Fast forward to the day of returning to my place, the results screamed normal on everything. Even my stress levels and other things that were a bit off were fixed as well. The days in between were completely boring. I was bored out of my mind to do anything else.
"You can go back to Dawn's room now. Do you remember the way?"
Before I could say yes, Catherine butted in and said, "I'm gonna go and see her right now so he can come with me. I'm sure he remembers the way, too, but I'll drag him with me and see if it's real."
"What about all the stuff in this room?" I asked, my hands vaguely gesturing in that direction.
"Some will be moved into your room, others will be packed into boxes and left in storage until the time comes for them. The storage is where the other workers keep their clothes as well, so you don't need to worry about losing any of them."
I wasn't worrying about that but anxious to see Dawn. It was nearing the time for her chemo, and I was hoping that experience would lead her to fear the whole thing.
Catherine and I made the way quickly and we got there about fifteen minutes before the beginning. I quickly organised my things, trying to be swift to be with her for the injection.
Dawn appeared quite calm, but I could see she was much more anxious than she was letting anyone see. Her smile was stiff and she was near to breaking a sweat, which would give off how anxious she is. I tried to soothe her by patting her hand slowly but it didn't seem to help much. She was trembling continuously but much softer, which made me worry more. I wanted to hold her in my arms, but I felt like it would do more harm than good, lengthening the time to finish the injection.
It finished much later than I would have wanted for Dawn's sake, as she was so tense until it finished. "There we go. The drug was refusing to enter, so it took a bit longer, but it's all inside."
My uncle prepared another syringe, which I believe had the painkiller in it. He did a once-over, probably to check Dawn's state, and flicked a finger at me. "Lucas, relax her."
I nodded and took off my shoes, preparing to slip into her bed just like before. She didn't seem to think it was weird, so I got on her bed, scooting over so that I was seated right behind her, my legs touching hers. I hugged her and Dawn leaned against my body, her head resting on my right shoulder.
Her body was loosening, but the main issue was the syringe: as soon as Catherine started to prepare for the injection, her body began to tense up again. Her brain was becoming more confused, as the desire to run away clashed with the desire to be free of pain. That would not reach an ideal solution, but just lead her to a flight-or-fight response.
"Would it help if I cover your eyes?" I asked, thinking it may help, or do nothing. It may do some harm, as it would increase her tension because she doesn't know when she would get the shot.
As if she was thinking about that at the same time, she shook her head and said, "I'll just face that way so please end it quickly. Don't even expect me to loosen my body, so just do it."
It was going to take long and I could tell she was nearing her freak-out time. I wrapped my arms and legs around her more tightly, feeling her trying to get out of them so that this would end quickly. "I'm sorry," I mumbled and turned her head around, kissing her on the lips.
Somehow Dawn managed to turn her head around, so the needle was searching for its way in. But as soon as she felt that, Dawn bit my lips with such force that I stopped, seeing her horrified face. I couldn't tell if it was from my kiss or the needle, but seeing her squirm made me assume it was the latter.
She screamed at the top of her lungs, thrashing in an attempt to get away from it, and in that process, shoved her needle into her arm. The medicine was injected then, much more frantically — yet somehow smoothly — than anyone would have assumed.
Everyone minus Catherine left quickly, while Dawn broke down uncontrollably. I turned her around, hugging her tightly in an attempt to comfort her. I wasn't sure if it worked, as her cries got louder.
However, she did seem to calm down a bit more. She tried to force-stop herself from crying a few times, but I quickly stopped her, telling her to cry as much as she needed. So Dawn kept breaking down and I kept her in a tight hug, trying to comfort her. She calmed down soon after, so I let her go, but she clung to me more.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, my voice sounding much softer.
"Just… don't let go yet," Dawn mumbled, cuddling into my chest. I nodded, my chin moving softly against her cheek. My hug was much looser than the last time since there was no problem with her escaping from my hold.
Soon Dawn freed herself, and the nurse entered with her food at the same time. "Did you hear her coming or something like that?"
"No, but I did feel like something was approaching, and I thought it may be your uncle."
"That could have just been me, actually," Catherine spoke up, notifying us of her existence. "I moved to the door to open it for Lucy, so maybe you felt that instead."
"Oh," Dawn spoke, looking a bit surprised, probably that her guess was correct. But there was no reason for her to be surprised; this had happened quite often in school, and her seeming to have a strange sixth sense for guessing things like that.
I slipped down from her bed, letting the nurse — Lucy — put down the tray and hand me another bag. This time, it had a fruit bowl, a granola bar, a bottle of water, and a ham sandwich. I plopped back down on my seat, sitting down comfortably to munch on a sandwich.
Fast forward a few hours and it was nearing nighttime. I knew that Dawn wouldn't feel much pain, since the medication adjustment had worked well last time, and the tolerance doesn't develop that quickly.
However, Dawn looked at me like she's got something to say. I cocked my head and asked, "Is there something you want me to do?"
At that, she sheepishly smiled and said, "Can you sleep with me?"
"Sure," I said, knowing nothing bad would happen to her, at least in the sense of pain.