Roman High's Stars

[105] To Hope ...or Not To Hope

[Sorry, I haven't actually edited, so there might be mistakes. You have been warned.]

Chapter 105

"What?" Phil questioned, his baby blues rising from the floor to meet Mike's eyes.

"She went to another hospital." Phil still had this look of unbelief on his face. Mike sat down, rubbing his throat as he did, but he made no comment about it. "A couple cities over, there's a really good psychologist who might be able to help her more."

Phil was still stuck in disbelief as he looked toward Casey's bed. "She's not...gone..."

"No...well, she is, but she's still on earth." Mike said.

Suddenly, a shudder of relief ran through Phil's body, and it was almost like someone had pulled his spine out the way he slumped back against the wall.

"And she, uh...she told me to give you this if you ever came by." Mike said, pulling out a folded envelope from his back jean pocket.

Phil just looked at the envelope. She knew he'd be back. She didn't find anyone else. She still like him. More relief sang through his veins, almost to the point where he wanted to burst out in tears.

Instead, he watched as Mike grabbed his hand and pressed the envelope into it, closing his fingers around it. Mike smiled. "I've known Casey for a while now, almost two years. In that time, they had told her about the same psychologist for longer than I've known her. She chose to go just recently." Mike's green eyes shone as he smiled. "Thank you," he said simply as he stood. "Take care of my sister...but you don't really need me to say that right?"

With that, Mike left the room.

Phil looked down at the envelope. And then he was all business about opening it as fast he could. He pulled out the letter, but as he did, something fell out with a clink.

He looked down to find a gold link chain lying there, with a gold-gilded four leaf clover charm hanging from the end. Picking it up, he held it tightly in his hand as he unfolded the piece of paper.

Dear Phil,

I know you'll probably come looking for me soon. I understand why it's taken you a while with all that's been going on with your family and friends. I hope everything is okay. The charm you've probably found by now is for good luck. May it keep all your loved ones safe from harm and keep them in good health. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you all this in person, and sorry I couldn't say goodbye. I need to do this so I can get better. And I will be back. Let Michael know where I can find you when I get back, and he'll somehow let me know. I'm sorry, but at the moment, I won't tell you where to find me because you're my motivation to put up with this scary thing and see this psychologist. But the faster I get through this, the faster I can come back. I feel that if I knew your number or address now, I would want to quit and come back now, so I'm going to wait. If you want to wait, I'm coming back to you. If you want to. I'll come back. I promise.

Love, Casey

Phil looked at the letter, and knew. Actually, no, it wasn't the letter that made him fall in love. It just made him realize how much he'd fallen in love.

Suddenly, Phil's phone rang, cutting off his self-made revelation. Dean was calling. "What's up?" Phil answered.

"Hey, I need you. You're at the hospital still, right?"

"Yeah, is everything alright?"

"Go down to Billy's room. Tell Josh to wait twenty more minutes. I'm on my way from town."