Deadly Cure

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Cyler

I don't know if you know this but the lobby of a hospital is a vortex of diseases. It's like the biggest concentration of sickness out of the whole place, and I'm pretty sure it stinks worse than the morgue. I was doing trying to figure out the exact number of concentration when my phone buzzed. My hands flew to my right pocket where my phone was located. It was from Hannah, my girlfriend, and also the reason I'm here, at the hospital.

                  "I'm free. Where U @?" Hannah was a straight-A student with a 4.3 GPA, but she still managed to do a bang-up job of writing, which was hilarious considering she wanted to be an English Professor.

                  "Lobby. Where else? LOL." After I sent that I realized that sarcasm might not be the best approach right now. I shrugged it off and picked up the things I had bought Hannah while waiting six hours, forty-three minutes and twenty-six seconds for her. There were thirteen red and white roses, a pack of sour gummy worms (her favorite candy), and a purple monkey stuffed animal. Hannah has issues with stuffed animals; she has sixty-three point five monkeys in her bedroom. The point five is all thanks to her dog, Rufus, who went he was just a young pup decided to nibble at "Monkerus'" {no I am not joking} arms and legs.

                  I scanned the area for Hannah Folk, and trust me it didn't take long to spot the love of my life. She wasn't tall or short or average, she was five four, with a straight sheath of platinum blonde hair and the lightest shade of brown eyes imaginable. She had small freckles on her cheeks and one dimple on her left cheek; I had a dimple on my right cheek. We always joked that if we had a kid it would have a whole set of dimples.

                  "Cyler." My name moved through the room for only me to hear. She looked tired with dark purple circles under her eyes. Hannah had looked drastically different if you looked at a picture of her from six months ago to now. She didn't look very different from last month, but that was because I was with her every day. She was skinnier, frail, gawky almost and clumsy. Hannah had been an athlete and clumsiness wasn't apart of her, but like a virus, it clung to her. Her skin used to glow, but now it stretched out around her while her bones poked out.

                  "How'd it go?" It was no secret that something was wrong with Hannah, but like everyone else, we just assumed she would get better. Hannah was never a victim. She didn't let herself be. But what if something happened that was out of her control?

                  "Well, I'm not pregnant." We shared a laugh. Hannah was a virgin, and since Hannah was the only girl I have ever been with that made me a virgin too. We met when we were five in the playground. I asked if she would be my friend and she said only if I would play ball with her. I kissed her when we were eight and then in sixth grade, I asked her to be my girlfriend. We weren't really serious or anything until freshman year when I asked her to be my high school girlfriend. I had planned that when we were freshmen in college I'd ask her again.

                  "Yes! Praise the sweet baby Jesus! There is not a bun in that oven." I exclaimed profusely and even went to the extent of pointing at Hannah's empty oven. People gawked at me, and some even laughed, but that didn't matter because I was only looking at Hannah. Who giggled so hard she started coughing. I hated it when that happened. It made me feel like crap. I rubbed her back and walked her outside. She didn't need an audience.

                  "Gosh, you're so funny Cyler." Her eyes were watery and I didn't know if it was from coughing or if she was crying. Either way, I reached out to hug her. "Are those for me?" She was eyeing the presents I had bought for her.

                  "No, they're actually for my girlfriend. Have you seen her? She's blonde, smoking hot, and she should be with her mom." She playfully hit me on the chest and took the monkey from me first. I smiled as she took her gifts.

                  "You're a mean dork, but I love you anyway." She went on tiptoes to kiss my cheek. Her lips were cold.

                  "Awe thanks." She glared at me until I said, "I love you too. Anyways, what happened?" I was eager to know what was wrong with Hannah so that she could go back to be her normal self, which was bubbly and exultant.

                  She avoided eye contact. "Nothing really, they have theories—

                  "Hannah Rose Folk! You tell him the truth right now." Marie popped up out of nowhere, scaring me a little, but that was nothing compared to the look on Hannah's face. She looked beyond pissed.

                  "Mom—

                  "Cyler has been in this family as long as you have. He deserves to know the truth. You don't have to tell anyone outside of this family, but as far as I'm concerned Cyler is apart of this family." Something I hadn't ever seen before was Mrs. Folk this angry, especially at Hannah who in many ways was the golden child. Abbey was pretty close, but she had a wild streak, apparently, it was genetic.

                  "Hannah, what is she talking about?" I was afraid to ask.

                  "Cyler—" She was crying now, and parts of my heart broke, the rest was paralyzed at what was going to come next. It was bad. I knew it, it had to be if Hannah wasn't going to tell anyone but her family. I tried to brace myself, but when the love of your life is going through so much pain it's hard to concentrate.  "I um I have cancer." The world stopped spinning, and everything felt like I was in a dream. I needed to wake up now.

                  "What?" I might have been the smartest kid at North Field High School, but at this moment I was the stupidest. I knew everything about cancer, what it did to people and the side events, symptoms, and how it worked. Yet, here I was dumbfounded at the thought that Hannah could have cancer and I not know it. "N-no." Marie started crying now too. This was really bad. "Where is it?" Her eyes were filled and she barely met my eyes and then they darted to the ground.

                  "Pancreases originally, but it's spread to my liver, stomach, and lungs." My legs gave out. I fell on the curb, letting myself go. This was crazy. Hannah couldn't have cancer. People I didn't know had cancer, not Hannah, not my girlfriend, not this. Not now.

                  "What stage?" My brain wasn't getting enough oxygen to fully function.

                  "Pancreases four and everything else is the third stage. The doctor told me I'm terminal and there's nothing they can do. They prescribed me a 'buncha pills to help with the pain and puking, but other than that I have four to six months to live. If I'm lucky." She scoffed, "which is the most ironic sentence ever since I'm covered in cancer." She laughed. Marie and I shared a look: we both understood that Hannah was breaking. I got up and put my arms around her as she laughed and tears soaked my shirt.

                  "Can you drive her home? Tom is here and I have to—

                  "No problem." My voice sounded different, older somehow. I didn't bother asking Hannah, I just picked her up and carried her to my car. It was a beat-up 1970's mustang that still hadn't been painted. Hannah was going to help me pick a color.

                  I strapped her on the passenger side and before I shut the door she grabbed my hand.

                  "Dark red." I almost didn't know what she meant. "That way you don't get pulled over all the time." Talk about ironic sentences, since I drove five miles under the speed limit and practically lived by the driver's manual.

                  "Okay." Was all I could say. I was still reeling from the news I had just been told. My love was going through so much, and there was nothing I could do. I shut the door and proceeded to walk to the driver's door when I saw a couple holding hands across the street. They were at a park, enjoying themselves, had no care in the world, and here Hannah and I were: plagued with disaster.