Page 15 of The Wish

B ack on the ward, Alex enters Jesse and Amy’s room to find it empty.

He wonders if Jesse is with Kelly and is surprised at how the thought of finding the two of them together pleases him.

He’s hovering outside, not sure what to do, when Sandy walks past, does a double take, and stops.

‘You came back then?’ she states with a grin.

He shrugs. ‘I said I would.’ He clears his throat. ‘Do you know where Jesse is?’

Sandy checks her watch. ‘She should be just about finished with treatment. Are you in a rush?’

Alex doesn’t quite know how to answer this – the fact is, he wants to get on with the project, but he needs to chat a little more with Jesse before he can. ‘Sort of,’ is all he can manage. ‘I just need a bit more background before the next stage.’

Sandy nods. ‘Well, then, why don’t you wait in her room while I see if I can track her down? I’ll be back shortly.’

Alex steps into the room, feeling uncomfortable.

He’s not sure he should be here really, and is about to head back out, to wait outside, when he’s drawn to the family photo on Jesse’s bedside table.

Picking it up, he stares at the faces of a family.

A family bound to each other physically and emotionally.

This photo was taken when Jesse had a head of beautiful hair.

He stares at the photo for a long time, so caught up that he doesn’t hear Jesse enter the room, wheeled in by an orderly.

‘Have you got any photos of your family I can see?’ Jesse asks, startling him as she steps out of the wheelchair, grasping her IV pole, and standing beside Alex. He quickly replaces the photo before turning to face Jesse, putting on a fake smile, shaking his head no.

‘You should carry a photo of your family with you.’

Jesse steps closer to the bedside table and studies the photo he has just replaced.

‘When I’m not feeling so good I look at them and know they love me and that I must be strong for them.’

Alex tries to read her face as he watches her, looking so lovingly at her family. ‘Aren’t they meant to be strong for you?’

‘That’s not the way I see it.’

Jesse climbs onto her bed, drawing her knees up under her chin.

‘What’s wrong?’ Alex asks as he pulls up the chair and sits beside the bed.

‘There’s something I should probably tell you about my family.’

Alex fiddles with the bag in his lap, giving Jesse the time to decide what she will say.

‘My parents are separated; they don’t live together anymore. Sam and I, well, when I’m not in here, we live with Mum, but we still see Dad a lot.’

Alex nods. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘My dad has trouble with me being sick. He just can’t deal with it, and he and Mum were fighting all the time, so he moved out.’

‘That’s rough.’

‘Do you want to know what they were fighting about?’

‘I presume it was about you.’

‘Yeah. It was all sorts of things, really. Like, my dad was spending all his time researching cures in other countries, contacting hospitals here, there and everywhere. Once, he even flew to Cyprus because they had a hospital that claimed it could cure me.’

‘And your mum?’

‘She got several opinions, of course, but they were all saying the same thing.’

‘What about you, what did you want?’

‘You know, you’re the first person to ask me that. It was like they were the parents, they knew what was best for me even if they couldn’t agree.’

‘So would you—’

‘Have liked to go to another country? I never really thought about it as I wasn’t asked, I just overheard all the fighting. And I couldn’t do that to Sam, drag him away from his school and friends. I spoke to Sandy and Christine and asked them what they thought was best.’

‘What did they say?’

‘They showed me the other countries’ data relevant to my situation, and no one had treatment better than what they were giving me here.’

‘So, you stayed here and your dad doesn’t like it?’

‘It was more that he couldn’t accept that Mum wouldn’t even try, but she was trying, trying to make these past two years as easy on me as she could. My mum’s not a quitter.’

‘I bet you take after her.’

‘I hope so. I didn’t really want to be around strangers. At least here there’s Amy, Ryan and Luke.’

‘I’m sorry, Jesse.’

‘You already said that.’

‘Would you like me to come back when you’re feeling better?’

Before Jesse can answer they are interrupted by the sound of her name being called out as a young boy runs into the room, a woman right behind him. Alex recognises them from the photos. Sam and Jesse’s mum, Mandy. Sam stops stock still when he sees Alex, a look of apprehension on his face.

