Blackbird

'Blackbird singing in the dead of night,

Take these broken wings,and learn to fly.'- Blackbird - The Beatles

"No! What are you doing in my room anyway?" Rowan gritted teeth, trying not to shout at Olivia.

She wasn't supposed to find out this way, he was going to tell her, really. He always had that thought at the back of his mind that he would confess, himself, and they would be together and happy. The thought always made him content, but then there was the fear of getting rejected.

Rowan always knew she was way too good for him, too pure. The things Rowan had done which weren't unknown to Olivia always degraded his feelings towards her.

"Then how do you explain this tape Rowan?" She fired back, not missing a beat.

"Well-" He paused, speechless.

"Do you love me?" She questioned once again.

"You weren't supposed to find out this way. I was supposed to tell you, myself, in person, face to face, mano-e-ma-" He got cut off by his own self. "One too many?" He chuckled.

"All too many." She replied, joking but all of a sudden got very serious. "Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?" He was conflicted by her incomplete question.

"Why me? I can't give you things half the girls my age can." The statement appalled Rowan, yes, there were many other things girls could give him, but they just weren't her.

"Yeah they can, but they can't give me the feeling you give me. Whenever we are together, you make me feel so..." He trailed off.

"God, I can't even come with a word that can describe my feelings towards you. It just so amazing, the way you make me feel, you are the sun, radiating off light. I don't care if you are blind, I just want to love you and cherish you. So please, give me a chance." He pleaded.

Olivia reached to grab his face in her hands, well tried, instead, her hands rested on his neck as she leaned forward, closing her eyes, and touching their foreheads with each-other. Olivia opened her eyes, but off-course, all she saw was a pit of nothing, absolute blankness. Blue eyes staring into an endless blind and dull life that he adored ever lastingly

"Olivia, please, I love you, sh*t I love you more than one can imagine." Their close proximity led Rowan to stare at her lips, mourning to get even a slight taste of her sweet lips.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked something that was beyond his understanding, and her answer couldn't have made him more star-struck.

"Yes." She whispered.

One word. Three letters.

He was speechless but quick, claiming her lips. The kiss slow and passionate. But the need was overbearing. His lips felt soft against hers. Rowan's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach, in the best way possible. Butterflies- no- fireworks erupting in his stomach. This was better than he could've thought, all the times he thought about kissing her soft lips, they were nothing compared to living the moment.

The kiss was subtle, their lips moving against each-other. Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as Rowan's hands went around the small of her back. On her knees, Olivia sighed in content. A peculiar feeling in her stomach, her heart fluttering.

They finally pulled away because of the lack of oxygen. Both panting, out of breath. Grinning like goofs.

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night..." He randomly started singing. Olivia laughed at her best friend's randomness but nonetheless started singing along as this was their song.

"Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise..." They finished the chorus, pressing their foreheads against each other, still grinning.

Rowan's grin faded away as his face contorted in pain.

He yelled out in pain, clutching his head.

"Rowan!" Olivia called out to make sure he was okay.

"Olivia..." He started gasping for oxygen. "Call mom."

A thud sounded as Rowan fell to the floor, unconscious.

Olivia got up, guiding herself back towards the door, knocking a few items down until she was in the doorway.

"Auntie Haley! Auntie Haley!" She called out. "Something happened to Rowan! Auntie Haley!" She cried, tears streaming down her face.

"Olivia!" Haley jerked her niece, alerting her before taking a look at her son lying on the floor. She gasped before fumbling her phone out and dialing to call the ambulance.

Olivia slowly made her way to Rowan again, kneeling down on her knees, resting his head on her lap.

"Wake up Rowan. Please." She begged him to wake up. His face was paler than its nature skin tone.

While Olivia pleaded him to wake up, his mother, Haley, paced around in the room. Her hands shaking, running them through her hair one too many times. A sign of frustration.

