• Emily was a normal child living in a messed up world.. She was well rounded when it came to sports. She played field hockey, soccer, softball and hoped to attend basketball camp in the summer. She got all A’s and the occasional B. You could say she was a perfect child, but you could also say she was a wreck.
    Emily’s parents died when she was 4 and she had to go live with her cruel aunt. She was very unhappy moving from Liverpool, England all the way to Idaho, USA. She missed her friends and one especially, Gabby.
    One day Gabby called and offered Emily a new home, Gabbys house. Emily said yes wanting to leave her mean and abusive aunt. When she got to Gabby’s house a day or two later, she wasn’t as excited as most kids would be. She was unhappy with some test results.
    See, before she left for England, she had to go to the doctors for a physical. The doctor, Dr. Smith, evaluated Emily, and told the results to her in a sad and serious tone. Emily, Emily the normal child on the A/B honor roll, jock, and best friend, had a tumor in her left leg. She had Bone Cancer.
    Emily didn’t tell Gabby's family everything, even though they were like family to her. She didn’t tell them about her parents or her new illness, even though she should. Emily didn’t want to tell them because she was afraid they might send her back to her aunt.
    Gabby had her share of secrets too, though none of them were as serious as Emily’s. Gabby didn’t tell anyone about her divorced parents (although only Emily knew this, no one else did), about her secret crush, David, and about her greatest fear, losing friends like Emily.
    As the weeks went by, Gabby's family were getting suspicious and Emily was running out of excuses of why her hair was falling out. Wendy’s mom was always wondering what Emily really did every other week on Tuesdays. She thought Emily was in a club, but what the truth was that she had to go to the doctors to get her medication and chemo.
    One day, Emily and Gabby were out playing soccer at the neighborhood soccer field.
    “Pass it over here!!” Emily shouted, leaning over from a cramp in her leg.
    “Catch!” Gabby said, smiling, knowing that catch wasn’t the right word.
    That same day is when Gabby’s mom had to find out what Emily was hiding so she went into Emily and Gabby's room and started looking. She looked in the sock drawer, and in the closet. She looked every where until she finally found what she was looking for. In her hand were Emily’s pain meds.
    After Gabby’s mom read the label she dropped the bottle and ran outside to the soccer field.
    “Emily! Emily Elizabeth!! Why didn’t you tell me you had-“ she looked around to make sure no one was listening in and then finished in a low voice, “why didn’t you tell me you had cancer!! How could you keep a thing like that away from us?!”
    “How did you find out?” Emily replied in a painful voice.
    “I know it’s wrong but I-“ Gabby’s mom didn’t get to finish her sentence because just then Emily yelped then collapsed.
    “Emily!! Someone call 911!!! God, no!!!” Gabby’s mom said franticly.
    When the paramedics arrived, they lifted Emily up on a stretcher and got her to the hospital, where she was safe. The nurses got her into a room in the ICU and got her stabilized.
    “My poor little Emily!!” Gabby’s mom screamed.
    Gabby just sat there, pale and quiet, not believing what had happened. Just then, the doctor came into the waiting room, and said in a sorrowful voice, “I’m so sorry to tell you this, but… Your daughter Emily, has passed away.
    “Noo!!!” Gabby’s mom screamed, waking every patient nearby. Gabby, again, just sat there, although this time you could see a tear roll down her pale face.
    “This is all my fault! I should have been more involved, I shouldn’t have yelled at her in her last hours of life! All my fault…” Her words drifted away as tears rapidly streamed down onto the black and white hospital papers.