DAYS REMAINING: 1
THINGS HAD TAKEN A TURN for the worst in the middle of Tuesday night. Luna Crawford had become so sick that her mother decided it was time to take her to the hospital. There was only so much that they could do, but at least they could make Luna more comfortable as she awaited her dreadful fate.
Hospitals surprisingly were one of Luna's favorite places to be. When she was younger, her dream job was to become a pediatric nurse at the very hospital she was now admitted to. The desire to help people and cure them from their illnesses was something she thought was so amazing that all she ever dreamed of was becoming a nurse.
Now she would never get the chance to achieve her dream. Knowing this, hospitals didn't seem as favorable as she had once thought. The one thing she still favored was the hospital staff's hard work and dedication to making sure they did all they could for their patients, including Luna.
Luna woke up from her slumber to the steady sound of her heart rate monitor and gentle beeping of other machines she was hooked up to. Her head rolled to the side, adjusting to the soft light coming through the cracks in the shades, to find both her mother and boyfriend asleep in the chairs next to her bed.
Luna had no idea when Ricky got there because she hadn't even had the opportunity to tell him she was going to the hospital. It was a little hectic from being so sick to getting into the ambulance to being poked and prodded by hospital staff when she arrived. At the first calm moment, she decided she needed to sleep. It was her mother who made the call to Ricky when her daughter was asleep.
She decided against waking them up to let them know she was awake. They looked peaceful and unstressed as they slept. Her one desire was to keep it that way for as long as possible.
Instead, she reached for her iphone on her bedside table, deciding to text both Nini and Gina about where she was. They deserved to know, at the very least, since they both were aware of how her condition was worsening. She knew she wouldn't get a response since it was still quite early in the morning, and it was winter break so of course the girls would be sleeping in.
While Luna had busied herself playing solitaire on her phone, Ricky's head had become a victim to gravity, slowly sinking to the side until he nearly fell over in his chair due to the weight of his head. He instantly snapped upwards after his head dropped. His face showing his extreme tiredness and momentary confusion as to where he was. It took him a moment to rub his eyes before they settled on the girl whose focus was set on her phone.
"Luna!" He exclaimed, immediately receiving a shush in return from her as she snapped her head towards him, motioning to her sleeping mother next to him. Ricky mouthed a 'sorry' to her.
She motioned with her hand for him to come closer to her bed. He sat partly on the bed, which received a roll of her eyes before she motioned for him to actually lay next to her. He was afraid of hurting her, so he tried to be as gentle as possible when he was getting next to her. Ricky had taken in her appearance. Her skin looked pale and patchy, her breathing seemed a bit shallow, and she overall looked frail and vulnerable.
Ricky laid down next to her, allowing Luna to rest her head on his shoulder. "Hi," she whispered to him with a smile.
"Hi Lu," he whispered back, biting back a smile at her cute behavior. "How are you?"
She scoffed a little. "Clearly I'm doing amazing. That's why I ended up in this hospital." He nodded, feeling bad for asking. Ricky knew she had to have been feeling bad, he would be an idiot if he thought any differently. It was just the simple question that he thought she would be appreciative of him asking. Of course, he should of known her response would be sarcastic. How could he expect anything different from the brunette? The last thing he wanted was for her to be feeling any worse than she already was, so he instantly recoiled into himself, regretting even opening his mouth in the first place. Luna immediately picked up on his change in mood and tried to reassure him. "Okay, no. I'm actually doing a lot better now than when I first arrived here. Thank you for asking, Ric," she added, grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers.
He smiled slightly down at her. "Glad to hear that. I was so worried when your mom called me to tell me that you guys were at the hospital." Ricky squeezed her hand lightly.
Luna apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, nor did I want my mom to wake you up in the middle of the night like that."
He brushed it off, pressing a kiss to her head. "No, I'm glad she told me. Plus, I actually hadn't even gone to sleep yet. I was up making something for you actually."
