Call Ended

xxxiii ; the reveal

"Brent, she's fainted.And I don't know what to do. I, I can't, Brent. I really don't don't know, Brent, is it serious or could it be normal?"

He remained quiet and heard quiet shuffling from the other side. The moment he was about to say something was when Kris disconnected.

It was as if he was rooted to his spot before he fell to the ground; kneeling as he held the flower hard against his chest. A stream of incessant worrying flooded his brain - all he could imagine was Florentine, his Flo, laying on the ground.

On the other hand, Kris unlocked Florentine's phone using her  fingerprints in a frantic pace while scanning through her contacts. Nothing mattered right now - not Brent nor the game  as she hastily called Flo's dad - the only one who would know what to do.

Skip to thirty minutes later where her dad, Matthew, drove to the hospital as swiftly as his shaking self allowed while Kris sat in the back with Flo's head resting on her lap. She remained quiet as an uncomfortable silence hung in the air with Matthew whispering every now and then : "she should have listened to me." and "keep her safe, please, give her a chance."

His phone dinged in his hand notifying him about a text that Kris sent. It was the address to an hospital. His phone dinged again : I can't do this alone. Why the hospital? She just fainted.Why go to the hospital. I can't do this alone.

Florentine gasped for air just as she simultaneously flailed her arms in the air. She felt as if she was drowning just when someone shook her violently.

She opened her eyes , slowly and painfully,  to find a girl by her side. As she racked her brain for any memory of that girl, she averted her eyes to find her dad standing in the corner of the room as he stared at her, sighing in relief.

Florentine could have swore that she had been in this room before when it finally came to her. It was her hospital room. The place where she would have to stay as the time nearing the end of her freedom struck.

"Dad,I'm okay." She croaked out just as he nodded before leaving the room.

Kris spoke, her words wobbly from the shock that the past hour had been, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Kris." She sighed, " You're Kris, right? His friend and my stalker."

Kris cracked a smile - all those antics seemed to be so childish now, "Yes. But you should have said something, Flo, he would have understood."

"I wanted to. I was going to but," She paused opening her fist to reveal the second clue, "Brent. Kris, I really need to tell him.Call him, please, he needs to know."

He accepted the call, knowing that it would be an update from Kris but instead, he heard her voice - his driving force.

"Brent?"

"Flo! You're ok, Flo. You had me worried, Flo, so don't ever do that to me again."

"I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but Batty, I -"

"Don't tell me you failed your physics midterm- my poor heart won't be able to take it."

"I have cancer."

His world held still. He paused before speaking again.

"What?"

"Cancer. I have cancer."

"No."

"Yes."

"Are you serious?"

"I'd never joke about it. I was diagnosed a month ago."

"What? How?"

"I don't know - alright? One day, I was fine. The next day, all I'm experiencing are symptoms of cold so I thought I'm okay. But I was not. This went on for a month."

"Didn't the doctors get it earlier?"

"No. It was weight loss, dizzy spells , headaches, coughs and fevers. What were they supposed to think? A college student struggling."

"No, they needed to know that these were symptoms.They were supposed to know."

"Brent,I'm dying."

"No, you're not, there are so many treatments for - umm."

"Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma."

"Exactly. There are so many treatments- you'll be ok."

"Lies, Brent, lies. I'm dying and I'm scared."

"No, Flo, please no. You're making me cry. Please."

"Just be here, Brent, everyone's here but the voice I long for is not."

"I'll be there, Flo, I'll come."

"I like- no, thanks, Brent."

"I like you too but I need you to be ok."

"I need you to be strong for me."

A/N : Well then, this chapter ruined me. Writing this was so hard - seeing my characters struggle took a lot out of me but it was necessary. The initial cliffhanger was that Flo saw Kris following her but then I just decided to go ahead and drop the act.

 Q/A: How did you like this turn of events?

Do vote and comment if you liked what I wrote - those really are my 'happy little pill' plus I tend to update faster with more encouragement.