How To Save A Life

Chapter Five: You Should Tell Her

For the next three days, the trio met in Matt's room. On day one, we played board games that Owen had stolen from the playroom. On day two, I had scans, so I missed out most of the day. But in the evening we sat and talked, and I realized that these two were my new best friends. On day three, we joked about the hospital food and watched movies. A lot happened that day, for it was the day I met Matt's parents.

I had seen them plenty before, they were in and out of Matt's room everyday. I just happened to be in there when they weren't, and so I hadn't officially met them yet. So on day three, I got the opportunity.

Owen and I were crowded around Matt's bed playing cards after watching the Lion King. We were 14 year olds in a kid's unit, there wasn't much else to do.

"Matt, do you have any fours?" Owen quizzed.

A smile played on his lips. "Go fish."

"You're full of crap!" Owen yelled. "Kaylen saw your cards and she said you do!"

"Kaylen! Cheater!" Matt laughed and threw his stack on his bedspread. "This game is rigged."

We all sat there laughing about our stupid arguments over a game. We were too busy with ourselves to notice the two adults standing in the doorway.

I knew that they were Matt's parents, it didn't take a genius. Same hair, same nose, same straight teeth. His mom stood next to his dad, who was in a suit and tie, smiling broadly.

"You must be Kaylen." Mr.Fielder held out his hand for me to shake. Noting how formal the encounter was, I shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr.Fielder."

He smiled and dropped my hand.

"Hello, Mrs.Fielder, I'm-"

I was cut off by a huge hug. "Kaylen! I've heard so much about you. Good things of course." I smiled politely as she released me. "You are even prettier than Matthew had explained!"

I felt my cheeks turn bright red, and Matt laughed nervously.

"Well thank you. It's really nice to meet you both, finally."

"I can see why Matthew talks about you so much. You seem very lovely." Mrs.Fielder stated.

With that, Matt announced that he wanted a drink, and his parents left for the cafeteria.

"Sorry about that." He muttered.

"You are so lovely, Kaylen. Pretty, too!" Owen mimicked in a high pitched voice, and Matt elbowed him in the ribs.

"Haha, it's fine." I laughed, feeling flustered.

Minutes later, I headed back to my room to take my medicine and get some shut eye. My chest had felt uneasy for a few days, and I thought rest would help. If I thought that day three was crazy, I didn't know what was in store for me.

I didn't get much sleep that night, replaying the words that Matt's mom had said. Did that mean he liked me? I kind of suspected it, but I had no way of knowing for sure.

So after tossing and turning for a few hours, I woke up the next morning with a stabbing pain in my chest, and I immediately knew that the uneasiness I felt in the previous days was my tumor. I pressed my help button, and within a minute, doctors flooded my room. I had an oxygen mask over my face immediately, but my breathing felt rougher than ever. My eyes worked just fine, so I could see everything that was going on. My ears were also fine, as I heard Dr.Oberman shouting orders. "It's her tumor. She hasn't had any symptoms until now. Stabilize her, and I'm moving her surgery up right now." He barked to everyone in the room.

I tried to calm myself down, and as the doctors and nurses worked, I felt fine again, thinking that it was nothing. I had worked myself up over a breathing fit.

I was wrong. When they left and Dr.Oberman came back in with my parents a bit later, I knew that this was going to be bad.

As I slipped in and out of a soft sleep, he explained to my parents what was happening. They ended up explaining it to me a few hours later when I was wide awake.

My surgery was in two days. The tumor had grown, and the symptoms were starting. They got my scans back very late the night beofre, and they were going to come tell my parents, but they weren't here. They planned to give the news to us in the morning when they couldn't reach my parents on the phone. They were in court.

Dr.Oberman said it was a surprise to him, and he had no way of knowing that it was getting bigger and bigger until the scans came back. I couldn't have known either until it gave me any trouble.

Through all of this, I coudn't leave my room, and that was the most annoying thing. I hadn't seen Matt or Owen at all that day, and I just had to tell them about my surgery. Sadly, I was too worn out to even speak. I only wanted to sleep.

Hours later, I woke up to the sound of voices in my room. My eyelids fluttered open, and sitting in the chair near my bed was Owen. He was looking up at the ceiling and his hands were fidgeting. Matt was in the wheelchair next to him, his head buried in his hands. I slowly closed my eyes so that I could see them through only a small slit, but they couldn't see me.

I almost fell asleep again when they hadn't talked in a few minutes, but a hushed, angry voice finally spoke.

"I'm supposed to be in my room, safe. You snuck me in here to watch Kaylen sleep. What was the point in your master plan, Owen?"

Owen continued to stare at the ceiling, hardly flinching.

"I know she's sick. I know she's gotten worse. Stacy told me, you told me, I heard the nurses in here this morning. Okay? I don't know why I have to sit here, in pain, and watch her sleep."

Owen closed his eyes, lowered his head, and looked at me. I knew he didn't know I was awake, but I narrowed my eyes a tiny bit more just to be 100% sure.

"I needed to make a point, God. You don't get it. She's getting sicker, and you sure aren't getting any better. You need to tell her."

"Tell her what, Owen? How could I?" Matt's voice quivered for a second, and my heart pounded against my chest.

Owen looked at Matt, giving him a look of pure pity. But Owen, being honest, spoke up. "You need to tell her before you don't have the chance to. You should tell her both things. You should tell her you're madly in love with her.." Owen paused, and it took me a moment to think about what he just said. He looked at the floor, then at me before continuing.

"And you should tell her that you're dying."

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