Chapter 10: 01 Yearning [Ache]

Chelsea was five when she first started having symptoms. She was in kindergarten, and the other kids marveled at her seizure. All she felt was a yearning for her mom. The teachers called the doctors first before calling Eleanor. The doctors arrived in a noisy red car shaped like a box with flashing lights. They took Chelsea away with them.

She was scared. Her whole body ached. The car ride was loud and annoying. Worst of all, she didn’t have her mom.

A nurse held her hand. “It’s going to be okay, little one.”

Chelsea looked at him. He was nice. He had brown hair, green eyes, and freckles. His narrow face checked her over with practiced precision. He put plastic stickers on her skin in different places. The stickers were cold at first. He attached wires, which hooked up to a machine. The machine made noises and printed something out.

The nurse examined the paper from the machine and said, “Her heart is in rhythm.”

“I’m scared,” Chelsea said in the small voice of a child. “Where’s Mommy?”

The nurse took her hand again and looked at her with kind eyes. “She’ll meet us at the hospital.”

“What’s a hospical?” Chelsea asked.

“It’s a special place that will make you feel better,” the nurse told her.

“It will make me not hurt?”

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“Yeah, that’s right. Where do you hurt?”

“All over,” Chelsea groaned.

The nurse touched her heart with a finger. “Does it hurt here?”

“Yeah.”

He touched her arm. “Does it hurt here?”

“Yeah.”

He touched her head. “Does it hurt here?”

“Yeah.”

“You hurt all over? Where does it hurt most?”

“All over,” Chelsea repeated.

The nurse sighed and went back to doing tests.

In a few minutes, they arrived at the hospital. The nurse pushed the bed Chelsea was on out of the square car, where another nurse took control. The first nurse relayed all he had learned on the car ride over in fast words that Chelsea didn’t understand. The second nurse pushed the bed through magically opening doors into somewhere bright and busy.

Chelsea smelled strange smells that she had never smelled before. When she stared at the ceiling there were blinding lights. It was as bright as the outside. She heard people talking throughout the room. Some were scared, like her, some were serious, and some were kind. It was a lot to take in.

“Chelsea, baby!” came a loud voice. It was Mommy!

Chelsea turned her head to see her mom and cried. “I’m so scared, Mommy!”

“I know, baby,” Eleanor said. “It’ll be okay.”

“Mommy, are you scared?” Chelsea asked.

Eleanor smiled, but her eyes held tears. “No, baby. Everything will be alright.”

Chelsea was still scared, but her mom made everything better.