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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is a short one...but things will start picking up and longer chapters will be coming! Just kind of introducing characters now...:) Please leave feedback
Chapter Four Anthony

Despite my pain and the sick feeling that had taken over my entire body, I had a genuine smile spread across my lips. My encounter with Kendra three days before was still fresh in my mind, and although I hadn’t seen her since, I was positive that I would have another encounter with her by the end of the week. Everything about her was just so…perfect. I longed to learn and know more, making a mental note to do just that. After all, she was the only person remotely close to my age on the oncology floor, not to mention she was beautiful, sweet and kind.

Before I knew it, I found myself wondering if Kendra had a boyfriend before I could stop myself, as if the hospital was some kind of love connection service. I couldn’t help myself though, for I was definitely intrigued. The only scary thing was that she had osteosarcoma, of all things. Who was I to judge though? At age twenty-one, I’d been diagnosed with leukemia and hit remission seven months later. Now, at age twenty-four, I’m back for round two. Therefore, this fact wasn’t enough to keep me away from her. After all, I knew how it was to be judged for being sick for something I couldn’t help.

What’s my story? To start, I was just beginning my senior year of college at the University of California at Las Angeles…aka, UCLA. My major, to be in sports management. I was also on the men’s soccer team. I’d been in the middle of changing for a game and one of my teammates, Shawn, pointed out a trail of bruises along my side, and a few scattered on my legs, which I’d been ignoring, telling myself that they were just from playing the game. He got coach anyways though, who drug me to a physician. I guess that there was more to it than that in the doctors eyes, because after some questioning, and some bloodwork being done and sent in to the lab, I was diagnosed with a simple phone call and another brief doctors visit, this time at the hospital. Days later, I’d been admitted in to a different hospital several thousand miles away, for they were known as being one of the best in cancer treatment.

With three quarters left in my college career, I had to drop my full time load to undergo treatments and concentrate on just getting well. It was a tough ride, but as I said before, after seven long months, I was just about as good as new. I enrolled back in to the classes I’d dropped, took a few refresher courses and then graduated a year later. For the next two years, I was coaching a semi-professional soccer team, or assistant coaching, rather. It was an amazing experience and the job was better than I could have ever imagined. Now, I’m on medical leave though for the obvious reasons. If I’m gone for too long though, I’ll be replaced, not because they want to, but because they wont have a choice in the matter. After all, the team can only go so long with a missing coach. If that happens, I’ll then have to worry about finding another coaching job, which those are hard to come by. It’s all a matter of falling in to luck, and knowing just what to do to hold on to that luck.

Was I positive that I would hit remission again and get back with my life? Absolutely. I had all the hope in the world that I would become well again. I had once, and even though I knew that hitting remission a second time was more difficult, I knew that I had the right attitude to overcome this again. It wasn’t fun, but it could be a whole lot worse, because I could be dead. To me, just living was enough encouragement to keep me going and fighting leukemia.

Without warning, every single muscle of my body started to ache all at once, making me feel weak and unable to move without support. I hadn't noticed it before, but I had a feeling it had been there all along. Putting all of my mind power in to positive thoughts again, slowly I was able to make some of the pain deminish. I closed my eyes, feeling the need for a small afternoon nap, Kendra entered my mind again. I was determined to get to know more about her and win her heart. I could tell that she was scared, and I wanted to take that fear away from her and be there for her every step of the way. I hoped that I’d be able to see her soon because she was the first face I’d seen that was close to being my age and seemingly friendly, despite how sad I could tell that she was despite her forced smiles. She needed somebody. She needed me, and as brave as I was, in a way, I needed her too.