Nadine felt exhausted as she entered the building; with the working early morning, school during the afternoon and volunteering in the evening, there wasn‘t much time for sleep. In her hand she carried a tin box.

“Good afternoon, Melody,” she greeted the receptionist as she made her way down the hall. She couldn’t believe that two weeks had already gone by. Classes were almost over and she’d been moved to the afternoon shift at the Hospice. She was startled to hear commotion coming from Scott’s room.

“Mr. Richardson, please stop fighting us…you need your medication or your going to feel sick the rest of the day.” Instead of obeying, he grabbed the mini cup and flung it across the room.

“It makes me sick anyways.” Scott hissed.

Nadine couldn’t believe what she was seeing; Scott fighting off the nurses was unbelievable. He almost looked like a monster; kicking and thrashing at them. She’d learned that he could be a total ass, but lately he was trying to control it.

“Uh…is he ok?” She asked a nurse that had decided to stand back.

“I‘ve never seen him like this before. Sometimes their medication, especially chemo can put them in a mood. Why don’t you just take a seat. He’ll be fine once we sedate him.” Nadine shook her head and hesitantly took a seat in the comfy recliner in the corner of his room. She leaned back, hugged the box in her hands and closed her eyes to avoid seeing anything else.

Nadine heard the faint sound of music in her ears. She opened her eyes slowly, realizing she’d fallen asleep. “Hey sleepy head…” Scott smiled as he delicately played a tune on his keyboard. “Looks like someone is pushing themselves too much.”

“Hi” she responded rubbing her eyes a little confused. “Are you feeling better?”

“Hell no! I hate this place. I hate the medication…but I have to make the best of it.” He took a look at the box in her hands, “So, what you got there?”

She smiled at his curiosity, “It was for you…”

He frowned, “What do you mean…was? Oh come on, don’t tell me your not going to give it to me because of my display earlier…I can’t help it.” Scott wasn’t looking like other days, he was looking pale and his lips were chapped and even his posture was slouchy.

“Of course not. I baked some cookies…myself…I hope you like them.”

“Well, that was nice of you. Thank you!” He popped off the lid from the tin box with a wide smile on his face. When he saw the amount of cookies, his smile dropped. “What the heck. Only three cookies?”

Nadine was already in a fit of giggles. “I’m sorry. I asked the nurse, and she said the most you could have are three.” He raised his brows in agitation at the nurses rules and then chomped on his cookie.

“That nurse of mine is so annoying. She’s got all these rules and shit…then again, I shouldn’t complain cause she’s right…I can’t digest it right…cause of the tumor around my pancreas. Plus with the radiotherapy I don’t get hungry.”

“So does that hurt?” Nadine blurted out the question, before she could even stop herself.

“No. The pain and all other crap comes afterwards. I get tired and cranky…sometimes I forget things. Depends on the day and my mood. It sucks, but I‘m hoping that at some point it will all be over, whether it‘s because the cancer is gone or because I‘m dead.”

He gave her a weak smile and she returned the gesture, feeling horrible for him. She watched as he turned back around to face the grand piano in the corner of his room. His stubby fingers stroked each key with ease and the words to ‘I’ll Never Break Your Heart’ floated out of his mouth. Nadine’s heart fluttered as she heard the song. First, because of the song being one of the Backstreet Boys classic songs. Secondly, he sounded amazing.

She was tempted to ask him, if he really believed that she didn’t know who he was. Why was he hiding away from everyone? But she opted to mind her own business and listen to the sound of his voice and the piano.

To his misfortune the nurse came back and stood in the doorway. “Richardson…”

His eyes darted over to me and he looked up at the nurse with a glare. “Scott…it’s Scott.”

The nurse rolled her eyes and corrected herself. It seemed like she was tired of pretending. She grunted and motioned him with her head. They both stood up and followed her.

“You’ll have to stay here and wait for him.”

“No she doesn’t. Let her come with me. Please…you owe me.” He pointed playfully at the serious woman.

“How do you know she wants to see this? I’m ok with it, but you have to make sure she will be too…” She walked into the room and left them standing outside.

Scott looked down at the floor and then up at Nadine. “I…have a Port-a-cath in my chest and she inserts a needle there and I sit there and wait. It’s kinda freaky for someone when it’s the first time seeing it. I forgot…you don’t have to come.”

Nadine would have liked to say no, the last thing she wanted was to see a tube in his chest and needles, but she knew he wanted her to come in with him. She nodded. “It’s ok. I can handle it.” He nodded and they both entered the room.