It was early, too early for the doctors and nurses to be running around. And to her surprise, they were hurrying towards the direction she was headed to, entering the room she was about to walk into. The nameplate that read Luke Grayson, Luke's real name, the room that said 522 meant she was in the right place. But why were people in such a hurry, why was she hearing a scream - his screams.
Aliyah stood there in front of Luke's open door, motionless with eyes wide enough to see everything. He was in pain, in too much pain that he was already twisting and curled to cocoon himself from the pain. The pillows of his hospital bed were on the floor, the bed sheet crumpled up because of his writhing feet. And it frightened her, her eyes growing watery from the blood on the floor and had his hospital wear stained with it through his bloody hands. Luke gritted his teeth through tensed jaws from the unbearable pain, his mouth red from all the blood. He's coughing up blood?
Thump.
Her heart clenched as she took one step after the other, walking towards him, towards the doctors and nurses that tried to calm him down. It was there again, the feeling of her heart being pricked and constricted and she clenched on her chest because maybe it would stop. Aliyah wanted to help ease his pain but she didn't know how when she was hurting as well, maybe more than the pain Luke felt. No, it wasn't only because of her weak heart, it was also because she sees how much he was suffering.
Luke had his eyes shot open the moment he heard her weak, trembling voice starting to approach. "Luke," she cried.
No, no, he thought as she stood there pleading his name. Aliyah can't see him like this. He promise he'd tell, not let her find out. She won't be able to handle this, her heart wouldn't be able to handle this. "Get out," he mumbled through clenched teeth.
She clenched onto her chest tighter feeling the pain with every heartbeat. "I'm not going to—"
"I said get out!" He screamed, making her flinch. "Get her out!"
"No, Luke, let me—"
"I'm sorry ma'am, but it would be best if you stay out of the room for a while." A nurse gently pushed her out of the room, "I'll have the doctor talk to you after," and had the door closed behind her.
And all Aliyah could do was shut her eyes with so much force as she tightened the grip on her chest with every scream she hears from Luke's mouth. She leaned against the wall for support, allowing herself to slide down as she hugged her knees like it was her lifeline.
She was confused again, too many questions were running in her head like how she questioned her condition when she was a child. What was happening to Luke? Why was he in so much pain? Why didn't he tell her anything, something?
"Are you the patient's girlfriend?" a voice uttered from behind her startling her.
After what felt like hours, finally, there was the doctor. Aliyah stood up eagerly and wiped her tear-stained face, "I am. Can you please tell me what happened?"
"I'm sorry for how he acted, it was part of the side effects of his illness; mood swings and tantrums." He smiled at her, "everything's okay now. I called in his parents and we gave him the medication he needs to stop the hurting. He's weak right now, but his condition will better in a few day's rest."
"What," she felt so stupid, clueless for asking, "is his illness? Why was he in so much pain?"
"Oh, he didn't tell you?" The doctor scrunched his forehead with a sigh, "that stubborn kid." He gave her a look she hated the most; the pity in his eyes made her stomach turn. "He has stage 4 lung cancer. And even though they've detected it much earlier, I believe the cancer cells spread much too fast." He sighed, "he wasn't able to go under surgery beforehand because of his hemophilia, and chemotherapy won't work because of how weak his body's becoming. It would be too much of a risk to have him under any kind of therapy because of his body's slow recovery."
