The Red Crayon
Fairy Tales
It was early in the morning when Jimmy and Matt arrived at the hospital with Kennedy in tow.
Seeing as he had been through the process of Chemotherapy before, Jimmy had volunteered to stay with Kennedy while Matt finished his work for the law firm who were keeping him on trial before his final interview. The hospital rooms they walked through were all horribly familiar to him, as they were the same ones Gabby had sat in while she got her Chemo treatment. He remembered walking through the corridors with flowers and gifts for Gabby every time she had to have another round of Chemo that was going to hurt her, and he’d sit beside her on the hospital bed, holding her and kissing her head as she let the drugs go through her, singing softly to her so she didn’t feel like everything was crumbling around her.
Kennedy held both of their hands tightly as they walked through the hospital and even though she didn’t quite understand that what was inside her body was slowly killing her if they didn’t stop it soon, but she put on a brave face anyway. Just like Jimmy and Matt were going to be doing every time they walked through these sterile white corridors to take her to the hospital.
“Kennedy Sanders?” a young male nurse asked as they walked into the Children’s ward and Matt nodded. The nurse jotted down a few notes on his clipboard before he gestured them over to a neatly made hospital bed in a long line of beds and disappeared into the array of staff.
A surge of anger ripped through Matt and his fists clenched, but noticing how angry his friend looked, Jimmy pressed a hand to his arm and offered him a warning look.
“They deal with Cancer patients on a daily basis, Matt. You have to let them do what they have to do” he warned softly as he slipped up onto the hospital bed, Matt hoisting Kennedy up onto Jimmy’s lap, but staying standing. When he was nervous, Matt paced, and now it looked like he was itching to keep walking.
“Uncle Jimmy…is it going to hurt?” Kennedy asked, and when Jimmy looked down, he noticed that Kennedy was still holding hand tightly, staring around at the other children who were in the hospital room. It was a little empty, with only a few patients hanging around, but there were still more of them there.
“Is what going to hurt honey?” he asked, catching Matt’s eye. They didn’t know exactly what kind of procedure they were going to perform for Kennedy, though Jimmy had explained that there were four types of ways to give Leukaemia patients their drugs. The next nurse would tell them what was going on, and then Jimmy would be able to tell her whether it would hurt or not.
“Of course not Baby. They’ll either give you some funny tasting medicine to make you feel better or you’ll have a little nap and they’ll put something in your chest for you” he said, pressing his fingertips to her beating heart as she nodded, pressing her other hand over his tightly.
She was terrified, but she wasn’t going to let it show. That’s what Jimmy admired most about the little girl in his lap- she had more strength than so many adults three times her age.
“Alright, where’s Miss Kennedy Sanders, the newest member of my honey bees, hm?” a familiar voice to Jimmy called out from across the room, and his head jerked up to see a plump tanned woman walking towards them, whistling something as she walked.
Her name, Jimmy remembered with a smile was Suzy, and she had helped Gabby through every day of her Chemo course, right up until the night before she’d died. Suzy had told her about all the flowers that were outside in the spring, and held her hand until it had gone cold.
As Suzy pulled the chart out of the hospital bed and grabbed a pen from her shirt pocket, she looked up with a beaming smile, when she spotted Jimmy. For a moment her smile faltered slightly and she put her hand on her hip, smirking up at the other man.
“Jimmy Sullivan. I never thought I’d see you back here after…well. Everything. Is this your daughter?” Suzy asked as he smiled at her, quickly handing Kennedy over to her father and jumping off of the bed so Matt could be at the forefront of the session, rather than Jimmy meeting Gabby’s old nurse again.
“No, no. She’s my goddaughter. This is Matt, her dad” Jimmy said, pointing over at Matt who waved and glanced over at Kennedy, who not only looked scared of this new stranger, but was cuddling up to Matt’s chest, trying to hide herself away from the new person in the room. Suzy smiled, remembering that Gabby had been exactly the same way with strangers and she sat down on the bed next to Kennedy and Matt, glancing down at the little girl with a warm smile.
“Hi Kennedy. My names Suzy and I’m a buzzy bee! Are you a buzzy bee too?” she asked kindly and Kennedy seemed to appear out of her shell for a moment, still clutching at Matt for safety, just in case.
“Yeah. But Buzzy bees make my Uncle Brian blow up like a balloon” she giggled, trying to hide it by putting her hand in front of her mouth, only stopping when Suzy began to laugh too, a laugh that reminded Jimmy why he had visited her so much during those first few days. Suzy could make anyone smile, even if you’d gone through the most painful procedure possible, she’d sit and make you smile. An optimist at heart, you couldn’t even try and not smile around her. It was almost impossible.
“Then we’ll have to make sure we prepare your Uncle Brian so he doesn’t become a balloon when he gives you hugs and kisses, isn’t that right?” Suzy nodded like she understood exactly what Kennedy was saying, and the little girl slipped onto Matt’s lap properly, staring up at the nurse beside her, who was calmly waiting to tell her what was going to happen. Even Matt was smiling now, relaxing slightly.
