What would she wish for Christmas?
This Christmas was different than usual.
The living room was filled with flowers, even in buckets, because there were no more vases. In between this colorful splendor, the Christmas tree looked a bit our of sorts.
The entire closet was filled with cards, a lot of Christmas - and New Year cards but mostly Get Well cards. One would wish her a lot of strength an the other a Good Years' End. She giggled to herself.
Christmas was like the eye of the storm. A nice quiet silence amidst two storms. It was difficult to enjoy it she felt, like Damocles' sword hanging constantly over her. And after Christmas, the two week long salt less diet would commence and she had to stop the intake of her thyroid hormone.
In this way the number of cells that were attacking her body would increase exponentially. The radio active iodine pill, she would receive during a strictly sequestered quarantine would be most effective this way and kill all cancer cells.
At least, that was the intention.
What would she do today? She didn't have any hospital appointments, groceries were already taken care of by her girlfriend and the sun was shining.
Just before a great idea was able to present itself to her, the phone rang. Her boss, he usually liked to call in between his appointments. "How are you?"
As well as she could she tried to answer his question but she noticed that he didn't hear her well enough becaused he asked "Hello?" and she tried to repeat her answer. Her voice not stronger than a whispering air movement.
His voice adjusted itself sponteneously to hers as if all of a sudden a secret conversation was taking place.
He was quickly called back into one of his meetings and she whispered "Thank you for calling".
She pondered how much of your identity is connected to your voice. This soft, false vibrato wasn't her. Her voice had been gone for just two weeks but it felt like an eternity. Next to this it wasn't sure if it would come back and within what pitch.
"Don't think about that right now", she tought to herself. She had to give it time doctors had told her. A minimum of at least three months.
Maybe when her voice didn't return, she might always still be able to apply for one of those 06-hotlines.
"Call me... now...!!!"
With such a hoarse, smokey voice the phone would be ringing off the hook.
Thankfully it was winter time, people's first impression might be she was having a cold.
Christmas caroling was also not one of her options this year, not that she ever did, but you miss most that what you can not have.