16. Samantha
16
SAMANTHA
O n Monday, Sam sat in the front row of Amelia’s classroom, proudly watching as her sister finished up speaking to her classmates about Childhood Absence Epilepsy.
Amelia had worked very hard all day on Sunday to prepare a presentation on her new topic, and it showed. She spoke on the topic she knew so well with a passion and clarity that was beyond her age.
Sam had no basis for comparison, but she was pretty sure that it had been a very good presentation for a second grader.
The other students listened to her speak, their posture and expressions showing clearly that they were interested. No one even made a sound during the little video Miss Sullivan played on the whiteboard. Amelia’s doctor had sent it to her when she was diagnosed, and it explained her condition and showed a video of a couple of different kids having absence seizures.
“Wow, Amelia,” Miss Sullivan said when it was finished. “This was such a great presentation, and I think we all learned a lot. Do you want to take questions from your classmates, or should we leave things here?”
A hand went up right away in the front row.
“Okay,” Amelia said with a smile. “I’ll answer questions.”
Sam was so proud of her little sister that she felt like she would burst. As soon as she decided to talk about her CAE, Amelia had shown a confidence and determination that blew Sam’s mind.
“Nick,” Amelia said, pointing to the little boy that had his hand up.
Sam recognized him as Hope’s son, who Amelia had played with at the Cassidy house.
“Can you see the future when you have a seizure?” Nick asked. His expression was dead serious.
“Um, no,” Amelia said.
“In the comics, when Professor Mystery goes into a trance, he can see the future,” Nick said.
“Wow,” Amelia replied. “That would be cool.”
Nick grinned at her, and a little girl raised her hand.
“Trina,” Amelia said.
“What if you were on the swing, and you were swinging really high?” Trina asked worriedly. “Could you have one then?”
“I guess if I had one when I was swinging I might fall off,” Amelia said, shrugging.
A little boy’s hand flew up.
“Dylan,” Amelia said, pointing to him.
“If we see you have a seizure, we’ll help you,” Dylan said solemnly.
Other voices agreed and soon there was a chorus of sweet voices pledging their help.
Sam swallowed over a lump in her throat at the sight of all these children earnestly wanting to be there for Amelia. Though it was possible for a child with CAE to get a bigger, more dangerous seizure, they normally didn’t. It was pretty unlikely that Amelia would need anything more than a little understanding from her classmates. But knowing that these children all had her back made Sam more emotional than she could have imagined.
“Thanks, guys,” Amelia said with a big smile on her face.
She could have said that her seizures weren’t a big deal, or that she would probably grow out of them. Those were the things Sam had always said when she was a kid and had to explain the situation to a new friend.
But Amelia was unashamed. And what Sam hadn’t anticipated was that by being so open, Amelia was actually giving her classmates an opportunity to feel like heroes.
“This was really special,” Miss Sullivan said softly as she crouched by Sam’s seat. “Thank you for being here. I know that helped her have the courage to open up.”
“The kids…” Sam whispered back, cutting herself off to press her lips together as she willed herself not to cry.
“They’re wonderful, aren’t they?” Miss Sullivan said with a smile. “They rise to the occasion just about every time we go out on a limb and give them the benefit of the doubt. Your sister is a very brave girl.”
The bell rang, and suddenly the kids were out of their seats, giving Amelia high fives and hugs on their way to grab their bags and coats.
“You’re not going back to work and I’m not taking the bus today,” Amelia said, scampering up to Amelia with a radiant smile. “I’m going home with you.”
“You sure are,” Sam told her. “And we can do whatever you want to celebrate.”
She expected her sister to ask for ice cream for dinner, or to go to the bookstore to window shop.
“Can we hang up lights?” Amelia asked instead, a hopeful look on her face.
“That’s a great idea,” Sam said. “Yes, we’ll definitely decorate our tree—lights and ornaments and everything.”
“No,” Amelia said. “I meant can we hang up lights at Ezra’s house?”