“Alright Kennedy, you’re going to have a special sleep OK? And when you wake up, you’re going to have a little person called Henry right here” she pointed at Kennedy’s heart softly, and her eyes sparkled with recognition as she smiled over at Jimmy.
“That’s what you said I was gonna have! Miss Suzy, do you think my Uncle Jimmy is magic?” Kennedy asked, almost leaning over her father’s arms to talk to the nurse and taking a quick glance at Jimmy, Suzy nodded.
“Yep. I think your Uncle Jimmy is from the future and he knows that Henry is going to make you all better and he knows that everything’s going to be OK. Now, we have to go to the special room where you can take your nap. Do you want Daddy to come with you?” Suzy asked, offering Jimmy a sympathetic smile and glancing up at Matt, who looked less nervous now than he had when he walked in. When Kennedy nodded, still holding the nurse’s hand, Matt stood up.
“I’m just going to talk to Uncle Jimmy for a second, kay Baby? I’ll be there before you go to sleep” he smiled and Suzy led Kennedy over to the room where they prepped the kids for their general anaesthesia.
“Tell me what’s going on. I don’t understand any of it and I feel like such a terrible parent” Matt whispered as Jimmy wrapped his arms around the bulky frame of his old friend. He knew exactly how Matt felt. Confused for your child, or for anybody you loved was the worst kind of feeling- he knew from experience.
“They’re going to put Kennedy under a general anesthesia and insert a Hickman Catheter, which is a rubber tube, into her central veins. The tube tunnels through the surface skin between the neck and the shoulders. She’ll have stitches and then a plaster to keep it from getting infected. Gabby had one too- it’s just another way of giving her the Chemo she needs” Jimmy explained as he gave his friend a final hug and sent him towards the room where they’d be preparing Kennedy to go under. Alone in the large hospital room, he pulled himself up onto the bed and after a moment of staring around the room, he lay back on the pillows and curled his body sideways, closing his eyes. One Saturday after Gabby had gone through her treatment; he’d snuck in and fallen asleep by her side, holding her tightly.
He fitted his body around the invisible shape of hers and sighed, wondering one little question that she’d asked him one day.
Why do we all like happy endings in books so much she’d asked, wondering if Jimmy knew the answer. And as tears pricked in his eyes, he remembered his exact answer.
Because for a moment, we can believe that they’ll happen in real life too.
Seeing as he had been through the process of Chemotherapy before, Jimmy had volunteered to stay with Kennedy while Matt finished his work for the law firm who were keeping him on trial before his final interview. The hospital rooms they walked through were all horribly familiar to him, as they were the same ones Gabby had sat in while she got her Chemo treatment. He remembered walking through the corridors with flowers and gifts for Gabby every time she had to have another round of Chemo that was going to hurt her, and he’d sit beside her on the hospital bed, holding her and kissing her head as she let the drugs go through her, singing softly to her so she didn’t feel like everything was crumbling around her.
Kennedy held both of their hands tightly as they walked through the hospital and even though she didn’t quite understand that what was inside her body was slowly killing her if they didn’t stop it soon, but she put on a brave face anyway. Just like Jimmy and Matt were going to be doing every time they walked through these sterile white corridors to take her to the hospital.
“Kennedy Sanders?” a young male nurse asked as they walked into the Children’s ward and Matt nodded. The nurse jotted down a few notes on his clipboard before he gestured them over to a neatly made hospital bed in a long line of beds and disappeared into the array of staff.
A surge of anger ripped through Matt and his fists clenched, but noticing how angry his friend looked, Jimmy pressed a hand to his arm and offered him a warning look.
“They deal with Cancer patients on a daily basis, Matt. You have to let them do what they have to do” he warned softly as he slipped up onto the hospital bed, Matt hoisting Kennedy up onto Jimmy’s lap, but staying standing. When he was nervous, Matt paced, and now it looked like he was itching to keep walking.
“Uncle Jimmy…is it going to hurt?” Kennedy asked, and when Jimmy looked down, he noticed that Kennedy was still holding hand tightly, staring around at the other children who were in the hospital room. It was a little empty, with only a few patients hanging around, but there were still more of them there.
“Is what going to hurt honey?” he asked, catching Matt’s eye. They didn’t know exactly what kind of procedure they were going to perform for Kennedy, though Jimmy had explained that there were four types of ways to give Leukaemia patients their drugs. The next nurse would tell them what was going on, and then Jimmy would be able to tell her whether it would hurt or not.
“Of course not Baby. They’ll either give you some funny tasting medicine to make you feel better or you’ll have a little nap and they’ll put something in your chest for you” he said, pressing his fingertips to her beating heart as she nodded, pressing her other hand over his tightly.
