'Hello Mark', I smiled weakly, 'When did you come home?'
'I was at the hospital with you babe', he explained, 'You don't remember when they were bringing you home? Melissa was with you.'
'I don't, I'm sorry', I replied, 'I think I just had a dream. My nana was here.'
'Oh really?', Mark smiled, but he was unable to hide the tears in his eyes.
'Yeah', I nodded, 'And she told me that she's going to bring to me away, and that she wants me to say goodbye.'
'Will I, will I get your parents?', Mark asked, sniffing.
'No, I don't have, I don't have much time', I whispered, before getting into a fit of coughing.
'It's okay babe, I have you', Mark said, as he held me as I coughed.
'I'm sorry', I whispered, when it had subsided.
'It's okay', he whispered back.
'Mark', I said, 'I want you to be happy after all of this. When I'm gone, if you meet someone else, don't feel guilty. You're happiness is all that matters to me.'
'Julie', Mark replied, 'I could never love someone as much as I love you.'
'Well if you do', I said, 'Don't feel guilty. Take care of the children, make sure they're happy and carefree.'
'I will, of course I will', Mark now sobbed, as the tears fell down his cheeks.
I felt the tightness in my chest get worse.
'Will you do one more thing for me?', I asked him.
'What is it Julie?', Mark asked.
'Hold me', I whispered, 'And sing my song.'
With that Mark lay down on the bed beside me and wrapped his arm around my skinny shoulders, and I sighed happily and closed my eyes as I put my head on his warm chest.
With that, despite his tears, he began to sing.
'Julie,what's your problem, won't you tell me what's going on?,
'Cos there's a dark cloud hanging over you, you've been down down down for too long,
You used to sing sha-la-la-la-la-la I want you, sha-la-la-la-la-la I do,
There's a band outside, and they're playing now for you, for you.
Julie come to your window, don't let your problems spoil the view.
It's not a good day to cry today, so come on change change change come through the door.
You used to sing sha-la-la-la-la-la I want you, sha-la-la-la-la-la I do,
Why why why do you cry cry cry, you should know by now that the sun comes up for you.
Why why why do you cry cry cry, you should know by now that the sun comes up for you.
That the sun comes up for you.'
As Mark continued to sing, I slowly opened my eyes and saw that Nana was standing there.
'It's time to go Julie', she whispered, as she held out her hand.
I looked around and saw that Mark was still singing, and turning back around I caught my grandmother's hand and climbed down off the bed.
As we walked towards the bedroom I turned once more to see Mark still singing to my now lifeless body still on the bed, and I could also see the single tears that fell from his eyes as he realized I was gone.
'I love you', I whispered to him, before turning around once again, and walked with my grandmother out of the bedroom and into the light.
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Hey guys,
SO THAT WAS THE LAST CHAPTER! I'm going to be uploading the epilogue next week so stay tuned.
I want to thank you all again for the support you've given this book. I wrote the majority of this when I was sick myself at the start of the year, so it's lovely to see how well received it's been.
Love you all,
Lauren
xxxxx
