If I Stay {Fillie}

This Time Tomorrow

Crying was becoming more of a ritual than a basic human reaction to sadness. Millie had cried more in the past few days than she had in months.

And now she had rubbed off on her family.

Charlie was not one to show emotion in front of other people, especially not strangers like Dr. Owens. But even he couldn't help the tears that sprung to his eyes when he heard that his little sister was sick beyond help.

Owens' surgeons had told him more since he had last spoken to Millie.

Her x-rays showed that the infection had entered her bloodstream and made its way to not only her chest and abdomen, but also to multiple bones in those areas.

Millie's mother had had to leave the room a few minutes after this information had reached her ears, unable to keep her sobs under control.

Owens was now attempting to ask Millie more questions, but she was lost in her own thoughts. It took him snapping his fingers loudly in her face for her to snap out of her trance and pay attention.

She met her doctor's gaze with glassy eyes and a blank expression. Whatever he had to say to her, she couldn't care any fucking less.

"What?" Her voice was low and rough, and the word was hardly a question. She said it with malice and contempt. This man had ruined her life.

Earlier he had asked her if she had experienced any other strange things, and she had told him of her vomiting fit she'd had a couple days before.

He was quick to tell her that it was the cancer in her abdominal area that had caused the nausea, as if he had been describing the weather to her.

And that had been the last straw.

If this man could tell her that she was going to die in one year, pretend to be sorry for her and her family, and then continue to prod and poke at her like some sort of lab rat, she wanted nothing to do with him.

Owens shrank back a little at her harshness. He took a moment to respond, and when he did, his voice shook. "I was going to ask you...thanks to the mystery man who generously gave you all that money, would you be interested in trying to treat this?"

Millie's expression did not change in the slightest as she replied, "Chemo?" Her monotone manner made Owens squirm.

"Well, thyroid cancer is not usually treated with chemotherapy," he tried to explain. "Typically we use hormone therapy or radioactive iodine to treat it."

His patient's set-in-stone expression slowly carved into a glare that could kill. "Dr. Owens, you told me that I only had a year to live even with treatment. So please tell me, what the fuck would be the point of treatment?"

He opened his mouth to answer, sweat beading on his forehead, but she beat him to it.

"There wouldn't be one. So no, doctor. I think I'll spend the remainder of my sixty thousand dollars on living out the rest of my life doing things I want to do. Thank you very much." She spoke through gritted teeth, as if she wanted to bite his head off. "Now please. Leave me alone."

Owens nodded and left in a hurry. He was scared of this girl; she really knew how to intimidate people.

Millie heaved a sigh. She picked at a lock of her hair, playing with the ends and smiling a little at the fact that she wouldn't lose it due to chemo. She could live out the rest of her life with her pretty brown hair.