She was terrified, but she wasn’t going to let it show. That’s what Jimmy admired most about the little girl in his lap- she had more strength than so many adults three times her age.
“Alright, where’s Miss Kennedy Sanders, the newest member of my honey bees, hm?” a familiar voice to Jimmy called out from across the room, and his head jerked up to see a plump tanned woman walking towards them, whistling something as she walked.
Her name, Jimmy remembered with a smile was Suzy, and she had helped Gabby through every day of her Chemo course, right up until the night before she’d died. Suzy had told her about all the flowers that were outside in the spring, and held her hand until it had gone cold.
As Suzy pulled the chart out of the hospital bed and grabbed a pen from her shirt pocket, she looked up with a beaming smile, when she spotted Jimmy. For a moment her smile faltered slightly and she put her hand on her hip, smirking up at the other man.
“Jimmy Sullivan. I never thought I’d see you back here after…well. Everything. Is this your daughter?” Suzy asked as he smiled at her, quickly handing Kennedy over to her father and jumping off of the bed so Matt could be at the forefront of the session, rather than Jimmy meeting Gabby’s old nurse again.
“No, no. She’s my goddaughter. This is Matt, her dad” Jimmy said, pointing over at Matt who waved and glanced over at Kennedy, who not only looked scared of this new stranger, but was cuddling up to Matt’s chest, trying to hide herself away from the new person in the room. Suzy smiled, remembering that Gabby had been exactly the same way with strangers and she sat down on the bed next to Kennedy and Matt, glancing down at the little girl with a warm smile.
“Hi Kennedy. My names Suzy and I’m a buzzy bee! Are you a buzzy bee too?” she asked kindly and Kennedy seemed to appear out of her shell for a moment, still clutching at Matt for safety, just in case.
“Yeah. But Buzzy bees make my Uncle Brian blow up like a balloon” she giggled, trying to hide it by putting her hand in front of her mouth, only stopping when Suzy began to laugh too, a laugh that reminded Jimmy why he had visited her so much during those first few days. Suzy could make anyone smile, even if you’d gone through the most painful procedure possible, she’d sit and make you smile. An optimist at heart, you couldn’t even try and not smile around her. It was almost impossible.
“Then we’ll have to make sure we prepare your Uncle Brian so he doesn’t become a balloon when he gives you hugs and kisses, isn’t that right?” Suzy nodded like she understood exactly what Kennedy was saying, and the little girl slipped onto Matt’s lap properly, staring up at the nurse beside her, who was calmly waiting to tell her what was going to happen. Even Matt was smiling now, relaxing slightly.
“Alright Kennedy, you’re going to have a special sleep OK? And when you wake up, you’re going to have a little person called Henry right here” she pointed at Kennedy’s heart softly, and her eyes sparkled with recognition as she smiled over at Jimmy.
“That’s what you said I was gonna have! Miss Suzy, do you think my Uncle Jimmy is magic?” Kennedy asked, almost leaning over her father’s arms to talk to the nurse and taking a quick glance at Jimmy, Suzy nodded.
“Yep. I think your Uncle Jimmy is from the future and he knows that Henry is going to make you all better and he knows that everything’s going to be OK. Now, we have to go to the special room where you can take your nap. Do you want Daddy to come with you?” Suzy asked, offering Jimmy a sympathetic smile and glancing up at Matt, who looked less nervous now than he had when he walked in. When Kennedy nodded, still holding the nurse’s hand, Matt stood up.
“I’m just going to talk to Uncle Jimmy for a second, kay Baby? I’ll be there before you go to sleep” he smiled and Suzy led Kennedy over to the room where they prepped the kids for their general anaesthesia.
“Tell me what’s going on. I don’t understand any of it and I feel like such a terrible parent” Matt whispered as Jimmy wrapped his arms around the bulky frame of his old friend. He knew exactly how Matt felt. Confused for your child, or for anybody you loved was the worst kind of feeling- he knew from experience.
“They’re going to put Kennedy under a general anesthesia and insert a Hickman Catheter, which is a rubber tube, into her central veins. The tube tunnels through the surface skin between the neck and the shoulders. She’ll have stitches and then a plaster to keep it from getting infected. Gabby had one too- it’s just another way of giving her the Chemo she needs” Jimmy explained as he gave his friend a final hug and sent him towards the room where they’d be preparing Kennedy to go under. Alone in the large hospital room, he pulled himself up onto the bed and after a moment of staring around the room, he lay back on the pillows and curled his body sideways, closing his eyes. One Saturday after Gabby had gone through her treatment; he’d snuck in and fallen asleep by her side, holding her tightly.
He fitted his body around the invisible shape of hers and sighed, wondering one little question that she’d asked him one day.
Why do we all like happy endings in books so much she’d asked, wondering if Jimmy knew the answer. And as tears pricked in his eyes, he remembered his exact answer.
Because for a moment, we can believe that they’ll happen in real life too.
Soooooooooo....an update would be awesome!!!
5/21/17