Sixteen-year-old Grace Bradbury left the doctors office in complete shock, her mother acting morose at her side. Just the night before is when she found the mysterious bruises on her ribcage, and when she pointed them out to her doctor, she was sent for some tests. But now that the tests were over, it was clear what Grace had: Leukemia.
Grace was a normal teenage girl before all this happened. She had a boyfriend named Ray Tymes, who decided to dump her after she told him the news concerning her health status. She had a father, who left her mother and her when he decided he had enough. She had A’s and B’s as grades, and a garrulous personality to go with them. Grace had recently got her license, but she was an obstante driver and never let anyone get away with anything.
Ever since she got the disease, Grace’s mother Nancy has been by her side. That was until about six months ago when she developed a drinking problem. She started because it took off all the stress of reality, but now she has been unable to make educated decisions for her dying daughter. Instead of being by Grace’s side, Nancy has been to bars instead of doctors appointments, or even the drugstore instead of sitting on the end of her daughter’s hospital bed. Grace felt as though she was being rebuffed by her mother, and for the time being, she was able to concur.
* * *
“Mom, Dr. Bracton will be here in just a sec. He wants you to make a decision,” Grace said to her mother patiently.
“Oh yeah? A decision?” Nancy countered back in a seditious tone. She had just gotten back from the bar, and was drunk and confound. Just then, the doctor came in.
“How are you two ladies today?” Asked Dr. Bracton politely, noticing how dizzy Nancy looked as he was doing so.
“We’re just fine Doc. Now lets get this show on the road!” Nancy said with little revere for the doctor. He shot a glance at Grace, and she just rolled her eyes as if this was no big deal.
“Okay, this is going to be a quick appointment,” he looked over at Grace. “I’m just going to quickly examine you, and uh, we’ll see where you’re at before we go any further. Sound good?” Grace nodded her head with a dreadful look. She already knew what was going to happen. She wasn’t going to be well, and is going to need a transplant or Chemo or something else she couldn’t have.
As she was being examined, Grace thought about how her life was changed. She hated having cancer. She felt as though she was being held back, or trapped all the time. It was hard to handle, and she felt like she had a lot of luggage.
“Okay Grace, I think you know what’s happening here,” Dr. Bracton began. “You aren’t doing well, and-” Just then, Grace released fountains of blood from her mouth and nose.
“Hey Grace, time to wake up girl! What are you doin’, sleepin’ in fruit punch?” Nancy said in a garbled tone. Dr. Bracton immediately picked up the phone and dialed the emergency number.
“Unstable cancer patient, room 221 in the leukemia wing, needs medical assistance pronto.” He jogged over to where Grace was lying, and gently shoved Nancy away.
“Hey, this is my daughter, and we’re leaving!” Screamed Nancy.
“No! You don’t understand, she isn’t permitted to leave this hospital in this condition,” Ordered the Doctor. By now the staff was there to bolster Grace, and take her away for some medical attention.
“Ms. Bradbury-”
“I’m divorced, My name is Ms. Jashel to you, Doc,” Said the truculent Nancy as another Doctor, Dr. Williams, came into the blood-stained room.
“My apologies, Ms. Jashel. But by the looks of her exam, Grace needs some emergency Chemo therapy, the only other choice is a bone-marrow transplant. But in order to have the transplant done, she needs a donor. So she’d be on the waiting list of over 100 people, and this wouldn’t be able to be done now. So her only option is for Chemo therapy, and we need your permission to do that,” Dr. Bracton explained.
“No. No! No! No! My daughter has been through too much, and we’re done here. She isn’t having the therapy, not now, and not ever!” Yelled Nancy in a nefarious voice. She was still drunk, and very slow.
“But you can’t just stand here and let your daughter die! She can live if she receives this therapy, or at least hopefully be stable for the time being! Why won’t you let your daughter receive this therapy?” Dr. Bracton was now being tenacious about the situation, and unable to take no for an answer.
“I said no, I mean no. N-O. Now let me see my daughter,” Nancy urged.
“But-”
“Doctor,” Said Dr. Williams who was still in the room. “You can’t make the decision for this family. It’s her child, not yours.”
“But- She’s killing her daughter. I- Ugh. Lets go see Grace to see her views before a decision is made,” Suggested Dr. Bracton.
Grace was in critical condition, she was very unkempt. Her hair was all over the place, her clothes stained with blood. She looked as if she was wizened, and just drifting away. She slowly looked up at her mom and doctor.
“Grace, honey, we’re leaving. Get up, lets go.” Grace looked at her mom then at her doctor. She then slowly started to rise from the hospital bed.
“Whoa, Grace! It doesn’t have to be this way. You can stay here and get treated, this isn’t the only option,” Pleaded the doctor.
“I know, but I’ve made my decision. Not my mom’s, but mine. I’m ready to go, I’ve had enough.” Everyone in the room looked at her, and could tell she was being sincere and that she really wanted to leave. So one by one, doctors made a path to let Grace hobble out the door.
“Bye Dr. Bracton, I’m sorry I let you down. But I have to do this.”
At the very last moment, Dr. Bracton waved and a tear dripped down his face. Doctors aren’t supposed to have emotional attachments to there patients, but Dr. Bracton has grown close to Grace over the past year.
“Bye Grace,” he said before she walked out the door, knowing he will never see her again. He then turned around and summoned all of the staff members to get back to work, and walked to the waiting room and greeted a brand new patient.
