remember me

chapter one

He looked at her as she stared down at her phone wondering what he did to win a girl so beautiful. 

Her long eyelashes batted and every time, her green eyes would sparkle. Her perfect round lips and her gorgeous smile. In his eyes, she was perfection. The girl of his dreams. He made his way over to her and placed a kiss on her forehead and hugged her from behind. 

"Whatcha doin'?" He asks. 

"Theres going to be a country fest near us soon and I have to take you. Tickets are only 50 bucks" She looked at him and flashed him a smile and he could feel his heart explode. They've been together for over 2 years and she still manages to make him nervous and make him fall in love with her all over again. Eli hates country but he forces himself to love it to make her happy. 

"correction, ill be taking you." He says as he spins her around and places his lips on hers. He backs away and looks into her deep green eyes. He can see her pain. She was good at hiding it but he knew how much pain she was enduring. "So what did Chad say at your doctors appointment?" 

"Can you stop calling my cancer doctor Chad." She says with a laugh. "He said that chemo next time is gonna be a little stronger and I told him to bring it on. Hey, promise me that you'll become a country sensation the moment I-" 

"I'm not allowing you to finish that sentence Bella Marie." Eli says, letting go of Bella. He walks into the kitchen and goes into the medicine cabinet, grabbing 4 medicine containers and taking out a pill from each one. He places them into a little cup and then pours water into a plastic cup. He walks over to Bella who was starting to get pale. Her bronzed skin had turned white as a sheet of paper. She loses her balance and crashes onto the couch. 

"Bella!" Ely runs over to her, dropping the water and pills onto the ground and holds her in his arms. "You're okay. You're okay baby." He says, holding his tears back. 

"I don't feel too good." She says as she takes off her head wrap. Eli ran his hand through the little hair she had left and pulled her head close to his chest. He laid her down on the couch and placed a blanket over her cold, shivering body. Eli gently places her head on her favorite pillow and kisses her forehead. He gets up and frantically goes to the bathroom and pulls out his phone. His fingers have never dialed a phone number quicker. 

"Hello?" 

"Mrs. Amaro?" Eli says with a shaky voice. "Bella isn't doing so well and I need you to please come home." 

"I'm on my way, sweetie." She hangs up the phone and Eli goes back into the living room. He knew that bringing her home from the hospital would be a bad idea. Theres not nurses to help her. 

"I did not just hear you call my mom." Bella says as she sits up from the couch. Eli looks over at her and she looks at him with a smile. He sees as she struggles to get up. He walks over to her and hold her arm. "Eli, I'm not gonna let this kill me and you know that. Im too stubborn to leave." 

"I know, beautiful. but you also need to understand that I worry. As your boyfriend, I worry a fuck ton about you. You are and will always be the best thing that has every happened to me and babe, the thought of losing you just-"

"you won't ever lose me." they make it to her room and Eli lays her down on her bed. Eli props her head on a stack of pillows and covers her with a quilt that her grandma made her. He then grabs the purple duffle bag and starts to pack her clothes and her toothbrush. All the hospital necessities. "Cant you just let this slide? Im fine. I feel fine." 

"No. Doctor said that if anything like that happens, we have to go back. Im not risking anything." Eli grabs her nail polishes and places them into the small pocket. He starts to grab her magazines and books.

"Eli," 

he grabs her slippers and her favorite head wrap,

"Eli?" 

He grabs her coloring books and her colored pencils,

"Eli stop!" Eli drops the book and the pencils all collapse onto the ground. "Please just stop! Can you take a deep breath. Please." 

Eli sits down on the bed and put his back facing Bella. The tears then start slowly pouring out of his eyes and soon enough he was crying into his hands. 

The doctor had told him that this doctor visit would be her last. Her cancer was too advanced and the moment the medicine stopped working, she only had a couple more weeks left. 

His cry grew louder. 

he hated when she took naps. 

he hated whenever she would zone out. 

he hated whenever she would trip over nothing. 

he hated whenever he would lose her balance. 

maybe hated is not the word but he feared that in all of those situations, the love of his life would be taken from him. and the thought of losing her, killed him.