Luna raised her head from his shoulder, looking into his chocolate brown eyes that twinkled in the light. "You were making me something?" She asked, amazed and flattered.
He nodded with a smile, "Want me to show you?" Immediately, she answered with a yes. "Let me go ask the nurse if it's okay if I take you down the hall for a few minutes."
While Ricky left the room to find a nurse, Luna decided it would be best if she woke her mother up to let her know that she would be leaving the room for a few minutes. The last thing she wanted was to freak her mom out if she woke up and the room was empty.
Luna sat up in her bed, calmly trying to wake her mom up by calling out, "Mom, hey mom, wake up." A startled Mrs. Crawford awoke from her sleep, immediately concerned that something happened.
"What? What happened? Something wrong?" The mother pestered, quickly moving to stand next to Luna's bed, concern etched on her face.
Her daughter offered her a reassuring smile. "No, everything's fine. Ricky made something for me, so we are going down the hall for a few minutes. I just didn't want you to worry if you saw us gone."
Mrs. Crawford let out a relieved sigh, "Goodness gracious, Luna, you had me so frightened!" She held a hand to her heart. "I guess if the nurse says it's okay, then go ahead, Luna. I think I might go get some breakfast and coffee from the cafeteria."
Luna nodded with a smile, right as Ricky walked in with a nurse and a wheelchair. Her nurse informed, "Good morning, Ms. Crawford. I'm Kendall, and I'll be your nurse today. Mr. Bowen here filled me in on your plans, which they sound perfectly fine with me. I brought this wheelchair in case you need it. Let me real quick just get your vitals and check your balance, then you guys are good to go down the hall for a bit." Kendall smiled, which received a grateful smile back from Luna.
In no time, Luna was all ready to go down the hall. The wheelchair went unneeded as Luna still had pretty good balance and had a strong seventeen year old boy who would be right there if she felt like she couldn't walk anymore.
Ricky Bowen was a bit nervous to show his girlfriend what he had spent all night working on. He didn't quite finish it, but he knew it was pretty much done so he could at least show her what he had started. It also didn't help his nerves and anxiety that Ricky knew what today was.
Today was Luna's last day. Who knows how many hours she had left at this point. Any moment could be the last, which is why he had to make every second he had with her as great as possible. She deserved to have the perfect last day, even if it was in a shitty hospital.
Ricky guided Luna down the hallway to a small room which was filled with great light due to the vast amount of windows that lined the walls. Luna stared in amazement at the beautiful room, but especially at the grand piano that was placed in the middle of the room. In that moment, she realized her boyfriend must have written a song for her. The boy who had no interest in singing or song writing only a short few months ago. Her skater boy turned drama geek. He composed and wrote a song just for her. Who knows how long it had taken him. This was the best gift a person could ever give her.
Ricky and Luna sat side by side on the piano bench. The boy glanced at her with a shy smile. "So I knew I wanted to do something for you, but honestly I didn't really have a clue. I know I've only just recently started song writing, and I am not the best at it, but I hope you like it. This song came from when I was questioning my beliefs due to the fact that a higher power would want to take you away so soon, especially away from me." He paused, trying to push away those sad thoughts that tried to surface at the mention of her being taken away from him. He cleared his throat, shaking away his thoughts. "This song is called Heaven Is You, written by yours truly. For the most beautiful girl I've ever known," he concluded, placing a short kiss on her cheek.
With those final words and another shy smile from the boy, his fingers began to play the notes to the song he wrote for Luna Crawford.
As the sound of the piano notes fizzled out, Ricky glanced over at his girlfriend to gauge her reaction to what he had written. Every word he had written and sang was true. He had been questioning his faith, and wondering where people go and why things had to happen this way. Why does Luna have such a short amount of time compared to everyone else? Would Luna go to Heaven? Is Heaven even real? How could he go on without her? The only thing he knew is that to him, Luna was his Heaven. Anywhere she was, he wanted to be too.
People say that sometimes home isn't a place, but a person. Well Luna was his home. He felt safe, sheltered, warm, and surrounded by love when he was around her.
