Angela

“Oh my God! I’m really sorry Pete. I had no idea.” I said. “I hope she gets better soon.”

“We hope so too.” Pete said clasping his hands.

“When did she discover that she had cancer?” Ann asked.

“Angela had been experiencing some migraines for a while so we changed doctors. He did the whole body tests and that’s when we discovered it was cancer in her breast. We had to be sure of it so we searched for another opinion from a doctor elsewhere and the results was cancer too. We have been undergoing treatment for a while now but the chemo is really taking her down.”

“We are so sorry.” Fred said patting his left shoulder.

The baby started crying. Ann stood up and carried the baby outside while swaying him left to right. We were left in the room silent without anyone knowing what to say.

“Oh…am sorry. Would you guys like some juice?” Pete said standing up.

We all nodded and he went to the kitchen to serve us. I thought I should help him out so I followed him and arranged glasses for him. We then brought the juices to the lounge area where I poured for each of us. Ann was still outside so I went and called her.

As we were chatting, I heard footsteps. I looked over at the stairs and saw Angela walking down. She was frail. Her steps were well calculated as if to avoid slipping on the red carpet that had been placed on the stairs. She supported herself by placing her hand on the wall. As soon as she noticed we were all looking at her, she smiled and walked over to us.

We gave each other a hug. She had really become light. I couldn’t feel her body well pressed to mine. There was also a strong smell of medicine around her. Her lips were cracked up but her soft smile tried to cover up the pain she was undergoing.

“Thanks guys for coming. It’s really nice to see you all again.” Angela spoke softly to us.

“Thank you for welcoming us.” Ann said.

“I can see the baby all grown up. Can I carry him?” Angela asked stretching her hands over to Ann.

“Yes, yes.” Ann said and started to lift the baby up to give to her.

“Baby, you think you can handle the extra weight?” Pete asked looking all concerned.

“I will manage.” She said while smiling.

She held the baby close to her chest and looked at him. You could see the love she had for that baby.

“Angela, we are really sorry to hear about your condition.” Mike said. “We hope you will get better soon.”

“Thank you guys. I am under the care of some good doctors and hope it will go away soon. But the treatment is really bad, the chemo is tough.”

“But will it be over soon?” Mike asked.

“I have twelve sessions left. It’s the after effect that makes it worse. The nausea, vomiting, headache, cramps and anemia really weigh me down. I am hopeful that I will be able to conquer it.”