~*Sophie's POV*~
I woke up with a horrible headache and a pain in my chest. I turn to see if Max was still in bed, and he wasn't. He must be in the shower. I try to sit up but the pain in my chest is so unbearable I lay back down and stay that way. I hear the water for the shower turn off and I hear Max get out. I try to get up again and this time I scream because it hurts so bad. Max comes running out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. If I weren't in so much pain right now I would probably be even more thankful for this.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked with so much concern and worry. I don't want him to know how much pain I'm in.
"Nothing, just thought I saw a spider, that's all." I said. I hope he bought it. His facial expression didn't change. "Honestly, I'm fine." I said. He looked at me like he didn't believe me.
"Try and sit up." He said. He looked and sounded serious. He could see right through me. So, I tried to sit up as best I could. It hurt like hell, but I didn't make a sound and I tried to hide the pain in my face. I don't think it worked though, he still looked at me like I was some kind of zombie.
"Ok so lets try this again, what's wrong?" I don't know how its possible, but he sounded even more serious this time. Who am I kidding, I cant hold all of this in for forever. I am in so much pain, its not even worth it anymore.
I let out a breath of surrender. "So, I have this pain in my chest, and when I try to sit up, it just gets even worse. I don't know what it is, but it showed up last night before I went to sleep." I said. He looked even more concerned now. I hate doing this to people, I hate making them feel like they have to care and like they have to make me feel better.
"I'm sorry Max." I said. He looked at me with a puzzled look.
"Sorry for what?" He asked.
"For making you feel like this. You don't have to worry about me or care like this. I don't want to be unneeded stress in your life." I told him. He looked like he was about to cry.
"What would ever make you think any of that? I know I don't have to worry about you, but I want to, I know I only met you like 3 weeks ago, but you already mean more to me than you could possibly imagine. And don't ever feel like you are added stress, because you aren't and you never will be, you handle all of this really well and you deserve a little help every once in a while." He said with a very serious voice. He is so sweet. I cant help myself so I lean over and kiss him. It takes him a minuet to realize what I'm doing, but then he kisses me back with a very passionate feeling. "Wait, what about the pain?" He asked, concerned.
"I can handle it to kiss you." I said with a small smile. He looked at me and his face lit up a little bit. Then all seriousness went back into his face.
"You still need to go to see the doctor though." He said.
"I know, let me get dresses and then we can go." I said. I started to get up out of the bed and the pain came right back, even harder this time. I just held in the scream I so badly wanted to let out and got up. I walked over to my closet and just stood there for a minuet. I turned around and Max was just watching me.
"What?" I said in a quiet voice.
"Nothing. Just making sure you're okay." He said.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just trying to pick a shirt." I said. I was so bad at lying. He could tell I wasn't okay, and the worst part, so did I.
"Okay, well I will leave you to get dressed, just holler if you need me." He said. He got up to leave, but before he could make it to the door, I stopped him. I reached up and planted a delicate kiss on his mouth.
"Thank you, for everything." I said. He just nodded with a small smile and then left. I reach in my closet and grabbed a big red sweater and a pair of leggings. I put them on, threw up my hair, and started to go downstairs. I had to stop for a second. Who would have guessed that walking and going down the stairs would hurt so much. I start again and go really slow. Max sees me and comes to where I am on the stairs.
"Are you okay to be doing this? If not, I can carry you." He said.
"I'm fine, really. And thanks for the offer, but I think I can do this." I said with shaky confidence.
"Okay, but I'm right here if you need me." He said. He is so sweet, it's hard to imagine that he tries to be a bad boy. I finally make it down the stairs and I am in so much pain. He leads me out to the car and we leave.
~*~
I'm sitting on the table in the doctors office in this awful paper towel gown waiting for my test results. The doctor took ultrasounds and more blood work to see if he can find anything. I've been waiting for about 20 minuets and he finally comes back in. He has a pale color to his face and looks very worried.
"So, is everything okay?" I asked. I was a little antsy now.
"Well, Miss Maxwell, I hate to tell you this but last time you were in we diagnosed you with the wrong thing." He said. His voice was sad, shaky, and a little scared.
"So...what is wrong with me?" I asked.
