Bluish by Virginia Hamilton

Author:Virginia Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781453246719
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media LLC
Published: 2012-02-23T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

All

IT WAS FRIDAY AFTERNOON, and Bluish had gone to the doctor. They became more worried about her each time she went. Students stood around, looking at Ms. Baker. Like Dreenie, they didn’t know exactly how they were feeling. It upset them when Bluish got sick. Each time she left suddenly for the doctor, they feared she wouldn’t come back.

Ms. Baker could tell, and began talking to them. “Natalie’s mom doesn’t want you to feel sorry for Natalie,” Ms. Baker told them. “She wants you to understand that Natalie’s been very sick.”

It was then Dreenie thought to say, “I want to know more.”

Kids said, “We want to know more!”

Ms. Baker frowned, pressing her lips firmly together. She went to the blackboard. “Natalie has ALL,” she said, writing it on the board, “which is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. It’s a serious and painful disease.”

Kids left their seats. Slowly, they came up to the front; Ms. Baker was the lamplight they were drawn to like moths. Hearing her talk about Bluish made them stop and think about this worry they’d been having. And now they could show it, they could let it out.

Ms. Baker put her chalk down and reached out to them. Dreenie took her hand a moment. Tuli had Ms. Baker by the arm. Other students did the same, when Dreenie and Tuli let go. Milling around Ms. Baker, they all watched her expression. They knew every line of her face; knew every smile and stern reproach.

“Natalie still must take medicines,” Ms. Baker went on. “But once she’s gone through the program, she has an eighty-five to ninety percent chance of being cured. So please, her mother asks that you treat her the way you would want to be treated. And try not to feel sorry for her. Class,” Ms. Baker added, “I want you to know I’m proud of you, the way you’ve come to regard Natalie.”

“But …” Dreenie began. “But what does that mean? Eighty-five to ninety percent. Where’s the rest? That’s not a hundred percent.”

Ms. Baker spoke clearly, yet quietly. “It means that if Natalie goes from the start of her treatment through five years without a relapse, she’s probably forever cured.”

They stared at Ms. Baker.

“Five whole years?” Jamal said. “Wow … that’s … that’s long! We’ll be fifteen!”

“What’s a relapse?” Dassan wanted to know.

“A relapse is a restart of an illness that’s been in remission—that’s been halted.” Ms. Baker took up the chalk and wrote Relapse and Remission.

Their questions came one after the other. “But when did … did it start?” Dreenie asked.

Ms. Baker never answered her directly. She looked around at all of them.

“Sit down, class,” she told them. “We’ll talk about it.”

They sat down. But soon they were up out of their seats again. Ms. Baker was used to them. They needed to talk, get close, wander away, listening, and come back to the front again.

One student, Linda, was the first to comment. “I feel bad. But I feel funny, I don’t know. I guess I can’t help it.

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