Oasis Springs / April 25th / 11:00AM - 3:04PM - Life Goes On (Pt.1)
The following day I woke up with the realization that I can’t keep my diagnosis a secret forever. People are bound to find out and wonder why I didn’t tell them sooner or later. That morning I called up one of my best friends from college, Melissa, and asked if she wanted to come over. Melissa and I were diving partners and competitors at WU but we always maintained a healthy friendship. In many ways, Mel, was like a mother figure to me in college. She took me under her wing until she graduated even though she was two years older than me. Even after she graduated she found ways to include me in her life. I was the maid of honor at her wedding and asked to be the godmother to her and Grant’s beautiful baby girl, Evangeline Rose.
However, this past year I have sucked at keeping in contact with Mel even when she has reached out to me. Mel even moved to Oasis Springs three months ago from San Myshuno with Grant and Evie and I still didn’t reach out. So, when I called and invited her over I was shocked at how giddy and excited she sounded. One of the reasons I chose to tell her first was because Mel was a registered nurse and that just seemed like an appropriate place to start.
Right at 11:00 Mel was knocking on my door and looking as adorable as ever. “You look like such a mom!” I told her as we sat on the pool deck. Playfully, she winked, “Grant loves it.” “Should I expect to be a godmother again?” I joked admiring her floral dress. If I was to describe Melissa’s style in one word it would be boho. She was always in a dress and looking comfortable. “Oh God no!” she nearly screeched causing me to almost fall over from laughing. “Evangeline is without a doubt 100% her father’s child and even more of a handful than him,” she said trying to contain her giggles. As our laughing began to ease off she sighed and leaned back on her hands, “Grant and I have talked about trying for another one when Evie is like four.” I cocked my head to the side realizing that was the same age difference between me and my older sister, Afton. “Oh, did you know that Rhea and Christoph are trying to get pregnant.” For some reason the fact that I did not know this stung. Rhea was another good friend from college and since my symptoms started I just fell off the map completely. “Uh, no. I wasn’t aware,” I responded casually. Mel seemed to move closer to me, “Aspen, what’s going on?”
I had to take a deep breath and collect myself for a moment. “A lot of shit has been happening this past year,” I told her truthfully. “It’s not anything between Oliver and I. We are perfectly fine. It’s my health that has been shit.” Carefully, I watched Melissa’s face to see if she had any idea where I was going with this. “What kind of health issues were you dealing with?” she asked inquisitively. “Tingling sensation in my extremities, shooting pain down my left arm, sudden deterioration of vision, losing my balance, feeling dizzy, and losing my cordination,” I replied looking at my feet. “God, that sounds awful,” Melissa softly said. “It sounds a lot like…” her sentence trailed off as I lifted my head to look at her. “Multiple sclerosis?” I offered quietly. Mel’s mouth hung open in shock for a moment. “I was diagnosed on the 19th of this month and I start beta interferon injections on Friday,” I wiped my eyes gently trying not to mess up my makeup. “Oh lovely,” she whispered pulling me into a hug.
After a few moments we pulled away from the hug and Mel gave me a soft smile. “So, yeah, that’s why I have been distant lately,” I confessed feeling like a shitty person. “That makes sense though,” she countered. “MS is not a diagnosis to take lightly nor are its symptoms.” I nodded my head thinking back to what Oliver said about my first major flare up from the disease and just how debilitating it was. “How has Oliver been handling all of this?” Mel asked me softly. I cleared my throat before answering because just thinking about that man made me want to cry from gratefulness. “Amazing per usual,” I said with a smile. “I tried to give him an out the other day but he is determined to stay with my sarcastic ass.” Melissa gently rested her head on the top of her knees and smiled at me, “I’m not shocked that you did that or by his response.” Cocking her head to the side she carefully looked at me, “Oliver loves you more than a guy normally loves a girl. When the two of you started dating it was like watching two long lost lovers come together again.” I raised an eyebrow at her, “Are you reading those erotic love novels again?” Melissa started cackling at my question which caused me to start laughing. Once we were able to breathe Mel gave me a lopsided smile, “I know what I said was corny as hell but you two were seriously made for one another.” In all honesty, I really enjoyed the idea that Oliver and I could be soulmates.
