It only took three days for me to fall in love, but only one week to die…
Moving to Puerto Rico was the hardest thing to do in my life. I had always lived in New Jersey. The weather was always in between; never too cold and never too hot. Down in Puerto Rico, it was blazing. Luckily my mom had bought a house with an in-ground pool.
Going to a new school was tough. I had to make new friends and learn Spanish. I mean, I took Spanish classes back in NJ, but nothing major. After a couple of days figuring my way through the halls of school I met a few kids who spoke English and soon we became friends.
After months and months I got used to the weather and the Spanish food. Rice and beans with sanchichas (mini hotdogs) was the usual but every now and then we would have some kind of American food. My Grandmother who also lives in Puerto Rico would come over sometimes and we would plant flowers in the backyard. Gardening was one of my favorite hobbies. I loved just knowing how I was helping the Earth by planting something so small.
One day my friends and I decided to join the track team. The coach said I was a great sprinter and put me as Head Runner. That meant I was always picked in competitions.
There were only about 2 more months left of school and there was a big match coming up. My coach had an early practice and the whole team ran 2 miles. During the run I kept getting dizzy but I didn’t think anything of it. Mistake number 1.
When I got home after practice right arm hurt. I had a massive headache and I didn’t feel like moving. I ignored thinking it was just a tight muscle that wasn’t stretched properly. Mistake number 2.
During the last weekend before school ended one of the cutest girls in school asked me out. Her name was Laura. We decided to go to the mall with all of our friends. We both tried on dresses and every one of them looked beautiful on her. All the dresses I tried made me look bloated but she complimented me anyways. I actually felt like I was in love. I told her how I felt and she agreed she felt the same way.
At the end of the day I was hungry so we all got something to snack on in the food court. My feet started wobbling and my legs felt numb. Everything went black. I woke up in a well-lighted room with white walls and wires attached to my arm. I looked around to see my mother crying next the bed I was laying in and Laura holding her hand. On the other side of my bed were my other friends.
“Mom?” I remember stuttering the words. My mom still was breathing heavy and gasping for air as tears poured down her cheeks. “Mom?!” I tried to yell but my voice cracked and only a faint whisper came out. Luckily Laura saw my lips moving and rushed over to me. Following behind my mother limped closer to the bed.
“How do you feel?” My mother tried to talk between each gasp.
“What happened?” I croaked.
I turned my head toward Laura to hear her pitch in, “When you were at the mall, you fainted. I called 9-1-1 and then dialed your mom to meet us here at the hospital.”
“Mom, why are you crying?”
“We didn’t know what was wrong. So they did tests on you and… and you have… cancer.” My mom started bawling again and this time it was me who held her hand. Tears started strolling down my cheeks one by one. I couldn’t believe it.
“There’s a cure, right? I mean I’ve seen on TV those people who say they beat cancer. I could be one of them. Please Mom tell me it’s not that bad. Please.” I begged and whimpered as my mother said the words “no”.
The doctors had predicted I would only have a few more hours to live. Hours turned into days and days turned into 1 week. Everyone thought the cancer was losing this battle but every day I felt weaker. I kept up a smile and faked my recovery but truthfully I could tell I was getting paler. At the end of the week my heart crashed and a drowning bussing noise came from a machine next to me. Doctors and nurses filed into my room trying to bring me back to life. Nothing could help me. I was dead.