"Well, what did you think?" He asked nervously, placing his hands in his lap, beginning to fiddle with his fingers.
Luna had tears in her eyes due to her boyfriend's little performance for her. Happy, amazed, and grateful tears. "Oh my gosh, Ricky. I loved it," she exclaimed. "That was so beautiful. I can't believe you wrote that song for me!"
He blushed, "I'd do anything for you, Lu. You know that."
"Did you really mean what you said? I'm your Heaven?"
"I mean yeah. Heaven is this perfect paradise where everything is at peace and safe. I already feel that way when I'm with you," he admitted with a shy smile. She about melted at his words. There was no doubt in her mind that she had the cutest and sweetest boyfriend in the world.
She cooed, "Awh, Ricky! I feel that way around you too." Luna leaned her head on his shoulder. "I love you."
He grinned. "I love you too, Luna. I always will." He leaned down and pressed a short kiss to her lips, bringing a smile to both of their lips after they pulled away.
•••
Her words were true. Gina Porter was going to do everything she possibly could to return to Salt Lake City to see her best friend one more time. Although she didn't have to sell her kidney to get enough money for the trip, she still had to sacrifice some things to get there, but it was worth it.
Gina had already been on the plane back to Salt Lake City when she received the text from Luna that she was in the hospital. As soon as the girl landed in SLC, she immediately got an uber to the hospital.
Luna had been back in her room for about an hour now after Ricky played the song for her. Ricky had quietly left the room, giving her no explanation where he was going. He returned a few minutes later, only this time he wasn't alone. If it wasn't for the IV in her arm, Luna was sure she would have jumped out of bed and attacked the girl accompanying her boyfriend.
"GINA!" Luna exclaimed with a wide, surprised grin. "I can't believe you're here!"
Gina quickly crossed the room, throwing her stuff to the ground so she could softly hug her best friend. "I told you I would do anything so I could be here," she said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around Luna.
Ricky and her mother watched as the pair of best friends talked a mile a minute and caught up with each other. The two thought it would be best to leave them alone for now and return a little bit later. Luna's boyfriend blew her a kiss before exiting the room, while her mom gave her a wave and mouthed a 'see you later.'
The pair of best friends took the opportunity to gossip about boys (or Ricky in Luna's case), East High, Gina's new school and friends, and life post High School Musical: the Musical. The happy, positive talk didn't last very long though. The imminent reason of them being in a hospital room began to weigh heavy on Gina's mind. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, so many things she wished she could say, but many things would go unanswered and unsaid.
"Luna?" Gina asked, picking at a string on Luna's blanket. She was now positioned on the other end of the bed so she was facing the sick girl. The girl being paged lifted her head from her phone, the smile that was gracing her lips had faded after hearing the tone of her best friend's voice. The phone in her hand was now shut off and discarded on the table next to her. "A-Are you scared?"
This question didn't phase Luna. The girl knew everyone was thinking of asking her this question, but then refrained from doing so. It was a valid question. One that she wished she had asked her father because she was curious to know what he had thought right before he passed away.
"No," Luna answered after a minute of pondering the question. "I think that everything happens for a reason. I was given this amount of days for a reason, one that I never figured out. But honestly, I'm just grateful that I had seventeen years on this Earth. I got to meet and know so many wonderful people over all of those years, including my best friend and boyfriend. Both of whom I love dearly. I also had so many opportunities and experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything else in the world. My life was amazing, and I was truly blessed. I lived a very fortunate life. Many people in the world aren't as lucky as I was."
Luna went on to explain, "I'm not scared because I know that wherever I go next will be a place of peace, where you don't have to worry about how many days you have left, where you no longer have a tattoo of a number on your wrist constantly reminding you of something you don't want to be reminded of. No comparison of who has more days than others. There won't be a time limit. I will be safe, in a place of warmth and love, and I'll be at peace. Wherever that may be— it could be Heaven or just a place among the stars."
