Chapter
57
Two weeks
later
“Elyssa, you have made remarkable progress with your chemo
treatments. You’ve responded
surprisingly well,” Dr. Sanford said, as he sat in Elyssa’s room that
afternoon.
“That’s good,” she said carefully. “So… what does this mean? Am I in remission yet?”
“Not completely, but you’re as good as. I think you’re ready to be released
tomorrow,” the doctor answered, smiling.
“Oh wow, that’s great,” Elyssa said, grinning back at
him.
“I’ll want you to come back as an outpatient for chemo
treatments twice a week for the next couple of weeks or so, and we’ll continue
to run tests and monitor your progress, just to make sure you don’t have any
setbacks. But after that, if things
continue to look good, you’ll be in full remission again,” Dr. Sanford said.
“Okay, that sounds good,” Elyssa said.
“You rest up, and I’ll be back with your discharge papers
in the morning,” Dr. Sanford said with another smile.
“Okay. Thank you so
much,” Elyssa replied gratefully.
“Bye.”
As soon as he was gone, she grinned and grabbed the phone
to call everyone with the good news.
***
“Can I get you anything, honey?”
Elyssa smiled up at AJ.
“No, babe, I’m fine,” she replied.
It was the next afternoon, and Elyssa had just come home from
the hospital hours earlier. She was
happy to be home, but exhausted, so she had gone straight to bed. AJ had been popping in nearly every half an
hour to ask if she needed anything. It
was getting old, but she didn’t tell him that.
He was a sweetheart, and she wouldn’t want him to be any other way.
Suddenly the phone rang.
“I’ve got it,” Elyssa said, reaching for the phone beside their bed
before AJ could grab it. “Hello?” she
asked, putting it to her ear.
“Hey, Lyss! It’s
Rena,” came Serena’s perky voice.
“Hey, girl. What’s
up?” Elyssa asked, happy to hear from Serena.
“Not much. How about
you? How are you feeling?”
“I’m great,” Elyssa replied. “You know, tired, but glad to be home.”
“That’s good,” Serena said.
“Oh, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Well, Howie and I have started talking about our wedding,
cause we need to start planning sometime soon, and I was wondering… would you
be my maid of honor?”
Elyssa gasped in delight.
“Would I? Oh, Rena, of
course!”
“Oh, great!” Serena squealed. “I’m so glad.
You know, Elyssa, the four of us are all best friends, but you’ve always
been my very best friend. I don’t think
I could go down that aisle without you in front of me.”
Unexpected tears rose in Elyssa’s eyes. “Aw, Rena, you’re my best friend too. And I’d be honored to be your maid of honor.”
“Thanks, Lyss.”
“Anytime. So, who
will the other bridesmaids be? And what
color gowns will we wear? And-“
“Whoa, slow down, girl,” Serena laughed. “Just Jen, Ash, and my sister, Amber. And you’ll all be wearing black gowns.”
“That’s cool,” Elyssa said. She had figured they’d be wearing black; it
was Serena’s favorite color.
“And who’s the best man going to be?”
“Howie’s brother, John,” Serena replied. “AJ, Brian, Nick, and Kev will all be
groomsman.”
“Sounds good,” Elyssa said.
“Howie’s already talked to AJ about this then, I assume.”
“Yup. He’s got it
all taken care of. But you know me; I
procrastinate,” Serena laughed.
“No problem. You’ve
got plenty of time to plan this thing,” Elyssa replied.
“Yup… Oh, Lyss, I can barely wait! This is so exciting!” Serena burst out.
“I know!” Elyssa replied, caught up in her friend’s
enthusiasm. “I can’t wait either.”
***
