[ forty three ]
As her time began to run out, she needed to go to the hospital more and more. With that, she also had to lie to the boys more. There were times in which they wanted to visit and she would give them all kinds of excuses because she would be at the hospital.
On this particular day, Prudence was at getting her blood cleaned. She was hooked to the machines and her eyes were closed. It was a very painful experience. The tubes that were hooked to her skin drained her blood, cleaned it through the small machine, and put it back through her other arm. Each time she had the proceedure done, she ended up feeling weak, dizzy, and nauseated. She couldn't even hold herself upright and felt as though she would pass out.
She thought to herself that it was no way of living and momentarily questioned God's reasons for putting her in that pain. Then she scolded herself and remembered that the decisions of God were perfect and that there was a reason she was still on earth, otherwise he'd have taken her already.
While unhooking the needles from her daughter's fragile skin, Nurse Carrigan asked the doctor. "Do you think we can prolong her life if she has this done once a day?" Currently, Prudence was getting her blood cleaned three times a week.
What the three of them didn't know was that the lab door was open and Calum had walked by. When he saw Prudence hooked to the machine, his curiosity got the best of him and he decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Her doctor sighed, "I don't think she'd want to be put in that pain, and it would only prolong her life by a couple of days. I think all we can do now is to leave it up to God. I'd say Prudence only has two more months to live at most."
Her mother broke out into tears and rushed out of the room, completely missing Calum who was standing there in the hallway. The doctor then placed a hand on Prudence's shoulder. "You are very brave, Pru."
The teenager half-smiled, she was too week to do more. "I have faith that God will keep me here as long as he thinks its best. Then he will take me to his kingdom where I will no longer feel pain."
From the hallway, Calum's mouth was open in surprise. He always thought she was too pale, too thin, and weak when he met her. But he thought it had been her personality, as she was soft spoken and nice. Now that he knew she was dying, he wished he had been nicer to her. She would be gone in a couple of months and she would have spent most of her time both in physical and emotional pain.
The doctor helped her up when she regained a bit of her strength. That had taken almost twenty minutes. Twenty minutes for her legs to respond. She told him she was okay now and he let her leave on her own to search for her mother. As she turned out the doorway, she collided into Calum.
He noticed he hadn't even felt a thing because she was so thin.
Fearing that she would fall back and hurt herself, he grabbed her shoulders to steady her upright. Realizing it was him, she faked a smile to pretend she was okay. "Thank you for catching me, Calum." She began, unaware that he knew everything. "I always get really dizzy after donating blood."
"Prudence, cut the act." Calum was blunt. "I know your secret."
In that moment, she felt the color drain from her face and her smile dropped. She had been discovered.
"Since when have you known you're dying?" He asked her, and she found a sadness in his eyes.
She sighed, knowing it was time to confess. "For a few months." She said, "But my doctor told me to live my life normally. There was nothing more they could do for me."
"You need to tell the boys what's going on." He urged.
He could have told them himself, but Prudence was glad that he didn't. She could already see how the truth had changed the way Calum saw her. He felt pity for her and she didn't want that from him or the other boys.
"Thay can't know." She shook her head slowly. "It would break their hearts."
"It would break their hearts more if you suddenly were gone and they didn't know why." He pointed out.
But she couldn't tell them.
"Promise you won't tell them." She made him swear.
Calum was reluctant momentarily, but decided to respect her wishes. He didn't want to expose her. It wasn't his secret to tell, especially not when it was something to private and delicate. Sighing in defeat, he said, "I promise."
After their conversation, he helped her walk the halls of the hospital, in search of her mother. When they finally found her, Prudence thanked him and he headed to his home where the boys were playing FIFA on their xbox.
Upon seeing the look on his face, Michael asked, "What's wrong?"
Calum looked at them and they noticed it was something serious because of the way his eyes were glazed up with tears. "I promised I wouldn't say anything. But maybe you boys should visit Prudence."
"What's wrong with Prudence?" Ashton asked, concerned.
Calum shook his head. "I can't tell you."
"Is it serious?" Luke was the one asking questions next.
"I said I can't tell you." Calum repeated. "But you really should go see her. I saw her at the hospital and she looked ill."
At hearing the word ill, the three boys shot up from their seats on the couch and raced out the door. If Prudence was ill, they wanted nothing more than to be by her side until she felt better.
What they didn't imagine was just how ill she really was.
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im on an updating spree. i hope you all like the update.
i love you.
-clary xx
