Happy Birthday, Me
Beep.  Beep.  Beep. The heart rate machine is on beat the whole time, occasionally coming off beat for a mili-second or two.  I find myself here most days, after school my grandparents would bring me down here to be with Kevin as the doctors try and try to figure out how to fix my brother.  He is asleep out of exhaustion most of the days, walking five feet or so each day.  All I can see from my brother that used to be the most active of my family, now struggling to stay alive.  after a while I couldn’t stand seeing Kev in pain so I go to the cafeteria to get away from it all, and to get some food. as I walk in, I can smell the mixture of all the foods that they sell. The lines there are long, from all the worried mothers and fathers, praying their child will be okay.  The food here is better than our schools, making steak for a reasonable price, and a decent taste. I get my food and go out to the tables, and force myself to eat the steak, but the steak tastes bitter.   after about an hour of trying to stuff the bitter steak into me, just because I was hungry, I headed back up to check on kevin. He was awake, but just barely. He weakly tells me, “Happy birthday Katie,” then falls asleep again.  I had tried to put aside the fact that i was spending my birthday in the hospital, with my brother, who isn’t too fond of me, my mom and dad, who are too worried about kevin to really show the affection that I need from them, and my grandparents, who are Running around trying to do anything they can to help my mom, dad, and Kevin.  The only people who have made an effort to give me a good birthday was Julie and Booker, her dog, also my dogs puppy, Hooker, a brief birthday party in the hospital(which included taking pictures with my sleeping brother, and worrying about my brother’s heart beat, and how much morphine they were giving him, and me opening two presents and a few cards from my uncles, aunts, and cousins.) as the night goes on, all I really do is sit in a chair, stroking my new teddy bears soft wirelike fur, while my parents watch the democratic convention.  At about nine o’clock, we have to leave my brother and mom.  As I walk out I give Kevin a hug. I can see his rib cage poke out of his scrawny body, and I honestly can’t see how he is alive because he is about 60 lbs.  I get home, and as i get ready to go to sleep, my dad comes in and tells me one more happy birthday, and gives me a present and leaves. i open it and i see a beautiful stone necklace that i saw at the jazz festival the weekend before.