Oh wow, my first one-shot. I'll admit, I'm a little nervous about posting this; I'm still trying to figure out where my writing ability went for this one =/ Eh, I hope you enjoy it. Please comment!
Running from My Fears
It was a typical summer day, with the sun shining and the cool breeze blowing. Angie jogged down the street just like she did every other day – to see him.
Nick Jonas.
Little did she know though, that he watched for her.
But today was different. As Nick waited by the window, all that came across his viewpoint were trees swaying slightly in the wind.
“Where is she?” he whispered to himself. He stared out the window a little bit longer, thinking maybe she was late – but there was still no sign of life on his street.
Nick stepped away from the window and plopped down on the leather sofa. Just as he for the television remote on the coffee table before him, he heard a scratching noise coming from outside.
Was it the sound of her running? No. He still didn’t have a very good view of things from his window, so Nick opened the front door. As he walked down the steps, he saw her.
But something was very wrong. There she lay, flat on the pavement, sounding like she was about to cough up a lung.
“Oh no.” Nick sprinted over to her and dropped at her side. “Are you okay?” he asked in a panicked tone.
“Call…911…” she said through he exasperated coughs. Even though the man of her dreams was sitting right beside her, her biggest concern was her health.
“I’ll be right back!” he called over his shoulder. Nick ran into his living room, snatched his phone of the table, and ran back outside. “Thank God we live on a private road,” he whispered to her as he dialed the three numbers.
“911; what’s your emergency?” the operator asked in a tone that was almost too calm.
“Hi, my name is Nick Jonas and I think my friend is having an asthma attack.”
“Sorry, could you repeat that sir?”
Nick heaved an angry sigh and repeated himself – slower this time. “My friend is having an asthma attack! Can you send an ambulance?”
“Where is your location, sir?”
“Uh, we’re sort of in the middle of Blake Avenue.”
“An ambulance should be there soon,” the operator said right before she hung up.
He flipped his phone shut and placed it on the gravel next to him. Luckily her coughing had slowed down a bit, but now she was gasping for air.
“Nick…” she breathed.
“Shh, I’m here. Just breathe.” He grabbed her shaking hand and squeezed it softly. He looked down at her wrist to see a gold bracelet, with ‘Angie’ spelled out on it. “Is your name Angie?” he asked as he watched her carefully.
She nodded twice, which led her to cough a few times more.
“It’s pretty.”
She forced a weak, thanking smile and inhaled sharply while a lone tear slid down her cheek.
“It’ll be alright,” he cooed as he wiped the tear away.
“Why are you here…with me?” Angie asked as the ambulance pulled up behind them.
Nick co.cked his head to the side – why wouldn’t he be there?
He watched as EMTs pulled her up off the ground and onto a stretcher, placing an oxygen mask on her face.
“Would you like to go with her?” one EMT asked him politely.
“Sure.” He picked up his phone up off the ground and stuffed it in his back pocket, making a mental note to call his parents once they arrived at the hospital.
The ride to the hospital that morning was brutal. He hated seeing Angie suffer, and the fact that his parents grounded him for leaving without permission.
After sitting in the waiting room by himself for three hours, Nick was finally granted access to see her. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob on the door to Angie’s room.
He finally exhaled once he saw she was awake and in better condition. Even though Angie was hooked up to many different machines, Nick was relieved to see she could breathe on her own now. “Hey.” He greeted her kindly as he sat on a chair located next to the hospital bed.
“Hi,” she said softly.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better. They said my breathing is a little off, but good enough to do by myself.
“Well, that’s good.” He smiled as he slipped his hand in hers. “I’m glad you’re alright, Angie.”
Angie glanced down at their intertwined hands. “Why are you being so nice to me?” she whispered.
“Because I like you,” he smiled.
Just as his words slipped off his lips, Angie began having a coughing fit. All of the machines started beeping, and doctors came rushing into the room.
“You’re going to have to leave now,” a male doctor said in a rushed tone as he pulled Nick out of the room, slamming the door in his face.
“Ugh!” Nick groaned as he sat down on the hard chair.
