Grand Favourite Ambys 2024
𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔.
Elizabeth Reid learned, at seventeen, that she was going to die. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, she's faced with a question that no one should have to answer.
How...
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The sun beat down on my face as I lay on the grass, my head resting on Nathan's chest. I could hear his heartbeat, steady and reassuring, as we gazed up at the clouds drifting lazily across the sky.
It was a perfect August day, the kind that makes you forget about everything else for a while.
But I couldn't forget, not really. Not when my body kept reminding me with every ache and pain that time was slipping away.
Two weeks had passed since I'd woken up properly in the hospital. Two weeks that had flown by in a blur of doctor's appointments, medication adjustments, and long naps that never seemed to make me feel any less tired.
It was hard to believe that I'd been out of it for a whole month before that. A whole month of my life, gone in what felt like the blink of an eye.
And now it was August. Nathan's 18th birthday was just around the corner. And after that...well, I tried not to think about it too much, but the doctors' words echoed in my head.
Three months.
That's what they'd said.
Three months left to live.
I shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position. Even lying still on the soft grass was uncomfortable these days. The palliative chemotherapy wasn't doing what it was supposed to do. Instead of easing my symptoms, it felt like they were getting worse by the day.
Constant headaches pounded behind my eyes, nausea was my constant companion, and I'd lost count of the number of times I'd found blood where it shouldn't be. Even my periods had gone haywire, coming and going as they pleased.
But the worst part was the exhaustion. It seeped into my bones, making every movement a monumental effort. My bucket list, once filled with dreams and adventures, now seemed like an impossible mountain to climb. I'd wanted to do so much, to squeeze every last drop of life out of the time I had left.
But my body had other ideas.
There was one thing left on that list, though. One final goal that I clung to with all my might.
Organ donation.
It wasn't the most exciting dream, not like skydiving or visiting Paris. But it felt important, like maybe I could leave something good behind when I was gone. If the cancer didn't ruin that too, like it was ruining everything else.
"That one looks like a rabbit," Nathan's voice broke through my musings, his finger pointing at a cloud drifting overhead.
I squinted up at the sky, trying to see what he saw. "Really? I think it looks more like a duck."
Nathan chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest. "A duck? No way. Look at those ears!"
"Those aren't ears," I argued, a smile tugging at my lips despite my gloomy thoughts. "They're its bill."