Gina was crying. How could her best friend be so strong and brave about all of this? She didn't even know what to say. "I really hope you find that place of peace, Moonie. You deserve to find it and finally rest. You've been fighting this dreadful fate for far too long, an everlasting battle between yourself and the world. I want you to find it and be okay."
Luna softly smiled, handing her friend a tissue to wipe away the tears. In all honesty, Luna wasn't sure how she was being so strong right now. Any other day she would have been a mess right now along with Gina. But somehow she managed to be okay in this moment. Maybe it was because she had finally accepted her fate and started to be okay with all of it. There wasn't really anything she could do about it.
"Thanks G. When your time comes, I hope you find it too. Scratch that, I know you will. If you somehow get lost along the way, just know that I will find you and bring you to peace," Luna replied, pulling her best friend into a hug.
Gina smiled through her tears and let out a little laugh, "You're always looking out for me."
"Always have and always will," Luna replied, pulling away from the hug. "Will you promise me something?"
Gina nodded, "Of course."
"This is the same promise I made Ricky agree to. Promise me that you'll keep living even though I'm gone. If I'm not proof enough, we only have one, short life. I'd hate to see you not enjoy yourself and not live it to the fullest," Luna explained.
Gina sighed, but agreed. "I promise." Luna stuck out her pinky finger, encouraging her best friend to do the same. "A pinky promise? Really?" Gina laughed.
"Yes! It's the real deal. If you break a pinky promise, that's like a mortal sin!" Luna exclaimed, trying to hide her smile to remain serious. With a roll of her eyes, Gina connected her pinky with the brunette's, promising to live her life to the fullest for Luna's sake.
•••
Through the span of the day, quite a few of her friends had shown up at the hospital. Heck, even EJ Caswell showed up. In a way they were saying their goodbyes to Luna Crawford without ever actually saying the word. Both people knew what was happening, but if they said 'bye' then it would make things all too final for either of them to handle.
Ricky had gotten permission from Luna to tell some people about what was happening. Most people were completely heartbroken at the news, and showed up looking like they had been crying for hours. Understandably. This was the sweetheart Luna Crawford, who everyone thought deserved the absolute world. Now they were hearing that today was the last day that they would ever be able to see her or speak to her. It was earth shattering news. Unanimously, they all believed that this was unfair. She deserved so many more days with them, with Ricky, with her mother.
Seb and Carlos had just left her room, only after they both placed kisses on her cheek as a way to silently say goodbye and told her that they loved her.
The next person to enter the room was Nini Salazar-Roberts. One of the most caring and sweetest girls she had ever had the pleasure of knowing. "Hi Lu," Nini greeted, sinking into the chair next to Luna's bed.
Luna smiled back at the girl, fixing herself to sit criss cross on the bed, facing Nini. "Hey Neens, thanks for coming."
"Of course. How has today been?"
Luna smiled, thinking back to everyone that has visited and Ricky performing the song he wrote for her. "It's actually been pretty great. I'm so thankful to have so many people visit me, making me feel very loved today." Her smiled widened just a bit more. "Ricky wrote me a song and sang it for me this morning too."
Nini's face turned into surprise. "Really? Ricky Bowen wrote a song?" The girl nodded, the smile not leaving her face. "Shut up, that's so cute! You guys are adorable."
"Not as adorable as Rini was though," Luna countered playfully.
A frown fell upon Nini's lips. "Um, no. As much as I loved Ricky, we never worked. Plus, we were never as adorable as the two of you are now. I am the captain of the Runa ship."
A little laugh escaped Luna's lips, bringing a smile back to Nini's face as she was glad that she was able to make the girl happy. "Ooo, what a catch. The captain of a ship," she wiggled her eyebrows.
The girls laughed at the comment, feeling entirely happy with being in the presence of one another. An unlikely friendship, but a pretty strong one. If you told the two girls at the party the first night they met, that they would be great friends and that Ricky would be dating Luna, they would not have believed you.
