Forever: Chapter 12

In the following weeks, Valerie continued her battle with the disease. Only people who have been through the same, or their loved ones, can understand what she was going through. Valerie was a very committed patient. She was always taking her medications on time, following the doctor's instructions, and she was never late to the appointments at the hospital. Her relatives never let her go alone to the doctor. There was always someone who accompanied her whenever she needed to go somewhere, and sometimes that bothered her, because that was making her feel much sicker than she really was.

After a few weeks of negotiations, Rebecca and Scarlett have convinced Valerie to join a support group. Six years ago, Scarlett lost her father to pancreatic cancer, and she knew well how many benefits her father had gotten from his support group. In the beginning, Valerie was skeptical. She believed these groups were depressing and that the support group would only make her feel worse mentally, but she was completely wrong. Valerie met a group of exceptionally brave people with the same goals, same wishes, and the same fears as hers. She was surprised by how these people could always stay positive, despite everything. The only time everyone was sad was when they lost a member of their group, a young woman and a mother of three children.

As she promised to her sister, Tessa, she came back to London, and they spent the entire summer together. Valerie's disease changed her life, her way of thinking, and her as a person. Overnight, Tessa grew up into a young, responsible woman. She found a summer job in a souvenir shop on Oxford Street, and she was saving every penny she could. Because she was living with her relatives without paying rent and bills, every month she was able to save over seventy percent of her salary. She already planned on how to spend the money she saved. Every month, she'll travel to London to visit her sister, and in the next academic year, she won't be begging her parents to give her money for going out or for buying a new piece of clothing.

In the middle of August, six weeks after the surgery, Valerie began with chemotherapy. The chemotherapy made her weak. She was throwing up everything she ate, and very soon, her hair began to fall out. When she was little, Valerie loved her long, beautiful hair so much that when her hair needed to be cut for an inch, her mother took her to a hairdresser, sobbing. When it became inevitable to shave her hair, she said with a big smile, "Hey, it's just a hair, it will grow back again," and everyone was positively surprised by how brave she was. But she didn't consider herself brave at all. She was only happy because Timothy wasn't there to see her without hair. There is something inexplicable about women and their hair, as their hair represents everything they are.

The next day, after Valerie shaved her head, Rebecca came for her, and she told her that she had a surprise for her. Without telling her where they were going, half an hour later, they were in front of a shop for wigs in West London.

"Hello! How may I help you?" the saleswoman asked them.

"Hello! We are looking for a wig for my cousin," Rebecca answered.

"Yes, right. Can you please be more specific so that I can help you find what you're looking for?" the saleswoman said.

"Val, do you want to have blond, brown, red, purple, green, long, or short hair?" Rebecca asked Valerie.

"I want to be a brunette with long hair, as I was my whole life," Valerie said, and she began to look at the wigs.

"You don't want a change in your life?" Rebecca asked her.

"No," Valerie answered shortly.

"Miss, what do you say about this one?" the saleswoman said, showing a wig to Valerie.

"I don't know. Can I please see that one? It looks very natural," Valerie said.

"Yes, of course. And just to inform you, they all look natural because our wigs are made of real human hair," the saleswoman explained it to her, and she gave her the wig she chose.

"Can I try it?"

"Yes, absolutely! The mirror is here."

Valerie went to the mirror, took off her hat, and tried to put the wig on her newly shaved head. The saleswoman had to help her, and she gave her a few tips about how to correctly put the wig in the future.

"It really looks very natural. You look exactly like the old you. No one will know that you're wearing a wig," Rebecca said.

"Than, I'll take it," Valerie said, and she began to search for the wallet in her bag.

"No, Val, I'll pay for the wig. I insist!"

"Well, thanks, Becca! Thanks for this early Christmas present."

"No, Val! This is not a Christmas present. We have four months left until Christmas. And don't worry, I'll buy you a real present for Christmas.

"If I'm still alive by then," Valerie said quietly to herself.

Every time she wasn't at work, Tessa was taking her sister to a hospital for chemotherapy. Sometimes they were talking, sometimes they were playing cards, but there were days when Valerie was too exhausted to do anything.

"Do you want me to read you something?"

"No."

"I brought "Little Women" with me for today, Val."

"No."

"Do you want to play cards?"

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

"Nothing."

"All right, today I'll hold your hand, I'll shut up, and we'll do nothing."

