HURT FOR ME

Chapter Twenty-Five - Cure

"It is part of the cure to wish to be cured."

- Seneca The Younger

Olivia Bennett

A faint chirp from a bird outside of the open window woke me from my much needed sleep, "Shut up," I whined.

The chirping only increased as other birds began to gather around the window so I pulled myself out of bed and closed it, shutting out their loud noises.

For a moment, I stood in front of the mirror, inspecting the dark bags under my eyes. My hair was in a messy bun on top of my head and the leftover makeup that remained after my shower the night before was smudged.

I thought about fixing it but convinced myself it looked intentional so I got dressed and headed to the kitchen for a coffee.

"They haven't found a cure yet," An unfamiliar woman's voice said. I stopped just before the kitchen and waited to hear more.

"I know that," Aaron's voice. "But I have to do something." He sounded worried which made me feel uneasy.

"Honey..." A moment of silence. "It's not your responsibility." It didn't feel right listening to their conversation so I entered the kitchen, receiving two head-turns.

I didn't pay any attention to the woman because Aaron's eyes were on me and mine on him. The conversation I had just interrupted left a weird tension lingering in the air.

Aaron moved to the coffee pot, pouring a mug and adding a sugar cube before handing it to me, "Good morning." His appearance looked rough and tired like he hadn't slept.

"Good morning," I shifted my attention to the woman, who oddly shared many features with Aaron, and gave her a short grin.

"This is Eleanor, my grandmother." The identical features made sense to me now. She was one of those grandma's who carried candies around in her purse to hand out. Her soft appearance and demeanor was welcoming.

I gave her a bigger smile, "Hi, I'm Olivia." I reached out my hand, offering her a handshake.

Her arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I hesitated to return the kind gesture but quickly hugged her back.

"It's so good to see you, mija." She smelled like vanilla and reminded me of home. I let the hug last for a minute before I pulled away to acknowledge Aaron.

"She doesn't remember much," Aaron spoke to his grandmother in a gentle tone, one that I didn't hear much.

I took a small sip of the warm coffee and returned it to its place on the counter, keeping my eyes on the dark granite. I didn't want them to know that I had been eavesdropping on their conversation but I needed to know what they were talking about.

"What doesn't have a cure?" I finally asked.

"She's still so sneaky," Eleanor laughed as she rubbed my shoulder lightly.

I waited for an answer, looking back and forth between Aaron and Eleanor, "It's nothing," he finally said. I didn't believe him but it was obvious he didn't want me to ask anymore questions.

It was easy for me to assume they had been talking about an illness she had, so I left the topic alone. But there was something inside of me that scratched at the need to know. First, Layla dropped in and remembered things about me that I can't, and now his grandmother stands in the kitchen, talking about me like she hadn't missed a day in my life.

"My grandmother was just heading out," Aaron stood from the bar stool and moved to the elevator, watching Eleanor and I.

I gave her a quick side hug and returned to my room, allowing them privacy to say goodbye.

A few minutes passed and a soft knock sounded at my door. I pushed off of my bed and opened the door, "We need to talk," Aaron stood in my doorway, looking at me with so much sorrow in his eyes. I couldn't think of what possibly could make him this upset.

"Of course," I stepped aside, allowing him into my bedroom. He eyed the lack of furniture and decoration I had, which I don't blame him, because I do the same each time I step foot in here.

"What's going on?"

Aaron took a seat in the small, leather chair that filled one corner of the room and rested his head on the soft fabric. His eyes closed for a moment and then a heavy sigh left his mouth. "Sit down, Olivia."

Without hesitation, I sat on the edge of my bed, closest to him and waited for whatever we needed to talk about. I had thought about what the topic could be. Maybe his grandmother is sick and he needs to be with her, or maybe he's kicking me out. Oh no...what if he's evicting me?!

"Renal Cell Carcinoma..." My head cocked at his mention of the disease. I was equally confused and impatient for him to continue. "Cure test #81 failed." He said in a slow voice, almost like he was reciting it.

I swallowed nervously, finally understanding what he was trying to say to me. "They haven't found a cure yet?" I repeated the words of Eleanor. He nodded his head slowly, never once looking at me. "How long?" His eyes were finally on mine, and his head was no longer resting on the back of the chair.

"I...I don't know." His voice cracked.

During my time in the hospital, Dr. Kavanaugh had told me they were searching for a cure and testing many different things. When I woke up from the coma, they were trying a new, promising tablet that would degrade the tumors. Turns out it wasn't promising after all.

My mouth opened to speak but nothing came out, I didn't have the words to put together a sentence. Kavanaugh's words echoed in my head. Promising. Why the fuck didn't the tablets work? I didn't want to die, but living with kidney cancer didn't give you a vast amount of options to choose from.

A tear slowly dropped as I closed my eyes, and I tried to wipe it away before Aaron noticed but it was too late. He immediately dropped from the chair and onto his knees, resting in front of me.

"It's okay, Olivia." His words were promising, but I couldn't believe them. I had renal cell carcinoma and each cure that's been tried has failed. My kidney's were going to fail. I was going to fail.

"It isn't okay," More tears formed behind my eyelids as I closed them.

"I'll do anything to find that fucking cure," He squeezed my hand in his rough palm while I sat on the edge of my bed, crying.

A distant memory flashed in my head as we sat there. Aaron was in the same position, as was I.

"What am I going to do?" I sobbed.

"What are we going to do, Liv?" I scoffed at his version of my question. My mind was full of things my parents would think about me, or my friends at school, my little sister. Their sweet little girl, best friend, big sister knocked up by Aaron Adair, the biggest player in Seattle, Washington.

"I can't have a baby," I continued crying as he held my hand in his. It was comforting but he wasn't who I wanted to be comforted by.

I opened my eyes again and Aaron remained in the same spot on the ground, staring at me. I blinked away that memory and tried to forget about it forever.