Just Live

Chapter 18

Days passed and good days came, but not any more than the bad days. At times, Sarah would be feeling just well enough to go out for a lunch date with Matteo after her radiation therapy but, more often than not, she barely had any energy for anything else other than going to therapy and treatment in the city.

On good days, Sarah would usually ask Matteo to accompany her at her favorite spot in their ranch, or ask him to drive her to the store and buy her cravings. He was more than willing to drive for her, regardless of the time of day or how far it was, because since she started chemotherapy, her appetite declined drastically.

On good days, Sarah would also ask Matteo and her family to have a bonfire in the backyard and they would happily agree to it. For some reason, she found it comforting. Those were the times that she felt her usual self, laughing and sharing stories with her family and her boyfriend, and those were the times that help get her through the rough days.

On bad days, in spite of how hard it has been dealing with the side effects of both therapies, Sarah would hold on to those good days to get through the day and night, hoping that when she wakes up from her sleep, she'll feel a little better than the previous day.

Five weeks have passed and not a day went by that Matteo wasn't by her side; he saw how Sarah dealt with headaches; he saw how she swallowed the lump in her throat when her hair started falling out; he saw how she could barely keep the few spoons of food she ate at times; he saw how dark circles started forming around her eyes due to having trouble sleeping; he saw how she would curl up in a ball when the stomach pain became unbearable; he saw how she lacked energy to make it up and down the stairs; he saw how the nausea and vomiting drained her; and he saw how tears fell from her eyes when the pain was too much from both the cancer and its treatment.

Today was one of those days. Matteo was walking up the stairs when he heard retching sounds from Sarah's bedroom. He quickly ran up and found her four year old nephew alone just outside the room.

"Tito," Nate said with a pout, his eyes horrified and were brimming with tears. He looked to the bathroom and Matteo saw that the door to Sarah's bathroom was open. "I'm scared."

"Nate," Matteo said as he held his hand. "Tita's going to be okay. Stay here, okay? Tito will help tita."

"I'm scared," Nate said again, pouting even more. "Tita's sick."

"Tito Matt's gonna help your tita Sarah. Just wait here, okay?"

Matteo gave him a quick hug before running to the bathroom where he found Sarah kneeling on the floor and bent over the toilet bowl as she vomited.

"Love," he said as he immediately went to her side, pulling her hair away from her face and rubbing her back. Sarah had one elbow on the toilet bowl with one hand on her aching head and the other on her stomach.

Matteo grabbed a face towel and ran it through the cold water before wiping it across her forehead. He helped support her exhausted figure while Sarah threw up mostly fluids, with tears running down her cheeks as she retched almost non-stop. Tears formed in his own eyes but he quickly wiped them away before Sarah had a chance to take notice and he helped her lean on the wall.

"Sorry, bub," Sarah apologized with a hoarse, quiet voice and red eyes, her breathing still fast from another exhausting episode of vomiting.

"Shhh, it's okay," Matteo reassured her while he helped her sit on the floor, her back against the wall. "I'm right here," he said when he sat beside her and gave Sarah a comforting hug.

He wiped her sweat while he called out to her parents and siblings who were preparing their lunch when he arrived at their house. Within a minute, they came running up the stairs to her room where they were both found on the bathroom floor, with Matteo using his body for Sarah to rest on.