His last thought

20| not today

"First time being home in a while." My mom says as I walk downstairs.

"I know." I say and sit at the counter. "Caleb just lost his hair. I helped him shave it."

"Kate told me." My mom says and puts a plate of food down in front of me.

"Are we going to talk about Rick?" I ask out of the blue and ignore the food.

"What about him?" My mom asks.

"Are you two dating, how did you meet, all that stuff."

"We met through work, and no. We are not dating." She tells me. "Yet."

"Would you?"

"What about you and Caleb? I'm pretty sure that wasn't your first kiss."

"You are right. I don't know where we are label wise. That's not important though, especially with what's going on."

"How's he putting up with all of this?"

"He's been really tired. He's pushing through though." I tell her. "And Kate's taking it hard too."

"Caleb didn't want her to see him. She was being 'to emotional' when she saw him bald."

I lightly nod as I look off in the distance. "Yeah; I'm the one who convinced him to do it. He started looking stupid with all the bald spots."

"Go try to see him. I'm going over to see Kate anyways." She says and starts walking towards the front door.

"Do you mind that I'm going to see him a lot?" I ask her.

"Not at all. He's one of your best friends." She says and walks out.

On my way to the hospital, I stop somewhere to get food for me and Caleb. When I walk into his room, I see him awake on his phone.

"You're awake." I say with a smile on my face. "Did you take your meds today?"

"I actually did." He says and smiles again.

"I got you some Panera."

"How long are you going to be here?"

"I don't have a curfew. My mom's with yours." I say and sit in front of him on his bed. "What time are you going home?"

"Not today." He says and sighs.

"What?"

"Chemo's still going. I don't know for how long."

We both sit there in silence for a bit.

"What are you thinking?" I ask him.

"I think that this is the most chemo I've ever gotten."

Paige walks in and smiles when she sees me. "When did you get here?"

"Not that long ago." I say. She walks up to Caleb and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"We're stopping chemo and taking a quick CT. Since your hair fell out, we want to know what it has done with the tumor."

"The CT now?" Caleb asks. Paige nods and Caleb starts getting out of bed. He sits down in a wheelchair as Dr. Lynn comes in to get him.

"What do you thinks going to happen?" I ask Paige.

"I'm not sure." She says and starts to walk out.

"Wait." I say and she stops. "What if it's the same?"

"It'll be okay. He will be okay." She says and walks away. I take out my phone and call Ashley.

"Update me on Caleb." She says.

"I'm um, I'm scared that it's going south. I'm not getting any feedback and that's never good." I tell her.

"Does he know that it's going south?"

"I mean, he just lost his hair. He hasn't talked a lot since but he's always tired." I say.

"Lost his hair?" Ashley asks. "He just started chemo."

"Twenty four hours a day for five days. And the first day he was absent from school is when he had his first chemo round."

"Do you want me to come see you? My parents are out right now."

"Uh, I don't know. Caleb's going to be back soon, and his mom isn't here."

"I'm not talking about him, I'm talking about you. Morgan, I can tell that you are in love with this boy and he's dying right in front of you. I don't care what he needs right now; I care what you need to get through his." She says and it goes quiet. A few tears fall, but she doesn't know.

"I don't know what I need." I tell her. "Bring me some food when you come over."

She laughs and hangs up. I wait about a half hour before Ashley walks in.

"Where's Caleb?" She asks.

"CT. He should be back soon though." I tell her. "You get the food?"

"Yeah." She says and puts a bag of chic fil a on the desk. "Is he going to be okay that I'm here?"

"I think that he couldn't care less." I say. "You might see us kiss, though."

"Couldn't care less." She says and grabs a chicken sandwich before sitting down next to me.