A large man with broad, squared, shoulders and deep-set eyes walked briskly into the room. A scar was slashed across his left cheek and a small goatee stood out on his square shaped chin. Mom rose from her chair to shake hands with him. "A pleasure to meet you, Dr…?"

"Kent," the man said, shaking mother's hand. Dr. Kent turned to me. "You must be Sheryl. It's nice to meet you." His voice boomed like a gong in the otherwise silent room.

"Nice to meet you," I said. My voice trembled. His large, square-fingered hand engulfed my sweaty one for a moment as we shook hands.

How are you feeling today? Is the medication helping?"

Yeah, it's helping a lot," I lied. He couldn't know how weak I felt, and of course I didn't say anything. If he knew the truth about the medication and how weak I was, he might send me to surgery. I would rather die.
Dr. Kent was talking with Mom now, and she was nodding her head in agreement. He said something about lymphoblastic leukemia and how I didn't have enough lymphocytes in my blood stream. Wiggling my numb toes, I shivered and pulled the thin hospital gown tighter around me

At last Mom and the Doctor stopped talking and Dr. Kent turned back toward me.

"I have some good news, and some bad news for you, Sheryl. Your leukemia can be cured through a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, it may take a while for us to find a match for you. But, as soon as we do find it you can go into surgery."

I wrapped my arms around myself and clamped my jaw tighter, trying to stop my teeth from chattering. He said surgery! My nightmare was slowly coming true. I fought back tears. "You must be cold." Dr. Kent turned to go. "I'll leave so you can change now. Have a good day." He must have seen the scared look in my eyes because he patted my hand, saying, "Keep your chin up." Then he left shutting the door softly behind him.

After I'd dressed we headed to our blue minivan. Mom asked, "Honey, are you all right? I know the idea of surgery is a little intimidating. You looked pretty nervous in there."

"No Mom, I'm fine." Two lies in one day. God must be mad now. But then it really didn't matter, since he obviously didn't care about me anyway. She squeezed my hand, and then stuck the keys in the ignition.
"I'm a bit scared too you know."

"Mom, really, I'm fine. I'll tell you if I get scared." Three lies now. I must be setting a world record. As we parked in the driveway my little brother Brian came out to greet us.

"Mommy, Shari, look what I made!" He held up a picture for me to examine. "See the smiley face? That's you when you get all better!

I knelt down on the cement driveway and wrapped him in a tight hug. "I think it's the best picture in the whole world!" He squealed as I picked him up. I almost tipped over as I was standing up, and sweat stood out on my forehead and neck. I quickly put him down and dragged myself to my room. Mom couldn't see how tired I was. She would surely know that something was up. But I guess it didn't matter anymore. It was time to face my fear.

The next morning, my life changed forever. It was sunny and warm outside, the kind of day that makes you glad to be alive. Mom had set my lunch on the counter; I crammed it into my backpack and grabbed a piece of toast. However, just as I was about to take my daily dash to the bus, Mom walked in. She had that secretive sort of smile on her face.

"Guess what honey?"
"What?" I wasn't really paying attention to her, just trying to zip up my bulging backpack.
"They found a bone marrow donor for you! You go in for the surgery next week!"

I dropped my bag. Mom came over and hugged me. I didn't say anything. I was still in shock. It couldn't be real. At last, I pasted on a smile and said, yes it was great, sure, I couldn't wait, and yes, I was happy that they found someone so fast.
Mom ran off to call everyone she knew and tell them the good news, while I walked numbly to school. My insides felt like lead, I couldn't think. I wanted to wake up from this horrible dream, but it wouldn't go away. Later that night, I cried myself to sleep. My worst nightmare had come true.

Be sure to get the next issue of Girl Talk to read Jasmine's conclusion to Sheryl's Secret