‘Hey, Sammy, come and give me a hug,’ Jesse says to her brother. ‘There’s someone here I want you to meet.’

Walking slowly to the bed, his eyes never leaving Alex, Sam hops up and is enveloped in a hug by his big sister.

‘Is this him?’ he asks Jesse cautiously.

Alex stands as Mandy walks towards him, her hand outstretched.

‘Hello, you must be Alex. I’m Mandy, Jesse’s mum, and this is Sam.’

Alex takes Mandy’s hand and gently shakes it, not knowing what to say.

‘This is Alex,’ Jesse proudly says.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alex,’ Mandy says with genuine warmth.

‘Nice meeting you too, Mrs—’

‘Mandy is fine.’

‘Thank you, Mandy.’ Alex turns to Sam who hasn’t stopped looking at him. He holds out his hand. ‘Hi, Sam.’

Sam shakes Alex’s hand while Mandy is making herself comfortable on Jesse’s bed. She hugs Jesse tightly, kissing her on both cheeks, then hugging her some more.

‘How are you, my darling?’ she finally asks. ‘I’ve just spoken with Sandy and Dr Christine; they said you tolerated the chemo really well today. How are you feeling?’

‘I’m fine, Mum, but you have to let me go so we can talk to Alex.’

With her arm still around Jesse, Mandy turns to Alex.

‘I want you to know how grateful I . . . I mean, we, are for your making Jesse’s wish come true. It’s so important—’

‘Mum, he’s not doing it on his own, he’s working with me, we are doing it together.’

Mandy gives Alex a conspiratorial look, as if to say, ‘That’s teenagers for you!

’ but Alex knows she’s not criticising her daughter.

She just seems to want to be beside her, hug her, comfort her.

Sam is acting the same way. Alex is not used to such overt displays of affection, though he recognises that these are special circumstances.

‘Well, we won’t interrupt you any longer, we just stopped by on our way to Sam’s tennis lesson. We’ll be back later. Will you still be here, Alex?’

‘Yes, he will, he needs to meet all of you. All my family,’ Jesse answers firmly for Alex.

The look of concern on Mandy’s face doesn’t go unnoticed by Alex. But with one final hug, Mandy takes Sam’s hand and helps him down from the bed. Then, calling out goodbye, they leave. Sam hasn’t said a word.

‘Did my mum make you feel uncomfortable? I mean, you looked uncomfortable.’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Alex says, his tone defensive again.

‘Didn’t you like your mum hugging you?’

‘Which one?’ Alex says bluntly.

‘Huh?’

Looking down at his lap, Alex says, ‘I had about ten “mothers”.’ He looks up into Jesse’s face. ‘My mum died when I was seven. I hardly remember her.’ He immediately regrets having been so honest.

Jesse looks down, begins fiddling with a blanket. ‘And what about your dad?’ she asks softly.

‘Never knew him,’ Alex says. ‘But hey, that’s all ancient history. I just know you’re very lucky.’

Amy enters the room and sees Jesse and Alex, both with their heads down. ‘Somebody died?’ Amy asks with a gleam in her eye.

Jesse begins to laugh. Alex is shocked when Amy walks up to him and pokes him in the side.

‘Nope, not dead, but not exactly full of life. How’s the wish coming along?’

‘We keep getting interrupted,’ Jesse says still laughing.

‘Well, I’ll put a stop to that,’ Amy says, climbing up on the bed to sit cross-legged opposite Jesse.

The two girls immediately carry on as the fun-loving teenagers they are.

Alex cannot fathom the dramatic emotional changes around him and walks back to the pinboard, focusing on the photo with Jesse and her father listening to music through shared headphones. He turns back to the girls.

‘Jesse, I need to start filming some of the places in the photos, how about I come back later?’

‘When you come back later this afternoon, Alex, make it quite late. My dad should be here then and you two need to meet,’ Jesse says.

‘Meeting the father, that’s huge, Alex,’ Amy says playfully.

‘Stop it, Amy, you’ll frighten him off,’ Jesse answers with a giggle.

Alex has had all the teen teasing and emotional roller-coasters he can take for the moment. Gathering up his bag he mutters, ‘OK, I’ll try. No promises,’ and hurries from the room.