After Hours

Chapter 12.

Grayson's POV.

   I jump from the couch and grab my keys. I hear Ember calling after me, but I run from the house. I jump into my car and speed out of the neighborhood. My dad is still on the other end of the phone and I scream to him.

  "Dad, talk to me! What's going on?" I ask.

  "It's Veronica. She doesn't have much time left. At all," I hear my dad say.

   I hang up the phone, feeling the tears come. I blink my eyes and push on the gas, not caring I was going over the speed limit. I know I'm at least two hours away from the hospital, being in California, but that doesn't discourage me. I go way over the speed limit and make it to the hospital in under an hour and thirty minutes. I burst into the hospital, surprising a lady at the desk.

  "Can I help you?" she asks, adjusting her glasses.

  "Veronica. She has cancer. Room 36, I think," I say, out of breath.

  "That's the room," the lady says.

   I don't even bother to mumble thank you and run from the room. I run up the stairs, two at a time knowing that the stairs are faster than any elevator. I go to her room, not bothering to knock. I stop in the doorway, and my heart seems to fall to the floor. Veronica's parents and my dad is hovered over her bed. My dad sees me and gets out of my way, so do her parents. I go to the side of her bed, dreading what I'm going to see.

   The girl on the bed is not Veronica. Or, how I used to know her at least. Her bare head has a small cap on it and I notice it's the one I gave her for Christmas last year. I kneel down beside her and she slowly turns her head to see me. Her eyes are hardly open, but she smiles weakly at me. Her face is so small, and her body is almost a skeleton. I take her hand on mine, and gasp at how small her wrist is.

  "Hey, Gray," she says, or barely mumbles.

  "Hey, Veronica. You're gonna be ok, ok? You're gonna be fine," I say, and know the tears are coming.

   Her smile fades and she holds my hand tighter. "I didn't ask you to come here to make me cry," she says.

   I hold her hand in mine and kiss the top of it. "You're ok. I promise," I say.

   She coughs and adjusts the oxygen tubes in her nose. "I'm not gonna make it, Grayson. I'm hurting all the time and I just want..." she stops to take a shakey breath. "...it to stop."

   I clasp her hand tighter and shake my head. "You can fight this, V. I know you can."

   She shakes her head. "I asked them to stop trying to help me. I'm not going to get any better. But I wanted you to be apart of the decision," she says quietly.

   I shake my head rapidly at once. "No, no. I'm not going through with this. You're going to be ok, you can fight this," I say, feeling the tears drip down my face.

   She pats my hand with her free one. "Grayson, this is for the best. I can't go another day hurting like thi-this," she says. "I'm only hurt-hurting myself more."

   I shake my head again. "Stop Veronica! Stop! You're going to be fine!" I'm shouting now.

  "We had so much fun together. I hope that you'll keep it in your memory forever. Please, agree wi-with me on this," she begs.

   I look up at her parents and they nod. I can't believe this; parents giving up on their own daughter. I look at my dad and see he's crying too. I look back at her and see a small tear slip down her cheek.

  "I'm ready to move on to be with Mikey and Collin," Veronica whispers.

   Her comment makes my heart hurt so bad. "I love you so much. You were there for me when I had no friends. I'll never forget what we had," I whisper.

  "I love you too, Gray," she whispers.

   I lean in and kiss her forehead. In her free hand, she holds something. I reach for it, but she moves her hand away. "Not yet. I don't want to see yo-you open it."

   I grab her hand again and her parents hug her. Veronica looks at me, those bright eyes sad and dull. The look of fear almost in her eyes. But they soften when she sees me. She smiles at me and then smiles at her parents.

  "I love you, mom. And you too, daddy," she whispers.

  "We love you too, sweetie," her mom says.

   Veronica grabs onto my hand and breaths a shakey breath. She takes  the oxygen out of her nose and closes her eyes. I watch her chest rise and fall with her last breaths. I feel her hand go limp in mine and I let out a loud sob. I let her hand go and stand up. My dad grabs me in a hug and I cry into his shoulder. I can't look back at the one person that held me together through elementary, middle, and high school. My best friend. My only friend at times.

   I leave the room and let her parents have some time to morn in there alone. My dad comes out after me and hands me the paper in his hand. I take it, but don't open it. I stuff it in my pocket and my dad puts his arm around me. We walk from the hospital and I get into my car.

  "Grayson, I know you weren't at your friends house," my dad says. "But, wherever you were, go back. We'll talk about this later. And I'm so sorry."

   I don't look at him but I do nod. I text Ember I'm coming back. I drive slowly, tears still fill my eyes at times, but I wipe them away.

  "She's gone," I whisper. "She's gone forever."

   A choking sound comes from my mouth and I have to pull over. I do, and vomit all over the side of the road. A few people pass and ask if I need help, but I wave them off. I get into my car and just sit there, crying.

   Crying for her.

Sorry this chapter was so sad.

Hope you liked it though!

The picture is of Veronica before she got sick.