Just Live

Chapter 20

Sarah spent the rest of her break from treatment with the people close to her heart and her family made sure that they eat as a whole as much as possible. The Geronimos and Guidicellis also had barbecue parties at the ranch and at the Guidicelli household, both families enjoying each other's company as if they've been doing it for years. Matteo accompanied her to get together with her friends as she requested; he packed food for them on their day trips to explore the countryside; and he took her out on dates since opportunity for one was a challenge due to the nature of Sarah's health status when they returned home from their trip. Matteo did those while making sure to stay on top of his studies as per her request for him to give importance to his university classes.

What they say is true; time flies when you're having fun. Four weeks of no treatment sessions went by in a whip for Sarah. Before she knew it, she was back on chemo for the second round.

Without moving his head, Matteo's eyes moved from his laptop screen and landed on Sarah who was in bed. He caught her eyeing him and she quickly hid her face behind the book she was reading.

With a chuckle, Matteo went back to working on a paper for his online class, only to sense that Sarah was stealing glances from him.

"Love, you miss me na?" He asked with a naughty tease while looking up from his laptop.

"Bubba," Sarah replied from the bed, throwing a pillow at him. "Nananahimik ako mag-basa dito eh."

Matteo grinned when he saw her smile behind her book. "Kiss? Cuddle?"

"Focus on your paper, love."

It was just one of their usual teasing and banters with each other, and it was actually a form of how they lambing each other, as Matteo puts it.

He has been spending more time with Sarah since she was back on chemotherapy after her four weeks of rest. Her latest MRI showed an improvement, though not as much as they had hoped for. The tumor in her brain decreased in size, but it was still there. Radiation did its work and now, she was to be on her second course of treatment for six months.

Considering the aggressive nature of the tumor, her oncologist prescribed a much higher dose of chemotherapy to be taken for five days straight, six cycles in total with a break of twenty-three days in between each one. A higher dosage meant more side effects for Sarah, especially nausea and stomach pain which hit her really hard previously, as well as fatigue and more sleepless nights.

During the first cycle, sleep was extra hard for Sarah to grasp. She lacked energy from overall fatigue from chemotherapy and sleepless nights, which was why for the current and second cycle, she was prescribed medication to help her sleep at night.

"Bub," he said again, breaking the silence in her room. "You're teasing me."

"Feeling mo."

"Isa pang nakaw tingin diyan, I'm gonna come cuddle with you."

"Hoist, Gianmatteo, work on your paper. Humaharot ka na naman eh," Sarah said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Cuddle?" He asked like a five year old asking for a cookie.

"Nope, diyan ka lang sa couch. Eto eh, ang kulit. You're like a kid, kailangan bantayan."

Matteo laughed before turning his attention back to his work and Sarah continued to read her book.

"Nak? Matt?"

Both turned their heads to the door when Gelli showed up. "Baba muna kayo, nagluto ako ng meryenda."

"Sige po, Tita, thank you po," Matteo replied with a smile.

"Sige, Mommy, sunod po kami pagkatapos ni Matt."