Gwendalynn: The Girl With Cancer

Gwendalynn | 39

When it was either you or soccer...

MARCH - 2013

Gwen was getting worse and worse by the second. When I had finished another soccer game, I was excited to let her know that we'd won and that we were doing our best to make it to the Champs in May, but when I walked into the room, I saw Denise's tear-stained face and George laying face down on the table. I'd never seen Gwen's parents so distraught.

When the door clicked closed, they both shot up and noticed my presence.

"Oh, Kyle," Denise sighed. "Are your parents here?"

I nodded. "They're parking the car. And so is Kory. We were hoping to surprise Gwen when he walked in but I suppose we'll have to wait until she wakes up." I then averted my gaze toward my girlfriend in the hospital bed. "How's she doing?"

"She's been sleeping all day. She hasn't even eaten." George explained, resting his head on his fist.

I glanced at Gwen again to get a better look at her. She was so bruised. Her entire head was a dark bluish-purple, there were dark bags around her eyes, and her lips were chapped. Her eyes were closed and her breaths were slow and hard. It was like she was already dead.

"Dr. Harris just did some tests. He'll be in, in about a few minutes." Denise added.

As if on cue, Dr. Harris opened the door with Leigh-Ann by his side. He held a few papers on his clipboard and his face showed the deepest of melancholy. I knew what he was going to tell us before he even said it. A few seconds later, my parents and Kory had also entered the room. Once they saw Dr. Harris, they froze.

Leigh-Ann advanced toward Gwen and Dr. Harris quickly whispered to us. "I think it's a good idea we go outside and talk about this."

We followed him out to the waiting room. We all took a seat, waiting for the dreadful words Gwen's doctor was about to reveal to us.

"I'm afraid... the cancer has spread to numerous places. Others I had no idea of."

Denise gasped.

"I know that I predicted that she will make it until June, but I believe she's going to pass by the end of this month."

I sucked in a quick breath, tears beginning to blur my vision as well.

"You said... until June," George reminded, his teeth gritted.

I felt Kory rub my shoulder comfortingly with a few tears in his eyes falling too.

"I know, Mr. Conrad, but I was sure the cancer wouldn't spread this far. Unfortunately, chronic myelogenous leukemia never ceases to surprise me."

At that, we were all bawling. My parents were crying. Kory was crying. Gwen's parents were crying. How could this have gotten so bad when she was so good a couple months ago?

"I advise you all to not tell her. I think its best you treat her like you have before, as if nothing bad will happen," he told us.

"How can we do that?!" Denise shrieked.

"Denise," Dr. Harris sighed, advancing toward her and putting a hand on hers. "Gwen deserves it at the least."

She gulped and nodded. He began to turn but I quickly stood up and said, "Dr. Harris?"

"Yes?"

"How long does she really have?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure. The least she can have is until next week. The longest is until the end of this month."