Alexa. (#1)

(43)

Nervousness. Something everyone gets once in a while; a strange feeling of anxiety bubbling up inside you; which was happening to me, at the moment. I was sitting on my really uncomfortable bed, fidgeting and biting at the skin which was around my nails. Not just that his parents were coming to see me and know about my condition and that Noah is going to tell them, mom also made me even more stressful and wants to actually see them and have this parent-to-parent talk; which even worried me more. I was already feeling super tired today and my chest hurt a bit but it was bearable, I knew I should probably tell Derek or mom but I just don't wanna postpone today.

"Stop doing that." Mom says as she slaps my arm slightly, regarding me biting my skin. I sigh and nod, fidgeting in my bed.

"I hope this passes already." I groan as I stuff my head in my pillow. Mom laughs at me before patting my arm gently. A knock is sounded and Noah enters followed by his parents as well as June. They all smile at me sadly as his mother's eyes fill with tears. She rushes in and hugs me tightly, I hug her back as he rubs my back soothingly, making my tense muscles relax.

"Hello, darling." She says as she pulls away. I smile at her as she sits down. His father and June also hug me before Stella, his mother, goes over to my mother.

"Hello, I am Stella, Noah's mother." She says with a smile. Mom smiles at her before pulling her into a hug. Stella seemed shocked but hugs her back tightly.

"Hello, I am Samantha, this idiot's mother." Mom says as she pulls away, I raise my eyebrows at her as Stella chuckles. Mom reaches over the bed with her arm as she shakes George's, Noah's father, hand.

"And I am George, Noah's father." He says as he shakes her hand. Mom smiles at both of them before heading over to June.

"Hello, I think you're the famous June, right?" she says. June nods shyly. Mom pulls her also into a hug as June relaxes. She finally heads over to Noah and hugs him as well.

"Sorry, guys, mom is such a hugger." I say. Mom feigns surprise and shock.

"Don't pretend you don't like them." She says. I shrug.

"I'll admit, they're quite the fuzzy ones." I say with a laugh. She laughs along with me before Stella pulls out a chair and sits down as well as mom.

"So, what's the problem?" Stella asks. "Noah told me we were gonna visit but I thought it would be in a house, not in here." She adds with a worried smile. I sigh.

"You haven't told them, have you?" I say, looking at Noah. He smiles at me guiltily with puppy dog eyes. "God, I am gonna kill you afterwards." I add. He smiles again with the same puppy dog eyes, and he looked so damn adorable, I couldn't resist. I sigh as I look at Stella and George.

"Well, I-I, um, I have leukemia, Mrs. Black. Stage four." I say with a sigh. She gasps and holds George's hand tightly.

"Dear, why didn't you say?" she asks as a tear falls from her eye. She gets up and hugs me as well as George, except George gets up to punch Noah's arm.

"You're a freaking idiot, young man! And you didn't think about telling us?" he says with raised eyebrow. Noah rubs the place he was punched in.

"Dad, she didn't tell me earlier, God damn it! I just knew a while ago. And, wow, I never knew you had such a good punch, old man." He says with a chuckle.

"Didn't tell you? What do you mean?" Stella asks. I sigh.

"Um, it's actually all my fault. When I knew it, I made a bet with Noah that I'd give him 5,000$ if he made the 4 weeks following the bet unforgettable. He agreed and I hid it well from him till this while ago when I was too sick he had to know. I am sorry but I didn't know what to do. It was just so frustrating. I thought I'd hurt him by making him stay, but I even hurt him when I let him go even more, so I just had to tell him in the end. I thought he'd be angry and all but thankfully he isn't, at least, not around me. So yeah, it's terminal. I won't be able to go through it, the doctors say. They put me on this medication which I forget what it is for every time anyone tells me but I hope it makes a difference." I say in one breath. Stella's eyes fill with sympathy as she nods understandingly.

"But, hold up, why did you even need 5,000$, Noah?" George asks with furrowed eyebrows. Noah grabs my hand as he gulps audibly. I squeeze his hand as he looks down at me.

"Yeah, I'd like to know as well. Why did you do the bet, Alexa?" mom says as she nods in agreement with George, Stella joining them.

"It's okay, don't worry. Just say it." I say with a reassuring smile. He takes in a shaky breath and looks up at his parents with a worried glance at June.

"Mom, dad, I will tell something now but for the love of God, don't be angry, okay?" he says. Stella and George's faces furrow with worry as they both nod vigorously. Noah sighs and squeezes my hand again as I caress it with my thumb as he gulps audibly. "When I was little, I was out in a dark alley when someone attacked and harassed me." he says as he closes his eyes tightly, as if blocking flashbacks. "A man found me crying and saved me from that man but to repay him he made me work with him in a gym for a while before he made me, um, street fight and he used to, um, abuse me while he was 'training me'. He would throw punches after the training at me saying that he thought we were still training or so. That's why I always had bruises on my face from 'walking into poles' or 'wrestling with my friends' or whatever from those lame excuses I used to say. Anyways, he told me he would let me go when I would be 19 and my birthday is still after 2 months or so, I couldn't wait till this would happen. When Alexa cancelled it once, they beat me up so bad I passed out. I just wanted to be safe. So, yeah, she kinda saved me from hell. I am so sorry I didn't tell you before but I thought you'd be ashamed because I was a boy who was harassed and all. I am really sorry." He says in a strained voice as a tear falls down his face. Stella's eyes fill with tears as she rushes towards Noah and hugs him tightly. George joins them in a group hug and squeezes both of them to his chest.

"It's like I am not in this family." June says as she rolls her lips in between her teeth. They break out the hug and pull her in with them.

"If he would have told me from the first place that this was the case, I would've given him the money with nothing in repayment." I say. Stella breaks out from the hug and hugs me tightly.

"Thank you so much." She says as she sobs. I rub her back gently as she pulls away.

"Okay, enough crying, guys, I feel emotionless here." Mom says and I laugh. "Would you like to join me for a cup of coffee, Stella, George?" she adds and Stella nods delightfully. She grabs her bag and kisses my head for one last time before they all head out of the room, including June, leaving Noah and I all alone. I groan as the pain in my chest intensifies.

"What's wrong?" Noah asks worriedly, I shake my head dismissively.

"I am okay." I say. "That went by nice." I add as Noah sighs in relief.

"Thank God, I was so worried I thought I was gonna cry." He says as he puts his head in his hands. I laugh at him as I sit up slightly, trying to ease the ache in my chest. Dizziness hit me like a truck from the slight movement as my vision gets blurry.

"Are you sure you're okay? You've gone really pale this last minute." He states. I shake my head as the pain in my chest starts to spread quickly to my lower back. I whine from the pain before I feel bile going up my throat and in a minute I was over the bed and throwing up in the trash can I had beside the bed just in case. Noah's eyes widen as he gulps audibly and pushes the button that calls the nurses in. I whimper again as my chest feels like it's on fire and my eyes start to have black spots in the horizon of my vision.

"Alexa, stay with me, okay?" he says worriedly before rushing outside and yelling for the nurses to come and help.

I feel like when you're gonna jump off a cliff with no wind around you at all, when you're just about to jump and the air stills all around you, when you can't do anything to save yourself from the harsh, long fall and instead, you just wait through mid air with your legs about to leave the cliff, and you are just waiting for the fall and the brutal hit.

That's how helpless I felt while I was slipping into unconsciousness.