Mending A Broken Heart

Prologue

Prologue

“Do you ever imagine life without colour?”

I look over at her and furrow my eyebrows in confusion. “Where did that come from?” I question, looking at a cloud that looks like a tree.

“I don’t know!” Hope laughs aloud, staring at me with a look on her face that makes me feel stupid for asking that question. “Niall, you know me more than anyone! I’m a random gal!”

I smile at her, taking in her beautiful features for the billionth time since I’ve known her. I’ve memorised every single detail on her face, but I can never seem to get tired or bored of her looks.”

“Yeah, I guess so…So, to answer your random question, life would be really dull I guess-“

“Quit saying I guess!” she says, laughing at me. Her chest goes up and down in a vibrating motion as she laughs. Her laugh is silent and not melodic, but I love it that way.

“Well, I’m just saying that life would be dull. I don’t know. Is this a trick question?” I ask, locking eyes with her. Her blue eyes are a crystal blue, kind of like mine.

“No,” she says. “I was just thinking about colour and how everything we have is a blessing. Like, what if you could never see colour again? What would to do?

I shrug, thinking about an answer. “Um…I don’t know. I guess you can never tell until it happens…you know?” I look over at her, and she’s already looking at me.

She nods, not taking her eyes off of me. “Yeah… I would probably cry. Colours make everything eventful. Plus, I’d never get to see your blue eyes again.” She giggles and smiles at me. I smile back with pure love. I can’t believe she doesn’t know that I love her. After all this time.

She looks away, a carelessly happy look on her face. I can’t believe she really doesn’t know… I thought her straight A brain would comprehend everything and she’d figure it out quickly. Suddenly, I begin to wonder why she really brought this up.

“Hope what made the colours come to mind?” I inquire. She look at me and grins a confused grin.

“I don’t know! I just wanted to say something about those lovely eyes.” She laughs. “You know how much I love your eyes.”

I nod. “Touché.” She chuckles and rests her head on my chest in a friendly sibling-like gesture. She only thinks of me as a best friend. I, on the other hand, see her as my best friend and love. I love her and it pains me that she doesn’t know.

But I am too shy to tell her. Yes, she’s my best friend and I shouldn’t feel that I can’t tell her something, but this is something that is so hard to tell someone. I don’t know what to do. But then again, if I lost her, without telling her how I feel, I’d feel even worse. She deserves to know, but I have time and I need time. I really doubt she’s leaving soon. I need the time to figure out what I’m going to tell her.

* * *

“Hey, love,” I greet Hope, handing her the bouquet of roses, eighteen roses in counting. She smiles at me, her eyes shining with delight. The small crinkles by her eyes and the way her smile in genuine shows me just how happy she is that I’m here.

“Thank you, Niall,” she says, pulling me in for a hug. Her beanie touches my forehead and her lips touch my cheek in a sweet gesture. She smells the roses and smiles, looking at them. It’s only us in this white room and I can tell she’s happy.

On the small telly plays her favourite show, Doctor Who. I smile lovingly at the girl in front of me and she smiles back. It’s not long before her smile turns into a nervous frown. The first cough comes and I feel my insides sinking, down, down, down. She starts to cough more, heavy heaves escaping her pale lips. She coughs and coughs and the smile that was on my face a second ago disappears completely and turns into a frown. A desperate frown.