it was around December when Joshua caught a cold. being a teenage boy, in a public school, in the cold and dreary Ohio, catching colds were very common.
Joshua's cold consisted of a headache, stomach ache, coughing, a fever, an multiple symptoms that didn't seem that bad. it was normal for kids to get the common cold, especially if the weather is normally cold and rainy. nothing seemed off at the time; a boy had the common cold. what was there to worry about?
around February, Joshua still had the same cold he had gotten in December. except, all the symptoms he had, had gotten worse. in addition, his chest would hurt with reoccurring sharp pains and hard thumping. this was different. but Joshua wasn't alarmed. he just took his usual medicine an went on with his day.
one day at school, he had a nose bleed that followed with a migraine. he got nose bleeds sometimes, an had headaches instead of migraines. but again, these were normal he thought.
April had come around, and Joshua was even worse. he stayed out of school for two weeks.
it was about three in the morning when Josh had woke up coughing. except, when he got out of bed an ran to the bathroom to grab tissues, he noticed he had blood on his hand an his lips.
Josh's mother called 911; the ambulance was at the house in minutes, hoisting Joshua into the back. his mother climbed in, an they left for the hospital.
all night, the doctors had done tests an kept him overnight for observation. in the morning, they would discuss what has been happening with Joshua.
Joshua was woken up, an was brought to a doctor's office in the hospital with his mother. he just stared. he stared out the window that sat behind his doctor, an watched the birds fly by. he didn't hear a word the doctor said. all he heard an felt was his mother crying, an pulling him towards her body to hug him. it didn't hit him yet, but he knew.
he was only eighteen years old, an diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.
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this story takes place in Josh's POV, atleast for right now :)
