“Um, what do you mean by bad news?” I whispered.
Sighing, the doctor pulled up a chair and sat down, “As I’m sure you’re well aware, the fact that Georgia has cancer complicates th….”
“Wait what?” I demanded.
“Oh my, she never told you?” he said slowly, “She’s had it for close to ten years.”
“Oh,” I whispered, “Um, no, she…. She never mentioned it.”
Looking uncomfortable the doctor sighed, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have a lot of time so I’m just going to have to ask you this now, I’m sorry, but there really isn’t any way for us to save Georgia and the baby, you’ll have to choose.”
“What?” Michael cried, next to me.
“You can’t make him do that!” Calum said.
“I’m afraid I have to.” The doctor sighed, “As her boyfriend, it’s up to you?”
“You can’t make him choose!” Lou cried, “That is ridiculous!”
“Well if he doesn’t, we’ll lose them both.” The doctor snapped.
Closing my eyes I tried to keep the tears in, however they leaked out anyway.
“Ashton?” the doctor pressed.
“Can I… can I talk to her?” I whispered.
“Of course.” He sighed, rising to his feet, “Follow me.”
“It’ll be okay Ashton.” Destiny reassured me, before the waiting room doors swung closed.
I then followed the doctor down several identical looking hallways before he stopped outside a room.
“She’s in there.” He sighed, “I’ll give you two minutes.”
Nodding, I took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Inside, I found Georgia laying in a bed so large it seemed to swallow her, looking small, pathetic, sad, and to my surprise, bald.
“Ashton!” she cried, “What are you doing here?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, ignoring her question.
“I didn’t want your sympathy.” She mumbled, looking down, “I wanted you to treat me normal.”
“So what was the plan Georgia? You just pretend everything is okay until one day you die out of nowhere?”
“No,” she sighed, “I was going to tell you.”
“Were you?”
“No.”
Sighing, I crossed over to her and sat in the chair beside her bed.
“I’m sorry.” I murmured.
“Me too.” She mumbled, “But I want you to do something for me okay?”
“What, anything.” I replied.
“I want you to choose the baby.”
“What? No! I can’t do that! I don’t know the first thing about babies! Well, actually I do from Lauren and Harry, but I’m not ready to be a dad yet I can’t…..”
“Ashton,” she sighed, “My Dad and his girlfriend, give it to them.”
“But, what about you?” I asked, my voice cracking.
“What about me?” she sighed, “I’m not your girlfriend Ashton, I’m some bimbo you got stuck with to fix your career.”
“No you’re not.” I whispered, “You’re my friend.”
Tearing up, she looked at the ceiling, “I’m gonna die anyway Ash.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am, I have a year left, maybe two, tops and that’s being optimistic. You were right, what if this kid saves Orangutans, or wins an Oscar or is a really awesome drummer like the guy that saved her.”
“I can’t kill you.” I whispered.
“You’re not.” She replied, taking my hand, “I’m asking you to help me, save my Baby okay. I would never forgive you if you choose me.”
Wiping my eyes I took a deep breath, “I’m going to miss you.”
“Be with Destiny.” She replied, “She loves you and you love her.”
“I’m never going to forget you.” I mumbled.
Suddenly the door swung open and the doctor strode in, time’s up, have you made a decision?
“Yeah,” I whispered.
~
“She looks like you.”
“Luke, how can she look like him it’s not his.”
“I don’t know, they have the same nose, and she has ET fingers.”
“I think she’s adorable.”
“She has Georgia’s eyes.” Destiny mumbled.
Slowly, so as not to disturb the infant in my arms, I pulled the tiny, ‘I do what I want, I’m punk rock’ hat Luke had gotten for her at the baby shower, lower on her head, to cover her tiny ears.
“She’s so tiny.” Calum whispered, “Are all baby’s that small?”
“No,” Gemma snapped, “She’s two months early!”
“Why isn’t she in one of those in cooperators?” Luke asked.
“An incubator?” Calum sighed.
“Yeah that!” Luke cried.
“Shush!” Gemma cried.
Looking down at the baby I watched her contemplate crying but decide against it. Smiling, I adjusted the humorously small, thread thin cannula in her nose, carefully avoiding the IV in her head.
"So have you decided on a name yet?" the nurse asked, who was hovering over me, watching me like a hawk like she expected me to chuck the baby at the wall.
"Yeah, I think so." I replied.
"What is it?" she asked, removing a pen from her pocket and crossing over to the birth Certificate.
"Charlotte Georgia Irwin."
"That's a lovely name." she replied, jotting it down.
Smiling, I leaned down, gently kissing her on the forehead, smelling her new baby smell, for the last time before she would be taken away.
~
"She's going to kill me."
