I put the phone on the bed and rested my head against the headboard. I was about to check my phone again when the door opened and my doctor came in.
“How are you feeling, April?” he asked.
“I’m okay.”
“I’m sorry, April,” he said and I couldn’t help but feel surprised.
“I wish the treatments we tried could help you,” he continued. I know he wasn’t talking as a professional right now. During this hard period, he was like a brother to me and now, the brother was talking.
“Don’t worry, doc. Maybe the afterlife will be better,” I said, smiling sadly.
He nodded and said before going out of the room, “I’m gonna let you rest.”
My parents followed him outside and I grabbed my phone. There was a message and I was afraid of reading it.
I closed my eyes for a second before opening it.
Which hospital are you in?
I wasn’t expecting a message like that…
I didn’t know what to write so I went with the simple answer.
Gate Hospital. Oncology Floor. Room 204.
I saw he started to write again and the message popped up in a second:
I’m on my way.
I read and re-read his answer, searching for a cruel joke under it, but couldn’t find anything. I was too shocked to even write a simple “thank you”.
After ten minutes, the door opened again, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from my phone. I didn’t want to see the painful look on my mom’s face, either. But as the footsteps got closer to my bed, I lifted my head to meet with Ashton’s brown eyes.
“Hi, April,” he smiled at me. Even his teeth were perfect.
“A-Ashton? You came?”
“You wanted me to come…so, here I am,” he shrugged and did something that shocked the hell out of me: he kissed my cheek.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
I was still surprised. Even as I wrote the message to him, I wasn’t expecting him to come, let alone this fast…
“Aren’t you my one-night-only-girlfriend?” he asked with a grin on his face, sitting next to me on the bed.
“I didn’t think you would really accept my offer, actually?” I said, making some space for him since he was making himself comfortable on my bed.
“I don’t get asked on dates by girls everyday. It was kind of cool,” he said, placing a loose strand from my wig behind my ear, making me comfortable with his easy-going attitude.
I hit his arm, jokingly, “Hey! Don’t remind me of that again.”
“Okay, princess,” he said and placed a bag on the bed.
“What is that?”
“My laptop, a few movies and some brochures from fast-food restaurants,” he winked at me, causing me to laugh. It was a long time since I last laughed with happiness.
“You’re good at this,” I murmured.