Ross’s POV
On the day before Sky was going to leave I took her to the carnival that was in town. We got a cotton candy and shared it as we walked around. We were laughing and joking each other, but then Sky grabbed my arm and dragged me behind a tent.
She said, “We need to leave, now.” I said, “Why? I thought we were having fun, we’ve only been here for a few hours.” She said, “I know but I just saw Rydel and Riker enjoying a box of popcorn, looking around. I said, “Oh, ok.” She said, “You catch up with them, call me later. I’m sorry you have to lie for me. I really am.” And she ran off, leaving me.
I caught up with Riker and Rydel. Rydel said, “Oh, hey Ross.” I said, “Aren’t you mad at Riker?” She said, “Yeah, Cameron had to leave, he said there was some emergency. Riker’s my ride home. And for the record, I’m mad at all of you, you replaced me, with Renee.” I said, “You left us!” Riker said, “For him.”
She said, “But do you know how bad that looked? A deaf girl is better than me!” I said, “Well, you will stay ‘sick’ and Renee will cover for you on keys until you are done with Cameron.” She angrily said, “I’m walking home.” Then she stormed off. Riker and I drove home and I went into my room and laid down on my bed.
Riker walked in an hour later, “Can I borrow your phone? Mine’s dead and I want to see if Rydel wants me to pick her up. In those shoes she won’t get far without a blister.” I tossed him my cell. Then my ringtone went off. He said, “Oh, you have a call, from Sky? I thought you said you would change it. Fine, I’m gonna see who it really is.” He put it on speaker phone. “Ross? I just wanted to see if Riker and Rydel saw us at the carnival. Oh and also, I think I left my charm bracelet in your room. Can I pick it up tomorrow? Ross? Are you there?”
Riker walked over to my bedside table, he saw Sky’s charm bracelet sitting there. I had given it to her long ago, it had a lightning bolt, a bird, a sun, a cloud, and a rainbow on it. Every year I added on another charm. Riker knew it. He knew it was Sky. He spoke into the phone, “Skylar?’ She said, “Ross?” He said, “No, Riker.” Then she hung up the phone. He threw the phone at me harshly. “She’s alive!” He yelled at me. I said, “Riker, calm down.” He said, “I can’t believe this!”
Riker’s POV
“Riker come back here.” Ross said following me downstairs. I said, “I can’t believe it, why wouldn’t you tell me? You knew I loved her.” He looked to the ground, trying to not cry. I said, “I thought you loved her too.” He said, “I still do, I always have, and I can’t let her go.” I said, “Do you remember what happened back then?”
Ross’s Flashback
I was out at dinner with Alana. We were having a good time, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was only doing this because I was mad at Sky. Alana said, “So, how is Sky doing?” I said, “She’s doing, um, well, I don’t know. She’s mad at me.” She said, “Probably because she’s stressed.” I said, “About what?” She said, “Her cancer. I’ll bet you’ll miss her the most. It’s so sad, so little time left. But I’m here for you.”
I said, “How do you know this?” She said, “Doesn’t matter, the thing is, you guys are mad at each other and she’s going to die soon. Are you really okay with that?” I said, “Of course not. I can’t keep doing this, I keep hurting her, I need to restart.” Alana took my hand. I slipped away, “I can’t go out with you. Ever again.” She said, “That’s a bad choice Ross.” Then she left.
Weeks later in the flashback…
Dylan’s POV in the flashback
I brought Sky to the hospital. We got her the treatment she needed. We used a lot of the money we had. A few days later the doctor said we could go home any time because she was better. The cancer was gone. It worked. Now we had to stick to our plan. Renee came into the room in her nurse’s outfit, she started volunteering in the children’s ward so she had a tag.
She put makeup on Sky’s face to make her look sick. Charlie came in with a doctor’s uniform on. He picked it up in the changing room. He put a mask on, it covered his mouth and nose. He was completely unrecognizable. I said, “Okay, so we all know the plan. Sky, this needs to be the best performance you have ever done, the Lynches need to think you are dying in minutes. Renee will stay by the heart monitor and unplug the chord that is attached to your finger, that way it will flat line. Charlie will get the Lynches out of here. Then Charlie and Renee will wheel Sky out of here, once you get around the corner, Sky you get into the suitcase that will be there, Charlie and Renee change into your normal clothes and get Sky into the car. I’ll meet you guys in the apartment later.”
I looked at Sky and said, “Ready?” She nodded. I called Riker on my cell phone. He answered cheerily, “Hey Dyl, what’s up?” I sounded like I was crying, “It’s Sky. We’re at the hospital, can you guys come to say goodbye.” He hung up. I said, “Ok, they’re on their way.” It wasn’t very hard to start crying, we weren’t acting there, this was goodbye. Ten minutes later The Lynches and Ratliff showed up, every once came in the room except for Ratliff, he sat in the chair outside of the room.
I went outside and said, “What’s wrong? You don’t want to say goodbye?” He said, “I’m not very good at goodbyes. None of us can let her go.” He started crying. I said, “I know man, but it’d mean a lot to her, she didn’t want the treatment, it’s too late to do anything now, so the one thing we can do for her is be there for her.” He stood up and walked in with me. Everyone was breaking down. Ross was talking to Sky now. He said, “I’m sorry Sky, I’m so sorry.”
Renee took a step closer to the heart monitor; I motioned for her to wait. Then Riker walked over to Sky and sat by her side. He said, “I love you.” They had tears streaming down their eyes. She sat up and hugged him. Then Renee unplugged the machine. I saw Sky go limp. I gave Renee a look, she could have at least waited until they were apart, now Sky had died in Riker’s arms. Riker gently put her down.
Ratliff walked over to Sky’s bedside. He put his hand n Sky’s, “Goodbye.” He said, so quietly. They all grouped together and cried. I added myself in so they’d believe I was devastated too. Charlie came in with his doctor’s uniform on. He and Renee wheeled Sky out. Then everyone left. I met up with everyone later at the apartment. When I walked in, Renee was sitting in an armchair, all curled up. Charlie walked in from his bedroom. He joined Sky on the couch.
I think Sky and Renee were arguing. Sky said, “You couldn’t have waited until I said goodbye to all of them? And during a hug? That was cruel” Renee said, “I’m sorry but Charlie was about to blow our cover, he was just standing outside the room, staring in the window. He didn’t have his mask on yet, they would have seen him. I had to keep the attention on you.”
Charlie said, “I spaced out, give me a break, I’ve been dead for a year. I had to look at them and not give them a hug or anything. They had been caring for my baby sister forever when I couldn’t be there, and I had to just walked right past them. It was really stressful.” Renee said, “What about me? I’ve been ‘dead’ all my life. Sophie doesn’t exist anymore. If I was in the Lynches position, I’d be like, ‘whoa, the patient and the nurse look so alike.’” I said, “Can we all just drop it, it’s over.” I looked over at Sky, she was playing with the strings at the end of the blanket she was using. She mumbled, “Yup, it’s all over.”
