How To Save A Life

Chapter Three: Matt's Abs

After handing out with Owen and Matt, I was glad to find out that they enjoyed it too. I mean, I assumed they did, considering they asked me to hang out the next day too.

So I did.

The details of that day are unimportant. It was the next day that was interesting.

We had all agreed to meet in my room at seven PM, only two days after meeting them both. They were great, and it was becoming a daily thing.

We sat around and watched another disney both, Finding Nemo, and just talked. I was having a lot of fun, and Owen decided to make things interesting.

"Okay, fellow patients. Let's travel back to the fifth grade days and play a few round of truth or dare!"

"Dude, seriously?" Matt rolled his eyes at Owen, he scoffed.

"Truth or dare is the greatest thing that has ever happened to anyone, thank you very much. It's a perfect way to have a little fun, and embarrass people." Owen held his hand up and pointed at me.

"You first. Truth or dare?"

"Um, truth?" I stated, making it sound more like a question.

"Great, okay.." Owen paused to think. "Do you have a boyfriend?" He smirked, his signature move.

I laughed. "Nope."

"Seriously?" Matt asked, actually sounding surprised.

"Well jeez, Matt. Could you be more obvious?" Owen grilled.

Matt held both hands up defensively. "I'm just saying, okay?"

I clasped my hands together. "Okay boys!"

We went on to play several rounds, and I found out some pretty interesting things. We were all single for one thing. Owen had kissed someone in a round of seven minutes in heaven, which surprised us both Matt and I, thinking he'd be the last to do so. Matt had never dated anyone, Owen dated one person. I've dated three guys up until that point, and the guys laughed when I mentioned that none of the relationships lasted over two months. Owen revealed that he's a vegan, and Matt had to prank call the nurses' station. It was the first of many hilarious nights with my two friends.

We hung out for another few days, when it hit me all at once.

Here's how it happened.

Our truth or dare session also revealed Owen's love for horror movies, so when the playroom was empty, Owen popped in a movie of his choice. It was a low budget horror film named Demon Street. It was the worst movie ever.

It was about this random guy who dressed up as a really tacky ghost for Halloween. He trick or treated each house in the street, killing the eldest in each house. Then at the end, the dead came and fought the rest of the street, and when the living guys won because they had guns and more people, they renamed the street Demon Street. Thus, the title of the movie.

So, it was hoenstly so bad. But still, that didn't make it funny or anything. It was still scary.

Halfway through, the random guy was inside of a house, fighting with the father of that house. It got pretty gory, so I flinched, and Matt grabbed my hand.

He didn't say anything, and that was the weird part. Maybe he was just trying to be nice, I don't know. But that's when I started falling, and it wasn't until I almsot hit the ground that I realized how bad this could be.

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The next two days were awful. I didn't get to see the boys because I was stuck in my room. I had a breathing spasm the day after watching the movie, and my parents wouldn't leave my side. I couldn't leave my room, but Owen somehow found out and came to visit me. I asked where Matt was, but he just said that he was busy. I didn't think much of it, considering he probably had more tests to run. I wondered when he would finally get some results, because it seemed like the tests were never ending.

After that day that ended in me waking up several times in night, I had a meeting with Dr. Oberman. My parents weren't there, which for the first time made me pretty upset. He told me that he already spoke to my parents the night before, and he concluded that my tumor would have to be removed the following week. That's when the countdown to health began.

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When I was finally in a more stable condition, I went to the playroom at noon, only to find Owen. I hadn't seen Matt in three days, so instead of letting his absence slide, I drilled Owen in questions.

"What's actually wrong with him?" I asked, midway through our game of checkers. Owen jumped one of my red pieces, then looked at me.

"Tests."

"I haven't seen him in three days." Tests are for a few days, not a few weeks.

He ran his fingers through his hair before stating, "Go visit him then."

"Okay, come with me." He nodded, and we both left the room silently.

He was a few strides ahead of me, and before turning the handle to Matt's room, he sighed deeply.

We walked in, and I braced myself for the possibility that he was sicker than I had imagined. However, instead of freaking out about the machines that filled the room, all I could take in was Matt's toned, tan stomach.

"Sorry. If I knew I was having visitors, I would've put a shirt on." He laughed, then put a hand to his chest as he took a sharp inward breath. His hair was a mess, and I admit it, the kid looked hot.

"No, you're good. I mean, great. No. You're fine. No big deal." I struggled, awkwardly looking around the room at anything but shirtless Matt, the biggest distraction ever.

"Wow." Owen laughed, then lifted the hem of his t-shirt up, displaying the outlines of a six pack. "Is Kaylen overwhelmed?"

My jaw dropped, and it was true, I was extremely overwhelmed. Owen had abs! Matt too. I was freaking out considering the whole scene was way too cliche. Two sick 14 year olds? Unbelievable. Was I dreaming? How is that even possible? Despite my thoughts, I remained as firm as possible. "No, I'm fine. I came here to see Matt's condition."

"Not Matt's abs?" Owen questioned, and the two were laughing like psychos within a matter of seconds. Matt was breathing heavily again, and Owen's face was red at the end of their laughing fit.

"Seriously, guys! Get a grip! Matt, how are you?" The laughing had died down completely, and it took Matt a minute to speak up. He hadn't put a shirt on yet, so I focused on his face the best I could.

"They think it's an irregular heart beat, but it's also possible that it's worse. I never lied though, I'm doing tests. I can't leave the room, because some days are much better than others." He smiled, and I felt calm again. He was alright for the most part.

"Okay." I moved over to his bedside, and he sat up a little straighter. "Good."

He suddenly grabbed my wrist gently and looked at me. "You weren't nervous, where you?" I shivered, his skin against mine felt like a freaking snowstorm. My cells were tingling, and I could hardly register what he said.

"Uh, no. I was, uh, confident. I knew you'd be okay." I smiled shyly, my attention still focused on his light grasp on my wrist.

His fingers unclenched my arm, and I felt a sudden loss. Was that it? Did I like Matt? It hadn't been that long, but I knew him pretty well. Really, he was pretty dang perfect.

"Alright, good." He smiled again, and I was lost. I liked him, I did.

"Okay, lovebirds, let's do something." Owen scoffed, and my face turned as red as a beet. Matt frowned, looking annoyed at his best friend.

We then spent the next two hours playing Matt's XBOX that was connected to the crappy TV in his room. By playing, I mean Matt and I played Call Of Duty: Black Ops while Owen screamed game patterns and cheats. It was a blast, even though surprisingly enough, Matt was awful at it. I hoped he was better at baseball and soccer then he was at video games.

After a long day, I realized that I didn't need my parents to be near me 24/7. I had these two semi-healthy, good looking, hilarious guys to hang out with. Not bad for being in a hospital with a lung tumor.

Life didn't seem so bad that week, but I wasn't prepared for the storm that would hit and try and ruin everything.

But the thing is, I wasn't talking about the weather.

I was talking about Matthew Fielder.