Promises

Chapter One

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1711

August 10th, 2007

You chewed nervously on the edge of your thumb, your eyes fixated intensely on the white wall in front of you. Your parents had left for the doctor nearly an hour ago, and your mom had said that they shouldn't be gone for more than half an hour. You had tried to distract yourself by going on a walk, but your mind had quickly gone off on a tangent and you had ended up back in your room, nervously pacing from one end to the other.

Your dad had been sick for some time now. It started off with a cough, but he had waved it off as nothing and insisted that he was fine. It wasn't until he started coughing up blood that your mom had insisted that he make an appointment with the doctor. Today had been the day of that appointment, and you were growing antsy to find out if he was ok or not.

You heard the front door open downstairs and practically jumped off of your bed. Your socks slid as you rounded the corner that led to the stairs and ran down them two at a time. With a jump, you landed at the bottom of the stairs and ran into the entryway.

You could tell that something was wrong the moment that you saw your mom's face. Her mouth was downturned, something that was atypical with her bubbly personality. She was holding your dad's hand so hard that her knuckles were white. Your dad's face was downcast, and his eyes didn't meet yours when you looked at him. A knot formed in your stomach.

"Did you figure out what's going on?" you asked quietly.

Your mom cleared her throat very politely before opening her mouth slightly. She closed it for a second, her lips pressed tightly together, before letting out a small breath of air.

"Why don't we sit in the dining room?" your dad suggested.

"That's a good idea," your mom said, barely a whisper.

You nodded and walked towards the dining room. Your parents followed after you, taking the seats across from you at the table. You looked between the two of them, deciding it was best to let one of them speak first.

Your mom finally took a deep breath and started to speak, "So they ran some tests while we were at the doctor."

Her voice was shaking as she spoke. Your dad reached over and squeezed her hand.

"I can tell her if you want, dear."

Your mom nodded and buried her face in her free hand. Her shoulders began to shake and you cast your eyes down towards the table. There was nothing you hated more than seeing your mom cry.

"Y/N," your dad said.

You looked up and met his eyes, already chewing on the edge of your thumb again.

"I have stage four lung cancer."

A chill ran down your spine.

"What?" you asked. "No, that can't be right."

Your dad's eyes were brimmed with tears, and that hurt more than seeing your mom cry.

"We're going to start treatment, but there isn't too much that can be done at this point. The best case scenario is that I have another eight months to live."

"How did this happen? I've never even seen you touch a cigarette."

"Darling, I've been a carpenter for thirty years. There's a lot of junk in the air that I shouldn't have been breathing, but it was part of the job. These things happen."

"This isn't fair!" you stood up suddenly, sending your chair toppling over behind you.

"Life isn't fair."