You, A Friend Of Mine

2

Sounds eventually stopped except for a high pitched, steady beeping. Where have I heard it before? Why is it so eerily familiar? It hits me.

The soft beeping of the heart monitor filled the small hospital room. Dylan held tightly to his mother's hand. The treatments stopped working and she's getting worse.

"Dylan," she said in a hoarse, raspy voice that didn't sound like her normally soft and sweet tone.

"Yeah, Mom?" Dylan said hopefully, as he tried not to cry.

"I love you." She looked up at him, weak.

"I love you too," he said, looking into her once bright green eyes that she passed on to him.

"Can I talk to Reese for just a minute?" She asked.

I remember wondering why she wanted to talk to me and what was so important about being alone.

"Yeah of course." He kissed her forehead and stepped outside the room. I pulled my chair close to her bed and held her hand.

"Reese, I'm not gonna make it," she said simply and plainly. I nodded my head slightly, because I knew it was inevitable with the cancer growing so rapidly. "You know Dylan loves you?"  She kind of surprised me, considering Dylan and I had only been dating for a couple of months.

I nodded my head anyway.

"Please take care of him, Reese. His father won't be there for him. You're the only person that cares enough to make sure he's okay. He won't be, when I die. But please, take care of him." She finished what she was saying with tears in her eyes.

I didn't know what to say. "I will. I promise." The only thing I could say.

"And even if you guys aren't always a couple, still be there for each-other. You are the only girlfriend he's been so excited to tell me about." She got quieter and quieter the longer she talked.

"I got some ice cream," Dylan said, and walked back into he room holding a pint of ice cream and a plastic spoon.

She chuckled and beckoned him in, releasing my grasp. He placed the spoon and pint in her outstretched hands. "It's been so long since I've had ice cream."

For about 20 minutes we sat there silent while she ate her ice cream. Her words kept running through my brain. 'I'm not gonna make it.' 'You know Dylan loves you?' 'Take care of him.' Her words just sank in. I almost started crying because I knew she wasn't going to see her son's wedding or grandchildren. She wasn't even going to see him graduate from high school.

Before we knew it, she was asleep. He took the pint and spoon from her hands, setting it on the table next to her bed. "You ready to go?" He asked, and I could hear in his voice that he wanted to stay.

"Only if you are."  I looked up into his bright green eyes, brimmed with tears. "It'll be okay," I said, taking his hands in mine. He nodded slightly and led me out of the room and down the hall.

My hand in his, I looked up at him and his green eyes. "I love you," I said. I don't know why or what compelled me, but I said it.

"I love you too." He leaned down and kissed my forehead and we continued walking towards the car.

Out of all the beeping monitors, one flat lines. Dylan stopped where he was, and we looked back to see doctors and nurses running into his moms room. He took off down the hallway, sprinting back to her.