Inferno Part 3

~93~***You Ready, Darling?***

Luke's POV

I haven't slept a single second since we climbed into bed last night. All I've done is hold Shay in my arms, and wish I could wake up from this nightmare. As I'm laying here listening to her steady and gentle breathing, and feeling her breath on my bare chest, I'm thinking about the overwhelming amount of support we've gotten since we told our family.

Mom wasn't kidding when she said she would have us moved in by the next day. We were.

When we woke up the next morning, after coming back home, not only was our ENTIRE family (minus Dylan) over at mom's to hug and cry with Shay, so were Nick and Lance.

They both came over to me and pulled me into a group hug. "I knew something bad happened that day. I don't care how much time you need to take....I'll have your back with your school, and we'll still get you graduated. I didn't want to tell you until later, but we've been keeping a spot open for you as a secondary PE teacher. Once you interview for it, it'll be yours. You don't need to worry about finding a job," Lance says, fighting his tears.

I can't stop my tears as I look between Nick and Lance.

"Really?" I ask, feeling an ugly cry coming on and not being able to do shit about it.

Lance and Nick both nod. "We've known you since you were 12, Lucas. We've known this family for a long time. Now, we're here to help get you moved in. Put us to work," Lance says, squeezing my shoulder.

Mom comes up behind me then and kisses my cheek.

"Oh no you don't. Bossing people around is MY job. He doesn't get that luxury. You two ding dongs go with Mason and Liam for the first load," she says, pushing Lance playfully.

Lance gives her a straight-faced look.

"So, you're telling us that we get to hang out with Mason and Liam all day?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you."

"Whoop!" Nick yells as he jumps and runs at full-speed towards an unsuspecting Mason, knocking him completely into the grass.

"Ouch, you asshole," Mason mutters, his face still in the grass as he stands up and grins at a howling Nick.

"Maybe having you four work together wasn't the smartest move," mom mutters.

"No take backs," Lance says sternly as he goes over and gives Liam a high five. Then the four go to our horrible old apartment to get the first round of stuff.

Mom and Megan spent the entire morning with Shay, on the phone with millions of people. Mom and Megan both had a notebook where they wrote things, and then worked with each other to make sure they had the right info. Poor Shay looked so overwhelmed. However, being with the family again has given her a spark that she hasn't had since the diagnosis.

~*~

Today is the day of her surgery, and I haven't slept at all. I just keep thinking about our life. What I want. What I planned. Every one of those plans involve Shay. I never really thought about it too much, because we were both so focused on school...

When she wakes up and takes a shower, she comes back out, completely naked.

"Well, take one more look," she says sadly, fighting tears.

I ignore her naked body and focus on her beautiful face. Her perfect olive skin is glistening with water droplets that haven't dried.

I run my thumb against her jawline. "I plan on looking at you for the rest of my life."

She looks down and leans into my hand. "You know what I mean," she says, crying softly.

"Shyann look at me," I say as I tip her chin up.