REVISED:The Boy With A Touch Of Cancer (BxB)

26. Wheelchair Excursions

"See? Don't you feel better now that you're out of that shitty room?"

I glared down at the wheelchair the nurse insisted I use. I didn't think I could walk all the way down the hallway to the elevator (which we were currently riding down to the main floor of the hospital in), but that didn't make me happy about needing to use it.

"Oh, yeah. I feel so much better about my boyfriend wheeling me through the hospital because I'm too weak to walk," I grumbled.

Leo draped his hands over my shoulders and gingerly worked the muscles in my neck. "I know it sucks, sweetheart, but that room sucked even worse."

I let my head fall back against the chair, and I looked into Leo's smiling face.

I moaned as my muscled loosened under his fingers.

"Lower."

He slid his hands down to my shoulder blades and massaged the stiff muscles. "Better?" he murmured in my ear.

I nodded, unable to form a coherent thought. He chuckled and used a little more pressure.

The elevator stopped, and I jerked back in my chair, forcing Leo to remove his hands from my back with a sigh.

The metal doors opened to reveal a man, and a woman holding a sleeping toddler. The little girl's head was buried in her mother's shoulder. She had a blush pink headband that said 'My Little Winner' in white stitching on her bald head.

Leo stepped forward to hold the door for the woman and she smiled gratefully at him. "Which floor?" Leo asked after they stepped into the elevator.

The lady answered, "Three please."

Leo pressed the button, then stepped next to me. He placed his hand on the back of my neck and gently rubbed it.

I couldn't help but stare at the poor kid's headband. The My Little Winner on that headband kept haunting my thoughts. I couldn't help but wonder if the kid had won only to find out whatever she conquered had come back.

I knew that feeling.

The feeling of being so victorious, so relieved, only to have the weight that you were no longer in remission, and that the cancer had come back, to crush you. The fear and dread so strong that it made it hard to breathe. It made it next to impossible to be positive that you would get better again.

Dr. K settled into her seat. She didn't speak for a long while. She just stared at my folder, silently reading over it. It was tortuous watching her read that damn file.

"So it looks like our worst fears have came true..."

God, I hated that memory. I hated how I remembered every detail of Dr. K's office, right down to the placement of the kick-knacks on her desk. Partially because I'd studied those kick-knacks intently while waiting for her to speak. She read that damn file so long. Now, I realize she was just delaying the inevitable, but in the moment that time she was wasting was physically painful.

Ding!

The elevator doors opening startled me back into reality.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" Leo asked after the family had left.
He bent down in front of me, his eyes deepening with worry. He gently curled his hand around my chin and brought my gaze to his.

"I'm fine," I lied.

"Eathy..." Leo murmured comfortingly as he noticed my lip quivering.

I blinked back the tears, refusing to cry. "I'm fine, babe. Really. I was just..." I trailed off and took a shaky breath.