As every conversation went today, there was a turn from the happy chatter to one of a more serious topic. "You're still going to keep your promise to me, right? The one you made the night I told you that I was almost out of days."
Nini nodded. "I would never dream of breaking that promise. I swear I will look over Ricky after you're gone. He won't sink. I'll make sure he stays afloat."
Luna weakly smiled, relieved that the promise would not go broken. "Thank you, Nini. For everything. I wish I would of gotten the chance to know you better. Maybe we could of been the best friends that I always wanted us to be."
The other brunette sucked in a sharp breath, reaching for Luna's hand. "I would've liked that very much, Luna. I know we will see each other again. I have faith," she smiled lightly as she squeezed the girl's hand.
Just then, a knock on her open door ruined their moment. Ricky poked his head in, "Hey babe, there's someone else here that wants to see you."
Luna looked over at Nini, who smiled back at her. "It's okay, Luna. I'll let someone else see you now. Like I said, we will see each other again, don't worry."
"Right." Luna smiled back at the girl. "Thank you again, Nini. I hope you find love and happiness. You deserve it," she replied honestly.
With one last squeeze of Luna's hand, Nini exited the room while Ricky walked in. "The other person will be here in a second, but I wanted to check in with you. How are you doing?"
Luna shrugged her shoulders. "I mean it's amazing seeing all these people here for me, reflecting back on our great memories and feeling all the love from them. It's also just tough to know what I am leaving behind, you know?" Luna had finally hit that breaking point. A few tears cascaded down her face, causing Ricky to instantly move forward to wrap his arms around her. "There's so many amazing people that I am surrounded by. So many opportunities that I won't be able to have. Like I won't get to graduate high school, go to college, become a nurse like I had always dreamed of, get married or have kids. I knew this day was coming, like how could I not know with the tattoo haunting me like a ticking time bomb? But now that the day is here, I'm not ready. I don't want to leave you, or my mom, or my friends, or even freaking East High," she cried, her chest heaving with unsteady breaths.
"Shhh baby," Ricky rubbed her back in slow circles, trying to calm his girlfriend down. "You don't know how sorry I am that you are in this situation. I wish I could switch places with you so that you are able to live the life you want to. You don't deserve this, Luna, you really don't. There's nothing I can say that will ever make up for the fact that this is happening to you." He pressed a kiss to her head, rocking her in his arms. "But what I can say is that I love you, Luna Crawford. I don't think there will ever be a day where I stop loving you. My life has forever been changed because you entered my life. I have learned so much from you and have created some really great memories with you. Ones that I certainly will never forget."
He pulled away from the hug to look into her eyes, placing his hands on either side of her head. "Whatever happens, wherever you go, I want you to know that I will always find my way back to you. Like I said earlier, you are my Heaven, my safe place, my home," he emphasized. "I overheard what Nini said to you, and I believe the same thing goes for me and you. We will see each other again, Moonie. I can promise you that."
Luna's lip quivered, but she nodded, feeling massively better that he too believed that they would see each other again. "Ricky Bowen, I do not deserve you," she whispered out. "I'll love you forever."
"I hope you do," he teased, bringing a smile to her face.
A simple knock was then heard from her door. They turned around to find Big Red standing there, sort of out of breath from running up four flights of stairs in fear that the elevators weren't going to bring him upstairs fast enough.
He leaned over, placing his hands on his knees. "Oh thank God, I made it." The couple laughed at their red head best friend.
With one last passionate kiss, Ricky parted from Luna's side, letting her know he would be back later.
"Hey Red," Luna greeted with a grin. "How's it hanging?"
Big Red wasted no time plopping himself down on the bed beside her. "I would of been here earlier, but my damn allergist was taking so long today. I should of just left, but honestly they were playing Lemonade Mouth in the waiting room so I just couldn't bring myself to leave." The boy had no shame in his love for the Disney movie.
Luna nodded her head in understanding. "I don't blame you. That movie is one of the best."
