TRAPPED

25

Celine

My dad stays and watches me during figure skating practice, and when I'm done I find that I'm so extremely tired that I can hardly walk.

I sit beside him as I pull my skates off, clean the ice off the blades and then but my soakers on. I shove them into my bag, then put my shoes on.

"You have fun?" He asks me.

     I nod silently, standing. I get a bit dizzy as I lean down to grab my bag. I start walking, and he walks beside me, shortening his long strides so our paces match.

     "How are you feeling?"

     "Fine."

     "You sure?"

     "Mhm."

     He opens my car door for me, and I glance at him before sliding in, putting my bag in. I mutter a thanks, closing my eyes for a moment.

     I feel my dad buckle me in, but I don't open my eyes, one second of resting them turning into another, then another until I fall asleep.

•

I look up when I'm lifted into strong arms. My dad carries me into the house, then up the stairs. I lean my head on his shoulder, and his eyes soften as he looks down at me.

     "Go back to sleep, baby. You're okay." He assures me, his tone gentle.

     So I do.

•

My dad wakes me up the next morning, saying that the hospital called. That I'd be able to miss school since the appointment is in the middle of the day, so there'd be no point in me going in.

     He tells me to go back to bed, and that's when I get a sinking feeling in my gut, like I know something is terribly wrong. But I don't say anything, just turn over and go back to sleep.

     He wakes me up again at eleven.

     "Come on, sweetheart, get changed and I'll make you some breakfast before we go."

     "Okay." I mutter.

     He smiles before leaving. I drag myself out of bed, change out of the clothes I fell asleep wearing, then grab my phone off my nightstand and make my way downstairs.

     I eat breakfast.

     He takes me out to the car. Brings me a water. But I still don't get the feeling out of my stomach that something is horribly, incredibly wrong.

     We drive to the hospital. We don't have to wait for long, a nurse comes to get us within a few minutes of us sitting down.

     I walk in front of my dad, but behind the nurse. My dad sits down only when I do, sending me a reassuring smile as we look back at the doctor, who has a gentle, sad smile on her face.

     "Celine's test results came back." She says. She continues talking, but I don't understand any of it. Blah, blah, (medical term goes here) blah, blah, blah. "And we found that she has stage one breast cancer."