Too Little Too Late.

Too Little Too Late
By Annie Cheng

“Hey, hey! Angela, pass me the ball! I’m open!” I hollered as I dashed towards the basketball hoop. Even though the heat was killing me, I still had to score this! Our whole team has been waiting for weeks to defeat our strongest enemies – the sophomore girl’s basketball team!

Angela jumped out of the 10th grader girls surrounding her and chucked me the ball with unbelievable strength. As soon as I caught it, I didn’t give the opposite team a millisecond to have a chance to steal the ball away. I was going to score, so I could see my teammate’s happy faces! Here goes the lay up: slow pace two steps till the angle is right, jump up like you’re reaching the sky, and —

Whoosh!

“Whoooooot!” Angela began jumping up and down as the victorious sound passed through our ears. She strutted towards me, “High-five it, Jen!” Angela’s at an average height. She has straight, black hair that flows down her back, which suited her glittery black eyes — but it’s a pity she wears glasses. Unlike me, I have dark black hair that sticks down a little below my shoulders. I don’t wear glasses, but I’d say my eyes are the only part that is pretty about me — they were big, round, flooded in a stormy blackish-grayish sea of color with really tiny specks of white puffy streaks; they weren’t obvious though.

Drops of sweat raced down my cheeks. We played for two hours straight and gained our victory against our strongest enemy: the sophomore girls. We were always behind, but today, we finally had enough of losing to them!

My other teammates trudged towards me, panting. Michelle ran up and punched my shoulder. “Yea! With Jenny, we can defeat anyone!”

“Thanks, guys!” I happily agreed.

“So,” Angela grinned as we started pacing back to our classroom for lunch, “What’s for lunch today?”

Michelle sighed, “School lunches are never good, I tell ya.”

Right then, Kate popped out from behind us. She grabbed Michelle’s arm and giggled in a high pitched sound, “I must agree with you! It’s either incredibly oily or dreadfully dry. It’s never been good before!”

Michelle snorted, “Psh! You should be more like Angela and I! We bring our own lunches!”

Kate glared at her, “Except for the fact that you eat Subway, rich person!” She stuck her tongue out at Michelle.

“What?!” Kate yelled then continued, “I’m not rich! And I’m not the only one who eats Subway!”

“Guys,” I managed to cut into their conversation, “stop it. I’m losing my appetite!”

Angela nodded as she and I stepped out from our crowd of friends. “I’m going with Jenny to get my lunch, see you guys later!” Angela brings her lunch and leaves it in the steam room everyday, so practically, I go get lunch with her everyday, I’m used to it; but it’s also getting tedious.

As Angela and I walked away from the others, she glanced at me and asked, “What college do you want to attend in the future? Do you have anything in mind?”

Wow, that’s a little early. We’re only in the freshman year! I thought for a while then answered, “Hmm… maybe, um… Harvard?”

“What?!” She stumbled over her foot. I glanced at her and grinned. She had a funny expression: her mouth and eyes were wide open, “Aw… are you serious? The chances for me to get in Harvard is… well, I don’t think there’s a possibility!”

“Why ask then?”

“Well… I want to graduate with you, and maybe if it’s possible, go to the same college!” She frowned, “I’m sorry, I never knew your expectations were so high.” We started walking again.

“You’re funny.” I smiled at her, hoping it may let her feel better. “It doesn’t really matter. We could graduate together, and I’ll see what you can attend, and hopefully I could go with you!”

“You’d really do that for me?” She grinned for a while then frowned again, “What if I don’t graduate with a really good record, and end up in some crappy college?”

“Ha, ha! We’re too early to think about this!” I managed to laugh a little, and with any luck, change the subject.

“Oh… you’re right. But, you promise we’ll graduate together?” She slowed her pace so she could go get her lunch.

“Yea, of course! It’s fun with you around.” I cocked my head on one side of my shoulder, because my neck was terribly sore.

“Thanks!” Then she scrambled into the room where she usually gets her lunch.

A few minutes later, she came running out the room with her lunch. She smiled, “Let’s go!”

While we were marching back upstairs to our classroom, I noticed I started faltering, actually, I felt dizzy. I slept really early yesterday! Could it be that I’m tired? This has never happened before. My head felt like it could explode any minute, I’ve never had such headaches before either. I’ll just sleep earlier tonight, I still have a basketball game to play with Annie and the others tomorrow.

While these thoughts flowed through my mind, Angela must have noticed that I was walking in an unsteady pace. She looked at me with an awkward expression then questioned, “Are you alright? Your face is slightly pale...”

“Oh,” I didn’t know what to say because I don’t know much about health problems. “I think it’s just the heat. I’ll be back to normal in a while, don’t worry!”

