The It Kids: Kayla Sanders: Chapter One
I woke after a long night of not sleeping because of the pain. I sat up in bed and waited for my Dad to wake up. We’re back home because he and the other guys don’t go on tour for another month and that’s long enough to do another round of chemotherapy and heal from that. I found out that I had cancer when I was thirteen. I had a cyst on one of my ovaries and they had to remove both of them. They’ve frozen the good ovary and may put it back after I’ve been in remission successfully for two years. So far it’s going really well. Val woke up and walked into my room.
“Good morning.” She said.
“Morning.” I said.
“How long have you been awake?”
“All night.”
“Why?”
“It hurts.” I put my face in my hands and started sobbing. She knelt down beside my bed and held me close to her.
“Just cry. It’s okay to cry.”
“I don’t want to be seen as weak.”
“Just because you cry doesn’t make you weak.”
“This is my first time crying from the pain in three years. I should be strong.”
“Your Daddy cried when he found out that your Mom got shot.”
“My Mom got shot?” I asked as I wiped my eyes with my fingers. “He told me she died in the hospital.”
“She did. It was an hour after she got shot.”
“Really? Then why didn’t he tell me she got shot?”
“I think he was scared of you getting taken away from him.”
“Now I have to find this out from you.”
“We were dating when your Mom got shot. I’ve known all this time.”
“Then why did you never tell me? Maybe I wanted to know what happened to my Mom.”
“Your Dad told me to keep a secret. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you even if I wanted to.”
“That’s fucking bull.”
“Don’t you curse at me!”
“You aren’t my Mom!”
“I don’t care! You respect me!”
“What’s going on here?” A new voice chimed in. It was my Dad. Val got up and walked right by him. The tears ran down my face again. He knelt beside me and dried them with a tissue. I wrapped my arms around his neck and just held on for dear life. My Dad is my rock and that’s all that matters.