Chapter
44
Half an hour later, Elyssa was back in her room, curled in
a fetal position in bed. She heard the
door to her room open, but she didn’t look up.
Instead, she closed her eyes, pretending she was asleep.
“Lyssa?”
Elyssa recognized the voice as Jenna’s. Sighing, she rolled over onto her back to
face her friend.
“Hey,” Jenna said softly, offering Elyssa a smile. Elyssa smiled back wanly. “How was it?” Jenna asked.
“Horrible,” Elyssa replied bluntly. “You know what a bone marrow exam is,
Jen?”
“Uh, I dunno, I guess I’ve heard of it before, but…” Jenna
trailed off, shrugging.
Elyssa smiled grimly and began to explain, in detail, what
had been done to her. As she went on,
Jenna’s face got whiter and whiter, as her green eyes widened.
Finally, Jenna sagged down on the bed. Her body trembled slightly, her breaths came
in ragged gasps, and she was the color of paste.
“Sorry,” Elyssa said, rather flatly. She should have known Jenna would almost
pass out. She had no tolerance for
blood, needles, or gory details of any kind.
And she had fainted or almost fainted many times because of this. They were all used to it by now, so it was
no cause for concern.
There was suddenly a quick knock on the door, and AJ popped
his head in. “Hey, honey,” he said,
entering the room. “How’s my girl?”
Elyssa was about to reply, when AJ noticed Jenna sitting on
the edge of the bed, her head between her knees, her thin frame shaking.
He shot Elyssa an alarmed look, and she just waved her hand
casually. Still, AJ was concerned. He knelt on the floor beside Jenna and
lightly rested his hand on her back.
“Jen? You okay?” he asked.
Jenna looked up slightly.
“Yeah,” she whispered shakily.
“I’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
“Okay…” AJ said uncertainly. He glanced back at Elyssa. “So, how are you doing? What were the tests like?”
“Uh, I don’t want to go into that now,” Elyssa replied,
glancing at Jenna and then back at him meaningfully. AJ nodded, realizing what had happened. He looked back at Jenna, whose coloring had
not improved much.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, patting Elyssa’s shoulder
and then heading out of the room. In the
hall, he ran into Nick and Kevin.
“Hey, Nicky, you might want to go in there,” he informed
Nick, motioning to Elyssa’s room. “Jenna
looks like she’s about to pass out.”
“What?!” Nick cried, his eyes widening in alarm.
AJ quickly put his hand on Nick’s shoulder to calm
him. “Don’t worry, I think she’ll be
okay. It sounds like Lyssa started
telling her about her tests or something, and Jenna got like that. She must have a weak stomach.”
Nick nodded, relaxing a bit. “I’ll go make sure she’s okay,” he said,
ducking into Elyssa’s room. AJ followed
behind, while Kevin headed to the waiting room, where the others were sitting.
“You okay, baby?” Nick asked, gently perching beside Jenna
at the foot of the bed and lightly putting his arm around her.
Jenna nodded. By
now, some of the color in her face had come back, and her breathing had
slowed. “I’m okay,” she said, sitting
up straighter.
“I’m sorry, Jen,” Elyssa said again, sounding more sincere
this time.
Jenna just waved her hand and smiled sheepishly. “It’s okay.
You know me,” she said.
Elyssa smiled genuinely for the first time in hours,
relieved that Jenna was okay and hoping that the worst part of her hospital
stay was over. Unfortunately for her, it
was just beginning.
***