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Chapter 17

The next morning, Olivia awoke bright and early. It was hard to sleep in a hospital, partly because of the nurses coming in all night long to take her vital signs and check up on her, and partly because of the fear and nervousness that plagued her.

She had just propped her bed up and flipped on the TV for something to take her mind off of everything else, when a nurse popped her head in.

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” she said. “You have a visitor.”

“Send them in,” Olivia replied, thinking it was parents, who she had called the night before. They had been devastated by the news and had promised to be there as soon as they could get a flight out of Iowa.

“Okay,” the nurse replied and left. Moments later she returned. But the man with her was not Olivia’s father.

“Nick!” Olivia cried, feeling suddenly panicked. What was she going to say to him? How could she tell him?

Nick looked hurt by her display of shock. “I’m sorry. Do you not want me here?” he asked.

“Uh… no, no, you can stay. I was just expecting my parents, not you,” she replied, flustered.

“Oh. So your parents are coming?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded. “So, did you get the results of the tests they ran yesterday?”

Olivia bit her lip. What was she going to say? She could just lie and say they didn’t know anything yet. But that would just drag it out longer. She would have to tell him the truth eventually, no matter what. And she knew she should just get it over with and tell him now.

“What’s wrong?” Nick asked, a worried expression appearing in his blue eyes. “Liv?”

Olivia swallowed hard, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fill her eyes. “It’s not good news, Nick,” she said in a choked whisper.

Nick’s heart began to pound rapidly. He knew then that something was very wrong with her. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to know how bad it was. But he had to ask.

“What is it?”

“It’s cancer.”

Nick felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. He gaped at Olivia in shock, looking into her scared blue eyes, which had slowly begun to fill with tears. He shook his head, not wanting to believe it. But he knew she would not lie about it.

“H-how bad?” Nick stammered.

She wiped a tear from her cheek and sighed. “Pretty bad,” she replied honestly. “It’s a brain tumor. I’ve had it for a year now, and I was in remission. But now it’s back, and it’s inoperable.”

Nick felt overwhelmed. “Wait, you mean you’ve had a brain tumor all this time? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I… I dunno,” she said, glancing down. “I didn’t think it would bother me again. I thought that everything would be okay. There didn’t seem to be any reason to bring it up.”

Nick was too upset to be angry with her for not telling him. And she was right anyway. Although he would have liked to know, she had no obligation to fill him in on her medical history. They had only known each other a few weeks anyway.

“I understand,” he said softly. “Oh, Liv… I’m so sorry.”

She was silent.

“So how are they gonna treat it?” Nick asked. “Will you have to stay in the hospital for longer?”

“Radiation is the only way to treat it,” she replied. “And I’ll be able to go home soon. Maybe later today or tomorrow. I can get the radiation treatments as an outpatient.”

Nick nodded. “Well, will you need someone to take you to get them?” he asked.

“I can drive,” she snapped.

Nick frowned. “Well, okay…” he replied. “So, uh… when are your parents coming?”

“Whenever they can,” she replied. “They should be here soon, like later today.”

“That’s good,” he said. “Where will they stay? Your place?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah.”

Nick nodded, glancing around the room, pretending to study the drab wallpaper. Olivia just stared down at her hand. Neither one spoke. The silence was uncomfortable.

“Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?” Nick asked suddenly.

Olivia’s head shot up, and she gave him a strange look. “What?!”

“He didn’t have any guts,” he replied, chuckling to himself.

Olivia raised her eyebrows. He was making jokes at a time like this? But as she thought about it, she couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“That was one of the lamest jokes I’ve ever heard,” she told him.

He grinned. “I know. But it made you smile, didn’t it?”

Olivia smiled sheepishly. “Yeah.”

“Well, then, see? Lame or not, the joke served its purpose.”

Olivia rolled her eyes, but she had to admit, she felt a little better.

***