Chapter 1
About Leukemia/Blood Cancer
Leukemia is another type of cancer, a cancer of blood forming tissues, that makes it hard for the body to fight the infections, hence it is also called blood cancer and leukemia requires medical diagnosis and treatment is available by the medical professionals. However, treatment varies from the severity of this cancer followed by all the five stages of this type of cancer. Leukemia can there is no cure for leukemia found.
Some people have slow growing leukemia unlike others, it differs and lab tests are also required to be ran during this process. For specialists you can visit a oncologist and a hematologist. Symptoms for leukemia may vary from people but they usually include weight loss, frequent infections, fatigue, dizziness, fever, loss of appetite, pain in the joints and bones, and what is also common is the bleeding and easy bruising, weakness, shortness of breath and red spots on skin.
Should you know anyone or feel that you might be having something going on in your body or might be experience more than enough of these symptoms, visit a doctor as soon as possible.
“I have the most beautiful daughter in the whole entire world”
“I have the most amazing dad in the whole entire world” fourteen year old Claire giggles
“Will you drink your milk today, Claire Ray?” Her father asks with a grin on his face as he pours the warm milk to a glass and Claire gives a huge sigh and rolls her pretty hazel eyes.
“Why do I always have to drink milk? I’m not a child anymore, I’m old” she whines
“Claire Ray, who said fourteen is old?” he teases her
“Stop it daddy, I don’t like milk” she refuses to drink the milk and her mother walks to the kitchen with a few clothes in her hands.
“Drink your milk Claire” Priya, Claire’s mother tells her
“No” she still refuses and she gets busy on her phone.
“No Netflix this weekend” says her mother
Claire puts her phone aside and swiftly grabs the glass of milk and drink all of it, her father Will laughs.
“You really have your way with her don’t you honey?” hd tells his wife who laughs.
“You guys are not fair at all.” Claire stands up from her chair and goes outside.
“Oh well, she’s your daughter Will”
“What do you mean she’s my daughter, you’re the only one that got her mad”
“You are the only one that can make her feel better” Priya giggles
“By the way I’ll go for a drive with her, when I come back we have to talk”
“Okay my love”
“I love you” he tells her as he walks towards her to give her a kiss.
“I love you too”
Will walks out of the house and goes to find his daughter at the swing, she curled her lips.
“Who’s daddy’s little bear?”
“No”
Claire refused to play along
“Claire Ray-”
Before he could continue Claire cut him off
“I'm Claire! Just Claire” she frowns
“Oh sweetheart, it was just milk, I’m sorry I didn’t think you’d hate it this much.”
Claire mumbles and Hus father laughs
“Okay from now on sweet bear, you wont have milk and I’ll talk to your mother about this”
“Please do, I don’t like having milk and you guys must stop forcing me to, its not nice nor funny”
“I promise it wont happen again”
Claire jumped on his shoulders and he goes to put her in his car and they drove away for a long drive, for hours with endless topics.
While still driving Will suddenly start coughing blood and was losing consciousness as his eyes began seeing blurry on the road.
“No! Daddy are you okay? Daddy you’re scaring me! Daddy”
Claire screamed in fear of seeing her father in that condition, her heart races and his father suddenly lost control of the driving wheel and the car went to the other side of the road and bumped to a truck which led to an enormous car accident.
Claire’s POV:
I woke up in the hospital bed, all I could feel was my sore hands, I thought I was losing it. My mother was standing next to me I could see her eyes filled with tears then I took a closer look at myself in the bed. I didn’t like my situation I felt like I could just scream, I couldn’t feel my legs!
“I can’t feel my legs! Help me! Mom!” I screamed and the doctors came running to my wars next thing my mom was sent out of the ward then I was sent back to sleep. When I wake up after hours I find my mother back with me again and she gave me water to drink.
“what happened? How did I end up here? Like this?”
“Honey, you had a far accident with your father to the drugstore yesterday evening.”
“really?! How is daddy? Where is he? I need to see him” I just wanted to get off the hospital bed to see how my dad was doing.
“Claire your father is not okay, he’s not here”
“then where is he?”
“He’s not alive anymore!”
I felt as if lightning just struck on me, my dad wasn’t at the hospital nor in any corner of the world. I couldn’t find him even if I wanted to. Tears rolled down my eyes as my mouth was wide open with shock and my jaws dropped. I froze.
After the weekend of his burial my friends came with gifts to my house and they tried their level best to put a smile on my face but I just couldn’t help it, I couldn’t even pretend in front of them, they could see clearly that I was in grave pain, I was not in this world anymore I was miles away. I couldn’t walk anymore and the Doctors said that I would never be able to walk so I was given a wheelchair to help me the most hurtful news I received was that I inherited leukemia from my late father who only not died from the accident but leukemia helped in taking his life. My world was shuttered completely.
“Ana and Rose left. Would you like anything to eat or drink?” Mrs Ray asked her daughter who was always on her wheelchair next to her window looking through in her room.
“I’m not hungry”
“You always say that, darling you must eat something”
“Why? I’m gonna die soon anyway do why is it fair that it gets to be leukemia that takes away my life? Why can’t I take away my own life?”
“Claire don’t say that! I lost your father and I can’t lose you too!” she was angry that she yelled for a second.
“you lied to me! When he was sick you told me he’ll be okay! You didn’t want me to see him when he was at his worst! You didn’t tell me he had leukemia!” Claire yelled from the top of her lungs in tears.