“I hope so.” She grinned at me as we strolled into our classroom.


Throughout the whole afternoon, I did not just feel worse, but I also felt like puking. What was wrong with me? The headache lasted throughout the whole afternoon too. I didn’t feel like talking to anyone, because the pain was killing me! Hopefully I’ll feel better at night because I’m going out to dinner with my family. Today’s my parent’s anniversary; it has to be a perfect night for them, I even got them a present! I wasn’t really sure what adults liked, so I spent a lot of time picking out a gift. I bought them a very expensive picture frame with my allowance. Everything is going to be just right! Wait, not quite; all I hope for now is that my headache would stop so I wouldn’t ruin anything.

★☆★

“Yay, we’re going to Friday’s tonight!” My annoying 5th grade brother, Paul, giggled excitedly while running around in front of the restaurant.

I grabbed him right before he was about to bump into a tree. How could he have not seen it? Oh, well. As soon as I grabbed him, I knelt down next to him and whispered, “Promise me you won’t break anything tonight. It has to be the perfect night for mom and dad!”

He just nodded and dashed off. Sometimes I really wonder if I even exist in his life.

I stood up, faintly and weakly. The headache got worse, but I didn’t want a headache to get in the way.

A few minutes later, the waiter leaded us into an empty seat in the corner of Friday’s. We all took a seat and each took hold of a menu. Somehow, I wasn’t really hungry and I didn’t feel really comfortable either. After we all decided what to order, we waited for quite a while. It was pretty packed in here; I could hardly see the entrance. My mom and dad were laughing and chatting about their past, my irritating brother was busy messing up napkins that used to be put neatly on the table, as for me, I was feeling worse than when we just arrived. I rested my head on the table, hoping I’d feel better. But, no, I wasn’t feeling any better. I felt like my stomach did a few twists and pushed up what I ate before arriving; I jumped off my seat and raced to the restrooms. Unfortunately, I haven’t even reached the restrooms, and faltered more than what happened this morning, I fell to the ground. The next thing I knew, I blacked out.

When I woke up again, I was lying on an unknown bed. Some breathing device was attached to my mouth, tubes that led some kind of liquid into my body penetrated into my arms, and my head was wrapped around by bands. Slowly, I sat up. Ow! My head... it hurts multiple times more than before! I lay back on bed because eventually I gave up trying to sit up. It was too painful.

“Don’t move.” Someone whispered in a calm tone next to me. I turned my head slowly and faced a doctor. Hold on...

“Why am I here?!” I sat up almost immediately when I realized I was in a hospital. “OWWWW!” Maybe I shouldn’t have sat up that suddenly.

“I said don’t move.” Then the doctor stood up and showed me some kind of data.

I took it and skimmed through it. Is this even English? I can’t read a single thing on it. I faced the doctor and managed to ask, “Translations?”

He obtained the paper and sat down. He took a deep sigh and looked at me with a serious expression, “I’m afraid... suspicious cells are dividing awkwardly in your nervous system — your brain. I’m awfully sorry, but we found out it contains cancerous cells.”

I nodded my head gently and questioned hesitantly, “So that’s why I’ve been feeling uncomfortable all day?” The doctor just sighed and nodded slowly and started flipping through the data. I broke the silence by asking, “Can I leave? I have a game to play tomorrow.”

“No, your parents strongly asked us to keep you here.” He answered immediately, “You’re suffering from brain tumor right now. Where do you think you can go?”

“Brain tumor?” I was shocked when I heard those words. Thoughts started flowing through my mind. How will Angela and the others react? I don’t want them to find out. For now, letting my family members know is more than enough.

The doctor stood up again. “I don’t get it.” I looked up at him, he continued, “You should’ve noticed these weird reactions a long time ago. The brain tumor has already infected your brain cells for quite a while. You’re at the point where there may be a possibility of death.”

I felt my body started shaking. “D-death? What... do you mean?”

He gazed into my eyes, they looked sad. “We estimated around one week for your organs to be completely destroyed by the cancerous cells. But because your immune system has been seriously damaged, it pressed the time limit to...” He paused.

“How long?” I finally inquired. I was about to cry, I wanted to scream into a pillow right now.

“The maximum and the least we could estimate the time is about...” His expression probably looked worse than mine. He sighed again, and continued, “three days, or less... no more than that.”

★☆★

I can’t; I just simply can’t accept that number. There were matters I still had to accomplish. I have to play a basketball game with my best friends against stronger opponents, so we could attend worldwide contests. I have to graduate with Angela and go to the college with her; I don’t want to upset her. I have to hand my mom and dad the present I spend so much time on choosing and so much money for buying. And, sooner or later, I wanted to tell them I love them. I just wished luck was on my side for me to accomplish these things; even if I had to use the last of my strength to accomplish it.

