The Boy Next Door, Maybe?

Chapter 7

Max wasn't on the bus this afternoon. I hope he's not getting himself into trouble. As I walk up to my front door, it's cracked open. So I grab the flower pot from the table and slowly go inside. As I walk around the corner I smell really good food. Pork chops maybe. I turn the corner to the kitchen and I see Max, cooking. He turns around "what's up with the flower pot?" I feel my face turning red.
"The front door was already open so I thought maybe someone broke into my house." I put the pot down. He laughed.
"Oh, ok."
"What's the occasion for cooking?" I asked.
"Well, I didn't want you to starve so I am making food." He said sarcastically. I just gave him that look that only he gets. "No, I just wanted to cook. You're letting me stay here so I figured why let you do all the work when I am pretty good at cooking." I stared in awe.
"Um, ok but we can just order a pizza next time." He looked at me and smiled a beautiful smile.
"Ok, what ever you say. But after tonight, I don't think you're going to want to go back to take out."
"Right. Ok, well I'm going to take a shower to get this milk out of my hair. I'll be back in like 10 minuets."
"Ok. It's almost ready, so hurry." He said. And I was off.

~*Max's POV*~
I don't know why I let her sit at my lunch table. Or why I'm cooking for her, I don't even know how to cook. If I wanted to get into her pants I could just do it. But there is something about Sophie that just brings out this side of me I haven't felt or seen in a long time.
As I was getting ready to drain the green beans I heard a loud bang from upstairs, not a shampoo bottle bang, but a person bang. So I put the pot back down and ran upstairs to the bathroom. I yell through the door "Sophie? Sophie are you ok?" No answer. I try to open the door but it's locked. I reach on top of the door frame and found a key, I thought my family was the only people to do that, guess not. So I grab the key and unlock the door. I know she probably doesn't want me to see her half naked, so I yell in again before I go in. "Sophie?" Still no answer. So I walk in and see her in only her bra and underwear laying on the floor. She fainted. I grab a towel from the closet and wrap it around her so I don't feel weird. Turned off the water in the shower and carried her out of the bathroom. She is so light. As I put her down I notice she is really sweaty and has a bruise forming on her forehead. I turned on her ceiling fan and started trying to wake her up. I shake her. "Sophie, Sophie please wake up. Come on Sophie." Then she started to stir. She stared right at me then looked down to see if she had something covering her. That was cute. She looked back up at me and asked "what happened?" She looks sick.
"I don't know, you must have fainted. I was downstairs and I heard a loud bang and when I got up here you were laying unconscious on the bathroom floor." She just got even more pale.
"So you saw me in my bra?" I had to let out a little laugh at that.
"Yeah, but you shouldn't be ashamed, you have a nice rack." I said jokingly. She lightly slapped my arm. "No, I covered you up with a towel as soon as I saw you on the floor."
"Oh, thank you." She said.
"I think you need to go to the doctors." I said.
"No I think I'm ok." She said a little unsure.
"At least to get your head checked." I pointed to her head that was now purple.
"Fine, but I need to get this milk out of my hair." She said.
"Ok, but I don't want you to do it in the shower. Do it in the sink." She looked at me a little dazed.
"Ok." She said. As she started to get up I realized that she was hanging on to my arm super tight. God, I hope nothing is wrong with her. I'm actually starting to like her.

