During the drive,
they avoided the elephant. Paco was the
reason for driving to the hospital.
Still, Ashley and Melinda, Paco’s first and second grade teachers
respectively, didn’t want their feelings to get the best of them. The youngest child from a family of
immigrants, Paco timidly entered Ashley’s classroom for the first time last
year. He knew no English. Ashley couldn’t comprehend how she could
teach a child who didn’t share her language.
Little did she realize the intelligence and desire to learn housed in
Paco’s small frame.
Melinda
acknowledged the elephant first. Choking
back tears, Melinda stated, “He’s the smartest, sweetest little boy I’ve ever
had in my classroom.”
“Me too. It seems like he learned English in a week
and then he was helping his friends with math.
He was the best behaved one in my class.”
“So many kids now
are spoiled brats who need sound discipline.”
“You got that
right.”
Then both thought
it. Only Melinda was brave enough to say
it. “It isn’t fair an eight year old
gets cancer. Especially Paco. I don’t wish this on anyone but why him? Why such a cute, sweet, smart little boy?”
Ashley sighed. The question rocked her foundations. She replied with the only words she knew at
that moment, “I don’t know.”
With the car parked,
the ladies retrieved balloons and toys from the car and started walking toward
the hospital. That morning, Paco had
surgery to remove a kidney. Doctors also
removed a tumor the size of a newborn baby.
The incision was from his waist to the ribcage. When the school staff was shown the post op photograph,
astonished gasps filled the air. How
does a little boy endure such butchery?
It wasn’t that the doctors were poorly skilled. Rather, the scar was grotesquely large across
his tiny body.
The elevator door
opened and the teachers looked at the sign to reference the direction they
needed to walk. Toward the end of the
hallway, they saw Paco’s older sister, Mariela.
She ran to the teachers and hugged them.
Fighting tears, she asked, “What are you doing here?”
Melinda replied
with a smile, “We’re here to see Paco.”
The trio walked to
the room and Paco’s mother,Lourdes, recognized the teachers and left her son’s
side to approach them. She said, “Thank
you for come. He sleeps still.”
Ashley said, “We
had to see him. How is he?”
“He wake but sleep
again.” Then she spoke to Mariela in
Spanish. Mariela said, “They removed his
kidney and a large tumor. They will
inspect the tumor and let us know as soon as possible.”
Lourdes introduced
the teachers to her husband and her parents.
Just then, Paco stirred and all attention was focused on him. Lourdes held his hand saying, “Papito, papi,
estoy aqui. Tiene dolor? Papi?
Paco, puedes escucharme?”
Paco didn’t open
his eyes but started to cry softly. “It
hurts mommy.”
Tears fell down
Lourdes’s cheeks as tears welled up in the eyes of his teachers. Paco’s father and grandfather stood by
stoically. They were resolute against
any weakness but were obviously broken. The
next hour was difficult for the teachers as Paco faded in and out of consciousness. They wanted to talk with the lad and the
family but conversations were difficult.
The parents spoke only basic English with Paco’s siblings serving as
translators. They had been in the
hospital all day and, while concerned for their brother, were bored with the
drudgery of sitting and talking.
Once Paco was fully
aware of his surroundings, he smiled at his teachers and thanked them for
visiting him. He also expressed
appreciation for the balloons and presents.
Doctors and nurses entered, checked the lad and the incision, and
advised the surgery went well. There was
a private discussion with the parents and a hospital translator.
Finally, it was
time to Ashley and Melinda to depart.
They each hugged the boy and kissed him on the forehead. He thanked them again for visiting. He added, “You’re my favorite teachers.”
The rest of the
week they found themselves hating the circumstances. They loathed the unfairness of it all. More than anything, Ashly and Melinda abhorred
not knowing how it would end.