"Yes, yes, uh-" Haley stammered, she was just so damn scared for her son. "-shit! Umm, twenty- twenty one Willian street. House n-number t-t-twenty-six." She paused. "Yes Willian street God damn it!" She yelled at the person on the other side.

She hung up soon and called another number. Rowan's father Richard.

"H-hello Richie? Rowan. Rowan, he-" Haley took a deep breath. "He collapsed. I don't know what happened." There was some frantic murmuring on the other side which Olivia couldn't decipher.

All she could focus on was the feeling of Rowan's head resting on her lap, his body limp.

"Rowan. Please wake up, please be okay." She whispered. Begging the Lord in the heavens to help her.

The dreary arms of grief engulf her, she knew this feeling all too well. It wasn't new. Grief and Olivia had met in the past, to say that they were mere acquaintances would be an understatement because grief had took over Olivia's senses quite a lot.

Soon, in just a couple of minutes or so, the shrieks of the ambulance were sounded, getting louder and louder as it came closer to its destination.

Tears slipped from Olivia's eyes uncontrollably. Haley wasn't all too well either. Her nose was runny and red, her hazel eyes had widened and brown hair messy.

Olivia and Haley followed the paramedics' outside as they rolled Rowan out of the house and into the red and white ambulance. The paramedics' were all wearing a blue button up, half sleeved shirt and black dress pants. At the right side of their chests, on the shirt, there was a red plus and under that, in small font was written 'Wellington International Hospital' and on the left was the paramedic's name, Bob.

A paramedic approached the aunt and niece standing in a corner. He

"Which one would like to accompany the patient?" He asked.

An arm touched Olivia shoulder and she immediately knew by the soft and delicate touch that it was her Aunt.

"I think you should go Olivia, I'll wait for Richard to come and we'll join you soon honey." She ever so softly muttered, her voice hoarse from crying.

She then turned to the paramedic, Bob, and said, "Could you please lead her to the ambulance, she can't see."

It wasn't entirely true, Olivia could see silhouettes. But all of it was black. It was from time to time when she would see a shade other than black, sometimes a soft shade of pink or the green grass. She only ever saw them in a span of a few months and sometimes even a year. It was only for a second before the lights went out again and all she could see were silhouettes.

The paramedic muttered an 'ok' and grabbed Olivia's arm.

She got in the ambulance and was seated beside Rowan. She grabbed his cold pale hand and brought it to her mouth, kissing it a few times.

"Will he be alright?" Olivia asked. The question was asked to God but answered by a human.

"Vital signs are faint, it's critical." Way to make a person feel better. Olivia thought to herself. She didn't know what she would do without Rowan. He had been her best friend ever since they were little kids. Maybe they were soul mates too. Who knows what trick Love had pulled again?

Tears slipped down Olivia's face as she held back a sob.

Tears. What an odd word with an odd meaning. It was quite peculiar, how it slips down a person's face at very certain moments. They slide ever so gently down a human's face. The funny thing is that people can shed tears for tons of diverse reasons. Tears of joy, tears of grief, tears of resentment and soon. What I don't quite understand is how a person is able to feel so many emotions at once. Humans are quite strange beings if I do say so myself but of course they are God's most precious creations.

To Olivia, it felt like hours had been passed since both souls kissed but it had been, perhaps, a few minutes but those minutes were filled with anguish and heartache.

They reached the hospital. Located in such a small town, the hospital did not deceive as it talked to the birds in the sky. The boundary was grey and surrounded the hospital. It was about 6 foot tall with gaps in the middle where the white gates were situated.

The driver steered the ambulance past the white gate and reversed it near the stairs where the entrance to the hospital was.

Rowan was rushed into the ICU and instantaneously after that the Doctor scurried in the room.

* * *

It had been merely a few hours, maybe two. Rowan's parents, Haley and Richard had joined Olivia shortly after Rowan was rushed into the ICU.

