This Is Reality

Chapter 24

I eagerly ran to Bobby's room, but Charlotte stopped me.

"Take it easy, Arlene. It's not like he's going to run away."

"I know, I'm just excited," I grinned.

When we got to the room, Charlotte quietly opened the door in case Bobby was sleeping or something. I practically ran over to Bobby's bedside when we got inside. He wasn't sleeping or I would've woken him up.

"How do you feel? Do you need anything?" I asked.

"Right now I need you to calm down," he laughed, "I'm fine, and no, I don't need anything."

"Well, I'm sorry for being concerned," I replied sarcastically.

"I suppose you two want some privacy. I'll leave, but first I need a hug from my son." Charlotte walked over to Bobby and hugged him for a long time before she left.

"I'm going home today," I wanted to talk to him because it felt like a long time since we had been together, but I had nothing to say. He was acting different, we probably both were, and it made things awkward.

"Mom told me," he replied, "she said your surgery went fine. Did it?"

"From what I know. I was asleep when they did it."

"But how do you feel now?"

"I feel fine. I'm kind of sore from the surgery, but I'm fine. How was your surgery?"

"It was good, I guess. I have a lot of feelings going on in my body right now so don't even ask about that." he laughed.

   After that, there was an awkward silence. Neither of us had anything to say. We sat there, staring at each other until the other one looked up, causing us to look away.

"I guess I should get ready to leave," I said, breaking the silence.

"Bye," he replied, "I love you."

I grinned, "I love you too."

   I walked back to my room, put on my normal clothes, and got ready to leave.

"I'm going to go out to the car. I'll be waiting in front of the building near the door. I'll honk." Charlotte was acting just like Bobby. She seemed very different since last night, but in a sad kind of way. I had to find out what was going on.

   In the car, I watched Charlotte carefully. I studied her face to see if I could find any trace of anything. All I could see in her was sadness. Nothing was giving their secret away.

"I've had enough of these secrets, Charlotte. Tell me what's going on and why you and Bobby are acting strange." I bursted out. I knew she wasn't going to tell me, but it was worth a shot.

"It isn't my place to tell you. I promised someone I would let them tell you what's going on. Trust me on this one, Arlene." she replied. Who was she talking about? It couldn't have been Bobby. I already knew Bobby had a place in this secret and I made that obvious, so she would've just told me it was him who wanted to tell me.

   Before Charlotte even parked the car when we arrived at the house, I jumped out. I was excited to be in the house again. When I walked inside, there was a big welcome sign hanging from the ceiling. They were throwing a party. I turned the lights on and everyone jumped out.

"Surprise!" Charles and Candice jumped out of their hiding places and scared me, even though I was expecting it. Even in the house something seemed strange. Everyone was so gloomy and depressed.

"We're glad to have you home, Arlene!" Candice pulled me into a hug.

"I'm glad to finally be out of that hospital!" I smiled.

"How are you feeling?" Charles asked.

"I feel fine," I replied. "I'm gonna go up to my room. Candice, come with me?"

Candice made a weird face at me, but followed anyways. I sat on my bed and Candice sat down beside me.

"Why is everyone acting so weird?" I asked.

"I can't tell you,"

"Candice," I turned towards her, "Look at me. Is it about Bobby?"

She nodded.

"Is he okay?" I was going to pry it out of this girl, no matter what it took.

Candice started tearing up. I closed the door quietly and sat back down.

"No," tears started pouring down her face. "He's not."

I pulled her closer to me and hugged her. At this point, I didn't even want to know what was going on.

"I need you to tell me what's going on. Is Bobby going to die?"

"Yes," she whispered. "They don't know how much time he has left. He's going to die, Arlene, and there's nothing they can do about it."

Candice started crying hard.

"It's okay, he'll be fine. Dry your eyes. God's got this, okay?" I pulled her away from me so I could see her face. She nodded and wiped the tears off her face.

"What if he dies?" she was clearly more worried than I was.

"He won't die until it's his time. God is in control." I put my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm just so worried. He's my brother. If anything happens to him, I won't be able to handle it." Candice sighed.

"Nothing will happen to Bobby. I'm worried too, but you just have to trust that whatever happens is in God's plan for all of us. If you trust God, you'll put this in His hands."

"It's not as simple as that. He's my brother. He's been there for me through everything, and if he dies, then I have no one." she started crying again.

"I know it's hard, but I have a peace about this. I don't think he's gonna die." I replied. "If you ever wanna talk about this, I'm here for you. Don't bottle up any feelings, because it'll just make you feel worse."

"Thank you, Arlene. If anyone finds out about me telling you, I'm dead, okay?"

"If we have to tell, we will. Don't lie about it." I replied.

Just then, a car pulled up in the driveway. Candice looked out the window then said, "Bobby's home."