Blue Roses||Tom Holland

Twentieth Chapter

Tom

"Oh", she seems...surprised? Maybe also a bit...relieved? "You're-"

The door is suddenly smashed opened and Indio and Harrison rush inside, "What's the verdict then?"

The doctor hands Rosie the papers and with a smile on says: "You're incompatible. You cannot donate to her".

"Oh my-" She raises her hand and I feel her tightening her grip around my upper arm. I give a quick look at her and I acknowledge she's going to fall on the ground soon, yet I grab her waist in time and try my best to pull her up.

Rosie is shaking, even though she surely doesn't want to show it off.

"Though there's bad news, followed by good news", the young woman keeps talking as Rosie gestures her to, "Being her daughter, you could leukemia too".

"Is this the bad news or the good one?" the girl sat next to me asks, still holding my hands in hers.

"The bad one. The good one is that someone already had your tests done and you prove to be negative."

I guess this takes logger for her to realize the words the doctor has just told her. "What does this mean?" I find the courage of asking this, in Rosie's place.

"We've got your medical record and we've seen that six years ago someone had you tests for leukemia, on a specific request. You prove to be negative."

"W-what? What does it mean 'on specific request'?" her voice is trembling and I'm sure she's about to cry.

Too many news in too little time.

"Someone requested those tests, specifically. Leukemia can show up after the first menstrual period in young girls and someone took you to the hospital. Don't you remember? Maybe your...adoptive parents?"

Rosie firmly shakes her head; in this moment I understand she knows who had her testing.

"Dad..." she whispers next to my ear and right after I see her eyes filling up with tears, I lay my arm around her shoulders and pull her closer. "D-do they know it?"

The doctor slightly shakes her head and, after having greeted us, she leaves the room. The first thing I do is to check over the girl still wrapped around me.

"Are you okay? Do you want anything?"

She shakes her head and lift it, finally my eyes meet hers, red and watery. I rub my index finger on her chin and eventually manage to dry some of them with a tissue.

"Are these happy tears or what?"

"I don't know!"

"Hey, look at me", I raise her chin and once again I stare her beautiful eyes, "Everything is going to be fine. I'm here. Indio is here. Even Harrison is here". I point at my best friend and her best friend, comfortably sat on the couch in front of the bed. "You're going to be fine."

An hour later we manage to make it out the hospital and hopefully we don't meet her mother or her crazy husband as well. I throw my car keys at Harrison, implicitly telling him to drive back home, Indio soon takes the passenger seat, while Rosie and I sit in the backseats.

Having left her bags in the trunk, I sit next to my girl and she lays on my; her head on my legs and her hand resting on my knee. In order to let her relaxing more, I run my fingers through her hair and try to massage her temples.

No longer than ten minutes after Rosie falls asleep in the same position she has been since we got here, yet I don't stop touching her.

My best friend asks me if she's awake and when I shake my head, he says: "Man. That's insane".

"I-I don't know what to say. She's so fragile and yet so strong."

"Be there for her, Tom", Indio says looking at me, "Be there for her, don't go. No matter who, no matter what, no matter how many times she will tell you she's fine...just don't let her deal with it all alone".

The more I look and hear him, the surest I get he's talking by experience. I let my gaze fall on Rosie once again and stare at her, sleeping.

"I love her way too much to let her go."

Helena

I fell asleep when we still were in Santa Monica and I'm woken up by Indio once we're back in L.A.. After having dropped Harrison at Tom's house, he brings me back home.

"Is your dad at home?"

When the car stops in front of my house there are no lights on, sign that dad isn't here. I slowly shake my head and look at him, "I don't think so".

"Oh. Do you wanna come home with me?"

"I'd like to, but I prefer sleeping in my own bed tonight", I open the car door and put my feet on the grown, then I turn and ask: "Do you wanna come in?"

Tom turns off the car engine, get out and helps me bringing inside my bags.

When I left, dad was standing near the door, with an encouraging smile on -even though I know he didn't want me to go to Santa Monica. I didn't understand what he was trying to say to me and I got the massage too late.

"Where I can put these?"

I go back looking at Tom, who hasn't still put my bags on the floor; I tell him to leave them near the couch and then we sit there, together. "So...are you staying for the night?"

It takes a few seconds for him to answer me, but he says yes and I smile before wrapping my arms around his chest, where I eventually rest my head.

"Thank you."

Since we're not hungry, we go straight to my bedroom and here I feel him tense up. I tell him I'm stealing a t-shirt from my dad's closet and he suddenly turns towards me.

"Are you sure? Maybe I should go and-"

I stop him right when he's about to leave my room; I grab his hand and pull him closer to me.

"Now: I'm going to take you a shirt and you'd better be here when I come back", having said that, I exit the room and quickly make my way to my dad's bedroom. After having taken from him a grey shirt Tom can wear for tonight, I get back to my room.

"I thought you would have run away. Instead you're still here..."

He gets up and forces me against the wall, "I think you have something for me".

My mouth is completely dry, and my head is empty. The only thing I do is handing him the shirt. "You're such a so-"

"Language!"

I break into laughs and Tom does the same; the both of us fall onto the bed, still laughing. I find him being closer than I had imagined and I leave a soft kiss on his lips.

"Why this kiss?"

"Why do you keep asking that! I just wanted to kiss you!" I rest my head on my pillow, still looking at him, "I keep asking myself, what would happen if we make out?"

"Why don't we find it out?" he comes closer and closer to me, he tightens his grip around my hips and puts me on his lap. "God, I missed you so much."

"Yes, I can tell", I chuckle, and he pinches my side.

"I've been by your side after all the stuff with your mother and all you've been through in the last months, have I gained the right to take you out on a date?"

I push myself off of him and put all my weight on my elbow, "A date, uhm? What kind of date?"

"The kind of date on which I take you to a fancy restaurant. You wear a cute dress and I am nervous. What do you think about?"

I pretend to be thinking about it and, apparently, he doesn't like it; but eventually I agree on be taken out on a date by him. "Now...I'm really tired. Can we sleep?"

"As you wish", Tom places a soft kiss on my forehead, forces me on my left side and wraps his arm around my hips, "Goodnight, Rosie".

"Goodnight, Stanley."