52 Week Short Story Writing Challenge - #10

Background:I've been a bit slack with my short stories as of recent but I'mtrying so hard to get in a mood where I write something worthreading. This is a story inspired by children with such diseases asleukaemia and their battle of pain and love. This is dedicated tothose who have both won and lost the battle, little soldiers whosehearts are full and are a true inspiration in the world. I listenedto Boyce Avenue's acoustic version of 'On My Way' duringwriting this.
ShortStory #10 - Separated
Salinewatched the fan whirl around in circles on the ceiling. It had gonearound four hundred times now, a continuous whir that buzzed in hermind. Her wrist tickled where the plastic band was wrapped, hermedical details written in scrawling black ink. It was her twelfthbirthday and yet instead of being at home, celebrating with herfamily, she was in a too-clean white room of the hospital,recovering.Anurse walked in with a clipboard in hand, her scrubs glaringlyimmaculate as she smiled. Kind brown eyes looked at Salinesympathetically, like most people looked at her now. The nurse leftagain after checking her progress. Sympathy,an expression that made her skin tingle with frustration. Saline hadcollapsed during class one day and ever since it was the sameexpression duplicated on so many strangers' faces. She disliked theexpression so much, wishing that people would look at her like shewas a human instead of some thing that had mutated beforetheir eyes.Sheglanced to her right and saw the table beside her bed, a mass ofcolour from the gifts and balloons that her family had brought. Theyweren't allowed to see her yet – she was much too weak from thesurgery. They'd seen her briefly when she woke, squeezing her handand telling her that everything was going to be alright. That wasn'twhat the doctors' faces said as they wheeled her grimly away,tearing her hand away from her mother's."Westill have to allow her time to rest," the main surgeon had toldher parents and sisters. "Then we'll commence testing to see ifwe cured her of her cancer. You will see her later."Salinesat up, grabbing the first present and she tore open the paper;inside was a box with 'Danbo' written in large letters. Shesmiled, remembering the moment before all this; she'd been a happy,normal girl back then, looking through various shopping websites withher mother for gift ideas. When she'd seen the Japanese Danborobots she'd instantly asked her parents for one, disappointed whenthey said no.Apparentlythey changed their minds along with the dramatic change in herhealth.Salinewent through the other presents – her first mobile phone, aporcelain collectors doll; a portable gaming console with herfavourite games – but it was the last present that caught her eye:a professional camera. She checked the card that came with it:anonymous. Pushing the other presents aside, she opened the box andsetup the camera, waiting until the sun began setting before thecamera was charged and ready to go.Shegrabbed it, gently getting out of bed despite the doctor's orders;she could barely move but managed, sliding open the window to revealthe pink-purple sunset over the Nevada desert. She raised the camera,taking shot after shot as the sky changed colour, dimming until itwas completely evening. The moon raised overhead, a sliver of thewhiteness mostly blackened by the earth's shadow.Exhausted,Saline walked back to her hospital bed and grabbed her laptop,logging onto Flickr. It took a few moments to load but when it wasfully open she set about uploading the photos she'd taken, writinga simple fact about herself on each one: her favourite colour, herfavourite season; her favourite sport and what she wanted to be ifshe lived old enough. When she ran out of facts she started writinghaikus and sonnets describing the beauty of nature and the thingsthat people took for granted.Yawning,she put away the laptop as the words began to blur from herexhaustion; she settled under the crisp blankets and fell asleep,dreaming of the world the way she wished it would be. Morning camequickly, the sun shining brightly through the window. She sat up,going through the morning routine of breakfast and getting cleaned upbefore returning to her bed to be left alone again.Sheopened her Flickr.Over2,000,000 views in the past hour alone and several requests fromHollywood and big-time photographers to do a collaboration photoshoot.Shedeclined with a grin.Shewas only a normal 12-year-old girl after all.