Adam [BOOK ONE]

XX

"Elena?"

"Jeremy, how are you?"

He paused, "not too good. Dad's in the hospital, I just called in case you guys wanted to come out. The doctor isn't giving him much time."

"Oh no, Jeremy I'm so sorry. Is there anything we can do?"

"I think he really wanted to see Adam, he's been going in and out but he remembers him. If you guys want to come by, I'll be here."

"Okay, we'll come as soon as Adam gets off of work. Thanks for calling."

"Yeah," he abruptly ended the call.

My heart sunk. I hadn't seen or heard much about Dr. Baker after hearing his diagnosis. Jeremy didn't call much and I assumed Dr. Baker couldn't remember a phone number or worse, how to use a phone. I would mention going by his house every so often, but Adam was shake it off. I could tell he was still very much hurt by the news.

I was biting my lip anxiously, Adam was going to come home in a hour or two and I wasn't entirely prepared to ask him if he wanted to go to the hospital. Dr. Baker had been such a strong presence in his life, letting him go wouldn't be easy for him. The hours passed by painfully slow, I did everything possible. Watching tv, cooking, pacing back and forth, nothing seemed to make the clock tick any faster.

"Honey I'm home," Adam smiled as he walked through the door, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, how was work?"

"Good, mostly boring. I'm tired."

He pulled me in close to his chest, laying his forehead on top of mine. I was chewing on my lip, I wasn't sure what to say and I sure as hell wasn't sure to how to say it.

"What's wrong Elena? Talk to me."

"Jeremy called earlier," I gulped, "Dr. Baker is in the hospital and they're not giving him much time."

His arms dropped from my side and he stood back, grasping the top of the couch. I had never seen so much pain in one man's eyes. He looked as if he had seen a ghost and it had shaken his very soul.

"Adam? Are you alright?"

"Maybe it's me Elena, maybe I'm the one lugging around bad luck."

"No, no you're not."

He cleared his throat, "why then? Why everything I touch, why does it crumble? Why does no one around me live for very long? Why is it like this?"

"You can't blame yourself for what happens? You have no control over any of this."

"Then who does? Cause I'd like to have a talk. I want to know why bad things happen to me. I want to know what I did and who I pissed off so that I can only experience good things for a little while. Why is it like this Elena?"

"I don't know Adam, I can't answer that."

"I don't know what to do Elena," he buried his head in his hands, "I love to hard for this shit. For this to happen to me every time."

"Do you want to go see him?"

"No!"

"Adam-"

"I can't Elena. I can't watch him die."

"He's not dead Adam. Doctors say people are going to die all the time and they survive, walk right out of the hospital as if nothing happened. He's sick, sure, but he's also a very strong man. Don't put that past him."

"I don't know."

"Jeremy says he's been talking about you. That he doesn't remember as much as he use to, but he remembers your name."