"Indeed." The boy paused, remembering why they were there in the first place. Except he didn't want to talk about the sad or serious things. He couldn't do that. Frankly, he knew that she couldn't do that either. He had witnessed the heart to heart that Luna and Ricky were having before he knocked on the door. "Do you remember the night of Homecoming?" He asked, reminiscing about that very sweet night.
Luna smiled widely, playing back her own memories of that night in her head. "Yeah, it was one of the most unforgettable nights I've ever had."
Big Red smiled, agreeing with her. "Me too. I know you have your own reason for it being so unforgettable due to Ricky asking you out that night and everything. But for me, it was because of you and Ricky being thoughtful enough to take me to my first school dance. You made sure that I was having fun and enjoying myself all night. You made me understand that I didn't need to have a 'date' to go to a dance like society tries to tell us. Then when me and you were dancing out in the middle of the dance floor, not having a single care in the world about what other people thought about us—that was probably my favorite moment in my entire life. Homecoming was one of the most fun and care free nights that I've ever had. I will never forget what you and Ricky did for me. That night is one I will never forget."
Luna awed, instantly moving to hug the life out of her red head best friend. "I'm so glad that you enjoyed yourself so much because that was the goal. I wanted to make sure you got the full experience of high school." She added, "Even though I fully stand behind the idea that you don't need a date to go to dances, I would like to disagree that you didn't have a date. You, sir, were my date that night. You were the one who technically asked me to go to the dance. Ricky had just agreed that I should go. So technically, he was the third wheel that night. What a loser," she joked with a playful smile.
"Ricky Bowen, the loser. That's a new one," Big Red said out loud with a little chuckle.
"I don't want our time to be spent making things sad or super serious or anything. But can I just say one serious thing?" Luna asked after a beat of comfortable silence.
Big Red nodded, "Go ahead."
"I'm really glad that Ricky has you as his best friend. He's really going to need you after I'm gone." She lightly smiled, trying to not make this sad. "Thank you for being there for him, and well, for being there for me too."
Big Red sucked in a sharp breath at her words. They stung a bit, knowing that he would have to pick up the broken pieces of his best friend once the love of his life passes away. "You're welcome, moonie. I couldn't have asked for a better friend than you. I should also thank you for being an incredible girlfriend to Ricky. He was in a weird, almost dark place after Nini, but you made my best friend happy once again. That is something I can never repay you for."
"No need to thank me. He made me so happy too," she smiled. "I love you, Red."
"I love you too, Moonie." Big Red smiled at her.
The pair of friends snuggled closer together as they decided to spend a little time watching Monsters Inc. as it played on her TV in front of them.
As every knows, happy times don't seem to last forever. Halfway through the movie, Big Red noticed that Luna's head fell limply on his shoulder. At first, he thought she had just fallen asleep, but then it was followed with a beeping sound that seemed like it was becoming less consistent. Her heart was slowing down.
Big Red immediately started hitting the call nurse button and screaming out, "HELP! I NEED HELP. SHE'S DYING. MRS. CRAWFORD! RICKY! HELP, SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!" Big Red had tears streaming down his face as he held her hand, begging Luna to hold on a little longer. "Please, don't go."
Luna Crawford didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her mother, the only family member that each other had left. She didn't get a chance to really say goodbye to Ricky, who last said that he would see her later. She didn't get to say goodbye to her best friend, who flew all this way to see her one last time but didn't get that closure of getting to say goodbye.
Her nurse Kendall came in followed by a bunch of other nurses and doctors, all yelling out different commands and pulling Big Red away from the girl. At that point, the machine's beeping was constant. The sound was disheartening, loud, and heartbreaking. It meant that they were too late.
Luna Crawford had flatlined.
[And... that's the last chapter of One Life! 5300+ words oml. The epilogue is up! Thank you for all of the support and love that you've shown me and this book! PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE AND COMMENT. i'm begging you. it's so disheartening to have so many reads, but so little votes. please just vote if you can, it only takes a second! love u all ! xoxo, lauren <3 ]