Until The Last Breath

chapter one

Travis's POV

I was used to the silence by now. Hospital rooms all had this same stillness, broken only by the steady beep of machines and the faint hum of fluorescent lights overhead. The past couple of years, I had been in a room by myself, but today, a nurse had come into my room and told me I was moving. And I was going to have a roommate.

I had been dealing with lymphoma for almost the last three years. I was first diagnosed when I was only 12, and life had never been the same. Normal kids my age would be at school, but I hadn't attended school since they had found the tumour. I missed it. Being out in the yard, kicking around the footy, talking to my friends. I never thought I'd miss going to school, but I did.

"Time to move Travis!" Peyton, my nurse walked into the room, a kind smile on her face. "How are you feeling?" She asked me, while helping me to my feet so I could get to my new room. "Not bad." I murmured, trying to adjust to the feeling of standing on my shaky legs. "My chest has been hurting a little more than usual, but that's all." I summed up, taking Peyton's hand, my IV stuff in the other, letting her lead me out of my room and down the hallway.

We stopped in front of room 113, standing quietly outside the door. "You ready to meet your new roommate?" Peyton asked me cheerfully. I nodded begrudgingly. I didn't want a roommate. I loved my room, I loved being by myself, especially since I had to be hooked up to so many machines every day.

"Here we go then." Peyton pushed open the door, revealing a room just like the one I'd been in, jut a lot bigger. A curtain separated the two hospital beds, my roommate on the other side of the curtain. To be honest, it looked kind of cosy. Well as cosy as you could get for a hospital.

Peyton moved forwards, calling out to the person behind the curtain. "Taylor, is it okay if we push back the curtain? You and Travis here can maybe get to know each other."

A quiet voice answered. "Of course." The girl – Taylor – responded.

She looked up as Peyton moved the curtain, her ocean blue eyes wide and a little wary. Her blonde hair sprung out in wild, but pretty curls. "Um. Hi." I said, my voice coming out rougher than I meant. "Guess we're roommates."

She gave a small smile, shifting on her bed, like she wasn't quite sure what to make of me. "I guess so. I'm Taylor."

"Travis," I replied, letting Peyton guide me towards my bed. I got onto it, wincing as the pain in my limbs and chest bloomed. "I'm going to give you two sometime alone. I'll be back soon." Peyton said softly, before leaving the room, closing the door behind her. I could feel her eyes on me, taking in the IV pole I had to drag around, the scars I'd accumulated over too many surgeries.

"You here for the long haul?"

She nodded slowly, like it was still sinking in for her too. "Yeah. Guess we both are, right?"

"Where are you from?" I asked, hoping to get to know her a little more.

"Pennsylvania," she said softly. "You?"

"Ohio," I replied. "Not that far."

She nodded, and for a moment, we just sat there in the quiet, listening to the muffled sounds of doctors and nurses outside the door.

After a while, she looked down at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap. "So...do you know what you have?" she asked quietly, glancing up at me, her voice barely more than a whisper.

I let out a breath. "Yeah. Lymphoma. Stage three."

She nodded, and I could see the flash of understanding in her eyes. "Leukemia. Mine's stage two," she said. "But...it doesn't feel any easier."