The Story Of Us

Home Again

As I walked across the room my eyes immediately landed on Mitch. I squeezed Kirstie's hand tightly as she took a sharp breath in. His eyes were open but he was staring into blank space. Nothing seemed to be going on behind them, no emotion, no life, nothing. He looked exhausted, his eyes drooping closed every couple seconds only to be reopened again. He was fighting sleep.

I saw Kirstie's hand move up to cover her mouth in shock. He looked almost dead. His eyes focused on Kirstie first. No colour returned to his cheeks, nothing happened.

Then he looked at me. His face stayed stationary but his eyes lit up. Like they had become alive again. I smiled at him. He tried to smile back but couldn't.

I slowly let go of Kirstie's hand and sat down in a chair next to his bed. His eyes stayed focused on me like a life force. I looked around at all the machines connected to him. When they said life support they meant life support.

I moved my hand up to the bed and interlocked my hand with his. I felt his hand twitch in mine, his soft uneven heart beat coming through too, like a butterfly fluttering around in my grasp.

I must of sat there for at least half an hour before I saw Mitch's parents come in. That's when I decided to take Kirstie home. It was way past midnight now and she was almost falling asleep.

I got her to drive me to her house and then called Alex from there. He came and got me and took me back to our place. It was the most silent journey I had been on in my life. Not a word was exchanged between us.

When we got in I went straight to the sitting room. I sat down on the couch and held my head in my hands. I felt like screaming, crying, throwing things around. I felt the couch dip next to me and a pair of arms move around my body. "He's a fighter you know?" Alex stated.

"You didn't see him today." I whispered. I hated myself for saying that but it was true, he was slipping away from me. Slipping away at a fast pace.

......

The days passed along slowly. Mitch stayed in the hospital on life support. He seemed to be a little stronger though, beginning to talk again and eat food again. So on the fourth day he was in there they turned the life support off and he was breathing for himself.

On the seventh day he was in there Mike and Nel went back to Arlington. They had to get back to work. My dad went home the day after that. He told me that my mom was going to come down at some point during the week too.

On the tenth day I went into the hospital early. I situated myself beside Mitch's bed as usual. He gave me a bright smile. Something that I began to value. Because they only came along on very good days. Mitch cleared his throat a little and began to talk, "they said I can go home today."

"Did they now?" I asked. One of the doctors began to walk over towards us. He smiled brightly at the both of us and grabbed a chair to sit down.

"So he's told you that he can go home today?" The doctor said to me. I nodded. "There's a few things you should know now. We have a wheelchair for you to use. We've stopped the chemo. Mitch, you have maybe weeks." The scene changed from lighthearted to heavy. Mitch didn't seem fazed though he smiled and nodded.

"So when can I go home?" He asked. His smile was so bright it was almost as though he hadn't just been told that he would die in the next few weeks.

"Now." The doctor said. He nodded at a nurse bringing over a wheelchair. He handed me a prescription after I helped Mitch to sit in the wheelchair.

....

When we got home Mitch seemed extremely up in himself. "We should go and do something." He said, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. He wheeled himself over to the counter and looked up at me.

"Like what?" I asked smiling. I leant down to his height and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. As I broke away he moved his hand up to behind my neck, holding me in position.

"Uhhhh.... I don't know..... We could.... Have a water fight." He said. I looked at him quizzically. Before I realised what he meant he squirted the water from his bottle all over my face. I stepped back a little startled, falling onto my ass.

Mitch laughed loudly and wheeled himself round the other side of the counter. "Hey, get back here!" I scolded playfully grabbing a bottle of water off of the counter top. I opened it and aimed it over the counter.

I squeezed the bottle and the water hit him right in his hair. He squealed, giggling loudly. He threw his head back and clapped his hands. "Bastard!" He screeched. He pushed himself across the room and I ran away from him, jumping up on top of the counter.

"I will not fret to get out of this chair!" He squealed. Both of us aimed the bottles at each other. Mitch scowled at me. I could tell he was going to do it.

"No, Mitch. Please. I surrender." I dropped the bottle and held my hands up in the air. He shook his head smirking at me. I knelt back and covered my face, expecting something to hit me. I closed my eyes tightly and waited but nothing came.

I pulled my hands down and opened and that's when it hit me. The whole bottle of water, squirted all over my face. I screamed loudly overpowering Mitch's giggles. He was laughing so much that he was crying, literal tears streaming down his face.

I stopped screaming and watched him. Only now did I notice how his nose wrinkled when he laughed. He closed his eyes tightly and clapped his hands. His face turned bright red and he covered his mouth and nose with his hand. The tears that formed in his eyes were those of pure happiness, nothing more, nothing less.

I moved onto my front, full out laying on the counter now. I rested my elbows down on the counter and my head on my hands. Mitch's laughter died out as he realised I was watching him. He pulled his chair right up to the counter and looked me dead in the eye.

"Staring contest!" He squealed.

"I could do this all day!" I answered, licking my lips and beginning to stare. Mitch turned pink and got distracted. "Blushing! Aww! That's cute!" I said. I moved my hand up to his cheek and moved my thumb over the blush. I was still staring right at him though, determined to win. Mitch's eyes fluttered closed as he leaned into my touch. "Ha! I win!" I said pulling my hand away.

"Hey!" He scolded, slapping me gently on the cheek. I heard movement and giggles in the hall. Then Alex, Chris and Justin appeared round the corner all holding phones.

"That was possibly the cutest ten minutes of my life!" Justin said walking forward. I turned bright pink and sat up. Mitch just smiled at the boys and wheeled forward.

"How are you guys?" He asked. Alex bent down and gave Mitch a hug.

"We're good. How are you?" He asked.

"I'm brilliant!" Mitch said, giving the others a quick hug.

It was amazing to see Mitch so happy and bright. Just the day before he was in so much pain he could barely talk. I guess I'd have to get used to that now. Not knowing whether Mitch would be upbeat and happy or depressed and hurting. They tell you take your life day by day but no we had to take our lives second by second now.

A/N
Second chapter in one day! Woah! Hope you liked! It was a little less sad because I felt bad for putting out so much sad chapters recently.

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