a small note / irwin

one

Cathy woke up finding a needle on the back of her hand, connected to a dextrose and her body laid down on an uncomfortable bed with clothes that she was sure she wasn't wearing the day before.

"W-where am I?" she stuttered, not addressing to anyone in particular.

"You're in the hospital. You passed out yesterday after you threw up, Cathy." her mother's sweet, calming voice with a hint of worry answered her question.

Cathy tried to remember what happened the night before, but she couldn't seem to recall anything.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. When it opened, a doctor came in with a clipboard in her hand.

"I'm sorry." she said with pure hurt in her eyes.

"Your daughter Mrs. Williams, has an ischemic heart disease. There aren't many cures of this so we're not sure if we can do anything, but we'll try"

"Do everything you can. Please." Tears of worry, sadness and fear filled the eyes of Catherine Williams' mother, spilling down her plump cheeks.

From the hospital bed, Cathy was also on the verge of crying. She's heard of this disease before, during her science class in middle school. She didn't remember much about it, but she knew it was deadly and rare.

"How much more do I have left?" she blurted out, earning shocked looks from her mother and doctor.

"You have about three or four months."

The simple words of the doctor sent an uncomfortable tension in the small room despite the small number of people, three to be exact, which made more tears fall down the faces of the mother and the daughter.

Through the sobs, Mrs. Williams quickly rose from her chair and embraced her daughter tightly, stroked her hair and kissed her head, with tears still falling.

"We'll make it through, dear. Stay strong." she whispered shakily into Cathy's ear as both their faces were drenched with sadness and fear.

"I love you, mom." she simply stated. And she meant it. Not like the times she just said it.

This time, she realized how much her mother sacrificed. How her mother raised her all alone. How she worked for countless hours to be able to support her only child. Only now was she really greatful to the only person that has loved her all her life no matter what.

"I love you too." was the only reply. The doctor simply walked away to give them privacy.

Cathy and her mom stayed there, crying into each other.

***

The next day, Catherine's Doctor just decided to let her out, giving her several medications to extend her life.

She and her mother decided that Cathy just live her life and pretend nothing happened at all, since being depressed only makes things worse.

Mrs. Williams decided to send her to school today, since she had things to make up from the day before.

The bus ride to school was quiet. As usual, Cathy sat in the back seat alone, staring at the window. When she got off the bus, she kept her head down, not making eye contact with anyone. She headed straight to her locker and shoved all the unneeded books there.

When her first class started, again, she sat in the back corner.

"Ms. Williams, would you mind to share what happened to you yesterday?" her teacher asked.

"I'm sorry Mr. Smith, but I wasn't feeling well enough to come to school. My mother already wrote my excuse letter to the office though." she replied.

"All right. But I hope you're able to keep up today."

"Yes sir."

The day went by fast, being ignored and keeping her head down. Just like the usual.

But after last period, while Cathy was heading out the door, the heartthrob, and football captain, and student council president ( talk about all in one),Ashton Irwin tapped on her shoulder, which caused her to jump a little.

"Excuse me, sorry for scaring you. But would you mind if I'd ask you to write the article on the game from last Friday?  If you were there." he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll try. But how did you know I write in the school paper?" she replied confused.

"Our coach said to tell the school paper moderator, then she said that you were one of the free writers and that you were present in every school activity." he shrugged like it was no big deal.

But Cathy wasn't used to people knowing her. She was used to writing anonymously on the paper.

"Okay. Tell your coach that he'll have the copy by Friday." she flashed a half smile at him.

"Thanks." he murmured as he walked away to his group of friends.

No one really knew that Cathy secretly loved him for about forever. It wasn't just a crush. It was love. It was sort of stalker-like, but she knew who Ashton was. She loved everything about him. How he treats his siblings and how he has his passion for music. She knew  that she had no chance with him, but that didn't stop her. Nothing did.

She looked down at her feet and walked towards the bus stop to go back home.

~~~

A/N HEY GUYS. So this is just a short story. Probably not more than 15 chapters. And yeah. This is going to be my first published work. I'm excited and scared at the same time.

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Photo: Ashton Irwin the hottie ♥

-Abby