It had been a week since Angie was released from the hospital, and a week full of secret visits to her house. While his parents were at working or out running errands, Nick would slip out the front door and make his way over to her house.
One Month Later
“How are you?” he asked as he stepped inside, kissing her lightly on the cheek.
“Good,” she smiled. “How about we go to the park today?”
“That sounds good.”
They both walked down her front steps, hand-in-hand.
Once they reached the public park filled with luscious green grass, Angie suggested they sit on a bench under a shady tree.
“We need to talk,” she said once they sat down beside each other.
“Alright…what do we need to talk about?”
“Well…” Her voice trailed off as she mustered up the courage to tell him. “Remember when I was in the hospital last month?”
“Of course I remember. Why?”
“Um, let’s just say it wasn’t my asthma causing the problem.”
“Was it your running?” he asked. “You run everyday, so of course that’ll affect—“
“My running was a way to help, Nick.” She looked up at him, to find Nick utterly confused.
“Help what?!” He began to grow impatient with all of her stalling.
“I have lung cancer,” she whispered, letting tears slide down her flushed cheeks.
All Nick could do at that moment was hold Angie in his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was scared,” she muttered through sobs. “That’s why I run; I thought that if I went fast enough, all of this would disappear.”
“Baby…”
“I’m so sorry, Nick.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he said as he looked down at her. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“But Nick, that’s the thing.”
“Huh?” He loosened his grip on her and looked into her navy blue eyes.
“I’m not okay,” she cried.
“Well you will be once they do treatment—“
“No, you don’t understand.”
“Then help me understand!” he yelled.
She took a deep breath as she looked down to her feet. “It’s too late for treatment.”
“I thought it was never too late—“
“I’m in stage four,” Angie confessed as she cut him off once again. “I guess I’ve had cancer for a long time, but since I was never tested, they never knew.”
Nick held his head in his hands, letting out a few quiet sobs. “How much longer do you have left?”
“To live?”
He cringed as her words came out and nodded.
“They say three weeks,” she said softly.
“But…that’s right before Christmas.”
“I know.”
“And they can’t give you more time than that?!” he shouted, causing stares from other people.
“Nick, they don’t decide.”
“I just wish you had more time,” he sighed.
It had been exactly three weeks to the day, but Angie was still holding on.
Christmas Day
“Merry Christmas.” Nick quickly kissed her lips and smiled.
“Thanks for coming,” she said weakly as she smiled back.
“Well of course I came,” he laughed. “I love you, remember?”
“Yes; I love you, too.”
His eyes scanned over her – she was lying in bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. Since she made it past the three week mark, the doctors had forced her to stay in bed.
“Oh, I have a present for you.” Nick reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a long, thin box wrapped in silver paper. “Here.” He handed it to her, smiling at her shocked look.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Open it and find out.”
Angie ripped the paper off slowly, a scattered look on her face. When she finally reached the navy velvet box, she cracked it open to find a gold locket. “Nick, it’s beautiful! Thank you so much!” She sat up and hugged him with all of her strength.
“Open the locket,” he whispered in her ear.
She opened it with a click to find a small picture of the two on one side, and ‘Nick & Angie’ on the other. “Aw, Nick!”
“I thought you’d like it,” he laughed.
“I love it. Come here.” She patted the spot on the bed next to her.
Nick slipped under the covers and rested her head on his chest. “I love you so much.”
“You too – more than anything,” she said back, beaming.
A few minutes of complete silence passed, and he looked down to see that her chest was no longer moving up and down.
He kissed her head and smiled as the tears rolled down his cheeks.
Nick knew he’d never get over Angie, but he was happy that she was done suffering.
As he kissed her lips one last time, he put the locket around her neck, hoping she would remember everything they had.
At least you didn’t run from me, he thought as he shut her bedroom door behind him. “Merry Christmas,” Nick whispered through the tiny keyhole, wiping his tears away and walking down the steps; the steps he’d try his best not to miss.
I'm not particularly a fan of the ending, but hey, that's life =P Sorry, that was sort of sad.
xoxo nicole <33