One day, at the end of the summer, before the beginning of the new school year, and while Tessa was still with her sister, Natasha, unannounced, arrived in London. She wanted to see her daughters, especially Valerie, because she hadn't seen her since she began with the chemotherapy.

 

"Natasha, why didn't you call that you're coming? I could have come to pick you up from the airport," Edward said, surprised when he opened the door and saw his sister on the doorstep.

"It's all right. I wanted to surprise the girls."

"Let me take the suitcase to your room."

"Thank you, Ed!"

Tessa came immediately from the living room when she heard her mother's voice.

"Mum! It's really you! When I heard your voice, I couldn't believe that is you!" Tessa said.

"Tess, sweetheart! Hello!"

"What are you doing here

"I got three days off from work, and on the first plane I came here."

"Dad is not with you?"

"No, he'll come to London the next month. How are you, sweetheart?"

"Okay, I guess! I hate it because the summer is over, and I hate it because I have to come back home in two weeks. I wish I could stay in London a little longer. I'll miss my job in the souvenirs shop, and you'll never guess how much money I've saved."

"How is Valerie?"

"Well, you know, yesterday you talked to her. The therapy is exhausting."

"Where is she?"

"We are watching a movie in the living room with uncle Edward. Aunt Stella went to the supermarket, and she'll be back soon."

When Natasha saw her daughter lying on the sofa, she got scared. Valerie was pale, weak, and she had lost a lot of weight since the last time her mother saw her. Natasha was afraid to embrace her because she thought that she'd break every bone in her fragile body.

"Oh, my little baby. You don't know how sorry I am because I cannot be with you all the time."

"I'm fine, mum. You don't need to worry about me. Everyone is taking good care of me," Valerie said slowly.

"Sweetheart, will you please excuse me? I need to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back!"

Natasha went to the bathroom, running. She couldn't hold back her tears for any longer. She locked the door behind her, and she began to cry. Seeing her daughter in that condition was more than she could bear. From the moment when Valerie told her that she had cancer, Natasha kept repeating to herself that her daughter will be fine, she'll survive, but now for the first time, a terrifying thought that she might lose her crossed her mind.

While Edward was passing in the hall, he heard sobbing coming from the bathroom. He knew that his sister was crying in there. He stopped, and he knocked on the door.

"Natasha, are you all right?"

Natasha unlocked the door, and she let her brother into the bathroom. He took her in his embrace, but he didn't know what to say. He couldn't find the right words to comfort her at that moment. Or maybe there are no words that can comfort a parent who is watching their own child struggle with a difficult disease.

"Natasha, we knew from the beginning that it will be difficult, but we can't lose hope that she will survive."

"That is my little girl..."

"I know. We must stay strong for Valerie. She can't see you crying."

It wasn't easy for Natasha to hide her pain and fear from Valerie for the next two days. Sometimes, when someone we truly care about is ill and suffering, no matter how strong their physical pain is, we always suffer more when we are helplessly watching them.

Tessa has returned home at the end of the summer. Every time someone asked about her sister, she felt uncomfortable, and soon everyone stopped asking about Valerie. She dedicated herself full-time to her studies, and she found a part-time job in a bakery.

Tessa began fully to understand the sacrifice her parents made for her when they took out a mortgage on their house, just to provide her with a better future and a good education. She was feeling obliged to do something for her parents in return for everything they did for her, and having good grades at college was a good start.

The hard work and studying really paid off and Tessa passed all her exams with straight A's. The parties with her friends were the last thing on her mind. Everyone started to joke about what was happening with these Patterson girls. First, Valerie shocked everyone when she left Timothy and moved to London, and now Tessa, well, it wasn't Tessa anymore.

Once in the bakery where Tessa was working, Timothy came to buy a bagel for breakfast. At first glance, she didn't recognize him. He had lost some weight, and he had a beard. She felt sorry for him when he looked at her with his sad eyes. They only said "Hi" to each other, and she served him as a regular customer. But he was not just a regular customer. Used to they were friends, very good friends. He is the one her sister loves her whole life. He is the reason why her sister moved to another continent, and now, because of him, she couldn't see Valerie every day.

If Timothy knew that Tessa worked in that bakery, he would never have walked in. Everything that reminded him of Valerie was too painful for him to bear. He left quickly, without giving a tip to Tessa, and he never came back to that place again.