Short Story Collection

Stay

"No. Not you, too," Lissa murmured as I entered the dim hospital room. They'd told me they kept it dark so that it wouldn't hurt her oversensitive eyes.

When I'd gotten the call this morning at 3 am, I was far from surprised. She'd been fading quickly lately, and I'd known it would be any day now. That's not to say it made it any easier, just that I was more ready for the pain to come. Liss had been in remission for six months.But, when cancer wants you to meet your maker, it's hard to refuse. At least,that's Lissa's motto. I'd gotten dressed and driven over here within twenty minutes.

"Hey, Liss. How are you feeling?" I asked as softly as possible.

"Like death," she joked breathily and then coughed harshly. I tried to ignore the different IVs and tubes running around her everywhere, but it was hard. They were what was keeping her alive right now. That and her sheer will. A small sob escaped my lips, and I cursed myself silently; I'd promised I wouldn't cry in front of her. "Hey, no crying," she commanded weakly but still forcefully, in a way that only she could. "I will make you leave if you start crying!"

I laughed silently. "I know you would." I pulled a chair up by her bedside and sat, grasping her cold hand in mine. "I'll be okay. Promise." I know I am only promising not to cry, but I feel like it means so much more. Almost like I'm telling her that I'll be alright after she leaves. She shouldn't have to feel worse about this than she already does.

A picture on her table—beside the twenty or so bouquets of flowers and teddy bears and 'get well soon' cards that had obviously come too late—caught my eye. I smiled fondly as I picked it up and held it so that both of us could see, though I knew her eyesight was near legal blindness. "I remember this. Our trip to Toronto last spring."

Liss grinned tiredly. "We got hammered and woke up in bed with that gay stripper," she reminisced, nodding."Wait, no. We went and saw a movie about the gay stripper."

"We did get hammered though," I acknowledged. "And took this picture. Those kids at the aquarium thought we were insane."

"And their parents knew we were."

I laughed heartily for the first time in weeks, and Lissa did the same as well. Eventually though, the grim reality set back in and the air in the room felt too heavy as I tried to hold back the tears. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat.

"Katie," Lissa muttered, her syllables slurring together. "I need you to promise me something."

I gripped her hand tightly, my voice tight and quiet as I responded. "You know you can ask me anything."

Lissa nodded, and a single tear fell down her face. "Promise me you'll stay," she pleaded. "Will you stay with me?'

I nodded, blinking away the tears that threatened at the edges of my eyelids. I had to be strong for her. She deserved that at least. "Always. Of course. Now stop crying. Or I'll sendyou out."

She huffed out a gust of air in a faint laugh, half sobbing as she did. Then she closed her eyes, and I knew somewhere deep inside me that she wouldn't open them again. The halting laughter subsided, and I watched as her breathing slowed and, eventually, came to a stop altogether.