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Nineteen

I knew with all my heart that Mitch, who was stronger than anyone I knew, would beat this.

Through everything in the first months, he was always smiling and joking. He was told that he had to go through Chemotherapy, and his immediate response was, "At least now I won't have to shave and pluck".

Over the course of the next several months, Mitch was in and out of the hospital. Once, when he was stuck in bed rest, Maddie had brought home a friend and then announce to us that it was her girlfriend, Ariana.

Ariana talked with Mitch for an hour about how lucky she was to have Maddie and how Maddie lit up her world. I could see how much Mitch adored this beautiful girl.

I saw the love between Those two girls grow, and all the while, my love for my husband grew, if that was possible, and with how well he was responding to treatment, I knew he would beat this.

But I spoke too soon.

Chemo made him weak, and his depleted immune system was even worse than it had ever been. This meant that he was always sick. It was nothing worse than a stomach bug that had him on bed rest for days, thankfully.

But despite this, if someone was sick he was always there to help.

In June, the doctors gave us news that made us both so happy.

He was kicking Kaposi's Sarcoma's ass, like I knew he would. Three more treatments. We would be done with Chemo by the time he turned 34. But if life had taught me anything, it was that life never went as planned. Chemo and Kaposi's Sarcoma had left him pale and weak, unable to leave his bed some days.

Yet, even on these days, if someone needed him, he would force himself up.

The last weeks we had together, that's how they were spent.

Maddie, just after the school year ended, had gotten a cold. She kept herself away from Mitch and kept herself clean, but when the month long cold progresses into pneumonia, Mitch disregarded his own safety for his child.

He was in her room, caring for her, more than he was his own.

He was at her bed side, day and night, feeding her, laying cool cloths across her sweaty forehead, and even climbing into bed to hold her to try and bribe her into some semblance of sleep.

All the while, he had no regard for his own health. I knew he tried to hide his coughing, or told me when he couldn't that he had choked on his spot or some other type of bull shit. I wondered in he thought that is I knew, I would allow him to care for his child. If he did, he was probably correct.

Soon, it was bad enough that we had to take her to the Hospital, and Mitch was the one to hold her five foot nothing form to his chest as we sat there, waiting. I could see how anxious be the way his hands flitted around when he moved them around.

He kept swiping his hand across her sweaty forehead, humming the Lullaby I have sang to him, and to our kids, when sleep wouldn't come, as though begging her to sleep, rest, get better.

Soon, they called to us and I took Maddie from Mitch, instructing him to call Carson.

I could hear him talking softly as we walked, updating Carson. His college career was extremely full and he couldn't make it down.

As Maddie was all situated, Mitch sat down in a chair outside the hospital room and dropped his head into his hands, shoulders shaking every now and then. At first, I couldn't tell what he was dping, then I realized, he was coughing.

"Mitch, are you sick?" I asked him.

There was a paused then he shook his head, no.

"You are such a liar." I accused and he shook his head again.

"I'm not sick. It's just a cough." He waved a hand at me, still supporting his head with the other. "Maddie is the one that needs the attention."

But I noticed over the next few days that his health was declining. He looked even paler, eyes sunken into his head, hands shaky.

It took Maddie a week to recover, but Mitch continues to get worse. He had bags under his eyes. He had barely slept for weeks.

I was worried for him and watched him closely. He walked beside our daughter, stopped over, shivering despite the heat, when he began to cough, painful sounding coughs. He bent over even more, as though trying not to fall over.

I marched him back in there, giving Maddie the keys. I told her that it was best is she just go home. "You've been around sick people long enough. Obviously, your father had decided that he hasn't." I gave her a weak smile before herding a protesting Mitch inside.

I say anxiously beside Mitch's beside as he coughed, though he seemed to be sleeping.

Pneumonia.

I stared at him and shook my head. "God Mitch. What have you done to yourself?" I murmured against his knuckles as I held his hand against my lips.

I couldn't take my eyes off of him, not even when the coughing stopped I was staring at him, studying him.

In the moments when he stopped coughing, he would lay there, eyes shut, lips parted, I couldn't help but think to myself how close to death he looked.

He was extremely skinny, his poor immune system severely depleted from Chemo, and he was sleep deprived. My once strong husband seemed almost like a shadow of himself. There were wrinkles on his face I hadn't seen before. His nails were bitten and some were even bloody from where he had bitten them past the quick.

I don't know how long it was I sat there studying him until Mitch called to me. "Scotty? Lay with me please?" I stood up and wriggled in beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

He laid there, head on my chest as I rubbed his bony back.

I began to talk, to him, about him, but I don't think he was still awake to listen.

"You know, through everything you've been through, even when you felt broken, you were always stronger than me. I knew how you protected Tuesday, I knew how you fought against Alex's control. And I admired you. It was your parents that changed my mind about the path I was on. They were so desperate to get you back. When you came home, I knew that, to yourself, you were a broken, unloveable mess, and yet, I still fell in love with you. I watched you struggle, fight against the voice, try to heal, and it scared me, the prospect of you losing the fight scared me. It still scares me. Please, fight this for me. Don't let me lose my best friend. I love you so very much, Mitchie."

~°~
I'm not even going to promise only a few more chapters. It's not working. Literally. At all. On my a few more chapters and suddenly, I have so many more than I intended for.

Would you all please pray for my friend's family, or send her well wishes? Her sister was found dead two days ago and it's really affecting us all.

That's really all. Know that I love you all.

Oh, and stay sexy
-Scomiche❤💛💚💙💜