My Star In The Sky

Chapter 5

We followed her mom back down the hall and she stopped in front of a room and looked at us.
"She's very sick.They've taken a bunch of x-rays on her but it's hard to see what exactly is wrong."
And then she looks at me.
"She's gonna be really happy to see you."

We then walked into a small room and there she was, laying in the hospital bed.Her face brightens up when she sees me and I immediately walk up to her. Imani's face was pale and her lips were chapped.
"Hey," I say.
She says hi, just under her breath. Her voice sounds dry and raspy- worse than it did yesterday. Our mom's walk to the other side of her bed.

"How are you feeling?" I noticed there were a ton of blanket's over her and she was shivering a little.
"Not so good, but they gave me a piece of cake before you got her so I feel a little better."

I smile, but deep down I kind of felt like crying. She doesn't look well andI'm very worried.  My mom talked to her for a few minutes and asked her a few questions like does she need anything and then they both said they're gonna give us some time alone. When they left, I held her hand.

"Gosh, you're freezing."
She squeezes my hand, just a little.
"Yeah, I've been cold all day. I'm also sorry I didn't call you or text you back. Believe it or not, I was in too much pain earlier to even walk.
"Really?"
"Yep," she says. "My chest feels so weird. It's like my heart is gonna explode."
I start taking off my jacket.
"You don't have to, it's fine."
I wrap my jacket around her. "It's okay. I'm pretty warm anyways."
She smiles wistfully and in that moment I wanted to tell her.

It would go a little something like this: "Imani, I know we're best friends  but I love you. I've loved you since I first saw you sitting alone at your table in the second grade and since I had to see you date other guys and pretend that I was okay. But I wasn't.Because I want you to be my girlfriend. I want you all to myself. We'll be happy together and no other guy will hurt you ever again.You're safe with me."

But obviously I wasn't going to embarrass myself like that. I mean, what if this is just a temporary thing and by this weekend she'll be feeling like herself again and everything will go back to normal. Expect it won't be normal if I were to tell her that so to break the silence I just  said,

"My mom took me to therapy today."
"Really? How'd it go?"
"It went fine I guess. Remember when I told you about my sadness and everything?"
She nods.
"Well yeah. I talked to the therapist about that and that was pretty much all."
I left out the part where she told me I had separation anxiety and I needed to come back again to talk more about that. I know. I shouldn't keep secrets from Imani but I'm scared. I'm really scared.

She smiles and says, "That's good. I hope it helps you, you know. I care about you and all."
I couldn't help but smile.
"Are you blushing?"
I put my hands over my face and didn't say anything and then she whispers, "You're so cute."
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A couple of days went by and she stayed at the hospital. My mom and I came to check up on her every 2 days. Her mom says she's getting a little better, and she'll be back going to school and all, or she can come home at least. That new's made me very happy because it's been hell without her funny jokes and company overall. During school, I've just been hanging out with Charlie. He's been worried about her too. We've all been.

To keep myself busy at home, I would just hang out with my brother and his girlfriend. He doesn't really like me tagging along that much but she doesn't seem to mind. Owen told me her name is Melinda. Melinda has very long curly hair and big brown eyes. She's super pretty and nice.

On that Saturday, I helped my parent's with dinner. It's weird to see them getting along now since they were just arguing a couple of hours ago. But that's just how it is.
My mother had finally got me a journal. It's all black, so I decided to put some stickers of my favorite bands on the cover. I don't know what to really write in it though. My mom told me to just write about my day and how I'm feeling, but it's hard when you don't know. I'd rather just talk to Imani. I can wait forever if that means she'll come back. I love her. I really do.

Today was the day that I went to see Imani after school. My mom dropped me off and told me she'd be back in an hour or so.
When I got there, she was moved into a different room, and all of those blanket's were finally off of her.
"Hey champ. How are you feeling now?"
"Better."
Her voice sounded better too. Fuller. Stronger. And her hair was wet and curly, back to the way it was.
"So when do you leave this place?"
She smiles. "Maybe this weekend. They're keeping me to do checkups every now and then. I'm also gonna have to take a ton of medicine too."
I furrow my eyebrows.  "Why?"
Imani looks away.
"I can't tell you right now. The time doesn't feel right."
"When will the time feel right?"
"Maybe in the next few weeks?"

I didn't know what to think about that. Why can't she just tell me now? Maybe it's not that serious? Maybe she isn't ready?I don't know.

I try my best to smile.
"Okay."

She looks down at my tote bag I brought.
"So what's in the bag?"
"Oh. Yeah. I brought you a few things." I take out a book of poems, her favorite stuffed animal, and snacks.

Imani quiver's her bottom lip. "You're too sweeeet! Come here."
She scoots over and pat's the space next to her. I crawl in next to her and she pulls out the book of poems. We took turns flipping through the pages, reading a poem that caught our eye and it wasn't long until she started drifting off to sleep on my shoulder. I sit there for a second, taking in the smell of her hair and soft breathing. It's quiet in the room, except for the monitor that beeps every now and then and the air conditioning.

I tried to sit the book on the table next to me without moving my body and then took her hand in mine. She has on our matching rubber bracelet that we made years ago and a ring on each finger, even her thumb. I stay like this for a few minutes to make sure she's really asleep, and then I tell her everything I've been wanting to say since the day we met.