Last Steps

1. A Fatal Twist

"Come on! Live a little!" I yell. We're on horses, racing through the meadows. "Come on Jamie. Can we go back yet?" James asks. He is tall with blond hair that hangs just below his ears with brilliant blue eyes. He's my boyfriend. We met in year 7, but we only started dating in year 9. We're in year 12 this year. We go back to school next week. He's riding a white gelding called Snow. "Who said we're going back?" I yell back at him. I'm on a paint gelding called patch. We don't own these horses. We just borrow them from the local pony club. I love to ride. When I'm riding, I feel like I'm free. I have brown hair that sits halfway down my back with blue eyes as well. I am 17 years old. James is 17 and a half. "We'll jump that log then turn back" I point to a fallen tree up ahead. I hear him sigh. He doesn't like riding. I make him ride with me every week though (only in the holidays), at least once. As we get closer to the log I give Patch a squeeze to make him go faster. I take my feet out of the sty-rips. We get to the log and Patch soars over it. It's like we're flying. Just before he lands I jump out of the saddle. I land on the grass with a thud and roll a couple of times before stopping. A lock of hair falls onto my face. I burst out in laughter. "Are you crazy?" James asks as he dismounts Snow. He comes over and helps me up. "Maybe I am. But you love me anyways" I put my arms around his neck. "You're lucky that Patch stopped after that stunt you pulled. He could've continued galloping" he puts his hands around my waist and smiles. I lean up and kiss him. I pull away after a minute. "I love you" I mumble across his lips. "I love you too" he kisses me again. I hear Patch nicked and pull away. I look and he drags his hoof along the ground. "We should go" I take my arms away and go back to Patch. We mount and head back to the stables. When we get back my best friend Casey greets us. She has shoulder length blonde hair. She's a bit chubby but not too much. We met in kinder. "Hey guys!" she smiles and pats Patch. We dismount and I grab his reigns. "Hi" I smile. "Did you guys do anything?" she raises an eyebrow. "Nah, doing stuff is boring" James says with a bit of attitude, grabs Snow's reigns and leads him to the stable to put him away. "Come and help me" I nod my head in towards the stable. Then I take Patch to his stall and Casey follows. She takes off his bridle and I take off the saddle. "Here" she takes the saddle off me and heads to the tack room. I look across from the stall to the one opposite. James leaves it with Snow's tack. Snow's stall is opposite Patch's. I grab a brush and start to groom him. All of a sudden I feel a sharp pain in my stomach. I clasp my stomach in pain. I scream and fall to the floor. I hear James scream my name before I pass out.

-

I wake up in a bed. There is a clip on my pointer finger on my right hand. "Where am I?" I mumble and scratch my head. "Your in the hospital" I feel James grab my hand. "You passed out in Patch's stall" his voice wobbles. He's been crying. "Where are my parents? Casey?" I ask. The grip on my hand tightens "Casey's getting some food. Your parents are on their way." I need to go to the bathroom" I say. "Just wait a second Miss Kaylour" a female voice speaks. I look and see a nurse with her brown hair in a bun at the end of the bed. "I've taken some tests. Have you gotten stomach pains before?" she asks. "Not that bad" I frown. "Can I go to the bathroom?" "Do you need help?" she unclips the thing on my finger. I shake my head and get out of the bed. The bathroom is about 4 steps away. I get there and do my stuff. I wash my face quickly before I go back again. I start to go back to the bed when I feel the sharp pain again. I fall to the ground in an instant and black out.

-

This time when I wake up, I have a clip on my finger and a drip connected into my left arm.I am guessing that I am also connected to the beepy machine that is beeping away next to the bed. "Hey" I hear my mum say. She clasps my hand. I look over and see her and dad sitting at my side. "Hi" I say. She caresses my cheek with her other hand. She has mid back blonde hair. She is smaller then me. Dad has no hair and he is taller then me and mum. "How are you feeling?" he speaks for the first time. "I feel like I'm alive" I smile. "Jamie!" I look at the door and Casey runs to my side and takes my free hand. "Your awake" she murmurs. "Where's James?" I question her. She looks at my parents then back at me. "He left. His mother took him home" she frowns. "I'm sorry. "What!? She has no right to do that!" I try to sit up and the drip disconnects from my arm. I yelp in surprise and fall back down again. "I'll get a nurse" dad says and leaves the room. "You know how his mother is" Casey sighs. When James was 14 his father was killed in a car accident. Ever since his mother has been overprotective of him. He's all she has left of her husband. "I know" I say. Just as mum is about to say something a nurse walks in. "Jamison Kaylour. What did you do to yourself?" she wipes the needle then sticks it back in my arm. "Thank you" I smile gratefully and she leaves the room. My full name is Jamison but everyone calls me Jamie for short. "It's getting late" my dad states. "Your mother and I will go home and sleep. We will come back tomorrow. I love you" he kisses my forehead then takes mum with him out of the room. "I better go as well. Let you sleep" Casey smiles and lets go of my hand. "Stay. Please" I plead. "Well if it helps, I'm sleeping in the waiting room. So I am basically staying" she laughs and leaves. I am now all alone. I look out the window that's next to the bed. The sun's going down. I close my eyes and try to sleep. When I open them it's pitch black everywhere except for the hallway. I must've fallen asleep. I look over at where the chair in the room is. There's someone in it, their sleeping. I jump and the beepy machine starts to beep really fast. The person stirs awake and comes over to me. They grab my hand and start to shush me. "It's just me, James" he strokes my forehead. "You scared the living day lights out of me" he leans down and briefly kisses me. "I snuck out of the house" I feel him smile against my lips. "You shouldn't do that to her" I bite my lip. "I left a note" he says innocently. "That makes it so much better" I put my hand in his hair. "Do you want me to leave then?" "No stay" I pull him down and kiss him again. After a minute we pull away from each other. "You need to rest" James sits back in the chair. I fall asleep within minutes.

-

I wake to a nurse talking with James. When he sees that I am awake he comes to my side and grabs my hand. He's crying. "What's wrong? What happened?" I ask and look the nurse in the eye. "I'm so sorry" she shakes her head slowly. "What is it!?" I yell. "We did some tests. We found a tumour growing on your overies. We can't remove it without killing you instantly. You have 8 months. I am truly sorry" she wipes her eye then leaves the room. I don't even realise that I'm crying until Casey comes in. "Hey, guys what's wrong?" she frowns. "I'm dying" I sob. It's sounds even worse out loud. She steps back "What?" She comes over and sits on the bed. James joins her and they both lie down and we share a hug full of tears and emotion. I don't even hear my parents walk in. Mum's balling her eyes out and dad is on the verge of tears. We all just cry.