Grace POV
January 22, 2015
The strain I put on myself yesterday is taking its toll on me. I'm beginning to lose feeling in my arms now. I try not to tell Cody. Cody sits across the room from me with James' journal clutched to him.
"Cody?" I whisper.
He doesn't answer.
"Cody, please. I'm loosing my voice."
"I know."
I know? I know?
"Cody, I don't know how much time we have left and," I broke out into another coughing fit.
Now I had lost my voice, too.
He walks over.
"Grace?"
I can't answer him. The hopelessness of my situation overcomes me and I start crying silent tears.
"Grace, I'm sorry! Please keep talking."
I can't.
He probably thinks it's all his fault, too.
By the time the evening comes, I am exhausted. I can't keep my eyes open. They droop and eventually I let them stay closed. A pounding in my brain starts. It feels like daggers in the back of my head. In my head I make a note to myself.
7-TalkingMy thoughts trail now. I know my time is coming soon. Cody stays by my side. I fall asleep to the beeping sound of the heart monitor they have put on me.
1-22-15
Cody POV
Grace lies on her bed staring at the ceiling. Or at least I thinks she is. Her eyes look out of focus, it's almost as if she is looking through the ceiling. I stare at the floor in a trance. I feel so numb. James died yesterday, why don't I feel sad? I feel betrayed. I feel disappointed. What was he feeling when he was dying? Free. Peaceful. Happy, even?
I hear his voice.
"Cody. I wanted this," he says.
"I know," I tell him.
Then I hear Grace's voice.
"Cody, I don't know how much time we have left and-"
She coughs very hard and then stops talking.
I walk over to her.
"Grace?"
She looks at me with tearful eyes.
"Grace, I'm sorry! Please keep talking," I plead.
That was it. She lost her voice. Her beautiful voice would never bless my ears again.
This was all my fault.
Her eyes closed in the next few hours. I thought she was dead but the heart monitor kept beeping. I stayed up all night watching the heart monitor. One thought was stuck in my head.This is all my fault.
YOU ARE READING
The Fourth Notebook
Teen FictionFour teens, one hospital. Meet Cody, Grace, James, and Emma. Each is in the long term ward for different reasons. Grace is afflicted with brain tumors. Cody is a drug addict. James is suicidal. And Emma? Well for now I'll tell you she's... special. ...