Play Date

Sixteen

June 21st 2021

Hi. It's 6:31 in the morning. It's annoyingly sunny for being this early.
I woke up in the hospital, great. I don't quite remember what happened, I remember the burning sensation in my chest and I remember Jack pulling me out of the restaurant. I guess I'll ask him when he wakes up

I look to my left, I see my wig on the counter and a glass of water. I look to my right and see Jack, sleeping in the most uncomfortable position on the couch.

Tears immediately start streaming down my face as I put a hand over my mouth to quiet the sobs. Jack must know now, this isn't how I wanted him to find out.

I see Jack move on the couch from the corner of my eye. I quickly wipe the tears from my eyes as he gets off the couch and sits on my bed, wrapping his arms around me.

"I'm so sorry Jack" I choke out as more tears fall

"Shh, it's okay" He runs his hand up and down my back for comfort

"I didn't want you to find out this way" I wipe my eyes again as he pulls out of the hug to look at me

"This doesn't change anything, okay? I love you, so much. Why didn't you tell me?" Jack asks

"I didn't know how. I figured you would've left me if you found out. I'm dying, Jack, you deserve to be loved forever, not for a year or two" I look down and Jack grabs onto my hand

"Is, um, that how long we have left?" Jack asks giving my hand a light squeeze

"I'm not fully sure, they didn't really give me a time frame on things" I feel a droplet of water hit my hand, so I look in Jack's direction and he's silently crying next to me.

I never should've agreed to be his girlfriend

"I promise, we'll make sure you have the best life lived, for as long as we have left. We'll have to get started on your bucket list" Jack says causing me to laugh

"I don't have one" I shake my head with a smile

"What?! Then let's make one, right now"

Jack pulls out his phone and I start brainstorming easy things that Jack and I could do around LA that wouldn't cost much money. Jack insists that I tell him all my ideas, big and small but I make sure to only tell him my small big ideas. I can't let him know I want to travel because I know he'd try to take me and I won't let him.

After about an hour of goofing around, there's a knock on the door and a doctor walks in.

"Hi Y/n, how are you feeling?" She asks and I nod my head

"I'm good, ready to get home, to my own bed" I say causing the doctor to giggle

"You're free to go after I run one more test. Did your boyfriend here talk to you about starting treatment again?" She asks and I look at Jack, who's got a guilty look on his face

"He did" I lie "I'm not going back on chemo"

"What?! After what happened you're not going to try chemo again?" Jack asks disappointment

"Jack, it's not going to cure me, I'm not wasting the rest of my life in the hospital or with my head in the toilet bowl" I roll my eyes and Jack sits back in his chair, clearly frustrated

"Should I come back later?" The doctor asks stepping backwards towards the door

"No, run the tests so I can go home" I lay back down in the bed, silently letting tears roll down my face.

The doctor walks over and starts taking blood, doing what she needs to do as I lay there, as more and more tears leave my eyes. I feel a hand grab onto mine, I look and see Jack standing by my side, squeezing my hand with tears leaving his eyes.

"I love you" He whispers as he just lets the tears fall

"I love you more" I whisper back.

Jack shakes his head, putting on half a smile.

There was almost an awkward silence in the room, until the doctors spoke

"You two are quite in the spot light right now, you know?"

"In the spotlight?" I ask confused looking at Jack

"Um, yeah, you're in the news, pictures of you collapsing in the parking lot" She says causing Jack to let go of my hand

"What do you mean?" I ask not taking my eyes off Jack

"Can we not talk about this right now?" Jack says finally speaking up

"Yes, sorry Mr. Avery" the doctor says finishing up her tests. "You're free to leave Y/n, but make sure you check in with Dr. Katz tomorrow" She says before leaving the room.

"Jack? Do you know what she means?" I ask sitting up at the edge of the bed, dangling my feet just above the floor

"Well, I think it's about time you learn about what I do for work"