Unbroken | Ashton Irwin's Little Sister (COMPLETED)

Chapter 4

Just a small town girl living in a lonely world

***

| Bailey |

I lean my head on my mom's shoulder, already tired and not looking forward to having deadly toxins being pumped into my body today. She puts her arm around my shoulders and rubs my arm comfortably, "Don't worry, once they get you situated you can take a nap during your treatment." I nod, taking a deep breath. Just as I close my eyes, I'm called in to the exam room for my weekly physical. The nurse clears me after a few minutes and I'm lead into the drearily familiar room where the patients go to receive their chemo.

I slowly trudge to the chair Zoey points out to me and recline it so I can lay down. Zoey inserts the needle into my arm and hangs the IV full of chemo next to me before checking my vitals and leaving the room. Mom grabs a pillow and blanket she brought and gives them to me, which I gratefully accept. I lay down and close my eyes, quickly falling asleep.

***

I wake up about an hour and a half into the treatment. I still have a little while longer until the IV bag is completely empty, and since I was dragging this morning and refused to eat, mom tells me she's going down to the cafeteria to buy me something. I feel bad for provoking an argument, but I really felt sick before we came here, and I was not in the mood the have food forced into my stomach.

While mom's gone, I'm left alone in the quiet room. There's only one other patient; she's older and is sleeping like I was earlier. I reach over to grab my phone to occupy myself when I boy who looks around my age plops down in the chair next to mine. I turn to look at him and he seems familiar. I purse my lips as I analyze him, trying to remember his face. He looks over and I quickly drop my eyes to my phone, praying my burning cheeks aren't as red as they feel.

"I'm pretty good looking, am I right?" The boy teases. I can't help but let a small smile creep onto my face as I try not to laugh, "Yeah, the bald head's really a turn on," I joke back. I lift my gaze once again and it suddenly clicks; he's the boy I met last week, but we never introduced ourselves.

"That's what I was going for," the boy smirks back. He cocks his head as he stares at me, making me self conscious. "You're the girl I met last week, right?" I smile sheepishly, "Guilty." His smiles widens and warms as he extends his hand. "Nice to officially meet you. I'm Xander." I reluctantly shake his hand, "I'm Bailey."

Xander remains quiet when a nurse enters to situate his IV, so I go back to surfing through my phone. My mom returns a few minutes later and hands me a fruit cup and some water. Of course it's healthy, ever since I was diagnosed she's been trying to "improve my quality of life". Personally, I don't really see the point since chemo will make me feel even worse than I did before.

My attention drifts back to the pale, green-eyed boy sitting next to me. "Oh, mom, this is Xander. Xander, this is my mom," I introduce. Mom looks up from the magazine she's reading and smiles.

"Nice to meet you," she says as Xander extends his hand again. "Likewise," he greets with a small smile. "So, you here every week?" He asks me. I roll my eyes and nod, earning a sad look from mom.

"Yep, every Wednesday," I confirm. Xander smiles, "Cool, me too. At least I'll have a familiar face around here. That oughta make this a little less painful," he chuckles. Mom shifts in her seat. I can tell she's not comfortable with the cancer jokes, which is making this awkward. Xander seems to pick up on this and goes back to typing on his phone, assumedly texting someone.

Once my IV bag is empty, mom leaves the room to sign papers or something. A minute later, a crumpled paper is thrown at my head. I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion and pick up and unfold the paper. On it is written,

Text me, Xander

Along with his phone number. I flash a small smirk and glance at him out of the corner of my eye, but he's looking the complete opposite direction and whistling like he's in a cliche movie, pretending he didn't do something but making it obvious that he is in fact the one who did it. I shake my head in amusement and quickly add him to my contacts. I pull up his number and text him quickly before deleting the message and leaving with mom.

"Nice to meet you Xander," I say quietly, chemo already making me feel not so great. He flashes a tired smile as well, "Yeah, see you next week?" I nod as I leave the room, "Unfortunately."

A/N - woo, new character! What do you think of Xander? Thoughts? Predictions? Tell me what you think! Xoxo - Em:)