madison's pov
I woke up unusually late to knocking on my bedroom door. I tossed my comforter to the side, wiping the sleep from my eyes and sliding off my bed to see who it was. The door seemed heavier than normal, my arm feeling weak. I frowned, wondering when my body began to feel this way.
"Kiddo, are you alright?" my dad asked, standing in the doorway.
"Huh?" I blinked at him, my hand slipping from the door back down to my side.
"I came to check on you since you didn't come upstairs for breakfast. I'm about to head to the shop, but mom has the day off today."
HIs words sounded off and seemed far away as my body began to feel weaker. I started to feel hot, extremely hot. I needed to sit, so I fell to a heap on the ground in front of my dad. I wiped the sweat that had started to form on my forehead away.
"Maddie!" he yelled as he kneeled beside me, gathering me in his arms. "Caroline! Get down here!" I heard him call for my mom as my eyes drooped closed.
**********
I could hear voices, but I couldn't make out who they belonged to. They were talking about me in hushed whispers. I'm not sure if I even knew who they were. I tried to open up my eyes, but I didn't have the strength. I felt stronger than I did before, but I just wanted to sleep. The voices stopped talking a few moments later and I heard their footsteps. They got farther away and I'm pretty sure they left the room.
Where was I? Surely, this wasn't my bedroom. I heard more footsteps, this time they got closer to me and stopped right next to me. The person grabbed for my hand and I let them hold onto it, I didn't have the strength to flinch away.
"Kiddo? I'm here," the person sighed. I recognized the voice as my dad's, but it was strained like he was tired and stressed.
I wanted to tell him that I was fine, that I was just tired but my mouth wasn't working. I felt like I was in a coma, but I knew that wasn't the case. This couldn't be what a coma felt like. The door opened again and I heard heels clack against the tile floor.
"How is she?" my mother's whiny voice asked.
"Her vitals are stable, but the doctors want to keep her for now. They think the cancer could be getting worse," my dad told her while stroking my hand with his thumb. I was sure he thought I couldn't hear him.
calum's pov
I couldn't get it out of my head that I was still fighting with Ashton and ditched him to hang out with Michael. I really did have a great time at Michael's though and we had a lot in common, like music and FIFA. I just wish I hadn't yelled at Ashton and stormed out on him. I also got the feeling that Madison was mad at me and how I rushed out on her. She wasn't returning my texts and I even tried calling her a couple times. I didn't want to keep bothering her and I felt she would talk to me after she cooled down. As I drove to the hospital for my shift, I couldn't help but think that I was losing the things that mattered the most to me.
"Hey, Calum," my boss Lisa said to me as I clocked in.
"HI," I smiled to her, trying to put on a happy front. I went over to the assignment sheet and found that I was on clean-up duty today. I frowned at the list and went to get my supplies. After cleaning out five or so rooms I noticed a little boy wandering down the hallway.
"Hey, buddy. Are you lost?" I asked him, kneeling down in front of him setting my bucket of supplies on the ground. He nodded shyly, his brown curls a mess atop his head. "Do you know who you're here to see?" The boy looked vaguely familiar and I couldn't place where I had seen him before.
"Mads," the little boy said and then it hit me. This was Madison's little brother, which meant Madison was in the hospital. My body was frozen for a moment as the worst case scenarios ran through my head. It took me a few minutes for the shock to wear off and to remember the boy standing before me.
"Ok," I said, standing up and grabbing his hand. "Let's go find your sister."
"She's gonna be ok, right?" he asked, looking up at me.
I swallowed, thinking about what to tell this boy. "Yeah, bud. Madison is going to be just fine," I told him, trying to convince myself more than him.
madison's pov
The room was silent now except for breathing, my parents and mine. My mom and dad haven't talked in about a half hour and they could be napping, but I'm not sure since I have yet to open my eyes. I wonder where Caleb is. He must be at daycare since I haven't heard him talk at all. A knock at the door makes my body jump ever so slightly and I hear the door open.
"Hi. I have a little boy for you here," I hear a different voice say and I recognize it as one that I love.
"Calum," fell from my lips, without my control, but no one noticed. I slowly try to open my eyes and twist my head in his direction.
"Oh my goodness! Caleb," my mom dashed forward and scooped my little brother up in her arms. "Baby, are you alright? Thank you so much for finding him."
"No problem, ma'am," Caleb told her with a nod. "He was wandering the halls. Make sure to keep your eye on him." My eyes find Calum's and he winked at me, knowing that I enjoyed his dig at my mom.
"I didn't even know you brought him, Caroline," my dad scolded her.
She rolled her eyes at him and sat down on the padded bench with Caleb in her lap.
"She's up!" my dad announced, rushing to my bedside. "How are you feeling, kiddo?"
"Tired," I told him as he wrapped his arms around my small, fragile body.
"I'm just so happy you're doing alright, Maddie. I don't know what I would do if you weren't. We're gonna give you some time to rest alone, but we'll be back a bit later ok?"
"Ok. I love you," I gave him a weak smile as he got up to leave with my mom and Caleb, Calum holding the door for him. He was about to walk out after them, but I said, "Wait."
"Yeah, Madison?"
"Come here."
He walked over, hesitantly and took a seat in the chair my dad had pulled over to the bed. He was dressed in his blue scrubs that I thought actually looked good on him. He ran a hand through his hair. "Shit, Madison," he said under his breath. "I had no way of knowing you were here or what happened to you. I still don't even know what happened to you. I only know because your mom was careless and I found your brother in the hallway."
"I love you," I told him, reaching out for his hand the best I could in my state. He held onto it, lacing his fingers in mine.
"I love you more than anything, Madison," he whispered, kissing my hand.
"Come back after your shift?" I asked, looking into his warm brown eyes.
"I wouldn't want to do anything else with my time." He stood and gave me a soft kiss on the forehead before fixing my blanket and straightening my pillows. He looked at me longingly from the doorway as he left to finish his shift and I knew that I would have the hardest time leaving this earth because I loved this boy with all of my heart.
I'm about to cry in the coffee shop writing this oh my god. please vote/comment. xx zoe
