❦ WINNER OF THE RIVETING WRITING CONTEST ❦
OLIVER IS DYING
With only months left to live at just seventeen, Oliver spends his remaining days of endless tests and debilitating drugs in the St. Andrews paediatrics ward planning his impending funeral...
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SO, I checked out for the day legally this time. I signed myself out all by myself like the big boy I am, rather than sneaking out through the cafeteria's back door.
The plan wasn't to run into Nick on my way out. The plan was to meet my mother at our favourite pizza place on her lunch break; she was pretty surprised when she got the call that I was finally leaving the hospital for the day for the first (official) time in a couple years.
Nick's face lights up when he sees me heading for the door. "Hey!"
I beamed a little too brightly. "Nick! Going to see Frankie?"
"Yeah. She wants me to sit in while she gets her chemo done."
"Ah, yeah, that's not fun."
He looks at his watch. "She told me she's not expected to go in for another hour and a half."
I angle my head slightly. I can see where this is going, and so does my heart as it thumps wildly in my chest like galloping horses.
"You heading out?" he asks me.
"Uh, yeah," I answer with a delay. "I'm having lunch with my mom. She's on break in an hour."
A lopsided smile curls to the right of his perfect lips. "You know, there's this amazing ice cream parlor on Santa Monica pier. They do the best double chocolate brownie gelato in the city."
He gestures to the exit with his head and raised brows. "Do you want to, uh—"
"Yeah," I cut him off. "Sounds like fun."
A wide grin brightens his face. "Great."
He opens the door, walks out, and holds it wide for me.
"Is it bad that I've never had gelato?" I ask as I step out.
"Yes. Yes, it is."
I follow Nick to the bus stop outside of the hospital and we wait for it to arrive. I can see Nick still trying to hide his shock when I told him I'd never ridden one before. Even when I wasn't so sick, my parents wouldn't let me use public transport; they've always been really funny about it.
Geronimo's Gelato is on the beach front of Santa Monica. It opens up right onto the sand, the ocean creeping up the shoreline onto the golden land.
The number of flavors is overwhelming, there were too many choices: Belgian chocolate, tiramisu, pistachio, red velvet cake, cookies and cream, burnt caramel and pecan, maple pancake, espresso.
I went with peanut butter fudge with choc-chips. Nick went with the double chocolate brownie he'd talked about.
We step out of the parlor lobby and onto the sand, spooning gelato into our mouths and watching the surfers brave the mounting waves.
I dig my toes into the sand.
It's been years since I've been to the beach. I've hated the idea of going when I got admitted to Tombstone. I didn't want to be in a place that's as bright and beautiful and full of life as this.
