LIFE Interrupted

Amy turned her head towards Sophie, tears welled in her eyes. “Nope, not at all. I’m only twenty-four.”

After that, Sophie’s head started her usual ferocious pounding. “Migraine starts pretty quickly,” she explained to Amy. She gave her, the house number and her cell number which she put in her cell phone. Then Amy gave her numbers to Sophie while she could still think clearly.

Amy reached ove

r and tucked the blanket around her shoulders when she closed her eyes against the light that was making her head throb worse. “Thanks,” Sophie whispered to her.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for being so kind to me.”

“No problem. We girls need to stick together. I meant what I said. Call me if you need to talk.”

“I will, Sophie.”

They were quiet after that. Amy realized that Sophie was in a bad way. Her dad went to the empty chair next to her. He caressed her face. “How you are doing, baby girl?”

“Head is feeling like jackhammers are pounding in it,” she replied.

He caressed her cheek. She opened one eye and saw the concern on his face. “Daddy, this is normal for me.”

“Okay,” was all he said.

When Amy left, she touched Sophie’s arm. “Feel better, Sophie.”

“Thanks Amy. I’ll call you when I’m feeling better, if you haven’t called me just to check on you.”

“It was nice meeting you,” she talked softly because she could tell the sounds were even bothering Sophie.

“Nice meeting you too,” she told the young woman.

Sophie closed her eyes again and rested while the chemo continued to course through her making her head hurt worse with each passing minute. Sophie moaned in her sleep. She felt her dad’s hand on her arm. His warmth penetrating the fog that enveloped her.

“Daddy,” she groaned. “It hurts.”

“I know baby. I’m right here.” She heard the emotion in his voice and she couldn’t reassure him. As a parent, she knew how she would feel if this was Heath or Ally going through this.

Madge checked her vitals. “She’s hurting worse this time than last. Doctor Robert’s PA is on her way over to check her,” Sophie heard but couldn’t seem to wake up. The pain of migraines was like a weight that sat on you, where sleep was the only remedy.

Fifteen minutes later, Jodi, the PA checked her vitals. “Her BP is good. Hey, Sophie,” Jodi caressed her arm. “How you are doing, sweetheart?”

“Head is much worse.” She couldn’t open her eyes.

“I understand. We’re almost done for the day about another half hour,” she explained.

“Good,” Sophie declared.

“I’m going to stay until she’s finished so I can check her before she leaves.”

She knew it was her dad who rubbed his hand across her arm, trying to comfort her. Nothing soothed the pain though. She remembered having her tonsils out when she was little. She didn’t know how old she was, but she was sick from the anesthesia. He had held her in an uncomfortable chair all night, rocking her tiny body until she could sleep.

“Daddy,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Remember when I had my tonsils out?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, trying to keep his deep, booming, voice soft.

“I wish I could crawl into your lap and you could make everything okay like you did then,” she told him.