A Little Bit Of Joy | ✔

Chapter Sixty Eight : The Girl's Wish

Third Person's POV [Logan's POV]

Logan met Gizmo on the way to the hospice care centre, bought him snacks and petted him for a while. Then he strode to meet Joy- at the hospice care centre. She had been in there for many days now and Logan didn't know what to feel anymore. The dread and impending,  heart-wrenching end was close. Too close, he forgot how to breathe sometimes.

He greeted the nurse politely at the lobby area and knocked on Joy's room. Joy said, without looking, "Come in Logan."

"You have superpowers wow," Logan jested, advancing towards her. She was seated on the plush sofa by the window with her long skirt tucked under her legs, gazing at the harsh ocean. He kissed the top of her head and inhaled deeply, her hair smelled of herbal shampoo. "You look nice today."

Gemma who was seated beside Joy stood up abruptly. "I'm going to the library to bring your books."

Joy clicked her tongue. "You can stay here Gem, it's only Logan."

"No, I'll go." Her eyes darted between Logan and Joy and then she left, smiling surreptitiously.

Joy sighed audibly. "She doesn't want to be the third wheel."

"Yeah, I can see that," Logan mumbled, flashing a kind smile at Gemma's retreating figure. "How are you feeling today? Better?"

"Oh yeah, my mum helped me take a warm bath while the nurse changed the sheets. They used a new air freshner, it's lavender. Can you get a whiff of it?" she said animatedly, looking quite comical in baggy clothes with her eyes all big. "Can you?"

"The scent of your hair is lovely," he said and paused.

Joy quipped, "That's not creepy, don't worry. You're my boyfriend, you're allowed to smell . . . Stuff. Okay, that was creepy. Please don't smell my 'stuff.'"

"I won't smell your 'stuff.'" He laughed quietly. "Do you want to lie down?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, no, I'm fine sitting and moving around a bit actually. It gives me pride to use the bathroom on my own without a tube stuck to my butt. Anyway, I want you to take me out. The last dried leaves have fallen on the ground and I want to stomp on them before they clean the yard."

"Alright, let's go." Logan helped her wear her tights underneath her skirt and a large jacket which engulfed her frame completely. He lifted her up easily to place her on the wheelchair and swallowed hard at how much weight she had lost. It was as if he had his little brother in his arms, thin and bony.

Joy made herself comfortable on the wheelchair, persisted on putting boots on her own and let Logan take her to the yard.

He gently assisted her on her feet, carefully swung her frail arm around his shoulder and held her waist firmly. He heard her let out a shaky breath as they cautiously waddled forward, the leaves crunching under their shoes. Joy's eyes were closed, savouring the time passed. A slanting ray of sunshine gilded her scanty eyelashes and Logan watched her, mesmerized.

She said faintly, "I didn't think . . . "

"What?" Logan strained his ears.

"I didn't think . . . Can we sit f-for a---"

"Yeah, yeah." He quickly gathered her in his arms, making sure he held her lightly and didn't hurt her. Then he warily made her sit on the wheelchair. "Should we go in? Should I call the nurse?"

"No, no, I'm fine. Really." She was clutching the handles and leaned back, her grip loosening. "I was saying that I didn't think at the start of the summer . . . That you'll be here with me till the-the end."

"Shush . . . There'll be no end of us, okay." He knelt down so they were eye-to-eye. She smiled placidly as if not believing what he said. He wanted to shake her vigorously and shout, but instead, he whispered furiously, "Listen to this clearly Joy, there's no end of us."

"Okay, if you say so." She nodded and he didn't know whether she was humoring him or she actually did agree. But then her eyes softened, understanding him. "You know you'll have to move on someday right? It'll be hard but you'll meet a gorgeous girl one day---"

"Can we not talk about this?" he intervened as calmly as he could.

Of course, it was going to be hard. It was stupid to dwell about his future girlfriends, he hadn't once thought about that. After all that had happened to him before he met Joy, his trust had oozed out of his body until there was an empty place with walls so thick and high. Joy, like a bulldozer, broke those walls and made him believe in himself, in love, in this world again.

She clasped his hand. "I want to make it till Christmas Logan. I want to see the Christmas tree decorated and Santa and everyone in ugly sweaters. Do you think I'll be able to do that?"

Logan didn't let his doubt show, he only smiled. "Let's go in."

He took her back to her room where Shaun was waiting. They both aided her to sleep in a cosy position on the massive bed. She drank an entire glass of water and then curled up under the blankets, murmuring to them as they talked to her till she fell asleep.

"You can go, I'm here," Shaun said in a low voice and Logan shook his head.

He liked watching her sleep, the shape of her rising and falling slowly as she breathed.

"You have college and work---"

"I'll manage " He did survive with proper time schedule and his expenses were covered by the loan he acquired on his grandma's jewellery.

"Okay, you want coffee?" Shaun asked and before he could respond, he was already on his way out. "I'm bringing two espressos, flowerboy."

"Fine, frenchboy," he fired back and they both snorted.

Joy shifted on the bed and called, her voice groggy, "Logan . . . Logan . . ."

"I'm here." In a flash, he was seated on the bed beside her and stroked her feathery hair. "I love you so goddamn much."

Inside the blankets, Joy snuggled closer to him.

* * *

A/N :

We're close to the end.