What’s your wish going to be?” Jeff asked loudly, obviously wanting to avoid the topic. Lizzie snickered, but granted her friend the reprieve. Tanya blinked at them and ran a hand through what was left of her hair, pulling out another clump. The blonde made a face.
“That is so wrong.” She muttered, hooking her heel around one of the straps of her schoolbag. Pulling it towards her, she managed to produce a thin pencil case that was obviously handmade and a notebook.
Jeff eyed the pencil case and gave a wry smile. Tanya had made it for Lizzie’s 15th birthday. It was small, only enough to fit in a couple of pens, a pacer pencil, a small container for the lead in said pencil, an eraser and a 15cm ruler. The construction of the case didn’t take much time, as Tanya herself had said, but it was the immaculate embroidery on top of the bright aqua coloured case that had taken the better part of a couple of days. Nowadays, the brunette could barely hold a needle thanks to her shaking hands.
He bit the tip of his tongue and said nothing as Lizzie slid down to sit on his knees, leaning over so she could plonk the notebook on the bed.
“Start thinking, bitch!” The blonde grinned, handing over the pen. Tanya rolled her eyes at her friend before staring down at the blank page. What do I really want, in the whole world? What can I have that they can give me, even for a short while? She thought, tapping her pen against the notebook thoughtfully.
She bit her lip, lowered the pen to press against the paper, closed her eyes and began writing. Here goes nothing, she thought, feeling her friends watch her as she moved the pen across the page.
Jeff tilted his head, watching the paper fill with random scribbles, most indecipherable.
“What the hell is she doing?” He whispered, breath ghosting across Lizzie’s cheek. The blonde smiled and leaned backwards.
“What she does best, finding something creative out of nothing. She’ll find what she’s doing eventually.” She whispered back, watching as Tanya lost herself in her own little world, determined to find the right solution to the problem presented to her.
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Ten minutes passed before the sickly teenager smiled and her eyes flew open, staring at the nearly fully covered page. There were only two words repeated over and over in amongst the scribbles, and, almost in wonder, she tore the page out of the notebook and repeated the words softly to the air.
“Green Day.” She breathed, and smiled once more.
