Take Me to the Moon

1// v i s i t

Emily's pov

I push down the top button on my inhalator and take a deep breath in, feeling the air struggle to come in and out of my lungs.  I do it again, feeling a bit better, but still struggling. I do it three times more, and then proceed to put on my breathing tube. I lay in bed for a bit drowning in my thoughts. Jade is coming to visit, but she's getting here in an hour. So I have to figure out something to do while she gets here. I decide to stand up and examine my shelf, looking to re-read a book, when Julie enters the room. I quickly turn around and look at the clock hanging above my bed.

 It was 3:00 p.m, lunchtime. I love Julie and enjoy her company, she's the best. "Hello little one," She says as she opens the door delicately, not knowing if I was asleep or not. Julie has called me that since my first day at the hospital, I was six, I remember I was so scared back then, I shook my head and chuckled at the thought. "Julie! Hey!" I smile. "Oh good, you're awake. I brought your lunch and some chocolate for us to share." She winks at me returning the smile.

 I feel the air in my lungs again...stuck there. I start coughing, badly. Julie quickly reacts and leaves the tray with food on the table, then rushes over and starts rubbing my back. "I got you kiddo..." She says softly, I know how much she hates seeing me like this. She starts doing the method that's basic for COPD patients. She helps me sit at the edge of my bed, and I place my feet on the floor. I fold my arms across my abdomen and start to breathe in slowly through my nose, struggling a lot. I lean forward a bit and start pressing my arms to release the air. I finally breathe again "sniffing" slowly and gently through my nose, and feel as the breathing gets a bit easier for me. Julie is still rubbing my back and places a hand over my shoulder when I calm down.

"I'm sorry little one..." She whispers. "It's fine, it's not your fault Juls. Don't feel bad," I reply coughing one last time. "Are you sure you wanna eat?" She asks me,  "I'm sure," I replied, nodding my head with a tiny smile spread across my lips. I sit back up on the bed and she places the tray of food on my lap, it's some bean soup with a glass of water on the side, there's also a bar of chocolate there, the one Julie and I were sharing.  I smile since the bean soup is one of my favorite dishes from here. "Thanks, Juls." I say. She smiles and leaves the room after cutting the chocolate bar in half and taking one. 

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I swallow my pills with some water when the door slams open, and Jade walks in. "Hey gurl!" She says. I quickly turn around and run to hug her. "Ahhh I missed you so much!!"  I cry.

"Oh my god same, it seems like it's been ages." She replies.

"How was summer?" "You got the cute boy's number?" I ask winking my eye and smirking. 

She giggles, "His name's Micheal, and yes, I did." She replies with a smile. 

"whoooOooO, Micheaaaal." I tease. She simply laughs and rolls her eyes. "Stooop." "What? I ship you two  not gonna lie." She shakes her head and looks at me with sad eyes. "Oh my god, what's wrong J?" I ask.  "Nothing..." she starts, "It's just that- jeez I missed you so much this year. And school, oh my god, we all need you Em." "Awww Jade stop! I'ma cry!" I reply chuckling. Jade has been my friend since diapers. Our families get along so well every summer we go to Cancun. But this year I wasn't able to go since my COPD got worse. "I missed you too, but hey, it's ok! I still have plenty of life to live." I say, and then probably regret doing so. I see as her eyes fill up with tears and one rolls down her face. The same thing happens to me, and I hug her. "You'll see..." I whisper.

I love this kind of moments I have with Jade sometimes, as hard or sad as they are, it makes our bond stronger, and our friendship better. 

After crying with Jade and talking some more about Micheal, summer, and school, she leaves. It's 5:00 p.m by now, so I decide to go out for a walk after taking my afternoon meds. "Hey Sam!" I greet everyone in the building. They're like my second family at this point, it's crazy. 

I go out to the gardens of the hospital and sit down on a bench to get some homework done. I'm being homeschooled this year for obvious reasons. After finishing up everything, I notice how quiet the hospital is today but listen to some crying. I stand up and turn my head to look up at the building. I see an old lady by a window, in a bed...coughing. And the person crying wasn't visible, but I knew they were there.