Aurora

A change in the atmosphere

Aurora

"I'm sorry Aurora, but you have leukemia."

The reality of what she had just heard hadn't sunken in completely. She stared blankly at the sullen looking man in front of her, eyes full of sadness and pity. Her brain started fogging up drowning out the sounds around her, and everything that went on beside her.

She hadn't said a word anymore. She felt her soul slip away from her and all that was left seated on the bed was the shell of her body. Her mind became blank as she couldn't even comprehend what she had just heard a few minutes ago.

Leukemia.

She has leukemia.

Doctor Jamison's mouth was moving, but Aurora heard nothing. Even though she looked in his direction her ears refused to listen to the sounds that left his mouth. She was drowning, her head was filled with fog and her heart was squeezed to the point of a possible burst.

She has leukemia.

There was movement beside her and not even sparing the two men a glance, she saw from her peripheral vision that Matteo had stood up. The two men shared a few words with each other, Matteo looking as if he wanted Doctor Jamison to leave the room.

Doctor Jamison gave her a final look of pure pity as he was close to her. Their friendship had grown ever since her first visit to the hospital, so it must be hard for him as well to share this information or even hear it for himself. She didn't want him to worry about her, not anyone for that matter.

She kept her gaze solely focused on her hands. Were they always this pale in color? Were they always this shaky? Her fingers jerked every few seconds and had a never ending tremble to them. She wasn't cold, the room was the perfect temperature yet her body acted this way.

The bed dipped next to her, feeling him brush against the side of her leg. She didn't look at him however but she knew he was watching her. She didn't know what he was thinking about or what his facial reaction was at that moment, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"Aurora." All he did was call her name, there was a pause as if he didn't know what to say further.

Her name rolling off the tip of his tongue was always a sweet melody that caressed her eardrums. Her body would always respond to him whenever he said her name, but it did not do that. Only a small part of her loved the way he said her name, the part of her that liked his voice and yearned for more of it.

She could feel that he was awkward, not knowing what to do in a situation like this. Given his background it was clear as day that Matteo was not a man who did well with sympathy and words. He could never find the proper words suitable for the situation at hand, and it was why he remained quiet.

A broken sob escaped her lips. She felt everything crumbling down and she could care less if she looked like a wreck crying in front of Matteo. The reality of what was happening to her had registered in her head, the sickness and everything that could go wrong along with it.

She felt him enclose her with his arms. They were wrapped tightly around her shoulders, forcing her head to lean against his chest as she cried against him. They had never been this intimate with each other and she knew this might be overstepping some boundaries between the two of them.

The comfort of another person was what she needed right now.  She held on tightly to his shirt, not caring if she creased it but badly needed the comfort he provided. His touch soothed the tiny bit of aching in her heart and calmed the raging storm in her mind.

Aurora blinked. "I am g-going to die. Aren't I?"

Her own voice shocked her. There was a coldness to it, the lack of emotion resembled the tone of voice suited for Matteo. It was void of any tone beside the blunt way in which she projected her voice, although still in a whisper voice it was harsh.