An Abundance of White Blood Cells // [WATTYS 2017]

TWENTY-FOUR

More Nate

My parents, Gramma, and Nate were in my hospital room with a stack of movies and two bowls of popcorn. It was movie night. I got onto my bed, Nate joining me, as Gramma claimed the cushy chair Nurse Shilling had brought for her and my parents took the chairs by my bed. Nate and I were sharing our popcorn with Gramma, while my parents had a bowl to themselves.

"Where's Lena and Rose?" I asked Nate as Dad was looking through the movies.

"Lena had a date with Mikey and Rose...she just couldn't be here." Nate smiled.

I nodded, a bit sadly and placed my head on his chest. I wasn't mad at Rose for not being here. I didn't blame her. I didn't expect my friends to be with me every waking minute of the day. They deserved to live their own lives. They didn't need me weighing them down.

We kicked the movie night off with a good old Pixar movie. Ratatouille, to be exact. It wasn't one of my favorites, but Nate had brought it, so I was okay with watching it. I didn't even really watch the movie. I just soaked up the feeling I was having. I felt at peace with my family being here with me.

They all seemed content too. Mom and Dad were sitting rather close, they both shared smiles on their faces as they snacked on the popcorn. I hadn't seen them this happy in a very long time.

Gramma was rocking back and forth in her chair, watching Nate and I. She seemed more interested in us than the movie. I guess she just liked seeing her granddaughter happy. She would occasionally tap Nate with her cane so she could get a handful of popcorn.

Nate had his arm around me and our legs were draped over each other. He rested his head on top of mine and laughed occasionally when something funny happened on the movie. I breathed in his smell. It was still that amazing smell. I'm pretty sure I took a small nap during the movie, because one second, The rat was sharing his food with his brother, and the next he was making food for the food critic.

We moved onto the next movie, The Incredibles. I loved that movie. Mostly because of the scene where Frozone's wife hides his super suit, but there were other parts that were funny. I looked at my loved ones faces and thought about how that would change if I were to be gone.

I didn't want to leave them, but I just knew that I would. I didn't know why I knew it, I just felt like it was my time. It was like I could feel my internal clock beginning to shut down, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I started thinking about how sad my loved ones would be and how there was nothing I could do about it. I knew that I should be fighting for my life. But how do you fight when you know that what you're fighting for isn't going to happen.

I started to dwell on what they would do when I was gone. By the third movie I was completely zoned out. I wasn't even really thinkin about anything, I was just staring at Nate's knee, feeling so overwhelmed. "Sloane?" Nate whispered, giving me a little shake.

"Hmm?"

"You okay?" Nate smiled at me.

His smile brought me back to reality. I was with my family, enjoying my night with them. Things were good and I was happy. They were happy and they were good. Nothing was wrong. I snuggled closer to Nate and whispered "I feel great."

There wasn't much talking after that. We watched a few more movies. The theme was Pixar. I forced myself to focus on the movies, so I wouldn't start thinking those thoughts again. Instead, I told myself:

You are not going to die!

I did that a few times before I fully gave my attention over to the movie. I laughed when Nate did. I got a little sad when he did. I smiled too. It was a normal night with the ones I loved.

Just as the last movie's credits rolled, Mom and Dad got up to help Gramma up. It was time for them to go home. Nate got up to collect the movies and I got up to give out some hugs and say goodbye. I hugged Gramma first. "I will see you tomorrow, my sweet Sloane." She shook her wrinkled finger at. Dad gave me a hug too and told me he loved me. Mom did the same as he helped Gramma out of the room. "I love you Sloane."

"I love you too." I said.

Mom joined Dad and Gramma, which left Nate. He pulled me into a tight hug and kissed my hair. "I love you." He said. I stood on my tip toes and kissed him lightly. "I love you too." I said. He tucked me in and kissed my forehead.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He promised.