The Adventures of A Fat Girl

3. Harriet

"Are you sure about this honey?", dad asks me one more time as we climb out of the car and face the hospital.

"Yes dad", I tell him and we make our way inside the building.

"Good morning. We are here to see Dr. Greene", dad tells the receptionist and she nods and takes on the computer. 

"Hazel Campbell?"

"Yes. That's me", I say and she hands us the visitor IDs and we take the elevator.

Dad knocks on the door and we hear a faint 'come in'. Dad opens the door and we all enter the office. Dr. Greene looks up and smiles at me. She gestures us to take a seat. 

"Hello. I see you have made your decision?", Dr. Greene asks me and I nod my head. 

"Yes I have".

"So, are we going with option one or option two?"

"Option one. I can deal with medicines for my entire life but I don't want a transplant", I tell her with determination.

"I hope this decision of yours is not based on the fear of the surgery?"

"I'm not scared of the surgery, it's just that I don't want it. I have accepted things the way are".

"Okay then. Today, I will tell you all about your medicines and what they do. We can start them from tomorrow itself. I will also give you a schedule to remember the timings, alright?", she tells me with a sweet smile and somehow I feel relieved that the decision I made was the right one. 

"Okay", I tell her and she continues staring at me and for some reason I feel like she can hear all of my thoughts. 

"Before that, Hazel could you please come with me? I want to show you something", she says and stands up from her chair.

"Sure", I stand up. Dad too gets up from the chair but Dr. Greene tells him to sit back down. 

"I just want Hazel to come with me. Don't worry Mr. Campbell, we will come back within a few minutes", Dr. Greene tells mom and dad and they both nod. 

"Come on Hazel", she opens the door for me.

"Thank you", I exit the office and we both take the elevator.

"Where are we going, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Of course not Hazel. We are going to go meet some of my patients who suffer from the same medical condition as yours. I want you to understand that there is nothing wrong with you. Yes, you have a medical condition but that doesn't define who you are. Your outer appearance doesn't matter if your insides are pure", she tells me and my eyes go wide. I don't say anything and just follow her. She knows all about my insecurities and that just makes me feel a little embarrassed. Am I that easy to read or is it her experience? 

We get out of the elevator and start walking down the hall. Thoughts about meeting someone who is just like me makes me nervous and a little curious as well. Dr. Greene stood in front of one of the rooms. I look at the patient through the window and see a young girl, about 13 years old. Her condition seems worse than mine as she is hooked to many wires and the machines are beeping steadily. She is laughing at something one of her friends says and I could just stare at her. Even though she is hooked to machines, she laughs more than I do. Before my thoughts could run wild, Dr. Greene interrupts me. 

"Her name is Gail and she is 13. Her hypothyroidism is more advanced than yours. As you can see, she is a very cheerful child and is always smiling and laughing. Her parents are just like yours, supportive and loving. She's been here for three years now and her friends come to visit her almost everyday. She didn't have an option like you did. She needs a transplant for her survival", she continues talking but I tune her out. I concentrate on the girl. The only difference between her and me except her condition, is that she laughs and smiles way more than I do. I was just like her before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Sometimes, I miss the happy me but I got used to it which is the worst possible thing. 

"Let's go and meet my favorite patient", she says and leads me to the end of the hallway. She opens the door to her right and gestures me to follow her. 

As we enter, a girl, roughly my age, turns to look at us. She smiles warmly.

"Hello Harriet. How are we feeling today?", Dr. Greene asks as she goes to check her vitals and the wires attached to her. 

"Hey Dr. Greene. I'm feeling good. I see you have a guest with you today", she looks at me and smiles again. 

"This is Hazel. Just wanted her to meet my favorite patient", D. Greene says and Harriet laughs. 

"Hazel, this is Harriet Lynn and her mom Rina Lynn".

"It's nice to meet you Hazel", Rina says and we shake hands. I, nod my head at her and smile. 

"Rina, why don't we give the girls some time to bond?", Dr. Greene says and I look at her, startled. This wasn't the part of the plan, was it? 

"Sure. We will be outside if you need anything", Rina says we they both leave the room. Harriet gestures me to sit at the edge of her bed. I sit down, careful of all the wires connected to her. 

