Her Last Wish

Chapter 18

Hi everyone!

Decided to write this and post early as I'll be unable to write for the next two weeks. Finals and thesis are happening while I'll be away. So here's a long chapter to compromise the waiting. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by to read this! 

xo Sandra 

Chapter 18

Time was ticking.

Where had Drew been?

He was gone again. I could not fathom why Drew disappeared once more. The last time I had seen him was that night when he came to see me about my illness. He never showed for school again –never even called. Several ideas occurred to me as reasons for his disappearance; perhaps he was afraid to see me now that he had found that there was no hope for my survival; perhaps he was in hiding from those men –the men who would stop at nothing for his arrest; or perhaps they had finally caught him. I refused to believe that Drew found himself in captivity. Drew was smart. He was cunning.

But I had to find him. I needed to speak with him. There were things I had to ask him. What had I really known about McKinley and his men? There needed to be something –or someone—that I would be able to use. I desperately needed information on Powell. Whenever I had been on the verge of formulating a plan, everything leads back to Drew.

I was certain I could not tell him. What goodness would that bring? Drew was aware that these men had been after him. I assumed that this was the reason for his constant disappearance; although I had not the slightest clue where he had disappeared to. But he could never know that I was involved. That was what I feared most; for Drew to know. His knowledge of my involvement would not lighten the situation –perhaps it would only worsen it. It would hurt Drew more than imaginable; he would hurt as I had now. I did not have the right to put him in a situation where he had to choose between me and his life. I could not allow for him to do so. If he decided upon choosing me over himself, I would be responsible for his captivity and live what remains of my life in guilt. If he chose himself over me, I would be grateful for he would be safe. But what would become of Amy?

I honestly no longer cared what would happen to me. My health was deteriorating every passing day; my illness was taking over ever so slowly. I was certain now more than ever that I no longer had time to waste. Soon enough as Dr. Woodland said, I would no longer be in the right condition to attend school. The thought was depressing; I could no longer see Bianca or Stefani. I could no longer see students and professors whose faces I had grown to become familiar with. I was frightened. Not of death but what would become soon after. How much pain would my death bring my family? And now, Drew?

I sighed before propelling myself up from where I had positioned myself for the past half hour. I flushed the disgusting vomit that had flooded the toilet –vomit that had now come with blood. Disgusting. I examined my skin; I was growing paler and paler. My face felt sunken, more so than ever. Whenever I had caught a glimpse of my reflection, it was as though my cheekbones were nearly ripping the skin that rested upon them. I concealed them under heavy make-up which oddly the entire female population of the school imitated. The students claimed it was clever; the look of the year. I laughed at the thought of their shallowness.

I rummaged for my pain medication, drinking a few tablets before getting dressed. School was to start in an hour and in that time I had to get rid of the acrid smell that came with the bile. As I finally felt as though I was ready and vomit-free, I headed to East Delton High.

“Alice! Hey!” Bianca bellowed from across the parking lot. She had the same smug expression she had on since day one and was making her way towards me as fast as her pumps had allowed. “Unbelievable!” she exclaimed, as she finally reached talking distance. “What have you done to our female population?” she asked in mock horror.