Everlasting: a One Direction/Eleanor Calder fanfic

Chapter 12

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The remaining weeks in February passed quite slowly, as Eleanor's condition had gotten even more severe. After their trip to Paris, El and Lou never had a chance to be intimate anymore. Louis had predicted as much, so he wasn't disappointed. However, still knowing what was to come didn't make it any easier.

During the course of March, Eleanor had lost an incredible amount of weight. Her bones began to lose their structure, the cancer constantly breaking the calcium down. She wasn't near as dreadful as she had been before, but she wasn't healthy either. It was now just a matter of waiting.

April brought on occasional happiness as well. Eleanor was becoming weaker, rarely leaving her flat. When she decided to go out, she had to have someone push her around in a wheelchair. She tried her best to carry on with her life, but she didn't have much of one to continue.

By the time May had come around, Eleanor had lost the strength to walk for a short distance. It was all she could do to get up out of the bed and walk to the other end of her flat without collapsing. Louis was now living in the flat with her, and helping to take care of her as much as possible. Her parents as well as Dani would come around in shifts, one caring over her when the other was busy. Day after day, El wore the same pink fuzzy robe. They had to practically pry it off of her sometimes, even when it was time for them to help bathe her. Eleanor hated that she was being treated like a charity case, a lost cause. However, in the same sense, she was so thankful to have them in her life.

El's flat was silent, the only sound coming from the ticking clock on the wall. Danielle sat on the couch, reading a magazine. Across from her, Eleanor sat in the recliner, staring at the blank TV screen ahead of her. Dani peered up from the magazine and looked to El, furrowing her brow.

"El?" she asked softly. "Would you like me to turn on the telly?"

She had not worn her wig for the past few months, as her natural hair had grown out since putting a halt on chemo. She now had thin brown locks that came down, reaching just to her shoulders. Eleanor sat in silence, still in her daze. She twirled a strand of her hair in circles. Her mind was swarming full of everything and nothing all at the same time. For the past few weeks, she mostly sat still and didn't say a word.

"Eleanor?" Dani said, speaking a little louder. "Hello, Eleanor?!"

El blinked and turned to face Danielle, giving her a puzzled look. "Yes?"

"I...I asked if you wanted me to turn on the telly..." she responded, speaking softer now.

"No...I'm fine." she mumbled, turning back away from Danielle.

They sat there for a few more minutes, until tears began to fill Dani's eyes. She swallowed hard and shook her head. She would never get used to this.

"Eleanor..." she called over to her.

Eleanor sat still, closing her eyes and exhaling loudly. She didn't know what to say to Danielle...most times, she didn't know what to say at all. As if her brain couldn't function enough to make out logical sentences.

"Dammit, El!" she yelled, her voice trembling. "Say something..."

She took a deep breath and turned back to face her. "What is it you'd like me to say?"

"Something...anything! The silence...it's driving me mad!" Danielle said, sobbing uncontrollably. "I want to be okay with this...I want to help you...I...I...It's just so hard." her words were meshing together, her cries making her sentences fragmented. "I worry so much...that you...and I try to do my best...this is harder than anything I'd ever imagined."