Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

DECLAN

I had gone home because I had enough of this shit. Sleeping in a hotel isn’t exactly ideal. I can’t believe my eyes. There she is, getting into the passenger seat of another man's car. My heart sinks as I realize that she has been seeing someone else behind my back. What the fuck is going on? Without thinking, I follow them as they drive off, my mind races with all the possibilities of what could have happened between them. Did she cheat on me? Did she fuck with this man in our bed? Fuck, this is killing me.

I can’t bear the thought of her with another man, especially after everything we have been through together. I have to know where they were going, so I keep following them until they pull into a parking lot. My heart drops when I realized where we were: the cancer treatment center. The one place I never wanted to see again.

Suddenly, it all makes sense. Her suddenly breaking up with me, her distant behavior, everything. I knew why she had kept it from me. She thought I couldn't handle it. For a split second, I am angry that she didn't trust me enough to tell me, but then I remembered how much pain and suffering this place had caused us both. I couldn't blame her for not wanting to relive it with me.

I sit in my car, watching as she gets out and walks towards the entrance. On autopilot, I get out of my car and go inside the building. As I make my way to the room, my mind is filled with a million thoughts and emotions, but my body moves mechanically, as if driven by an invisible force. I'm not sure how long I've been in this state, ever since I found out the news.

From the doorway of the room, I watch as she settles into a recliner and a nurse hooks her up to an IV. They chat for a minute while August starts up the machine. She covers herself with a hospital blanket and scrolls on her phone for a bit before falling asleep. I suck up the tears that are threatening to fall. The woman I love is battling cancer, and I have to be strong for her.

I finally make my way to her side and sit down in the companion chair. I wait, watching her sleep, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I want to cry, to scream, to break down, but I can't. Not now, not in front of her.

So I wait, holding her hand, trying to find some semblance of strength in this hopeless situation. And for a while, it's just the two of us, in this quiet room, fighting this battle together.

Then she wakes up.

“Declan?” she whispers, sleepily. She could still be sleeping, dreaming about me, but I know better. The tears I’ve been holding back fall steadily, silently. I need to know what’s going on.