Bex

Chapter 42:

                       1 month later

  I could literally feel every nerve in my body jumble inside me. I was biting my nails, waiting for him to tell me my fate.

"Hey, whatever happens, we're here for you." Axel said, grabbing my free hand.

I looked up at Tyler, and he nodded, trying to give me a confident smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. I looked back at Axel who was sitting in the chair next to me. I went back to biting my nails.

We were currently waiting in Dr. Jackson's office to see whether or not I need to continue treatment. The past month had been the hardest on me physically; the chemo was taking a toll on my body. I couldn't get out of bed for days at a time, throwing up what little food I had, and I was constantly tired. There were days when I thought that that would be my last day- that I couldn't go on any longer.

But the last few weeks of recovering from the last round of chemo was the best I had felt in months. I'd worked up to walking around the loop of the fourth floor without having to take a break to catch my breath. I'd been able to keep solid food down, and I didn't feel as drained as before. I wasn't back to completely one hundred percent better, but I would take what I could get.

  Waiting for Dr. Jackson to return with my lab results was torture. I felt just like I did the first time I was ever in his office: scared and anxious. I tried to calm myself by looking around the room; the walls were the same dark green that was a few shades darker than Dr. Jackson's eyes, there was a bookshelf the size of the wall lined with books, an oak desk across from me, and another wall with his achievements framed on them.

I heard the door open and whipped my head around. Axel's beanie slipped off of my head, revealing what little hair I had growing back. Axel swiftly caught it before it hit the ground and handed it back to me. I wrung it in my hands, trying to calm my nerves.

  Dr. Jackson said nothing as he walked behind his desk and sat down. He let a file fall from his hand down onto the oak desk. He took his glasses off before fixing me a look. I couldn't read his expression. I waited a beat before asking him, dreading the answer.

  "Am I...?"

  Axel reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it hard.

"You're cured." Dr. Jackson wore a slightly stunned smile as he said this.

  Tyler fell to his knees sobbing, and Axel's hand loosened his vice-like grip on my hand.

  The words hit me like a truck.

I saw Dr. Jackson's lips move, but I couldn't hear him- I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't quite believe it; the past few months had felt like years- like I'd been carrying the weight of my illness around with me forever.

What he said can't be true. This is just a dream or a practical joke, right? I'll close my eyes and when I open them I'll be in my hospital bed, still being treated.

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to wake up, but when I felt Axel's hand on my shoulder I snapped my eyes open.

"Bex?" He looked concerned.

We were still in Dr. Jackson's office. This was real. And all of a sudden it finally clicked in my brain what was going on.

I'm not dying.

I didn't know I was crying till two hot tears splashed down my cheeks as I looked from Axel to Tyler to Dr. Jackson.

"I- I don't have cancer anymore...?"