CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU x ANDY BARBER

3

**
“Is he gonna wake up doctor?” Andy squeezes his hands, tears in his eyes.
The doctor stays silent for a moment. “I’m sorry M. Barber… We did the best we can… He won’t wake up.” He shakes his head. 
Andy puts his hands on his head. “This is my fault, I should be with them…” 
“I come with you to see your son for the last time before we do the protocol.” Both stand up and go to Jacob’s hospital bedroom. 
“Hey, Jake…” He kisses his forehead and takes his hand. “I know you can’t hear me but… I love you and you’ll always be my son.” He lefts out a lot of tears, and strokes his forehead. “I’ll miss you bud…” The doctor starts to shut down all the monitors.
“Andy?” He turns around and sees Laurie in her wheelchair. He turns back and watches the screen where Jacob’s heart rate monitor starts to stop. 
“Goodnight Buddy…” He squeezes his hand before he puts his head on the bed and cries. 
After a long moment, he goes outside the hospital bedroom and starts to leave the hospital. 
“Andy? Andy!” Laurie stops Andy’s steps to his car.
“I don’t wanna see you again Laurie, that’s over…” He goes inside his car and goes. 
**
He sits up quickly and tries to catch his breath. He puts his hand on his head. Hazel isn’t in the bed. He stands up from the bed and goes downstairs. He sees her cooking and smiles lightly. “You’re already awake…” He leans on this wall and crosses his arms. 
“I’m an early bird…” She turns around and puts the plates on the kitchen counter. 
“Is it this or is it you’re stressed about your exams and analysis?” 
“Both” She lows her head. He pulls away from the wall and comes towards her. He lifts her head up and puts his hands on her cheeks “Hey, it’s gonna be okay. I promise…”. She nods, and he kisses her softly.
“You sweat a lot, did you have a nightmare?” She looks at him. He lows his head. 
“Come here” She hugs him and rubs his back. “It’s okay.” He wraps his arms around her waist. She kisses his cheek. 
“I missed that…” He whispers. “I missed that too…” She smiles lightly. 
They sit together and eat their breakfast. “What’s the album on the shelf?” He points to the shelf near the TV.
“Oh, it’s nothing much…” She stands up and goes to grab the album. She puts it in the kitchen corner and opens it. 
“Wow, you kept all of this?” He turns the pages.
She chuckles. “Yes, even this…” She takes her necklace who was under her sweater. 
“No way! You kept it!” He looks at the necklace. 
“Always precious for me…” She looks at him. “Like our friendship.” He looks at her and kisses her. 
“Ughh I forgot. I have to go to the hospital…” She whines.
“Hey, don’t worry… I’ll be with you.” 
She smiles lightly. “ Thank you…” 
They get in the car and go to the hospital. After they arrived, she holds Andy’s hand tight and squeezes it.               
“It’ll be okay, I promise.” He kisses her. 
“You sure? But what if he said that the tumor didn’t go? What if the chemo wasn’t enough?” 
“Hey, don’t worry, it’s gonna be alright. I’ll be with you, okay?”
She nods and they go in front of the doctor’s office. They’re waiting until the doctor opens his door and lets go of people who were before Hazel.
“Mrs. Williams, how do you feel?” He shakes her hand. 
“I’m okay, thank you, doctor.” 
“Please take a seat.” They both sit down. “So Mrs.Williams, we’re gonna do some exams today to really check if the tumor is gone. You ready?”
“Yeah, I am.” She looks at Andy and he looks at her.
“Alright, I go with you to make sure that everything is okay.” 
“Thank you, doctor.” He goes with them to the exams. He makes her an MRI scan. Andy is not far from her, he gives her a thumbs up and she smiles. 
“You can talk with her on the microphone, I’ll be back in 30 minutes.” 
“Thanks, doctor.”  He turns on the microphone. “Haze, it’s me. How do you feel?” 
“I don’t feel quite good… I’m anxious.” 
“Don’t worry, it won’t last long. I’m staying with you, okay?”
She starts to breathe heavily, he can hear she’s having a panic attack. “Haze, focus on my voice, alright? Do like me, inhale and exhale slowly.” 
“I… I… can’t….” 
“You can do it, I know that.” 
“Okay.” She focuses on his voice and does what he said.
“Good, do it slowly.” She exhales slowly. “There you go…Guess what? What if I move with you?”
“What? Are you sure about this? Because maybe you don’t wanna take care of-”
“Hey, it’s okay. I wanna move with you if you accept me.”
There is silence. “Haze?” 
Let him help you… He’ll be good with you.
“I accept.” He smiles but she can’t see his face. “God, why can’t I kiss you right now?” He chuckles. “Don’t worry, it’s almost over.” 
***
“Okay, we did all the exams we need. I’ll send you the results next week… Meanwhile, you have to rest, no high exercise.” 
“Thanks, doctor…” They both leave the hospital and get inside the car. 
“Uhhh, I could kill myself for eating a burger…” 
“We can do that…” He looks at her. “You deserve it…” He kisses the top of her head and starts driving to the restaurant. 

