"Her words in depth"

[December 24th, 2021]

"Why can't I say that?!" Aurora yelled early in the morning to the doctor standing in front of her.

"Because we can't do that right now!" Dr. Matthias tried to explain to her.

"I don't care! Discharge me… Please. I can't stay here any longer." She asked for a last favor.

It had all started 6 weeks ago when she learnt about this dreadful truth. The disease, much common in adults occured in her out of nowhere leaving her in absolute distress. She was at the age to start a new journey. She wasn't ready to witness such harsh reality.

She had lost all hope. All of it.

Dr. Matthias looked at her father with hopeless eyes.

"Aurora. Hey!" Her father cheerfully reached her. "Just a few days? Please?"

She had the most troubled expression on her face. But she slowly nodded for the sake of her father. She couldn't have denied it when he asked her politely. Not when her goal was to not be a burden.

She unwillingly nodded again.

It was still early in the morning. Only Giselle and her father were present at the hospital. Her mother had left to cook and had sent Ethan and Lucy home. She also wanted Giselle to go home but she insisted on staying.

None of them had seen or heard from Sean since yesterday.

"Giselle… Did mom tell Sean to say that to me?" Aurora asked when her father stepped out.

"About what?" Giselle pretended not to know.

Aurora sighed.

"So she did tell him to…" She murmured.

"Look Aurora, I know where you're coming from but think about-"

"I don't care, Giselle. I really don't." Aurora lied down again in frustration. "I can't even go see him." She whispered to herself.

Giselle sighed. On normal days, she could playfully smack her and lighten up her mood but now it wasn't that easy.

Giselle left the ward to look for Sean and make him see her. She had called him several times yesterday, even her parents. But no one could reach him apparently.

His phone was powered off. He wasn't at the hideout either. Giselle still thought hard. She had to find him by tonight, at least before they start her biopsy. She had to find him before any risks were taken.

While Giselle was busy trying to find Sean, Aurora had been making other plans as she was left alone in the ward.

She would stare out the window and think about climbing down. But it was the 12th floor.

She would check the door from time to time thinking about when the coast would be clear enough for her to run away.

She hadn't overheard any conversation, she just wanted to leave the hospital somehow. It felt more like fetters.

She stood up as just thinking wasn't going to do anything. Her crutches were placed further away so that was a hassle.

She walked towards her crutches taking support of the walls. She grabbed them tightly to secure her balance and left the ward. The nurses were looking the other way. Great!

She went opposite to their line of sight in the sneakiest way possible. She couldn't tiptoe because of her unstable legs but she was still in full-on stealth mode.

She quickly left the horrible hallway by entering the elevator. No one saw her get on, hopefully.

"Aurora?" Sean asked who was already inside the elevator.

Aurora gasped.

[30 minutes ago]

"Sean! Goddamn! I looked everywhere for you!" Giselle found Sean around the entrance of the hospital before he could walk in after she was returning back from the search.

"Oh. I was… Around." Sean said slowly. "I switched and woke up in a grocery store… So…"

"Ah! I thought it was because of yesterday. Who was it? They switched your phone off whoever it was."

"It was probably Adam or the little one."

She nodded.

"Wanna talk?" Giselle pointed towards a bench on the side.

He followed her and sat beside her on the bench.

"What happened between you two yesterday?" Giselle asked.

"She's probably mad at me for telling her to get the surgery." Sean said as he looked away.

"Why did you say that? That's not what her mom said. You had to indirectly let her know…"

"I'm not perfect, you know." Sean looked at her with desperate eyes.

Everyone already knew what would happen to Sean if something was to happen to Aurora. Everyone knew that, yet rooted for their relationship just because they both were happy in the moment.

Now that her time was ending, it was hard for both of them, the one who is leaving and the one who is staying.

"I don't think the little one can handle this." Sean said. "I had been switching so much yesterday. I don't remember anything either. It's hard as it is for me, but for the little one…" Sean sighed.

"Aurora practically raised him." Giselle added.

"Is raising." Sean corrected her. "He can't see her go… Neither can I. And if you wanna say it's because we dated-"

"I know, I know… I was the one to force you guys."

"No. Even if we hadn't dated, the little one would've been the same. I.. would've been the same."

Giselle nodded.

"What I said to her yesterday was selfish. And I know she didn't want to hear that from me. But I have no choice."

"So why did you come back if you were in sulky mode?"

"I came to persuade her properly this time. She needs that surgery. We need that surgery."

"Actually." Giselle looked at him. "We're getting the surgery done… Secretly. That's why I was looking for you."

Sean raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"Did she actually agree to that? This is hard to believe."

"No, it's a secret." Giselle elaborated. "The doc said he's going to perform something like a biopsy and.. See if the surgery is uhh I don't know medical stuff. But yeah."

"I'll take that as good news… Isn't biopsy usually risky though?" Sean asked.

"You're asking the wrong person."

Sean nodded before he stood up to go inside and ask the doctor himself. Dr. Matthias gave him details about how it's risky but there is no other choice. They had already tried a needle-biopsy for Aurora due to which they could conclude that the surgery was possible.

Now for more possibilities and absolute perfection, a proper biopsy was to be performed so that no risks are taken into account.

After seeing the doctor, Sean decided to apologize to Aurora instead of persuading her.

[Present]

Sean stared at Aurora's criminal face, who was trying to run away.

"What are you doing?" Sean asked.

Aurora swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Anyhow, I was going to your ward anyway." Sean said before getting out of the elevator she had tried so hard to get on.

He grabbed her hand to walk her out then escorted her back to her room. She didn't tell him that she was going to run away because she had lost faith in him.

"Sit down." He asked her politely.

She sat down on the bed.

"The others would be coming shortly. I… Wanted to apologize for yesterday. What I did was wro-"

"Let's break up... " She looked at him with sharp eyes.

She must've really hated him after hearing him talking about the surgery.

"I'm… sorry." He repeated helplessly.

"You wanted me to get the surgery." She said sternly. "But since I'm dying, we don't have to be like this. We're done."

[December 24th, 2020]

She couldn't recall any event from the day.