Amnesia - A Luke Hemmings au [Completed]

7. Running out of reasons

"Where are we going?" I was following Luke down the street, and we had already passed countless shops when he finally stopped in front of one.

"Welcome to my favorite shop, alias the best place to find beanies." He informed me with a wide grin on his face.

He opened the door for me and guided me to the back of the shop, where a whole wall was covered in beanies in all forms, sizes and colors.

We left the shop half an hour later, with 3 new beanies for me and 2 for Luke. He had insisted that I tried almost every single beanie, assuring me how good they looked on me.

"Do you want me to go to the hospital with you for your first chemo?" He suddenly asked.

His question took me aback. "I..uhm...I wouldn't want you to waste your time."

"You're not wasting my time. I enjoy every second I spend with you." He replied.

"You must have better things to do." I countered.

"I wouldn't call sit around at home waiting for my mom to come back 'something better'."

"I- I don't want you to see me like this." I finally admitted.

"It shouldn't affect you how I see you. I'm just a stranger." Somehow, I felt somewhere inside me that he had become more than just a stranger.

He smirked. "You're running out of reasons."

I sighed. "Fine."

*

This was it. The very dreaded day of the return to the hospital. My first chemo day.

Dad was walking closely behind me, mom was at work. As soon as we rounded the corner to the hospital, I could make out Luke's tall figure waiting for me.

He hugged me tightly before we walked into the hospital. We took the elevator to the 5th floor, marked 'oncology'.

A nurse guided us to a room. Luke and I stopped in front the door. "Ready?" He questioned.

"No." I answered, stepping into the room. It contained 3 spare beds and had several hospital machines.

"You will have your chemo treatment here, it will last 2 hours. We'll guide you into your own room when it's over. Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back." The nurse explained before leaving the room, followed by my dad.

I sighed and slowly sat down on the bed. Luke sat down next to me and rubbed my arm. "Nervous?"

I nodded. "Don't worry, I'm right here." He reassured me.

"I know." I whispered.

The nurse came back with a pole to which were attached several plastic bags containing liquids.

She made me lay down in bed and started introducing herself wile attaching the IV to my arm.

"I'm Sara. There are multiple nurses on this floor, but you will probably be stuck with me most of the time." She said, smiling.

"The treatment is starting now. In case you feel sick, there is a bucket underneath the bed and a bathroom connected to the room right here." She said, pointing to a door.

"We have already discussed the possible side effects. Now, if you need anything, press the red button right here", she pointed to the side of my bed, "and I'll come."

I nodded and she continued. "I will be checking up on you every half an hour."

She left the room, leaving me with my dad and Luke. I could already feel the liquid poisoning my system.

After about half an hour, I was feeling tired, but other than that I was alright, mainly just bored. Sara came back and checked a few things on the machines and the IV connected to my arm, before she left smiling and saying everything was in order.

In the next half an hour, my head starting hurting more and more and when Sara came back, she gave me some medicine. Dad had to leave after a while, but promised to come back later. Mom was coming in the afternoon anyways.

An uneasy feeling was settling in my stomach and soon enough, I had to grab the bucket from under my bed. Luke was sitting next to me, rubbing my back as I threw up the contents of my stomach. He held my hair away from my face, rubbing my back and telling me how great I was doing.

After I was done, he went to the bathroom to clean up the bucket. When he came back, my eyes were drooping and I was already half asleep.

My body was sweating and my head still pounding, keeping me from falling asleep. The chemo had pumped all the energy out of my body, and I didn't even have enough energy to sit up.

When the session was final over, Sara came back with a wheelchair to guide me back to my room. She took the whites out of my body, but kept the pole with my IV attached to my arm.

As I tried to stand up, I was overcome with dizziness and had to lean on the wall to steady myself. Luke was right there to catch me and slowly helped me into the wheelchair. "You alright?" He asked.

I nodded. Luke pushed the wheelchair, following Sara. She led us to my room, where Luke picked me up and settled me down in the bed.

When Sara left us, he turned to me. "How do you feel?" He asked, concerned.

"Like shit." I sighed.

"I figured." He chuckled.

The room was silent for a few minutes. "I- I don't feel well." I whimpered.

"I know, April I know. Do you need the bucket?" Luke asked.

I nodded hastily and tried to sit up. Luke grabbed the bucket and helped me up. I threw up a few times, until I was only retching over the bucket but nothing was coming up. "Shhh, you need to calm down, April. You're working yourself up." I was overcome with dizziness and Luke had to steady me so that I didn't fall face first into my own puke.

I tried taking deep breaths to calm myself down, and could eventually lay back down. A tear was running down my cheek and I squeezed my eyes shut, until I felt Luke gently wiping the tear away with his thumb. "Want a gum?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I whispered.

The room fell silent for a few minutes, until I decided to speak up. "You don't have to do this."

"I know. But I want to."