Warped (Maurissa Guibord)

important for some reason. In her odd, disconnected state, Tessa felt she should try to pay attention to all these things. But first she had to listen to what the calm, pleasant voice was saying.
    Acute leukemia.
    "Leukemia," she repeated. The feeling of calm, of distance, was suddenly gone. The words crashed in on her as if they would crush her. "You mean cancer? My father has cancer?"
    "Yes." Dr. Robard nodded. "It's a type of cancer of the white blood cells."
    Tessa held herself tightly. If she stayed completely still, maybe everything would stop. And it wouldn't be real. This can't be real . But the doctor was looking at her as if he expected her to say something.
    "I don't believe it. It's wrong," she said. Her voice sounded jerky. "It's impossible. Things just don't happen like this out of the blue. Cancer takes years to--" She stopped and clasped her cold hands together. She started to cry.
    Dr. Robard said gently, "Believe me, Tessa. We've double-checked everything."
    Tears ran down Tessa's face as she leaned forward suddenly. She blinked them back and shook her head. "No," she said, wiping her eyes. "You show me."
    "What?" Dr. Robard looked at her in surprise.
    "I said show me. The leukemia. The biopsy or the X-ray or whatever it is. Show it to me."
    Dr. Robard sat back in his chair. He nodded at her with an expression of sympathy. "Yes. Of course."

    Dr. Robard picked up a glass slide. Tessa could see a faint pinkish smudge on it. The slide had a sticker on one end with a number and Brody, J . printed on it.
    The doctor put the slide into place under the microscope with a faint click. He directed Tessa to look through the eyepieces on her side of the microscope as he turned the focus.
    "You see these cells?" he asked. Tessa looked at a bright circle of light filled with small pink ring-shaped cells. "These are the healthy blood cells. Now look here." The image blurred as he moved the slide and focused on another area. A small black pointer appeared. "These are the cancer cells." The pointer, under the doctor's manipulation, circled a large, irregular cell that had spattered blue blobs in it.
    "How could this happen so suddenly?" she whispered, still staring through the microscope.
    "Sometimes things are happening for a while before the symptoms finally become noticeable. Then things progress rapidly." Dr. Robard lifted his head and leaned back. "Your dad is very anemic. That explains the shortness of breath and fatigue. I know it's hard to take in right now. Give it some time. And meanwhile, please know that we're going to do everything possible to treat the cancer."
    Tessa was still looking through the microscope at the tiny cells when some filmy pink material in the background began to move. The wavy pink filaments seemed to swim into focus as if coming to the surface of a pool of water. They swirled together and linked to form a ropy trail.
    The pink material coiled into crude words:
    Give back the threads .
    "It's them," Tessa said faintly. She gripped the side of the microscope. She took a deep breath and felt a sick, hot rush of anger. "It's them!" she whispered. "The Norn. They're doing this!"
    Dr. Robard gave her a puzzled frown and said, "I understand, Tessa. It's not easy to accept, but--"
    "No!" Tessa cried. "You don't understand. Look!"
    Dr. Robard hesitated and then leaned forward to peer through the opposite eyepieces. He nodded. "Yes. It's a very aggressive form."
    He doesn't see it .
    Tessa pressed her eyes to the microscope again. The slide appeared as before. Spatters of pink and blue cells. There were no words. "They're gone," Tessa murmured, and sat back in the chair.
    How had she let this happen? She hadn't been paying any attention to her father. Hadn't even been thinking about him. Now they were using him. Punishing him to get to her.
    Dr. Robard was clearly mystified by Tessa's outburst. "Okay," he said gently. "Why don't we go over and see your dad now."
    Tessa stared at the old man lying in the hospital bed.
    In just a day, her father's strong face had been whittled down. The full cheeks were sunken, and loose skin sagged over his jawline. His skin had an unhealthy yellowish sheen beneath the fluorescent lights, and his arms were mottled with bruises. How could that happen overnight? They made it happen , Tessa thought.
    Your world will be torn apart .
    A bag of fluid hung over his bed and dripped through a clear tube into his arm. The oxygen tube fastened around his face and stuck