2 hours left.
Archie needs to go in about 1 hour, to double check he has everything sorted at home, meaning I actually only have 1 hour of him. I count down the minutes, and the seconds I have with him. 60 minutes and 26 seconds. We finally get to the river and sit on the middle of the bridge, our legs swinging on the side.
“I don’t want you to go.” I tell him, I had to break the silence somehow, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Neither do I.” He replies, I want to tell him about when we first met each other, but he beat me to it. I’m guessing it was just the right time to talk about childhood memories. Archie talked about how scared he was, but he acted tough in front of me, even though we were very young. He tells me his story to the story. I remember mine; I was just a sweet, innocent little girl back then, never knowing that I will be crying my eyes out when Archie leaves for some cancer treatment.
“There is a reason ‘can’ is in the word ‘cancer’. It’s because you ‘can’ beat it. You ‘can’ go back home. You ‘can’ live with it. You ‘can’ win the battle fighting for your life.” I blurt out before Archie finishes his story on how we first met. He looks at me and nods.
“You ‘can’ die from it too.” He replies, which shuts me up. “I’m sorry; I just don’t like it when people interrupt me when I am telling them a very detailed story.” I laugh and allow him to continue. I don’t listen to a word he is saying, but I know that they are all good words, every single one he picks, all perfect. I look at my watch. 15 minutes.
“Archie…”
“Don’t interrupt me with your cancer talks! I want to keep this story going!” I look at him and kiss him. He lets go of me after a while. “But you can interrupt me with that.” I smile.
“15 minutes Archie.” I tell him, and then we leave. He holds my hand on the way back, and I love it. Something else which I will miss when he is gone. Before I know it, Archie is leaving. Tim has left us to quickly say our goodbyes, which end in just a very long hug. His mother is outside with her car, ready to take him away.
“I love you Z.” He tells me.
“If you don’t talk anymore, those will be the last words you say to me before you leave. Can we keep it like that?” He lets go of the hug and looks at me, then he nods with his amazing smile which brightens his eyes.
“You ‘can’ beat this. And you will.” I say, he smiles at me, keeping his last words as ‘I love you Z’ which I thank him for. I feel Tim’s hands on my shoulders as Archie leaves in his mother’s car. I turn to Tim and hide my face in his shirt. I don’t want to watch him leave, but Tim thinks it is for the best. He will be better before I know it.
“I can’t take it Squash. Can you carry me to my room?” I say, sniffing as I do. He picks me up and takes me to my room, lies me on my bed. He shuts the door and leaves without a word. I try not to cry, and I don’t cry for about 3 hours and then the tears flood out of my eyes. Tim comes in and sits next to me.
“Have you cried a lot?” He asks me, which is obviously a stupid question, but he asked it anyway.
“You know that ocean called the Atlantic? Those are my tears.” I tell him, making myself smile as well as Tim.
“How about we go shopping!” I can tell that Tim doesn’t want to; he just wants to cheer me up with his bonus this month. I laugh, and he eventually persuades me to get into something nice when he tells me that Aloha will be with us.
