Soar // Hamliza

• chapter 1 •

• Alexander •

"Eliza," I breathed as I shot up in my bed. I looked around the room frantically, confused as to what was happening. One minute I had been feeling worse than ever, and then I was out cold. Then I felt absolutely nothing, almost like I wasn't even alive. And now? I felt almost okay. Something I hadn't felt in a long time.

Realizing she wasn't in the room, I laid back down to wait for Eliza. I noticed writing on my arm in dark blue pen as I did so. It was in Eliza's neat printing, and the only thing it said was Lift.

Huh. I'll have to ask about that and whatever else is going on. My head still feels like it's exploding in pain and I swear that I feel stitches in multiple places. But it's not quite as bad as it was before.

I wonder if it's one of those magic recoveries. Like, the person is just about to die and then, bam! They're totally fine. I don't know how often that actually happens or if it even does, but hey, maybe?

I rubbed my eyes for a moment before hearing a knock at the door. I assumed it was a doctor or someone checking up on me. Maybe they could explain what exactly was going on with me.

"Come in." I said. My voice sounded odd to my own ears. It was like I hadn't spoken in days and my mouth felt dry. My throat was scratchy and talking was uncomfortable.

I was much happier to see my girlfriend walk in rather than some random doctor. She gave me a sad smile when she saw me and ran over to my bed, squeezing me tightly in a bear hug.

"Hi Liza, I- ah, ow." I mumbled as she crushed me. She cringed away when I voiced my pain and sat down in the chair by my bed, where she often sat. With all the machines I'm always hooked up to, it's kind of uncomfortable to sit in the same bed together like we used to.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just... its been a rough two or three days. For both of us, actually." She said, giving me a look of pity. This only increased my confusion.

"Eliza, what's going on? What happened?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing. She gave me a look as to say, you don't know? I shook my head no.

"Well... you got worse and had to have four surgeries. You actually died once but they saved you. You've been out for about a day and a half and I've been here for three, ever since I got the news. I really thought you were gonna leave me that night, Alexander. I was so scared." She explained, her voice getting slightly higher pitched as she spoke, especially on the last two sentences. Sensing her oncoming emotions, I leaned over and took her hand, which I noticed also had the word lift written on it. I kissed the writing and looked up at her.

"Don't worry Lizzy, you can't get rid of me that easily." I tried to joke. She smiled a little but her eyes were glossy and full of tears ready to spill.

"Alexander, I was so scared." She repeated, her voice trembling. I shushed her gently and motioned for her to bring the chair closer to the bed. Stroking through her long, dark hair, I tried to calm her down a little bit.

The problem when you have stage four brain cancer is that you're constantly focused on yourself. You have to know when something's wrong and how to get through chemo and what to say when you get your vitals checked and everything. The past few months, I'm sure that Eliza has felt as through I've neglected her, and I felt guilt rise in me at the thought of that.

"Liza?" I asked to get her attention once she was a little more calmed down, and didn't look like she would burst into tears at any given moment. She hummed in reply and moved slightly to look up at me.

"Do you feel like I'm pushing your problems aside? Or not paying attention to you? Because I feel like with all my personal problems I kinda just drown yours out..." I asked. Her mouth fell into an 'o' shape as I finished and she shook her head.

"Oh, no no no! You're going through what I would consider the unimaginable. My problems can wait. And I know you aren't neglecting me, you have a lot on your mind. Don't worry about me." She said, shaking her head. I nodded unsurely, not really believing what she was saying.

"Ok..." I answered. She kissed me with a small smile as if she was trying prove that she was alright.

"I'm fine. Don't worry, Alexander." She replied. It was at this point in our conversation that I began to feel not as great again. She talked to me for a while after that and I felt my eyes getting heavy and falling shut a couple of times. After pinching myself for the third time to stay awake, Eliza noticed my sudden sleepiness and said goodbye, telling me rest would help me recover.

And so I fell asleep once more, still somehow tired after being out for a day and a half.

a/n: woo hoo!! first chapter of the sequel ahhh!!! I hope you enjoyed and are intrigued so far. Don't worry, the book should pick up pretty quickly and it'll get going soon! <3