“We both wanted to tell you but we couldn’t, he asked me not to tell you! We didn’t know you have it as well and you’re not going to die we’ll fight this together”
“We can’t fight it, my only hero couldn’t fight it” she cried “I’m only 16 and I have dreams but I won’t get the chance to fulfill them! I don’t deserve this mom, I’m still young and I didn’t do anything bad to deserve this, please tell god to take it away mom I don’t want it…I want to live” she cried like a baby and that made her mother cry even worse.
“I promise I’ll go to church and ask for forgiveness for all the bad things I did, I’ll only serve god and I won’t do anything wrong, I won’t make any mistakes in my life but can you please ask him to take it away, I’m sorry”
“Don’t do this to yourself my princess, you won’t die…I promise you I’ll find cure for you I’ll do anything for my baby I swear sweetheart just don’t apologize you didn’t ask for this” Claire changed her wishlist, she cancelled all her dreams and wishes like going to LA, becoming a famous marvel actress, travelling the world, going hiking and the rest the she put new dreams full of sadness staying at home, not going out, never going to find love, always be an ordinary person, stop eating fried foods, never going to meet her famous author Lorain Barker, she was overshadowed with sorrow and she torn apart her first wish list and cried.
Mrs Ray cried even more especially at night she couldn’t sleep a wink so she cried and looked at Claire’s baby pictures in the family album. Next coming days Mrs Priya Ray signed her daughter to a therapy session and she’d go fetch her every afternoon after taking her there an hour before.
“How do you feel Claire?” the therapist asked politely.
“Like nothing will ever be okay until I die. I tried every night to speak to god, I’m going to church every Sunday but he still doesn’t listen to me. Lately I’ve been trying to look deep inside me to look if there’s anything I did wrong and apologize for it, but I can’t find it” she tried to hold back her tears.
“Let it all out my child”
“I can’t , I’m tired of letting it out…it hurts even more” she says.
“It’s nobody who has cancer that asked for it, your father didn’t ask for it neither have you. Everything is going to fall into place just like your mother always says, you just need to be strong that’s all.” The therapist advices her.
“I can’t be strong anymore, I don’t have it in me to be strong. I’m still a fucking kid why can’t god understand that I can’t be all by myself with this sickness? I need to be like every other teenager, like my friends and have fun! Am I asking for too much?”
“dear life can’t be predictable, sometimes there’s nothing we can do in our situation so we have to be strong that’s all. I need you to know that you’re not alone.”
“I watched my father cough in front of me, h was coughing blood and he asked my mother to tell me he’d be okay but he lied to me, he was never okay. They both didn’t tell me”
“they only wanted to protect you, they didn’t want to hurt you that is why and that’s what every parent dies for their children, they only let you know when the time’s right. It’s not everyone with cancer that dies so have hope for now “
Mrs. Ray walks in after knocking and Claire gets herself outside next to the car.
“How does it go?” therapist asked Priya “its not getting any better, but I’m sure it will” Priya answers with tears rolling down her face and the therapist hugged her.
“I just don’t want her to think I’m weak because she’ll lose hope and think we can’t fight this together, I can’t fight it for her but I have to, she’s the only one I’m left with in my life and it hurts me every second and everyday to see her life like this she’s literally blaming herself for the inheritance and she wants it away, she just wants to be happy nothing else.”
“I know the two of you are strong and you’ll eventually get through this, it’s still early for her to lose hope and you must show her that you’re strong that way she’ll get hope, I know myself.”
“Thank you Dr Hartman.”
Priya excuses the therapist and helps Claire to the car then she gets in and drives home. The next Sunday they go back to church and after the sermon the two met with the father.
“It feels as if everyone knows that I have leukemia.” Claire says.
“that isn’t true my dear.” Confirms the Father.
Ana came running “hey Claire, do you mind if you could come outside for a moment?”
Claire came along with Ana outside the three friends with Ana had a chit chat. While inside the father was still having a conversation with Priya.
“Father I need to know why, why is it my daughter that is suffering this thing? Claire is heartbroken and it’s the first time I see my child like this. It breaks my heart father she’s still very young.”
“Only god has the answers to your questions Priya, you need to hang in there child of God. The he who’s above knows why things are going like this and the best part is that we can’t remain in our sorrows forever, he knows what’s next” the father smiles.
“I guess you’re right.” She signs.
Since the father couldn’t meet with Claire they went home and the following day the father pay them a visit the two were having a good conversation.
“God has a purpose for you my dear, why you’re on this wheelchair. Why you’re suffering from leukemia, he knows everything. You have to have faith in him and that is all.”
“I guess you’re right Father. But I wonder what purpose is it that he has and that put me on a wheelchair.”
“wonder less and have yourself filled with hope then you’ll see the miracle.”
“thank you father.”
Their conversation continued until Priya made dinner for all of them that night. Next morning Priya went out early in the morning and came back before Claire could wake up and when she does she finds everything packed and she was surprised.
“Mom” summoning her mom who quickly came to her with two plain tickets.
“We are moving to Los Angeles the city of your dreams” Priya tells her and her face brightened.
“No way LA?! That’s the city of my dreams mom!” she screamed in excitement that Priya missed for months.
“I knew it was that’s why we’re going there. We’ll stay with your aunt who stays there.”
The two embraced each other and later they took off to LA, leaving their home Cape Town for good.
