The Brain Transplant

c h a p t e r | t w o

"I'll stand by you. I'll stand by you. Won't let nobody hurt you. I'll stand by you." - The Pretenders

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Recap

"You only have two months left to live."

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I froze up, letting what Doctor Mark just said sink in. Then I immediately started choking on my own saliva. Not the subtle choking where you can kind of hide it in the back of your throat. Oh no, I was full on choking. Coughing loudly and panting. I was a whole mess. Once I caught my breath, I spoke up.

"W-what does this m-mean?" I already knew what this meant, though. I mean, when somebody tells you you have two months left to live, it's pretty self explanatory. I will die in two months.

"Day, it means that you will only live for two months." Mark said softly, like I was a piece of China that would break very easily. "The cancer has spread all throughout your brain, and it will kill you."

I sighed and looked down. In the stories, when you read about people hearing bad news, they normally make a big deal out of it. But right now, I felt calm. I didn't feel sad, or scared. It was almost like I had been expecting this all along. "Should I call my father to come home?"

Mark nodded and I stood up to grab my phone. The phone rang three times before he picked up. I was kind of nervous as to how he would react when he got home.

"What is it, darling? Are you okay?"

Would he get sad when he heard the news?

"Um, yes dad. I'm great. I just need you to come home. Please."

I sounded pathetic. He obviously knows somethings up.

"Is it urgent, or can it wait? I'm a bit busy with some business things, darling."

I don't know, is my death urgent? Or can it wait?

"It's urgent dad. The results to my most recent tests from the doctor came in."

Yes, guilt your busy, single father into coming home by mentioning your doctor and test results. Perfect.

I heard him sigh on the other end.

"Okay darling. I'll be home shortly."

He hung up and I put my phone in my pocket. I walked back over to the couch Mark was sitting on and rubbed my face. I've been sighing a lot lately, it just sort of comes out naturally.

"Everything is going to be okay, Day. He'll be glad you told him to come home early once he hears the news." Doctor Mark wasn't only my doctor, he was like my 37 year old friend, too.

"I know," I sighed for the thousandth time today. "But he might be more stressed out with work and dealing with his dying daughter. He's a busy man, Mark. He runs a high end company and has a lot of work to do. I feel bad, he's been very stressed lately."

I look down at my hands, and Mark grabs them. He then stands me up and hugs me. I relax a little. "Day, he knew that when he took this job offer, he was going to be busy." Mark sat me back down on the couch. "He made the choice to take care of you and deal with a stressful job, but he's a hard working man. He knows how to deal with two things at once. Don't ever feel bad about getting in his way, he loves you and wants you to be happy. He would gladly put down anything he's doing to be with you." Mark gives me a smile and I smile back. Then the door opened and in walked my father. His black hair was messy and his eyes looked tired. I instantly looked down at my lap, feeling tears brim in my eyes. Mark rubbed my back and stood up.