Vanessa spent most of sixteen at home. Her hair and eyebrows grew back, her color returned, and a glow returned to her skin. She lost the lethargy, her eyes brightened, her posture improved, she gained stamina (and weight), and became a healthy sixteen-year-old. There were still routine examinations. Her doctors were relaxed, their comments were […]
Fifteen was tough. It started out, at least from Vanessa’s perspective, muddled. She was home and then she was in the hospital and then she was back home. Her team – she had to have a whole team of doctors? – grew bigger, and then things were discovered by one test or another, and the […]
At fourteen, Vanessa Hoffman started complaining of headaches and fatigue. Her stomach was finicky, and her appetite dwindled. Sometimes she found herself out of breath and sometimes her hands and legs felt numb and sometimes her joints hurt. Her balance would go off intermittently. She answered adults with “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am” and mostly […]
“You would have killed me, Cheri. And we both know it.” I was talking to the dead, and shivering uncontrollably. Genuinely worried for my sanity, I fumbled with the Fiero’s heater. I followed the Monte Carlo’s misty taillights with a resolve born of resignation. We drove through the sleeping town. Terry was headed for a […]