The next day I had been discharged from then hospital after receiving some stitches. I was told not to push myself in case it made any of my wounds sore. I would never be able to describe how much I appreciated Mrs Barnes for paying my hospital bill and letting me stay at her home.
The familiar front garden welcomed me as I climbed out of the taxi that had taken me from the hospital. Everyone was probably indoors because they didn't know about me coming home today but I thought I'd surprise them.
Quietly, I closed the front door and walked down the hallway towards the kitchen. The door was slightly ajar and I could hear faint murmuring from inside. That was strange. It was usually quite lively in the Barnes household.
I crept closer to the door in curiosity, hearing the voices grow louder until I realised that it was Mrs Barnes and Eli in there. I stopped behind the door, straining my ears to listen despite feeling a little guilty for listening in on their obviously private conversation.
"-you're going to have to tell her eventually." That was Mrs Barnes speaking.
"I know." Eli sighed. "I just haven't found the right time yet."
What did he mean? What did he need to tell and to who?
"I got a phone call from the doctor today." Mrs Barnes started, her voice low and uncertain. "He said you may only have a few months..."
"I understand." Eli replied, his voice tired and strained.
"You need to tell her. This is unfair."
"I get that, mum. I do, it's just difficult for me to tell her!"
I leaned closer, noticing how stressed Eli sounded. The door suddenly creaked and I let out a panicked gasp, stepping backwards as it opened to reveal Eli and his mother. They looked at me seeming to be stunned for a few moments.
"Ash." Eli said. "What did you hear?"
"I heard enough." I answered calmly, walking into the room to join them. "What do you mean by 'only a few months'?"
Mrs Barnes let out a shaky sigh. "This may be difficult for you but Eli has cancer. What I meant by a few months is how long he has left before..." She trailed off, leaving me to work it out.
"Then you mean he's going to die?" I questioned, panic lacing my tone.
Her somber look answered my question and all I could do was stare at Eli helplessly. He couldn't even meet my gaze.
"Eli?" His name was a choked sob and I couldn't stop the tears rolling down my pale face.
I cried out and exited the room, hurrying upstairs to a familiar room. I didn't even bother knocking the door and just ran inside, not caring about the state I was in.
I had gone to Jett's room without really noticing what I was doing. He was lying on his bed when I went in there.
Jett looked at me in surprise but quickly understood what was wrong. He leapt off the bed and came over to me, wrapping me in a comforting hug. I cried into his shoulder, blocking out anything he was saying to me.
"Why is this happening to him?" I asked but expected no answer.
"Bad things happen to good people sometimes." Jett answered, stroking my hair gently.
He pulled me over to the bed and sat down with me beside him. I rested my face in my hands so that he couldn't see the blotchy mess my face was.
The more I thought about it, the more I cried and I just couldn't stop it. How could the boy who'd saved me from taking my life lose his in return? It just wasn't fair. The world was cruel and had caught Eli up in a spiteful trap. Now he'd have to pay for that with his life.
The door knocked suddenly and Eli peered in timidly.
"Ash can I please speak to you?" He looked at Jett. "Alone?"
I took a deep breath and nodded. This caused Eli to sigh with relief and he opened the door further for me to leave. We headed straight to his room without any words being exchanged until we were inside.
"I'm so sorry." He started. "I should have told you sooner but I was too afraid to say anything."
"It's okay Eli." I replied. "I don't have the right to think I can just come into your life and be able to know about you. If you didn't want to tell me you didn't have to."
"No, I did want to tell you it's just, I was too scared that you'd treat me differently if you knew that I'd end up being dead anyway."
"Don't talk like that!" I snapped. I didn't like how he'd just accepted his fate like that.
"It's true, Ash. I'm not going to live through this." He shrugged but I could see the pain in his eyes that I adored so much. "We've all accepted it and now you should too."
"I won't. You can't just go and die, Eli. I don't want to be alone again. You're the best friend I've ever had and no one could ever replace you." I started crying again. "I'd have to go about the rest of my life without you being with me."
"I know this is hard for you-"
"-Isn't it hard for you? You have the right to complain, Eli. It's your life. You're being cheated out of the chance to fall in love and get married. You won't be able to grow up. Don't you want to do all of that?!"
He stood up and started pacing around the room, combing his hand through his hair in an attempt to calm himself down.
"I do but in this case, I can't. I have a few months and that's it." He answered with more anger in his tone this time. "Listen Ash, thank you. I'm so glad I managed to meet you before the inevitable happens and I'm grateful I saved you from ending your life because the world would be missing such an amazing and beautiful person."
He stopped in front of me and pulled me towards him, our lips landing together.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you."
