My popular secret

Chapter 27- She Shines bright

Authors note:
The above photo is Juliana carver at her funeral, with her mother and one of her brothers by her side. Sorry if it disturbs you but I thought it was actually a rather nice photo to show how at peace she was. and how much her family cared for and loved her. This chapter stays very much true to her real story, of course the main difference is is that Juliana died at just the age of 14, just weeks before her 15th birthday and much earlier than expected  after getting sent home from the ICU. I really wanted to reflect the ending of her life in this chapter to show how much impact she had on the world and to people like me who never really knew much about cancer. It's because of her that I've decided to write all these stories, so I hope you enjoy the final chapter to Bella's life. Let me know if you have enjoyed the book, I know only a few people have actually read it but that's  okay. As long as you few have enjoyed it, then I fell I have been successful. :)

Christy's POV:

It all happened so quickly, but atleast she didn't suffer for long, which really was a true blessing. She wasn't aware it was happening and I know she was happy right until the last moment.

It's been a very difficult week for all of us, as you can imagine, but it gives me peace knowing she no longer has to suffer with the cancer that tortured her for years. We all know she fought right until the last moment, and she exceeded the doctors expectations by years. But of course nothing can truly mask the pain of losing her. Knowing I'll never get to hear that sweet voice or hug her ever again truly breaks my heart.
Caleb has been a mess ever since she died. Of course he didn't know it was even happening, and had no time to prepare at all. I mean, to be honest, none of us were really that prepared. She died just days after leaving the hosptial, which was much earlier than expected, but probably easier for her. It's selfish of me really to have wanted to keep her for longer, she was ready to go, and I can see that now.

Today is the day of her funeral, it's also only one week until her 18th birthday. We hoped of course she would live until her 18th, we had already bought her gifts, so instead we've decided to go donate her gifts to the teenage cancer ward at the hospital she was being treated at. Dr. Adams and her nurses were of course devastated by the news and most of them will be attending the funeral today.
I don't know if I'm ready to say goodbye forever but I'm going to have to be.

On the other hand, there have been some positive things going on this week. Caleb found out that he's in remission. But he hasn't really been able to celebrate properly, so I'm hoping after Bella's funeral, he'll be able to begin his grieving, but also use this time to be happy about his own life. He only knew Bella for a short amount of time, but I know how important she was to him, and how important he was to her. I think Caleb will forever be apart of our life because he helped make Bella's last few months memorable, and I think he helped keep her going through a lot of it, which I'm forever greatful for.
He only has one more round of chemo to go, then no more cancer treatments! Of course there's always a possibility of another relapse, but for now, he has beaten cancer again, and there's no reason why it can't be forever.

I'm currently at home getting dressed along with the rest of my family. Even though we only talked about it briefly before she passed, Bella didn't want us to wear black, she wanted it to be a celebration of her life. Therefore we're all wearing bright colours to celebrate her bright personality. I've got my purple dress on, but I'm struggling with my hair and make- up. I haven't put any make up on since she passed, I haven't needed to because I've not managed to get myself dressed and out of the house. My parents have been pretty much the same, my dads taken a month of work to help get all our lives back on the track. And my mum has actually gone out and started looking for a job, which she never had because looking after Bella has been a full time occupation since she first got sick at such a young age.