"Well, you have a heart disease, unfortunately. Fortunately, since you are so young, we have been able to put you at the top of the list for a heart transplant. Unfortunately, we don't have any hearts available at the time being." He said. I can't believe what is happening right now. My whole world is crashing down. How am I supposed to tell my dad.
"So, what do I do now?" Was all I could say. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.
"Well, first we need to notify your dad and-" I cut him off.
"No! We can't tell my dad." I said with worry.
"Well I'm sorry Sophie but you're still a minor and it's against the law to keep this information from him, I'm sorry." He said. When he said that my heart sank. How is my dad ever going to forgive me? I can't do this to my dad.
"Can you at least wait until he gets home?" I asked. At least that way he wouldn't have to come home early. This is the worst way life could go.
"Of course Sophie. But I do have to tell him. I'm sorry." He said. He sounded very sincere.
"Of course, I understand. Thank you." I said. I was ready to get out of here.
"Well, I will let you get dressed and I will be back to lead you out." He said. Thank gosh, I can leave.
~*Max's POV*~
I'm worried about Sophie. I don't know what to expect when she walks out of that door. Is it going to be the cancer spreading, or could it be another problem? I am freaking out, I can only imagine what she's going through right now. She just walked through the door and I jumped out of my seat. It must have been bad, because this is the first time I have been able to tell that she is actually worried and scared.
"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked. Wow, I didn't know my voice could ever be that shaky. She looked at me and just shook her head no.
"Nothing can ever be okay again." She said. She started to walk out of the office. When we got to the car she turned towards me and hugged me. She hugged me for a very long time. Her shoulders were moving up and down ever so slightly like she was crying. I looked down at her and she looked up at me. She was crying.
"Sophie, what happened?" I asked. She sniffled.
"Well, I, no longer, have cancer," she said while hiccuping. "But instead, I, have, a, heart disease." She said. Then she went back to crying on my chest. How to even comprehend this, I don't know, but I do know that I need to stay strong for Sophie, she can only do it for so long.
"Hey, Sophie. Look at me. Yeah it's bad, but it can be fixed, right?" I asked her. Probably not the best thing to say to her, but it's something. She looked up.
"Yeah, I'm at the top of the list for a heart transplant. When they will have one, they don't know." She said.
"Well hey, top of the list, you can't argue with that. Why are you so upset?" I asked her. I mean, I would be upset too, but top of the list? Why be this sad?
"Because, my dad. He is going to be so upset at me. And what happens if this transplant doesn't work? Then I'll be gone and he'll have no one." She said. She moved away and got in the car.
"He won't be upset at you. You didn't do anything wrong. And don't think it won't work, there is almost a 90% chance this will work. Okay? Don't get too worried." I said. She looked a little better.
"Yeah I guess. I just don't want to upset my dad, that's all." She said. She is so worried about her dad. I wonder why?
"Sophie, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so worried about your dad being upset with you?" I asked. Her body got tense and her breath caught in her throat. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I told her. She looked at me.
"It's fine Max. I will tell you, but just know that have never really told anyone this except for Mia, when she was around." She paused. I think she was waiting for a response, so I just gave her a nod.
"Got it, won't say a word." I said. She relaxed a little and gave a little smile.
"Okay, thanks," she paused. "So, last year, my sister, Grace, was at my moms house. My mom is a bit stupid in her own little ways. So, Grace and my mom were driving to the store and my mom was goofing off in the front seat, as usual, and she wasn't paying attention to the road. She looked at my sister and bang, they drive into a ditch. My dad was devastated and very upset at my mom. My dad said if anything ever happened to me he wouldn't know what to do. He said it would kill him. So I'm scared to tell him when I'm hurt or sick or anything like that. I just don't want him to have to go through that pain again." She said. Wow, she has gone through a lot. No wonder she hides everything.
"Wow, I can understand now. But Sophie, that doesn't mean you need to keep all this stuff from your dad. It would probably hurt him even more if one day you just died and he didn't know why, you get what I'm saying?" I asked. It sounded bad, but it was true.
"Yeah, I get what you're saying." She said. She sounded defeated, so I know I did my job. When we pull into her driveway there is another car parked there. Sophie tenses up.
"What is it?" I asked her in panic.
All she said was, "It's my dads car."