“So what are you gonna take?” The waiter is looking at Hazel. 
“Umm… I-” 
“She’s gonna take the Supraburger and I’m gonna take the Salsa Burger, please.” He hands the menus to the waiter. 
“Here we go!” He’s already gone. 
“How did you remember that I take this burger all the time?” 
“Because I know you very well…” He takes her hand. 
“Thanks for today, I was pretty scared but when you were there, I felt safe.” 
“Hey, you’re not my Haze for nothing…” He smiles and she does the same. 
“Here you go…” The waiter gives the plates to Andy and Hazel. 
“Wow, I didn’t remember they were fast…” She chuckles. “Same.” He smiles. 
“So, you still working as an attorney?” She puts french fries in her mouth. 
“Yup.” 
“I always knew you’ll be a good lawyer…” She sips her lemonade. 
“And I always knew, you’ll be a good teacher. You’re pretty comfortable with kids. Am I wrong?” 
“No, you’re not…” She smiles lightly. She looks at her plate.
“What’s wrong?” He frowns. “Isn’t it good?” 
“No, it’s not about that…” She lifts her head up. “I just…” She scoffs. “It’s ridiculous.” 
“No, tell me Haze.” 
Here we go… 
“I just remember, that I was never married, and don’t have any kids who are yelling, or even asking for walking in the park…” 
He looks silent, thinking that she is right. She was alone in this big house, without children or even a husband. 
“And I don’t know if I can have a child with this cancer…” She shakes her head and sighs. 
“Haze…” She takes her hands. “Look at me…” 
She looks at him and a tear is rolling down her cheek. 
“I know you’re suffering but you’re the bravest girl I ever know in my life. You’re strong, you did this all along. Maybe I wasn’t here because of her but… I’m sure that you’ll always be my Hazel, no matter what happens...” He wipes her tear and rubs her cheek. She smiles weakly. He kisses her cheek. “How about we finish our burger and we can go back home, chilling all the rest of the day together?” 
“That’s a good idea.” She smiles and kisses him.
After they came back from the restaurant, they both were in the living room, watching a movie together. But at that moment, she fells asleep. He puts the blanket over her and kisses the top of her head. He continues to watch the movie until he falls asleep too, his arms around her, he missed that and he’ll never let her go again. 
The next day, Hazel woke up and she saw Andy sleeping deeply. She smiles and kisses him softly to avoid awake him. She strokes his hair which was fluffy like cotton candy. She grabs her phone and takes a picture of him. She saved it and wrote: my favorite little woodchuck. 
She tried to stand up to avoid waking him, but his arms didn’t want to let her go.
“Morning, sweetheart…” He cuddles her with his sleepy voice.
“Morning…” She kisses the top of his head. “Did you sleep well?” She strokes his hair.
“Best sleep with you.” He rubs his eyes. “Breakfast?” 
“Breakfast.” She smiles and he kisses her before he stands up, and goes into the kitchen.
She sees him starting to find the stuff he needs to prepare breakfast, she laughs and stands up to help him. 
“Need some help?” 
“Umm yeah…” He chuckles and she helps him to find the stuff. They prepare together breakfast, which ends up a mess. He throws her flour and she did the same. They start running for each other, he stops her by the waist and wraps his arms around her waist, and kisses her. “I think we’ll finish the breakfast with juices and cereals.” He laughs.
“That’s a good idea.” She kisses him. They eat their breakfast and decide to go outside, they walk for a long time, and they’re enjoying spending time together. They came back home an hour later.
“Haze?” He strokes her arm.
“Mhm?” Her eyes are closed.
“Can I ask you something?” 
“Sure.”
“You wanna live with me?” She opens her eyes and turns to him.
“Why are you asking me this ?” 
“I don’t know… I’m sorry…” 
“Of course, I wanna live with you, Andy!” She hugs him and he rubs her back.
“I thought you would say no…” 
“I won’t say no to the man I love the most.” She puts her hands on his cheeks. “And this man is you, Andy…” She rubs his cheeks, and he kisses her.