~* Sophie's POV*~
I feel so weak, I want to lay down and take a nap. I have no idea what is going on right now. I just finished cleaning my hair and I am on my way to the kitchen.
"Are you ready to go?" Max asked me.
"Aren't we going to eat first?" I asked him. I don't want all this good food to go to waste.
"No we can eat when we get back." He said. I was really hungry and I wanted to try his cooking.
"Can I at least try the meat?" I asked, or more like pleaded.
"Fine, but then we are leaving." He said with authority. So I walked over to the counter and tasted the meat. It was so good. It tasted like heaven.
"Ok, let's go now." He said.
"Why are you in such a rush? I feel fine." And that was a lie. I just feel bad because he mad all this amazing food and we can't even eat it yet. I was looking at the food when he said "we can eat it when we get back. It won't be going anywhere."
"Fine." I said. I don't really feel like arguing with him. So with that we locked the door and drove to the doctors. Once we got there I checked in and waited. Since I was in here a week and a half ago, I don't need to fill out any paperwork.
"Sophie Maxwell." The nurse said. Both Max and I got up. I turned to Max and said "Stay here, I'll be fine. I'd rather go in alone just in case I have to get naked." And with that he did a half smile and sat down.
"I'll be here when you get back." He said.
"I hope so, you're my ride." I said. And once again he half smiled. I started to follow the nurse.
"So what seems to be the problem today?" She asked.
"Well, I sort of fainted." I said. "I was getting ready to take a shower then I blacked out and then my friend took me to the bedroom and I woke up." She looked at me concerned.
"Do you know why you fainted?" She asked.
"Nope, it happened once before when I was like, five, but the doctor said it was nothing." She looked at me very closely.
"How did you get the bruise on your forehead?" She asked.
"When I fell I must have hit my head on the counter or something." I said. She looked at me concerned.
"Did you feel anything before it happened?"
"Well, it's hard to explain."
"Give me some detail and I might be able to figure out what is wrong."
"Well, I got undressed and I started feeling weak. I started to have cold sweats and my hands got shaky. My ears started burning and the rest of me felt cold. Then my vision started to get darker and it got harder to see. Then I woke up in my room. My friend brought me there." As I was saying this she was typing it in her computer.
"Have you had any illness or headaches the past few days?" She asked. What does that have to do with anything?
"Um, I had strep last week and had a few headaches but nothing I couldn't handle." I said.
"Ok I'm going to get the doctor. I'll be right back." She said. And she left. I waited for about five minutes and the doctor finally came in, but he had a cart full of equipment with him.
"Hello Ms. Maxwell, how are you today?" He asked a little to cheerfully.
"I'm guessing by all the equipment you already know." I said. I hope that didn't sound rude. "Sorry if that sounded rude."
"You're perfectly fine. So by what Ms. Ginney told me, your nurse, you might have an illness, but before I make any assumptions, I want to do a few tests, is that alright with you?" He asked me like I really had a choice.
"I guess so." I said.
"We are going to do two things at once. I'm going to put these white pads on your head, they sense your brain activity and if you have anything abnormal. While these are attached to your head, I am going to be doing a blood test. You ready?" He asked. Wow, a lot of info to take in.
"Sure." I said. So the doctor stuck the white pads on my head and started drawing blood. When he was about to do the last needle something lit up in the monitor.
"What is that?" I asked him.
"Let's finish the blood work then we'll take a look. " He said.
After he finished the last of the blood work, my nurse Ms. Ginney came and picked it up and brought it to the lab. The doctor started examining the monitor.
"No that can't be possible." He said to himself. "There's no way. Do you mind if we do another brain test?" He asked me.
"I don't mind. " so he stuck the white pads back on my head and the screen lit up again. This time I actually took time to look. It looked weird, like it wasn't supposed to be there. I'm guessing that was the abnormality he was talking about.
"Oh my, I can't believe this. So, I can't tell for sure yet, we have to wait for you blood work to come back, but from this it looks like you may have a tumor in your brain." He said it so casually, like it was normal. I was freaking out inside. A tumor, as in cancer tumor! I can't believe this. This can't be happening. I can't leave my dad, not now. "I don't know this for sure, but like I said, once we get your blood work back, we will know the for sure answer."
"When will we get the results back?" I asked. I am getting impatient.
"In a few minuets. I will go and see if it's ready now." And he left. I can't believe this is happening. I am not really worried about myself, I'm more worried about how my dad is going to take the news. The doctor walked back in with no expression to his face.
"Well, we have the results. "

~*Max's POV*~
Where the hell is she? This is taking way longer than it should. She should be out by now. As soon as I said that I heard Sophie at the check out desk.
"Thank you, you can send the bill in the mail. My dads out of town but he will be back in about three weeks. We'll pay them." She said.
"Ok that's fine, let us know if there will be any other delays." The receptionist said.
"Ok I will thanks."
"You're welcome. Have a great day."
"You too." Sophie said and she came towards me. Only now did I noticed how pale she looked. And the bruise wasn't making it look any better.
"So... what's the verdict?" I asked. I thought she would laugh, but she didn't and just kept walking towards the car.
"Is everything ok?" I asked. She stopped walking and turned towards me.
"No, everything is not ok. It couldn't be any worse actually!" She said. She was yelling, but I think crying too. I put my hands up in s surrender, but I don't really know what I was surrendering for.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to know what they said." Then her whole body sort of tensed up.
"Sorry, it's just I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell my dad, I don't even think I can tell myself."
"Tell yourself what?" I asked.
She looked at me straight in the eye, it was kind of intimidating, and she said "I have brain cancer." And right then, my stomach dropped.