When the Clock Ticks [Shourtney]

12. 12:02 A.M.

Final. Chapter. Now.

First off, thank you so much for 2k+ reads right at the final chapter! You guys are really nice and awesome.

This chapter is much shorter than our usual, simply because we have an epilogue after the author's note, which is right after this chapter! Go check it out to see what happens to Shayne after this chapter. It's as long as an ordinary chapter, unlike my other epilogues which were very short. That's the reason why I made this one short.

Anyway, let's proceed: Courtney's POV and see ya!

-/-/-

It's September 22nd.

I watch the clock as it ticks to 12. It's today. It's finally happening. Kari and Shayne are both asleep in my room, and they both slept earlier than usual because they didn't want to wait for this with me. It's not my birthday after all.

After a couple of minutes, I take my journal from my bedside table and flip through its pages. Since I had received this ever since my diagnosis, I decided to keep this journal as my medical adventure journal instead of my "I'm 25" book, and because the factor of the death date entered the equation, I had more time to write different things in it. I had so much time to write, in fact, that I managed to fill up a journal meant for 365 days in almost three months. A feat, honestly. I don't think Far-from-Death Courtney would have ever gone as far as a week. But hey, I'm gonna give her credit for trying.

Majority of these entries didn't delve too much into my personal things, but more of what I've experienced ever since diagnosis. From medical records to results, I even recorded them here just so I could keep track of all of it. Even what I ate for my meals, so I could remember whenever Dr. Locke asked me what I ate at the end of the week. But when SCBL started happening, most of the medical stuff got lessened. It was all about what Shayne and I had done for a video, and recounting these recent memories made my heart flutter a little.

July 6, 2020
Dear Joe,

WE RODE A FREAKING ROLLERCOASTER TODAY! AAAAA

And I rode it five times, while Shayne only managed to get through four. It was kinda funny seeing him almost puke a little, but to be honest, I was worried that he would. The short man may be fit, but those muscles must have pressured his organs into improving themselves. I don't blame them though, Shayne does have big muscles.

So... should I blame Shayne? I dunno. No one needs to get blaming except ~corrupt politicians~.

Love ya,
Court Bourt xx

I read through another one.

July 13, 2020
Dear Joe,

Now that I think about it, it's a little weird you're named after one of our close friends, Joe Bereta. But I didn't decide I'd be friends with him when I was 13, right? So it's cool.

Main point of today: we visited Shayne's old house in Arizona. The Hawthornes (they're currently the owners of the house) were pretty sweet, and it looks like they really took care of the place after the Topp family left. We met their son, Seth, and I talked him into playing Pokemon so that he'd learn something new (even though Pokemon was born some time after I was) and also because Shayne felt pretty bummed that they were selling the place. They were moving to New York apparently, but I didn't want to let Shayne feel sad about the house going to some people he didn't trust. And so I let him play with the kid as a good final memory of the place. Seems like he enjoyed it.

Also, New Lark's lasagna is just out of this world. If you were a real person, Joe not Bereta, I'd tell you to take the midnight train to Arizona and get there by five in the morning, order it for breakfast. You'd melt in your seat.