The Wrong Guy

Chapter 42 The Miracle

                That was the last time I saw Nick for the rest of the season. There really weren’t any more classes since we finished all of our tests. It was already the end of the second semester. Supposedly, the classes should have ended on December 22nd, but my classes were already finished even before the Snowball Dance. I knew Alex’s classes were finished, too, so I didn’t see the point of going to school.

                Winter break came. It was amazing and really touching that dad spent that Christmas with us. He said he wanted to catch up with us. For the first time, we were gathered on that round table again, celebrating Christmas evening. Dad brought seventeen gifts. He said he missed many years of presents. He brought me tons of stuff. I didn’t really need any of them, but the one that I liked the most was this picture frame. It was a picture of our family when I was very young. We actually had a family picture. Mom insisted that we have another family picture, and we did. The whole dinner, we all chatted with each other. We were like a normal family. For the first time, I felt like I’m one of them… one of those people with peaceful and unbroken families.

                December 27th was Sharon’s birthday, and Alex and I both just found out. It was good that we had the chance to see Sharon again. After all, I didn’t want the Snowball dance to be our last meeting. Alex texted me to prepare a gift for her the day before, and I did. Of course, I couldn’t prepare a big part for her because there wouldn’t be too much people available to come. It was winter break, and a lot of people are out of the town. Alex and I thought that we should just visit her ourselves because it was too difficult to bring other people. We still tried though. We tried calling anyone who would be available to come so we could’ve planned a party, but there wasn’t anyone available in the twenty three people we called. They were all friends of Sharon, including Harvey, Laura, Steve, Franchesca, Jason, Samuel, and all the other people she talked to at the Snowball dance. That’s when it hit me… a perfect gift for Sharon from all of her friends. I had it all planned.

                On December 27th, I got my present for Sharon all ready. It was on a big box, and I brought it with me when I went to the hospital. When I got to her room, carrying that bog box, I saw Alex sitting on the couch next to Sharon while Sharon was hugging this stuffed toy rabbit. Sharon looked really pale and weak, and I realized she was wearing a wig because her hair was different. Cancer probably killed all her hair. She looked really weak and thin, but she was smiling. She was smiling… That was what made it all worth it. Even when it pained me to see her like that, she was smiling from her heart.

                “Liyah!” Sharon cheerfully greeted me. She could even barely move and talk, but she kept talking.

                “Liyah.” Alex repeated the greet. They both smiled at me, and I smiled back as I walked to them. Flashbacks of the night we had sex already hit me, but it seemed like he didn’t really remember… or he was just hiding it from me.

                “Happy Birthday, Sharon! It’s nice to see you two again. I missed you a bit.” I placed the box on the floor and stood near Alex.

                “Wow. What’s with the box?” Alex chuckled, pointing down.

                “This.” I lifted the box up and placed it on the chair. “This is my gift for Sharon… and it’s not just my gift. It’s from everyone.”

                “Everyone?” Sharon asked. I lifted that big but light box next to Sharon, and she curiously opened it to see what’s inside even when she barely had strength to. She gazed in and realized that box was filled with paper swans. She slowly grabbed one out and took a closer look. There were writings on each paper swan. I asked every friend of Sharon to make a message for her birthday, and they did. I wrote them all down and folded the papers to paper swans.