By Megan Oates
“You have cancer.”
I replayed his words over and over…and over. I looked straight ahead and saw nothing; the room was a blur of colour. I felt faint. It was the most dreamlike feeling. In that moment I was so aware of everything I was doing; it was as if I could only blink in slow motion. It was beyond surreal. My heart sank. I could hear my unsteady breathing. I could feel my chest as if it was rising a mile each time I took a breath. If the doctor continued to speak, I heard nothing. I was completely and utterly numb.
I felt my heart beat pound in my ears and I felt the blood drain from my face. The tears came and I could not stop them.
I looked intently at the faces of my parents. Both seemed to be in disbelief, gazing into an ethereal cloud of reality that had just dawned upon us. I wish I could have known what they were both thinking at that very moment.
I’m sure no parent ever wants to be told that their seventeen year old daughter has cancer.
I looked out the window into the brilliant sun. The clouds seemed to [...] continue the story