The Elephant Gate

PROLOGUE

The little boy sat humming to himself on the park bench outside the hospital, his Power Ranger sneakers flashing in the sun as he swung them back and forth. He idly plucked at the hem of his shirt, dislodging a few threads. A well-loved stuffed elephant with one ear missing leaned against his right leg.

"He's going to have a rough time of it, Mrs. Hunter," the doctor said, standing next to a worried looking woman a short distance away. She looked at him as if he held her little one's life in his hands, which, in fact, he did. "The treatments for brain tumors are problematic for a.d.u.l.ts, with the risks and symptoms inherent in it. With the additional problem of the positive test for meningitis, his treatment could be more dangerous. However, we must start chemotherapy as soon as possible for even a small chance of success, and hope the antibiotics for the infection work before his T-cell levels drop."

The woman nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "I will bring him back tomorrow." The gentleman nodded and watched as she headed to the bench.

"Kevin!" She called out, and the little boy turned and smiled, exposing a gap where a tooth used to be.

"Mama!!" He cried happily as he slid off the bench, grabbed his elephant by the one remaining ear, and trotted towards the woman. He laughed as the woman scooped him up and lifted him over her head, his empty hand reaching for the sun.

CHAPTER 1

"No, I expected you to leave that construction site long enough to see your son!" The words were spoken in a fierce whisper but even above the beeping noises of the machines, Kevin could hear them. He clutched Kandula to his c.h.e.s.t as he listened to this mom argue over the phone. He knew

Dad was busy, building houses for families to live in and be happy. It wasn't ever happy in his house anymore.

When he was home, his parents often yelled at each other, especially when they thought he was upstairs asleep. Sometimes he would cry into his pillow so they couldn't hear him. It was hard trying to be brave for his mom.

His Dad rarely came to the hospital where he had been staying since he got a really bad headache weeks ago. That upset his mom too; Kevin was mostly happy when only one parent with with him. It was just that sometimes he wanted his dad to be the one there.

The hospital walls were decorated with frames of various children's drawings, but the bright colors could not hide the clinical nature of the room, or the various machines lurking around the electric bed. The medicinal smell hung heavy in the air and sometimes caused him to sneeze, and, whenever he got sick, even the disinfectant the nurses used to clean it up didn't complete hide the odor.

He missed his home, with all of his comic book hero action figures and his computer. The hospital teacher lady was very nice, but not as nice as Miss Ward, his English teacher at school. He missed his friends, most of which couldn't visit him while he was sick. His parents always seemed angry nowadays. He tried to be a good boy and never complain, even when they served him yucky lima beans, but it didn't help. Maybe once the doctors fixed him, his parents would smile at each other again.

He hugged his elephant again for comfort, and drifted off to sleep, his thumb in his mouth.

* * *

The little boy's heart thumped painfully in in his c.h.e.s.t as he tried to swallow his sobs. The pitiless buzzing of the hair clippers vibrated against his head; he unscrewed his eyes and peeked down to see brown drifts of hair float to the floor. His mom's l.a.p felt warm as her arms securely anchored him, and he felt a bit better. The shaver thing was really just ticklish; it wasn't hurting him or anything. But that didn't stop it from being just a little bit scary.

"Just a little bit longer, my brave boy," she murmured in his ear. Just then, the clippers stopped. "All done! Now thank the man." He touched the back of his head, where the doctor was going to take the bad stuff out. It was funny, feeling the bumpy places. His mom placed a kiss near his hand, which made him giggle for a moment.

His mom gave him a brief hug before allowing him to slip off her l.a.p and stand. He turned and solemnly looked at the man behind the chair. "Thank you, Mr Shaver." The man nodded and smiled before turning away to begin the cleanup. Kevin focused on his mother as she brushed away stray hairs from his hospital johnny. Leaving her hands on his shoulders, she looked into his eyes. He stiffened under her hands, knowing what she was going to say was important.

"Remember what Doctor Miller told you? In a little bit, you are going to get some sleep medicine to eat, then some you breathe in, and I'll be here the whole time until you fall asleep, okay?" She looked at her son with love doing her best to hide her fear.

Kevin felt his bottom lip quiver a little as he nodded. He promised he would be a big boy and not cry, because that made his mom sad, and he knew she was just as scared as he was. "I love you, Momma".

His mom gave a half-sob half-laugh. "I love you too, baby."

* * *

Later, feeling drowsy from the medicine he drank, he gave his beloved toy a final hug and pushed it towards him mother.

"Momma, I told Kandula to take care of you, so you won't cry anymore. He pinky-sweared it, even though he doesn't have pinkies or anything. Will Daddy be here when I wake up? 'Cuze I really really miss him."

"I know he will try, and he loves you very very much," his mother said. She stroked his hair one last time before the anesthesiologist began the final procedure.