Amnesia - A Luke Hemmings au [Completed]

2. Weight of living

April's POV

When I woke up the next morning, my knee was still hurting and I basically sat around on the living room couch watching Teen Wolf reruns the whole day.

Em came around after school and updated me on the gossip going on at school. It's incredible how much can happen on the one day you miss.

Mom, dad and I left at 6:30 to head to our appointment at the hospital.

After waiting only a few minutes, we were guided to a small office.

A doctor greeted us with a worried look on his face, and I instantly knew it was bad news.

I shook his hand and sat down in front of his desk.

"Hello April. I'm Doctor Denver."

"Doctor who?"

"Denver. Doctor Denver." He half smiled at me.

I didn't return his smile, starting to feel nervous.

"Your scan results have arrived this morning. We checked them several times to make sure there is no possible error, and I am sorry to say we have come to an unfortunate conclusion." I saw out of the corner of my eye mom grasping dad's hand.

"You need to understand that we will do everything we can to help you." My hands felt clammy. The air was thick. Why was it so hot in here?

"April, you have been diagnosed with stage 2 Osteosarcoma. You have cancer."

I completely zoned out. I could still see the doctor moving his lips, but the sound wouldn't reach my brain.

It felt like the world was suddenly laying on my shoulders, trying to push me down. I gasped for air, but no oxygen filled my lungs. Was this how it felt like to die?

My brain was telling me I would know the answer to that question soon enough.

Episodes of documentaries about cancer kids, parents with tears running down their faces, people collecting money for some cancer research foundation, all these pictures were flashing trough my brain.

And all the time, a voice was playing over and over in my head.

You're going to die.

I couldn't think straight, my mind felt numb. It was all too much.

I suddenly stood up, pushing the chair back violently. I felt myself running towards the door, pushing it open and leaving the room.

As I rushed threw hospital corridors, the voice in my head kept mocking me.

You can't run from this.

People were turning around as I ran past them, wondering what might have happened. Everything was a blur.

I didn't even feel my knee, my mind having reached a point far beyond pain.

I rambled through the hospital doors, continuing my race aimlessly down the streets.

Where was I going? I had no idea, but God knows it was meant to happen this way.

I had no idea how far or for how long I had been running, but I eventually had to stop and bend over, gasping for air.

It was getting dark. I scanned the empty street to find an indication of where I was, but found none.

On the opposite side of the road was a bar, small and dark. It felt like the right place to go to.

In any other situation, I would have never crossed the street, I would have never walked into the bar, I would have never persuaded the drunk barkeeper that I was 21.

But this was a situation that I didn't know how to deal with, and as my brain had shut down the moment I had heard the word cancer leave the doctor's mouth, I did exactly that.

I made my way up to the bar and sat on an empty stool. The place was mostly empty and smelled like generations of drunk people had passed through it. Which was probably the case.

I had never been to a bar before, I had never even properly been drunk. So when the old stinking guy asked me which drink I would like to order, I stared at him blankly before answering. "Alcohol."

The man raised one eyebrow and mumbled. "I see."

He came back a few seconds later with a small glass filled with some liquid I had never tasted before.

I didn't think about it and just downed the shot rapidly. The liquid burned down my throat and I widened my eyes in surprise. I needed some more of this.

After each drink, the voice in my head seemed more distant.

You're going to die.
You can't run from this.

I drank more and more, hoping for the voice in my head to be drowned by the alcohol.

I wanted nothing more than to forget what had happened in the last few hours, as if forgetting would make it un-happen somehow.

I will never know for how long I sat there, watching the place slowly fill. At some point my legs decided it was time to leave and I stumbled out of the bar after having slammed some money on the counter.

As soon as my lungs filled with fresh air, I let out a sigh. My mind was fuzzy and I couldn't think straight, let alone walk or even stand straight. I had never been in such a state before.

I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them, the street seemed to spin.

I tried to shake the dizzy felling away but it only resulted in the ground coming nearer and nearer, until I felt my body crashing on the asphalt.

Everything went black.

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