THE LAST LETTER

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 37 // 𝑁𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓

《Oh, angel sent from up above,
You know you make my world light up;
When I was down, when I was hurt,
You came to lift me up.

Hymn for the Weekend - Coldplay》

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L U C A S' S P O V

"Come here." She calls me towards her as I sit next to her on the edge of the bed.

"You don't have to be embarrassed about it, Lucas. I was gone for a long time, and you didn't even know if I was coming back any sooner, which I wasn't. I'm glad you chose her. Also if you've fallen in love with her in the past two years, I'd be happy for you both. Because I'm not even sure if I'm going to..." I hush her by placing my finger on her lips, knowing exactly what she was about to say.

"I love you, always have, always will. It's always been you, Grace, and no one else." I say as my fingers make it's way to her cheeks. Our foreheads touch each other, none of us speaking but just breathing slowly. All the emotions that I've been holding onto since I first saw her in the hospital bed after the past years come rushing back to me. She leans in as our nose touches, and then finally, our lips meet. It's a slow and sensual kiss, and we savor the longing feeling. We slightly pull apart as she takes shaky, shallow breathes. I look into her eyes, and I can't stop myself anymore as I pull her in for a passionate kiss. It's not just a kiss but a promise of foreverness. I don't try to push her too much, but then she deepens the kiss, permitting me. I tug at her lower lip for her to open her mouth, and then finally, our tongues mingle with each other.

I can't really remember not being with her, it seems longer as it feels like we've always been together. We pull apart, and none of us speak for a while as I break the silence, "What did the doctors discuss with you and your parents today?"

"For some time now, cardiologists have been trying to persuade me to have open-heart surgery." She says. My heart starts pounding rapidly. "And..."

"And I'm scared. The doctors, mom, and Paul want me to consider it, but I'm scared that the surgery alone might kill me. I don't want to die yet." She sadly whispers, and my heart beats erratically.

"What will the surgery do to help?"

"They would remove part of the thick muscle that has formed, to make it easy for my heart to pump blood. That'll regulate my heart rate and they're saying that it'll improve the aspect of my life. And as time goes on, it might also lengthen my life expectancy." She explains.

"This is huge."

"Yeah, but that comes with its risks." She pauses. "I'm considering it, though. I don't want to get into that right now, maybe after a few months." I nod slightly, understanding her fear.

There's a long pause as we sit silently when she suddenly asks me, "Why are you here, Lucas?"

"You know, I'm here for you."

"No, no. I don't want you here. I want you to go back to your life and forget about me."

I was frustrated now. How could she just ask me to leave after everything we talked about just now?
"We don't always get what we want in life, do we. You want me to go, but this time I'm not leaving, neither am I letting you go anywhere." I say harshly.