The Story Of Daniel

/t w e n t y - s i x/

Chapter 26

One Year Before

Daniel felt empty. It was like there was a huge hole in his chest, right where his heart used to be. He couldn't cry anymore, he had no tears left. He was just lying there on his bed, curled up in a ball. His parents would come up every once in a while. They would bring a plate of food, and take back one from earlier, even though Daniel never touched the food. He was heartbroken, he couldn't eat. It was like this for a week Daniel kept replaying it over and over again in his head.

It was their two year anniversary as a couple, Daniel and Sarah. Sarah had said she didn't want Daniel to do anything special, so they settled on a picnic at the park. Instead of going during the day when there were lots of people bustling around, they opted to go at night.

They were lying on a blanket, cuddled together with no one watching. Just the moon and stars. Daniel pointed out a few constellations that Amelia had taught him when they were younger. Everything was so perfect. And then Casey started crying. And that's when everything started to fall apart.

'What's wrong?' he asked as tears spilled down her cheeks.

'I'm sick, Daniel,' she said, still crying.

'Let me take you home then,' he said with concern.

'No. It isn't something I can fix by going home or to the doctors,' she choked out.

'What are you talking about?' He was getting really worried now.

'I have leukemia, Daniel. They say I only have about two months left. Nothing is working.' Do you know what it feels like to have your whole world come crashing down? Because that's what this felt like for Daniel. Like everything had fallen apart and he was standing in a field of rubble. They were both crying now. He wished that she were joking, but he knew she wasn't. He wished she was okay, but he knew she wasn't.

'But... I love you, Sarah. You can't leave me,' he said through tears.

'I love you too. So much,' she said. And then Daniel hugged her with all he had left as they cried together beneath the stars.

The next two months were terrible. Sarah was hospitalized soon after that night under the stars. Daniel spent every moment he could there. Every day after school, every weekend. Then one day, as Daniel got in his parents' car to drive to the hospital, he got a call. Sarah's mom.

'She's gone,' she said, her voice sounded like despair itself. She was crying.

'No,' Daniel said. 'She can't be. Tell her I'm coming, I'll be right there.' He refused to believe it.

'Daniel, she's gone.' And that's when Daniel broke. He had to face the cold, hard facts of reality; Sarah was dead. She was never coming back, and Daniel would never get to say goodbye. He would never get to tell her that he loved her again, he would never got to hug her and tell her everything was going to alright. They would never get to live the fantasies they used to talk about, getting married, having a family of their own.

"Danny," a voice said. He wanted to scream at them to go away. But he couldn't. He took the tiny bit of energy he had left to look up at Amelia. She looked concerned, worried, and sad for him. Daniel never meant to make Amelia sad. "It's going to be okay," she assured him, sitting on the bed and rubbing Daniel's back.

Daniel spoke even though he knew his voice would crack and he might even start crying again. "No, it's not. It really isn't," he choked out.