That night when the doctor left, I ripped off the devices on my body, scurried out the hospital, and ran with full speed back to my house.

It was 12:03 AM, but my dad usually stays up till two o’clock or later. I gently knocked on the door. A few seconds later, my dad opened the door.

I took a deep breath and started with a tone I hope didn’t sound too depressing. “I’m home.” I was really scared that this may be the last time... I can ever say that again.

“J-Jenny?!” My dad yelled with a hopeful tone it gushed through the whole neighborhood. I walked into the house. By now, my family members were all awake. My mom came up and hugged me. My brother just remained there and stared at me with a distressing look I’ve never seen before.

They started asking me why I wasn’t in the hospital. Unfortunately, I lied to them. “Well, the doctor said, the cancerous cells... er... miraculously stopped dividing and I’ll get better... um, eventually.” Without hesitating, they believed me.

When we were all done talking, I slowly paced into my room. I felt really sick. But tonight, I didn’t just ruin my parent’s anniversary; I also forgot to give them the present. I must hand it to them before it’s too late.

The next morning, I opened my eyes, and the minute I sat up, I started coughing. I knew something bad was going to happen. I raced into the bathroom; just as I thought, I sat there; sitting on the bathroom floor, looking like an idiot, face sank in the toilet. Blood. The whole toilet was flooded with blood. Splats of blood dripped on the beautifully textured floor. I knew I was sick and may be dying soon, but no matter how sick, or rather no matter what, I still have to accomplish everything. That way, I’ll at least leave without regrets.

When I felt slightly better, slowly, I sauntered back to my room. I dragged the present that was put on my desk, weakly, and dizzily tugged myself into the living room. My vision was shaking wildly, all I see was light and blurriness. My mom was sitting there, reading something I could not recognize anymore because of my poor eye sight. She looked up at me, and stopped moving, “Omigosh, honey! Y-you’re so... pale... Are you okay?”

I wanted to say no, but I also wanted to hand her the present with a smile. I didn’t say anything and dragged myself towards her. I felt like... I was going to break apart any second. I felt so sick, worse than the pain I had yesterday. I didn’t say anything and plodded really slowly. By the time I reached her, I felt myself fall, and landed into her arms. By now, everything, everywhere I look, was black. I couldn’t see anything at all. I could feel thumping as my head grew heavier and heavier, weaker and weaker. The bag that held the gift slipped out of my hands as I fell. The frame fell out of the bag and cracked. The sound of it was deafening as tears escaped out eyes, rolling down my cheeks like a broken faucet; it won’t stop, but I won’t hold it back either. No, this can’t happen! I lay still in my mom’s arms, but my hands were quickly rummaging through the ground as I felt broken pieces of the lifeless frame, that could’ve brought happiness to my parents, and to me. I wanted to stand up and hand her the gift myself, I wanted to tell her I lied to her, I wanted to tell her I didn’t want to end my life yet. Most importantly, I wanted to tell her how much I loved her, and how much I didn’t want to see her cry as I lay here in her laps, pale as a sheet of paper. My hands continued searching until I flipped out a photo from the wrinkled bag. It was a photo of our family, when I was only a little less then five. I had kept that picture for as long as I live, I would look at it very often, and smile whenever I see my family member’s smiles; we all looked so happy. My hand shook violently as I lifted my arm to hand my mom the photo. I felt her warm, soft hands holding my cold, lifeless hand. She was crying; her balmy tears were dripping rapidly on my arms. I wanted to stand up and give her a hand full of tissues and tell her to stop crying, but I couldn’t see anything. My world was now overflowing with darkness, yet I shook hesitantly in her arms, wishing how much I could’ve done for her before I was so sick, so useless.

It was impossible. I didn’t have any strength left to stand up and do these things. I ruined everything. From the beginning; I broke the promise with Angela, and I lied to my family. How much worse can I get? Even if I wanted to tell Angela, “I’ll always be your best friend; no matter where we are or who I become.” Or tell my family members, “I’ll become a useful person in the future, so I could earn money for you to use when you’re old...” I can’t do it anymore. My hands were still cupped in my mom’s hands; they were so warm. Suddenly, I felt a sudden strike, like I’ve been hit by someone from the back of my head. My whole body started shaking. I heard my mom yelling something at me, but I could not identify what she was trying to express. Not only have I been struck deaf but the hit was so blindingly painful, I fell to the ground immediately — ending the fourteen years of my life; I died with regrets.

Everything was just a little too late.

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After I reread this a few times, I realized that I got like 4/10 facts about cancer! XD
Anyway, hope you liked it! I wrote this when I was a Freshman, so yea, if there are any grammatical errors, bare with me! ^^;;