Bucket List

Chapter 2

Three weeks later, Bailey was transported to the Morrow county hospital. She started to seize at home.

"This jello is shit." She mumbles to herself.

"You have to eat something." I insist, sitting in the rocking chair that's been placed by her bed. Her mother had put some of her things in the room, so she could feel at home.

"Or what, I'll die?" She smirks.

I watch her for a moment, staring at the tv screen. We were watching The Grinch, an abc special. All of the lights were off, she claimed that they hurt her eyes. She also refused to get up to the bathroom, so they've given her a cathater, giving the room an obvious stentch of urine. It was hard to watch.

"Are you scared?" I ask her. She looks at me, her eyebrow's raised in surprise. She grabbed the remote and pressed mute.

"No,"  She answers.

"What are you going to miss most?"

"You," She grins. "And the sun. You know the days where there isn't a cloud in the sky, and you could just close your eyes and listen to the wind and be perfectly content? I'm going to miss that."

"You're not dead yet." I tell her.

"What's your point?" She asks, picking at her nails.

I rise from my chair and walk over to her window, which a shade covered. I pulled it up and the light flooded the room.

"See any clouds?" I ask.

"Open them," She smiles. "I want to hear it."

******

Over the next month she slowly got worse. The doctors didn't predict her downfall to be as fast as it was, they were scratching their heads wondering what happened. We knew. She was ready to die.

My phone rang on my nightstand as I watched jimmy fallon.

"Hello?"

"She's not doing well tonight," Mary says, skipping the hello's. "Could you come by?"

"I'll be there in twenty."

*****

"Ellie, it's good to see you." Mary pulled me into a hug outside Bailey's room.

"How is she?" I ask, pulling away.

"Not well," She says. "I think it's time to say goodbye."

I look into her room. Though it was snowing outside, and the sky was dark, she watched outside with awe. I smiled to myself, knowing that no matter what happened, she will always be the same to me.

I walk into the room and she glances at me.

"Hi." I smile at her.

Despite the uselessness, the doctors suggested chemo a couple of weeks ago. She lost her hair and refused the gift of a wig from her mother. Her skin was pale and ashen, her eyes suncken into her face with bruises dotted across.

"Hey El." She smiles, her voice raspy.

"How you feeling?" I ask, sitting down next to her.

"I think i'm coming down with a cold." She laughs.

"Well you look amazing."

"I know, there's a guy across the hall with throat cancer. I think he has a thing for me."

"Why wouldn't he? Your a catch."

"I'd throw me back in the water."

"I'd keep you." I smile.