The Girl In Room 417

Untitled Part 4

"You're here early, how come?"

"I wanted to spend some quality time with my favourite sister, why else?"

"I'm your only sister."

"Still my favourite though."

She laughs at that and I smile, glad to see her in higher spirits.

"Your hair is looking good." I point out and she smiles again.

"Yeah, 417 knows every trick in the book, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but who knows." She shrugs and I frown at the mention of the girl in 417.

"She said I shouldn't smoke."

"Who? 417?"

"Yeah."

"When?"

"This morning, I got here early."

"Well, she's right. You shouldn't."

I laugh and my sister puts on her stern face.

"It'll give you cancer."

"That's what she said. I said that joke is in poor taste."

She lays her head back into her pillows and sighs.

"I suppose it is, it's just a lot easier to laugh about it than cry about it, though. Do you understand what I mean?" She asks and I nod, although I don't understand. Unless I get cancer, I don't think I ever will. I can try though.

She smiles and picks up a book that I had brought her. It's second-hand, but I had thought the cover was pretty.

"Emily?"

A slim nurse whom I have never seen before pokes her head into the room. She has an apologetic smile on.

"It's time for your session, sweetheart."

Emily pulls a face and I nod, kissing Em's forehead and helping her into her chair. I push her down into a lighter room, which contains an ominous circle of chairs and IV stands. I shiver slightly. It's horrible in here.

I stand to the side idly as nurses help set everything up. It's difficult to watch, but everything I see helps me to empathise more with my sister and her situation. I go to leave when the doorway is blocked by a chirpy looking 417.

She bounds into the room, tugging an IV stand as she goes, quickly pursued by an agitated nurse who is wheeling an empty wheelchair. 417's IV is covered in Pokémon stickers and the wire leads from the clear bag and into her arm.

It's the first time I've seen her actually using the medical equipment here. I was almost certain that she just had no place else to go.

She slumps into the chair beside my sister and throws herself into animated conversation, ignoring my presence as if she hasn't seen me a day in her life. She doesn't get hooked up and I wonder why she's in here, if not for chemo.

A nurse, who is watching my confounded stare, laughs and decides to enlighten me.

"417 comes down for every session, for moral support. She knows how it feels, and she knows how to make people feel better. She's a ray of sunshine in a cloudy room." He says fondly and I roll my eyes.

I force down the bile in my throat. She has everyone here wrapped around her little finger, so much so that they refer to her using sickening metaphors.

Not me though, I think to myself. Not me.

-

The next two days I spend juggling work and school. I'm trying to focus on my studies but it's not going too well. My teachers are lenient with me, given the circumstances, but exams are a different story.

When I have a few hours to spare, I find myself on route to the hospital without even realising it. It's almost becoming a second home.

Walking the familiar route, I look to my right out of habit and find that the door and blinds to room 417 are closed. The room looks completely shut off and I frown curiously.

I continue to my sister's room and knock quickly, letting myself in. Emily looks over the moon to see me and I beam at her.

"Ben! I missed you, you big lump!"

"It's only been two days, although I missed you too."

"Two days is a lifetime in here, believe me."

"What about your friends?"

"Oh, yeah. They're ok I guess. I haven't seen 417 since you were last here." She says glumly and I raise my eyebrows.

"How come?"

"I don't know, apparently this happens sometimes. She goes MIA for a few days and then reappears as if nothing happened." She says with a shrug.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be around soon. How was your last round of chemo?"

"Okay, considering they injected me with poison."

"That's the spirit!"

She rolls her eyes at me and plucks a grape from her table, popping it in her mouth. I breath in and get assaulted with a mouthful of bleach. I blanch, noticeably.

"Yeah, they did a deep clean the other day. Even I could smell the bleach, and I live here!"

She pops another grape into her mouth.

"How do you live with it?"

"You get used to it" She shrugs, chewing on her grape.

"I couldn't bare it."

"Honestly, that's the part of this situation that you wouldn't be able to bare?" She laughs and I nod sheepishly. I'm being melodramatic, I know. I hate the smell!

"When is dad coming round again? I miss him." Emily says, her voice is very quiet, reminding me of when we were kids.

"Soon, I think he's planning on dropping by tonight. Work is really busy and we could do with the money." I say.

I give her hand a sympathetic pat and she sighs.

"Okay. Sammy and Leon dropped by from school and told me everything that I've missed." She says, her eyes shining a little brighter and I smile, relaxing into my chair as I listen to the rigmarole that Em has been missing.

I'm glad her friends have been dropping by. I hate the thought of Emily being lonely, so I sit back and give her my full attention, pleased with the few hours of my time that I can gift to her.