The Girl Who Chased Stars

XV

One month later

I stand with my father in the hospital lobby, and we both wait patiently while the receptionist, Mrs. Nina, checks us in.

"Hi Brian, hi Amy. I see you brought your mother some lunch!"

Mrs. Nina is one of the nicer ladies who work here. For the past month that I've known her, she's been nothing but kind to my father and I. Personally, I think she has a sore spot for us, because her father has brain cancer just like my mom does.

" Yeah. Mom loves Bojangles." I say happily. My father smiles absentmindedly. "So... How's she doing?"

Mrs. Nina grins. "Great actually. She hasn't had any reported problems since the last attack, but her mind is still a bit..."

" frazzled." My dad finishes.

Mrs. Nina nods, and hands us some paperwork. "Also, you forgot to fill the files out the last time you visited, if you could just..."

Over the past month I've come to understand that Mrs. Nina has a habit of ending sentences without actually ending them.

My dad picks up the files, and smiles.

We make our way down to room C102, and my mom smiles as my dad pushes open the door.

"Brian! Amy!" She envelopes me in a hug, and my dad sets down the Bojangles and the paper work.

"Happy birthday, baby." Mom whispers to me.

"Mom... It's not my birthday. I'm still seventeen."

" you're seventeen!" Asks my mother with awe. " Not twelve?"

My dad and I exchange a look. We both understood that my mothers apparent long term memory loss and confusion is caused by the tumor in her brain.

" no, mom. I'm seventeen. Hey, we brought you Bojangles!"

I quickly change the subject, and my mothers face breaks into a smile. " Oh you did!" She says ecitedly. " My last good meal before Chemo."

I look down, and feel my stomach flop.

Chemotherapy.

The word sends shivers down my spine.

" Yeah." I say quietly.

I look down at my lap as my mother begins to pull apart a piece of chicken.

My phone lights up in my lap, and I turn the thing over in my hands.

The screen lights up with Skai's number, and I frown. I haven't really spoken to her since the night we went to that club. Things were pretty awkward between us lately. Poor Wolfe was stuck in the middle of our silent game, and every time Skai and I glance at each other she finds a way to escape the room, leaving me confused and upset.

"I'm gonna take this." I say to no one in particular. My dad nods, and I walk out of the room.

As soon as I get into the hall, I press the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Amy."

Her voice is shaking, and broken.

"Are you okay, Skai?"

Her breathing is fast, and labored, as if she'd just finished running a marothon.

" I'm... I..."

A sob echoes through the speaker, and I look around nervously.

"Alright, look. Where ever you are, whatever you're doing, drop it. Come to my house, okay? I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Skai agrees, and then I start to pull the phone away from my ear, but her voice stops me.

"Amy," she sniffles, " I- I'm sorry."

"Jesus Christ, Skai. What did you do?"

She pauses, and then I can hear nothing but her tears hitting the ground.

"The treehouse." I say, " wait for me in the treehouse."
________________

" I need to go home." I say loudly.

The hospital door swings open, and my father, who is passionately kissing my mom, pulls away abruptly. They've been a lot more intimate lately, for obvious reasons.

" what?" My mom is flushed, and she quickly composes herself. " why?"

My father gives me a disapproving look. " we just got here, Amy."

I look down guiltily. "Dad, Skai just called me... She's a wreck. Please, I just need to go comfort her."

" Skai? You know how I feel about that girl."

I clench my teeth. " now is not the time to be biased, father."

Dad narrows his eyes at me, and then my mother speaks up. " Darling, let her go. Her friend needs her."

My father looks up at the ceiling, which is his way of saying that he's thinking really hard.

" but Michele, she just-"

"Brian."

My dad gives up, and sighs. "Go, then. Go."

I bounce on the balls of my feet, and then rush to give them both a kiss and hug. "Bye! Love you guys."

My mom replies, but by the time the words leave her mouth I'm already too far away to hear her.
______________________

I pull up to my house, and practically run to the backyard.

As I climb through the entrance of the house, I see Skai hunched over on the couch.

She's an absolute mess. Her eyes are puffy, her hair is all tangled, and there's snot and tears everywhere.

I walk over to her hesitantly, and as soon as I sit down she throws herself at me, bursting into another explosion of tears.

She's too lost in her own sorrow to pay any attention to my comforting words, so I just sit there with her in my arms and let her cry into my shirt.

"Skai... It's alright. It's okay."

It's a comfort phrase, and it's a lie.

Obviously nothing is alright, because the girl who I care about most is falling apart in my arms.

Skai's body presses into me, and our weight combined slowly slides us further into the sofa. Eventually, we lay together on the couch, with Skai on top of me. Her arms are tightly wrapped around me, as if she is afraid of letting me go.

After what feels like an hour of quiet crying, I realize that Skai has cried herself to sleep. My chest is wet from her tears, and I can feel her heavy, sorrowful breaths turning peaceful and light.

For a while I hold her, memorizing the way she feels pressed against me like this. Her smell, her hair in my face, and the way her fingers are resting against my bare stomach, underneath the fabric of my shirt. It's all so intoxicating... But only because it's her.

It isn't until I feel myself falling asleep that I realize the obvious, and stupidly painful truth.

I'm in love with her.

This broken mess of a crazy woman is all I want.

Suddenly it all makes sense. All of the restless nights I've been spending thinking about her, all of the daydreams and the words I've thought but never said to her, they all fit together. Suddenly they all superglue themselves into three inevitable little words.

I love her...

And God, I really do.