Another second turned into a minute which turned to another hour. Rowan had been in the ICU for three and a half hours now and everyone was getting anxious.

In the narrow hallway, they had uncomfortable grey chairs on the right, and white doors with a silver knob aligned on the left.

Rowan's father, Richard, was sitting with his elbows on his knees and hands covering his mouth. His hands were fisted, his knuckles white from his strong grip and tears were swarming in his eyes, he was trying to act strong none other like his wife who was a wailing mess.

Olivia was by far the calmest of her family; she was sitting there, her arms wrapped around her aunt's petite figure, praying to God, if there was one, that Rowan would make it out safe and sound.

"Rowan Carvier's family?" A deep voice called out into the hallway.

The whole Carvier family looked up, standing up instantly and running towards the doctor, they were all dying of curiosity and concern.

"Doctor, what happened to my son?" Richard asked as both of the females were unable to utter a word and inconsolable at the moment.

"I'm extremely sorry to say that-" The next words that left the doctor shattered Olivia's heart and made her burst out in sobs.

"-Mr. Carvier has a tumor in his brain. There are many different types of brain tumors that exist. Some brain tumors are noncancerous, benign, and some brain tumors are cancerous, malignant. Brain tumors can begin in your brain which is primary brain tumors, or cancer can begin in other parts of your body and spread to your brain, the secondary, or metastatic, brain tumors."

"Can you just tell us what happened to Rowan, we don't need a whole manifest on brain tumors!" Olivia finally burst, relieving the frustration that was building in her mind.

"Unfortunately, Rowan's tumor is cancerous. How quickly a brain tumor grows can vary greatly. The growth rate as well as location of a brain tumor determines how it will affect the function of your nervous system. Brain tumor treatment options depend on the type of brain tumor you have, as well as its size and location. It is, however curable, there are various ways in which you can kill the tumor.

"The first option is surgery, more of the old fashioned way basically where you remove a small section of the skull and then put it back. This procedure is less expensive but has a higher risk of failing." Olivia flinched at the word 'fail' as the doctor continued.

"The second option is chemotherapy, which I proposed to Rowan but he refused saying he loved his hair. The third and final option radiotherapy, which rowan first disagreed to too but then when I told I told him that your hair can grow back easily, he said that if it is okay with his parents it will be fine for him. But let me tell you, this tumor can kill your son. Rowan is alright for now, but he needs to come for a check-up very two weeks. He can go home as soon as the discharge papers are signed."

"Thank you doctor, can we see him now?" Haley asked who was more composed and relaxed. The doctor only nodded and headed off is the opposite direction.

The three entered the room; it had grey walls and in the middle laid a white bed with white sheets with a person sitting up on it, Rowan.

Though Olivia was blind, she had a strong sense of smell, and as Rowan's soothing smell of after-shave and rain berry Gatorade wafted through her nose, she felt at ease.

Olivia felt a sense of relief as all the emotions and words barged their way into her brain.

She fell down to her knees, sobbing into her hands.

She heard the muttering of her paternal uncle and aunt, then a hand grabbing her arm and leading her towards the bed. The door opened and closed softly, indicating that Rowan's parents had left the room.

A hand grabbed Olivia's and pulled her to sit on the bed. He couldn't wait any longer as he put his lips against Olivia's and kissed her gently. The kiss only lasted a few seconds as they broke apart or air.

Olivia still had tears roaming down her face.

A gentle hand removed her years and in an ever so soft voice spoke Rowan.

"Don't cry, I'm alright, in fact I'm on topof the freaking world!" He chuckled causing Olivia to giggle too.

"I was afraid something happened to you."

"Well! I am just fine. I love you okay? Don't cry." He consoled his world and for once in his life, and this might sound cliché, he felt complete.

She jumped in fear as he embraced her but soon recovered and hugged him back.

While Rowan was busy soothing Olivia, saying that he will be alright outside with his parents and doctors was another story for later.