By Alaina Altamura
'So are you coming in?' the nurse said from the other side of the doorway. Eliza stood outside of the room staring in blankly trying not to think. She didn't want to think about the treatments she would be starting, she didn't want to think about her hair that would soon begin to fall out, and she most certainly did not want to think about the months she would have to spend in a bedridden hell. So instead she focused on the obnoxiously cold hospital hallway she was standing in, over air-conditioned to combat the hot summer temperature outside. She starred down at her body, it looked as normal as ever, just a few weeks earlier she had been in the best shape of her life, ironically it would be the best shape she would ever be in this life. But even as the words ran through her mind, it was still impossible for her to comprehend that a routine check-up had turned into a death sentence.
'Ms. Brooks? The nurse called to her again, 'Come in we are ready for you now.'
But she didn't want to go in. She didn't want to walk through the doorway and confirm her condition. A cheesy horror movie scene kept playing in her head of her walking into that grey hospital room and it suddenly coming to life and devour her whole. Her screams would echo through the hallway all the way to pediatrics, but alas, no one would hear her.
'Please, it's only a few blood tests, that's all.'
Eliza looked up making herself concentrate.
I'm being silly. She took one step towards the small check-up room. Her heel hitting the hard linoleum floor rang-out, forcing her forward again. 'Clink, clink, clink.' And finally her shoe was through the door, then her head, and then her entire body.
'That's it,' the nurse smiled, 'now please; can I see your arm?'
'Yes.' Eliza replied, 'I'm ready now.'