18 Days ➳ Riley McDonough/ Before You Exit Fanfic

8.

March 9th // 1st day

R I L E Y

Jade was released from the hospital today, because they said she would be fine as long as she didn't overwork her heart too much, which meant no adrenaline at all. It was our responsibility to keep her heartbeat at a normal pace, unless we wanted less than eighteen days, which no one did. I haven't told anyone about it yet. I just know.

"Welcome home!" my mom exclaimed, enveloping Jade into a hug. I always knew she wanted a daughter and, in some way, Jade was exactly that. She could've been her daughter-in-law, but life sucks and time's short.

"I was only in the hospital for a day." Jade said, hugging my mom back.

"We were all worried sick about you! We're just glad that you're well enough to walk around and stuff."

"It's just a silly, little hole in my heart, Joan." Jade laughed, brushing it off like it was no big deal, when, in reality, it was a huge deal that couldn't be ignored. No one else knew how serious it was though, because I was the only one who saw the x-ray. It sucked. "No need to worry. I'll be fine."

"That's really good to hear, but may I speak to Riley, alone. It'll only be a while."

"Sure. Go ahead." And with that she went up the stairs slowly. She'd probably stay with Connor, or Toby, or both of them, while my mom and I talked about whatever — which was most likely going to be about her condition.

My mom and I waited until her footsteps became distant and inaudible before she gave me a serious look. The look she was giving often meant that I was in trouble, but that wasn't the case today.

"I know you know something, Riley," she said. "And I have a feeling that it's more than just a silly, little hole in her heart."

"It is more than that. A lot more, actually."

She gave me a look that told me to keep talking and spill out everything I know, but just thinking about those things the doctor said to me yesterday was enough to make me feel sick to my stomach. I just really didn't want to talk about it, but I had to.

I sighed and shook my head, before looking back at my mom's worried face. "There's this huge hole in her heart, which makes it really difficult to pump blood, and breathe, and stuff like that, and it's gotten so bad that they already pinpointed when she'd supposedly die, and it's going to be sooner than you think. I don't want her to die, mom. I love her."

I'd left out most of the details, because I didn't feel the need to tell her every little thing at that very moment. I just needed to rant about it or else I would've exploded.

I wiped some tears out of my eyes and stared at my mom, expectantly, waiting for some type of response, but she seemed frozen. Like, listening to everything I had just said was enough to paralyze her.

"How soon is it?" she asked, anxiously, bunching up the hem of her cardigan in her hands.

"Eighteen days. Less if we aren't careful with her."

"Oh dear." She said, quietly, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. "Does Jade know about any of this?"

"I suppose she knows about her heart, but the eighteen days part, I'm not so sure. Probably not."

"What do we do?"

"I was really hoping that you'd help me with that, mom."

She looked at me with pity, and I couldn't bring myself to look back at her.

"I only have one piece of advice for you," she said. "Make every single day count. Every moment must have some kind of meaning in it. Do it for Jade, Riley. If you really do love her."

"You know I do."

~

We were all seated at the dining table. I'd told pretty much everyone about Jade's condition, but she still didn't know what was going on. I had to tell her eventually and now seemed like a pretty good time to do it.

I stood up and picked my plate up, which caught everyone's attention, as they all stared at me. My dad, my mom, Connor, Toby, and Jade.

"May Jade and I be excused?" I asked, politely.

"But I'm not done yet." Jade said, motioning to her plate.

"It'll only be a while. I just have to tell you something really important."

"Oh, alright." She replied, before standing up as well.

Both of us looked at my dad - who was seated at the end of the table - waiting for his approval.
He took one look into my eyes and knew what was up, so, after one nod of his head, I took Jade's hand and led her out into the backyard.

"Riley," Jade said, quietly. "What's going on?"

"I'm just going to get straight to the point here," I replied and she nodded her head, before I took a deep breath. "So, yesterday at the hospital, that doctor pulled me out of the room to tell me some things about you. Specifically, about your condition. He told me that the hole in your heart grew bigger since your last x-ray whatever and every little thing you do could be dangerous and trigger something."

I looked at her face for a split second and saw that she was trying to absorb and internalize every word I was saying. Her eyebrows were knitted together and her lips were pressed into a thin line, she knew there was something I was hiding.

"There's something else, isn't there?" She asked.

I sighed. "Your heart has gotten so bad that they've already estimated when you would... you know."

"Oh my God." Jade gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Riley. You're joking, right?"

"I really wish I was."

Then, she finally let out a couple of sobs, before collapsing into my arms. I had to use all my strength to lift her up, because it seemed like her legs had turned into jelly, but it was okay. I simply held her close, and stroked her hair, which was all she really needed at that very moment.

"Did they tell you when?" She asked, wiping a few tears away, making her eyeliner smudge all over the place.

"Eighteen days from now."

I noticed her lips start quivering again, and, before I knew it, her head was buried in my chest as one hand gripped the fabric of my shirt, and the other repeatedly hit me. Of course she wasn't trying to physically hurt me on purpose, she just needed to get her frustration out in some way.

I took hold of both of her hands and looked her directly in the eye. "Look, we're going to be alright, okay? You'll be fine."

"No, I won't. I'm going to die, Riley. This is a big deal, so don't tell me that we're going to be fine, because we're not." She replied, sounding really pissed, and I wasn't sure if her anger was directed towards me, or towards herself.

One thing was clear, though. She wasn't going down without a fight. She'd fight until the very last breath and the very last beat of her flawed heart.

Jade's so strong, and that's why I love her with my everything. I didn't want her to leave me so soon. It sucked.

~

a/n: GUYS RILEY'S 20 TODAY AND IT'S MAKING ME EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE BUT I WANTED TO UPDATE BC RILEY'S BDAY BUT THEN AHHH I CRY

AND THE ENDING WAS WEIRD BC I DIDNT KNOW HOW TO END IT LOL