Purity And Cowardice #Wattys2018

19- Where do broken hearts go? (1)

"Hey..."

"How are you doing? Are you okay? You didn't tell me you were back from Canada, I had to hear it from Liam." I scolded.

Izzy told me she went to Canada with her parents to tend to her ill grandfather for the past month, she's been working from there.

At first, we exchanged calls and texts but lately, we fell behind as I grew busy with work, new projects, and new problems.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, my old man is feeling much better, and I just came back like four days ago." She said, but I wasn't convinced.

Her voice was weak and tired.

"I need to see you, Izzy. I'll be at your house in fifteen." I cut the call short so she won't be able to argue back and headed to my bedroom to change.

••

Knocking the door, I waited five whole minutes until she opened the door.

"What took you so...Izzy! What happened to you?" I gasped in horror.

She looked horrible.

Her face was pale, dark bags covering her eyes, and her fragile body was barely standing.

Even her eyes looked dead. She lost a lot of weight.

"I'm...I'm fine." She managed to say before her legs gave up on her and she fell to the ground.

"Oh, God." I let out, my heart hurting for my best friend who was clearly very ill.

I led her to the living room, grabbing a glass of water on the way and giving it to her.

"Thank you for coming, but you didn't have to." She barely managed to say, tripping over her own words and tucking a strand of hair behind her ears.

Was that a wig?

"Of course, I have to! You're clearly sick, why haven't you told me?" I asked, not wanting to stress her out but trying to understand her reasons.

"I haven't told anybody except Liam. Well, he was there with me so I didn't have a choice on the matter." She responded, grumbling.

"Isabella, you know I'm here for you. We're here for each other, remember? You can trust me. We've been through thick and thin, you were there for me when I needed you, so please, let me be here for you when you need me." I tried to reason with her, clutching her cold hand in mine, I prayed that my suspicions weren't going to be proven right.

She took a deep breath and looked straight into my eyes.

"I have stage two brain cancer."

••

"Is she asleep?" Liam asked and I nodded.

"I gave her the medicine you bought and sat next to her until she started snoring. Bless her soul." I confirmed and plopped down on the couch beside him.

"I'm sorry we lied to you. She didn't want anyone to know about it." He said, sincerity in his voice. I took a closer look at him, his eyes were bloodshot, Izzy's illness took a toll on him too.