Strong

Chapter 29 : I wanna live

Isabella's POV

'Now I die and kiss your tender lips goodbye and pray to God who hears my cry'

The lights were really bright as they wheeled me into theatre so I shut my eyes tightly. I felt my mom give my hand on last squeeze before she had to leave and then I heard the doors shut. I opened my eyes and looked around at the many doctors and nurses surrounding me. I felt the doctor place some mask over my face and he said something that I couldn't understand. I closed my eyes as I felt myself floating. And all I could see was Liam's face. I don't know why, but all I could think of is the fact that I didn't tell him I love him. I tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. One of the nurses saw my struggle and bent down to whisper into my ear.

"It's alright love, just close your eyes and before you know it you'll open them again and things will look a lot better" she was acting as though I was seven, but I couldn't really say anything. So I just shut my eyes and quickly felt myself slipping away.

Liam's POV

‘Seems like yesterday we were running round town together ‘

They wheeled me into surgery and I wasn't scared. This wasn't the first time I was having an operation, in fact it was all too familiar. They put a mask on my face which I knew was the anesthetic so I didn't fight it. And after a taking in a few breaths I could feel myself slipping sway.

**********

"Isabella watch out!" I yelled and she cycled as fast as she could.

"Liam! I'm gonna fall!"

"No you're not"

She was learning how to ride a bike, well we both were. And she just happened to be right in the middle of the street as a car was headed in our direction.

"Isabella!" I yelled again as the car got even closer.

"I'm trying!" she yelled cycling her hardest, but I knew that wasn't fast enough so I quickly jumped of my bike and was going to help her, but I was already too late.

"Ouch!" she cried as she hit the tar. She was going too fast and had lost her balance and had fallen off her bike. And the car was just a few feet away from her now. So I did the only thing I could think of; I ran into the street and yelled for the car to stop. But the car kept coming and Isabella was crying and I was really scared. And so we ended up standing there holding onto each other, eyes shut tightly, as the car came to a stop just in front of us. Turns out it was Isabella's dad and he started yelling at us the moment he got off the car.

"What the hell is wrong with you children?!"

"Daddy!" Isabella cried running to her father with tear streaks down her face and a bloody knee and elbow. Her jeans were ripped and her t-shirt was all dirty and her dad looked worried as he picked her up.

"I'm sorry Mr Scott, I tried to get her off the street" I apologized feeling like somehow all of this was my fault.

"It's alright son, it wasn't your fault" he patted me on the head and then carried Isabella to the car. We were silent the whole short trip home and the moment Mrs Scott saw Isabella she started panicking.

"Isabella, what happened to you?!"

"She was learning to ride her bike, but I rushed her and she fell" I explained taking the full blame. Isabella's mom wasn't upset like her dad was since she didn't know the whole story and she gave us both ice creams once we'd gotten cleaned up.

"Thanks for taking the blame Liam" Isabella said taking a lick of her ice cream cone.

"That's what friends do" I shrugged.

Isabella's POV

Everything was weird at first; it was all blackness even though I wasn't asleep. My mind was wide awake and flooded with thoughts, but none of them were cohesive. And then it was like someone turned the lights on and was going through my timeline. I mean it was as if I could see my whole life in pictures. And it reminded me a lot of the Story of My Life video. But as I looked closer I realized they weren't pictures, but actually videos that were playing. And I found myself going through my life in stages from my earliest memories as a toddler till my teenage years. The toddler to pre-teen memories was filled with Liam and it was like literally reliving all of them. I remembered every little interaction and all our inside jokes. I saw us having little arguments cause I was too stubborn, and for the first time I actually remembered our first kiss. It was pretty cute if you ask me. I couldn't quite experience it though, but I had a pretty good idea of what it felt like to kiss Liam. I guess you could say I was living the dream, dreaded disease and all.

Liam's POV

'And I know just what she'll say if I can make all this pain go'

I know I was under anesthetic and shouldn't be able to feel anything, but I did. It was like I could feel them working on me, but without the pain. I knew the exact moment they removed my kidney and I let out a sigh. I'd always liked the idea of saving someone, that's why I wanted to be a fire fighter. But I never imagined that the organ that had caused me so much of pain could be the thing that helped me save someone; it's just mad to think of.

Isabella's POV

The timeline moved now to the years I spent in the states. They were filled with Jay and I couldn't help but shed a tear cause I missed him so much. Sure we'd fight like siblings do, but that doesn't mean we didn't love each other. I swiped at the tear and then realized that I couldn't actually move my arms, I was in a coma after all. So I let the tears fall as I watched the scenes before my eyes. And then suddenly Jay reached and wiped away one of the tears. It was so real that I gasped, but my lungs didn't fill with air as they should've. Jay was staring at me now as if he could actually see me.

"Iz?" he called reaching out to me. It was weird, but suddenly I could move my hands and grabbed a hold of his.

"Jay" I smiled.

"I missed you Iz" he pulled me into a hug that was far too real to be a dream.

"I missed you too" I cried into his shirt.

"Don't cry it’s okay" he said trying to comfort me. I looked up at him and his eyes were watery too. He gave my hand a squeeze and then started walking.

"Jay, where are we going?" I asked gripping his hand even tighter as he led me down a type of tunnel that was dark and icy cold. The 'story of my life' scene was long gone now and I was literally starting to get cold feet.

"I'm taking you home" he said matter-of-factly.

"Home?"

"Yeah where I live, c'mon" he led me further into the tunnel, but I tried to resist.

"What's wrong Iz?" he looked at me concerned, and I've never felt this cold in my life. I mean standing naked in the snow would've been less cold.

"I can't come with you"

"Why not?"

"I wanna live"