Chapter 4.

While Rose was dozed off, and I had to wait for my parents to arrive, Dr. Strange decided to show me at least sixteen different pamphlets about lung cancer, its treatment, and the varying symptoms which I did not have. It wasn't hard to breath; I wasn't coughing; I didn't have chest pain other than that one time I had to come to the hospital so they could perform an X-Ray (which led to this point), and all in all I was just fine. But the doctor decided that I wasn't and I was too tired to disagree with him after flipping through the eleventh brochure, so when he said something, I just nodded as if I was listening which I haven't, and tried to stifle every other yawn.

"And as you can see on this picture", he pushed himself forward with his legs, so now his face was inches from mine, giving me a feeling I didn't desire to ponder on any longer than just categorizing it as 'obnoxious', and pointed at a colorful image with his pen, "the patient here has been diagnosed with stage II lung cancer. It's easier to treat stage II, because they discovered it relatively early. However, stage IV can also be treated just as well. We can cure you with chemo, and surgery, if necessary."

"Interesting", I tried to sound amused, but my voice just wouldn't cooperate.

"Yeah, well", Dr. Felipe shrugged nonchalantly. "It doesn't matter if it's interesting or not. What matters is that it's going to help you. Your health matters", he cleared his throat nervously. He sounded exactly like the low-budget fitness commercial on Channel 7.

"I guess", I forced a smile on my face as I kept watching the image of a coughing woman. Oh boy, if this is not the spitting-image of the perfect day then I don't know what is.

I looked up to check on Rose and as if she sensed my gaze on her face, she scrunched her nose, moaned and then tried to turn to her other side, but there wasn't enough space for her to do that, so before either of us could do something she landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"Oh. My. God." I mouthed, rolling my eyes as I looked at her miserable figure laying on the ground, not even noticing that she just got defended by gravity. She just did what she wanted to do originally; turned to her other side.

"Hm", Dr. Felipe hummed and I agreed. I decided the best solution is just to leave her there, because she would just fall off again, and was ready to stare at the100th brochure when someone knocked, hard and unmercifully, and I was doomed.

"Come in", Dr. Felipe said, and I was utterly surprised that they even waited for someone to say they can come in. Usually, they just storm in. To my room they do, at least.

I tried to seem as small as possible, camouflaging myself, morphing into the wall, but unfortunately this is not Harry Potter, so I just stayed in my seat with beads of sweat on my forehead, and with a seriously concerning thumping in my chest, my eyes focused on the doorknob. And they came in.

"Good morn-", Dr. Felipe started, probably trying to start a nice conversation, but little did he know about how things were going at the Thompson household.

"Yes, sure, good morning", Mom made him shush with just one movement of her hand. 'The move of death', as I like to call it. "Why did we have to co-", and she couldn't finish the sentence, because she recognized her precious daughter laying on the floor in the dust and who-knows-what-else, and that was unacceptable. "Rosie!"

She shrieked like an eagle, and hit Dad on his arm, indicating that he ought to do something. Anything. It didn't matter that I was there, too. It didn't matter what was the matter with me. Rose was on the ground, and that was just wrong.

"What did you do to her?" Mom obviously accused me first, because I always did something. Obviously.

"Yeah, Daisy. Answer your mother", Dad got into the conversation, too. I was convinced that his only function in the family was to always agree with Mom.

"She didn't do any-", my precious, kind Doctor Strange tried to explain the things to my hard-to-explain-anything-to-them parents, but this was the day of half-finished sentences, because Mom liked to show off her death move.

"I didn't ask you", she hissed, and the doctor recoiled in defense. Just like in a National Geography document. Except these were people, not animals. Unless...

Mom stared at me with an obnoxious sparkling in her eyes, but I was used to it, so it didn't scare me. Dr. Felipe, however, reconsidered his life choices. Once and for all.

"I have stage IV lung cancer and when she heard she had a mental breakdown and they gave her tranquilizers to calm her down and now she's kinda drugged", I spluttered, and obviously they got the important part of the story.

"THEY DRUGGED HER?"

Yeah. Story of my life. I don't know why my parents hate me, though. Maybe I puked on them when I was a baby.

"Ma'am", Dr. Felipe tried, but deep down we all knew that there's no use. When my Mom, or as I like to refer to her, Bloody Mary, is in action no one could stop her. Not even Doctor Strange.

"No!" She screamed. "What gives you the right to drug an innocent young girl? Is this a bar or a hospital?!"

Oh boy. I've never in my whole life seen her this angry.

"I", and that was the first and the last full sentence my poor Doctor Strange could push out of himself. That sounded weird. But it was true, regardless.

"Rosie, baby", Mom cooed. Dad and Mom were both kneeling beside her, holding her hands as if she was on her death bed or something. How ironic.

Rose made a 'mhm' sound as she started to slowly coming back to the disillusioning state of what we like to refer as reality.

"Mom?" She mumbled as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Yes, yes dear, mommy is here", she said with such sweetness that I was surprised Rose hasn't been diagnosed with diabetes yet.

Dr. Felipe's face went from uncomprehending to kind of disgusted. Yeah, usually that's how people feel like when they see a grown woman talking to another grown woman in the way my mom did.

"Are you okay?" Dad inquired with that monotone tone of his, and Rose sat up and shook her head yes.

"It's not me who's not okay", she said slowly, because she was still dazed and confused. "It's Daisy."

I sheepishly smiled at my parents when they looked at me with their brows furrowed, and they couldn't image that this was about me and not Rose.

"Hey", I beckoned.

"What's up with her?" Mom asked. Well, I sure won't be dying from diabetes, too.

"Could you please sign a paper for me?" I looked at them in turn.

"For what?"

"For cancer treatment", I said as a matter of fact. As if you'd ask something like this from your parents every day.

"You have cancer?" Mom asked, and as if I could detect a little bit of concern in her voice. But I'm not sure.

"Stage IV", I said casually.

"Well", Mom cleared her throat and glanced up at the doctor who was looking at her rather disapprovingly, "we can."

"Great", I nodded, and I watched them standing up and turning to Dr. Felipe as Rose looked at me with a faint half-smile.