| �Mark?� �Lyndsey? Hey. What�s going on?� Mark sat down on the couch on the bus, exhausted. �Mark, you need to come home, like now.� �What�s wrong?� Stapp and Phillips looked over at him, worry filling their faces. �Michal�s in the hospital. You need to get here fast.� Mark hung up the phone and dialed the airport. He packed a small bag, and headed to the door. �You guys meet me there as soon as you can, okay?� he told Stapp and Phillips, who nodded in agreement. When Mark got to the hospital, Lyndsey was out front waiting for him. �Is she having the baby?� Lyndsey shook her head, and Mark�s stomach fell. �She collapsed in the shower. They don�t know what happened, but they�re running tests. She�s in a room now, so you can go see her. Mark,� she stopped him in the hall outside the room, �they think it�s the cancer. They think it�s back, and it�s bad.� He took a deep breath and entered the room. His face fell when he saw her � her skin was pale, and tubes were running everywhere. She opened her eyes and looked at him, her eyes dull and tired. She managed a small smile and held her hand out to him, which he took into his. He leaned over and kissed her, sitting on the bed next to her. �I�m sorry, baby. I should have brought you with me.� �No,� she protested. �You were right. It was better for me to stay here.� He shook his head, tears spilling onto his cheeks. The doctor entered the room, and they looked up at him, expectantly. �I�m sorry,� he said. Michal�s face fell. �We can start radiation and chemo again, but there�s a good chance we�ll lose the baby.� Mark�s eyes focused on the ground, and tears streamed down Michal�s face. The doctor managed a small smile. �I�ll leave it up to you two to decide. Michal, you know what all is involved in the treatment, so keep that in mind. Let me know whenever you make up your minds.� He left the room, quietly closing the door behind him. �I don�t want to lose you, Michal,� Mark said, breaking the silence after a few minutes of thought. �I don�t want to lose the baby.� Mark sighed, resting his head in his hands. �We�ll lose the baby either way,� Mark whispered. Michal�s face fell further. She lay back in bed, resting her hand on her forehead, fighting the sobs, and barely winning. �There�s a chance the baby will live, right?� he asked, eyes closed. �Slim, but yeah.� �Michal,� he turned to face her, taking her hand in his. �I can�t lose you.� She managed a small smile and pressed the button to call the doctor in. He appeared minutes later. �That was fast,� he commented. �I hope you didn�t rush into anything�� he trailed off. �What are the chances that the baby will survive if I go through the treatment again?� �Very slim,� he said. �But there is a chance,� she pressed. �Yes, but most likely, if the baby does live, it will have severe defects, and there�s no way to tell,� he said slowly. �I want to do the treatment,� she stated firmly. �Mr. Tremonti?� the doctor questioned. Mark just nodded slowly. �We�ll start tomorrow, then. Get some rest.� He left them alone again. Mark laid back and pulled Michal into his arms, gently kissing the back of her neck. �Mark, I may not live through this,� she said. �I don�t know if I have it left in me.� He sat up to look at her, his eyes questioning her. �You have to fight it.� His eyes pleaded with her. �For me.� As she nodded, a single tear slid down her cheek and he stopped it with a kiss, watching her eyes close. �I�m so scared,� she whispered. �I am too, baby.� He rested his head on the pillow and kissed her shoulder. �I am too.� Soon her breathing slowed and she was asleep. ***Three months later*** Mark entered the room, concern written on his face. �Michal?�� he asked quietly, sitting next to her bed and taking her hand. Her head was turned so she could stare out the window, and she didn�t respond. He watched a tear slide down her cheek, and wiped it away with a brush of his hand. She rolled over to look at him. His heart sank when he saw her face, tearstained and blotchy. Her skin was pale and her eyes drooped. She shook her head and closed her eyes. �I�m so sorry, Mark. The baby�� she whispered, her face crumpling before the sobs surfaced. �Oh, God, the baby.� He shook his head and pulled her into a tight hug, feeling the sobs ravish her, holding her so tight that her trembles shook him as well. �Don�t be sorry,� he said softly into her ear. �We knew it was going to happen eventually.� His consolations neither calmed nor satisfied her, and the sobs continued. He just held her tight, as his tears mixed with hers. *** I don�t want your sympathy, Mark. Her words echoed through his head. Don�t make promises you can�t keep. Memories flashed through his mind, haunting him. Visions of him holding her as she left him, the sobs shaking his body, danced through his memory, clouding his dreams. His eyebrows furled in his sleep as he saw her look at him, her blue eyes twinkling, her smile mesmerizing him. I�m pretty lucky, ya know? He watched her approach him, clad in camouflage. The day he first met her came back to him. The visions and smells seemed so close, so real. He could still feel her lips on his, her fingers gently caressing his neck, soothing the bruise. Her voice echoed in his mind, his name dancing off her tongue. Her smile� her face. He awoke in a pool of tears, and they resurfaced as his eyes focused on a picture of them. They looked so happy, her arms around his neck, his around her waist with his hands in her back pockets. Both were smiling, laughing. He felt her lips on his cheek, and his hand went to his face as his eyes closed. He breathed in slowly, still smelling her perfume. A small smile found its way to his face, but was soon replaced with tears as the sobs overtook him. *** �Michal Bradley will be forever missed,� the minister said solemnly. Stapp put a hand on Mark�s shoulder, comforting him to the best of his ability, which wasn�t good enough. Mark adjusted his sunglasses and went to her coffin. A tear slid down his face as he neared her, saw her. He reached out and caressed her lifeless face, now cold and pale. His fingers found her wedding ring and gently rubbed it, twirling it around her finger as she had done with her engagement ring the night he had proposed. He slipped his lucky guitar pick into her limp fingers and kissed her cheek, caressing her soft skin one last time. �I�ll always love you, Michal,� he whispered. |
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