"Ashton it'll be okay, I promise." Destiny sighed, squeezing my hand reasuringly as we stood outside the door of Caroline's office.
"Thanks for coming with me." I mumbled.
"Of course." she replied, kissing my cheek, "I wouldn't let you face this bitch alone.
Sighing, I started forward to head inside when the door swung open infront of us. Startled I jumped back, narrolwy avoiding bumping into Caroline and the steaming cup of star bucks in her hand.
"Ashton." she snapped, "You're late."
"Yeah, sorry." I mumbled, "I um.... had a panic attack in the car."
"Why?" she laughed, starting away from us and snapping her fingers, indicating Destiny and I follow after.
"Because he was terrified of you bithc ass." Destiny grumbled.
"What's that?" Caroline asked.
"I said....."
"No reason!" I replied, shooting Destiny a warning look, "Um, where are we going?"
“I have a meeting to squash this Larry Stylinson bull shit.” She spat, “I’ll talk to you then drop you off at your hotel on the way.”
“We’re getting in your car?” Destiny demanded, “This is kidnapping!”
Rolling her eyes, Caroline, snatched her keys off her receptions’ desk.
“I’ll be back by four Amy.” She sighed.
“Have a nice day Mrs…..”
“Get back to work Amy.”
Amy sunk back into her seat as Caroline led us through a revolving glass door, through the parking lot to an expensive looking, sports car. Getting in she slammed the door closed behind her before hitting the unlock button twice.
“Well get in.” she snapped.
Awkwardly opening the door, I held it open for Destiny and waited for her to slide into the back seat before getting in behind her.
“Buckle up.” Caroline sighed, putting on a pair of massive sunglasses, “That’s the last thing I need for a pap to catch you driving without a seatbelt.”
Flipping off Caroline to the back of her head, Destiny, ignored her, sitting Indian style on the seat.
“Buckle up.” I whispered.
“Shut up.” She whispered back.
Sighing, I buckled my own seatbelt then reached across for hers however she swatted my hand away.
“So,” Caroline sighed, pulling out of the parking lot, “Where do I even begin?”
“By making Ashton feel like complete and utter shit and tearing him down until he feels like the insignificant beetle you are inside.” Destiny snapped.
“Destiny!” I cried.
“No, no, it’s fine.” Caroline laughed, “I was young once and overly obsessed with a boy.”
“I’m not overly obsessed.”
“Really?”
“Can we just talk about what we have to and get this over with?” I sighed.
“Gladly.” Caroline replied, “So the girlfriend, I genuinely was sorry to hear about that. Good call keeping the baby though, that couldn’t have gotten messy if you had decided differently. Although you shouldn’t have given it to her parents so quickly, you should have at least taken some pics, but what are we gonna do now. I will commence you on your name choice though. Luke’s late girlfriend, mother’s name and your last name, very bold but very touching, ignorant teenage girls will eat tha…..”
“His fans aren’t ignorant.” Destiny snapped.
“Oh, I’m sorry, the brilliant genius who obsess over four boys they don’t know.”
“Lady, where you not hugged as a child?”
“Destiny!” I cried.
“As a matter of fact I wasn’t.” Caroline snapped, “So believe it or not I know what it’s like to be sad, which is why I’m making it my personal mission not to let you break your fans hearts, but if you want to parade around like a crack snorting 90s rock God, then be my guest!”
“What?” I asked.
“You heard me.” She replied, “But don’t you dare come crying to me when you have no fans! These girls need something to hold onto, and believe it or not I am trying to give them that! Maybe if you didn’t make it so damn difficult for me I’d do a better job!”
“I…I um, didn’t look at it like that before.” I mumbled.
“No I’m sure you didn’t.” she snapped, “No one ever does. What did you think my sole purpose in life was to make you miserable?”
“Kind of.” I admitted.
“Well,” she sighed, sniffing, “This is not about me. This is about you. I think you need to tweet how grateful you are for your supportive fans and how they’ve gotten you through this tough time.”
“That’s it?”
“I mean, I’d wait a month or so before going public with Destiny but other than that, what did you think I was going to ask you to do, take a five month break and become a recluse?”
“I don’t know, maybe.” I mumbled.
“Just don’t throw any wild parties for a minute, act appreciative and kind of sad that’s about it.”
“Okay.” I mumbled.
We then continued on in silence, apart from some song about a guy wanting someone to give him love playing on the radio, and then it happened. Our hotel was a block away, we were driving though a intersection, the light had just turned green. I looked out my window just in time to see the large Hummer run a red light.
Then there was a blinding light, a crunching of metal, a scream, and everything went white.
Okay, QOTD
Georgia did you like her or not?
Caroline Like a or hate
and
Charlie love or despise?
Let me know.
THanks for reading. <3