I just stood there looking at the door. I am so not good at starting conversations. As I was thinking of something to talk about, Harriet clears her throat.

"Hazel, come and sit. I could use someone to talk to", I feel so relieved that she spoke first. I sit at the edge of her bed and look at her. 

"How old are you?", she asks and the conversation flows between us. We talk about our families, hobbies, favourite books and authors, songs and movies. We both have similar tastes and this just helps us to connect with eachother.

"When did you find out?", she asks the question I have been dreading. 

"When I was 13. What about you?"

"When I was 8, the condition had already been worse so I was admitted right then. It's been 10 years since I am in and out of this hospital", she tells me and I look at her with sympathy. 

"I don't need your sympathy Hazel but I could really use your friendship. As I was home schooled, I don't have many friends", she says and I take her hand in mine. 

"Sure thing. I would love it too", I tell her with sincerity and she gives my hand a squeeze.

"So, tell me more about school life. I'm sure it's more fun than being home schooled", she asks me, her eyes full of curiosity. I could have lied to her and told her how the life of a normal high school student is but because of some reason, I didn't want to. I wanted to tell her the truth.

"I was bullied throughout my school life. Every freaking day", I mumble but somehow she hears me and she breathes in sharply. 

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through this Hazel", this time she squeezed my hand tightly as if this thought hurts her. 

"I am over that. It's time for me to start new", I say and her face morphs into a bright smile. 

"Why didn't you get a transplant yet?"

"Dr. Greene said its difficult to find my match. She said I would have to wait a while to find the thyroid that's good enough for me", she says and I can't help but stare at her. She is so brave and strong. She doesn't have an option like I do and still she smiles and laughs like everything is right in this world. Seeing this girl now, I really feel like I need to get my s**t together. 

"I'm straight", she says out of nowhere and I burst out laughing.

"What?", I  wheeze out still laughing. 

"You were the one staring", she says in a nonchalant attitude but ends up laughing anyway. 

"You know Hazel, I too used to feel like you do. I know you have insecurities about how you look and your weight but tell you what, you get used to it by telling yourself that everything is just how it should be. If you don't enjoy your life the way you were given it then you feel like somthing is missing or you are the piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit anywhere and trust me it's the worse feeling.  If you start accepting yourself the way you are then your life becomes more easy going and it doesn't even matter anymore what people say to you. Just go easy and spend some quality time with yourself, you will start loving yourself. Talk to the people you love and spend time with them, it helps", she tells me this by staring at me with a knowing smile and squeezes my hand. 

"Thank you so much Harriet", I smile and wipe my eyes. The traitor tears escape again. 

There's a knock on the door and Dr. Greene appears. 

"Hazel, we should get going. Your parents must be wondering what is taking us so long", she says and I nod my head. I get up and hug Harriet, silently thanking her. We exchange numbers and I promise to meet her.

We enter Dr. Greene's office and my parents stand up.

"Everything alright Hazel?", dad asks and I smile.

"Here is the prescription for your meds Hazel. Make an appointment after two weeks. We will see how your body reacts to the new medications, alright?"

"Sure thing. Thank you Dr. Greene", saying so we all leave the office.

"Dad, let's go shopping. We both have school from Monday", I say with a bright smile and the two of them seem to be taken aback. They haven't seen me smiling this big since forever and now I intend to do more of that, thanks to Harriet. 

On the way to the mall, I tell them all about Harriet and they seem to like her already. We all talk and laugh at Ace's poor imitation of me. 

"Let's go shopping!", I say and mom mirrors my enthusiasm. Dad and Ace groan silently and follow us. 

Within half an hour we have shopped alot but not enough. Dad and Ace make an excuse and leave us alone and go the only place they love, the food court.

After we both are done shopping, we join the two sulking souls in the food court. We all leave to go home and I cannot be more grateful to rest my legs. Shopping is fun but damn tiring. 

As I am about to sleep, all I can think of is Harriet and her words which had an impact on me like no other. I pray for her and close my eyes and one thought comes to my mind, I finally have someone who I could call a true friend.