"Resurrecting herself again"

[November 29th, 2021]

The sound of a text message woke her up from her sleep. Aurora had arrived home late after last night, staying in the hospital till Lucy's grandmother felt better. Of course she was going to visit the hospital again, so, the text message must've been from one of her friends wanting to take her along with them.

She muffled a sound from underneath the blanket before waking up to the text and stood upright swiftly, causing blackness to the vision in her eyes. Anemia or not, you shouldn't get up from the bed all of a sudden! She shook her head and rubbed her eyes with her fingers enclosed in a fist. Not necessarily the most healthy thing to do, as her mother would nag her for that.

However, death was so close that it didn't matter to her. She could finally rub her eyes with her fists without having the fear of somehow plucking the eyes out of the socket. That only happened in cartoons, right? She grabbed her phone, unlocking it despite lack of energy to move.

"Are you okay?" Ethan's text was unusual.

She stared at his text, turning the phone round and about. Was it really Ethan? That was a strange text. She decided not to reply, at least for now. She wanted to know why he had to text her that. Maybe she was just overthinking. She shook her head before tapping on the 'write text' bar.

"Why? Of course I'm alright." She hesitantly tapped the 'send' button.

"Wrong chat." Ethan replied. "Meant to send it to Lucy." He covered up efficiently.

Right. She was totally overthinking. She got off of her bed and ran straight into the bathroom before slipping, falling on her head hard. However, she stood up right away ignoring the pain. She quickly washed up and did her hair nicely, even though they were falling.

That was okay too, as they were almost unnoticeable. She didn't tie them either. She had breakfast normally with her parents, feeling better than before. After breakfast she decided to visit Lucy's grandmother in the hospital. Her father accompanied her, as she also had radiotherapy sessions in the same hospital. So, they both drove together to the hospital.

First, they decided to get the session, so no one notices. Then they made their way to the room where Lucy's grandmother was kept. Upon reaching there, they saw Lucy sitting on the floor with her hands over her face, covering it. Aurora quickly sat ran towards her and sat down, patting her shoulders.

"What's wrong, Lucy?"

The vital signs monitor had dropped scales. Stephanie had her head on the bed, beside her mother. Her face was calm, as if she knew she would die today. Suddenly, a sharp pain arising from the front of her head to the back.

Just when she didn't want any nuisances, her head rang violently causing an unconditional runny nose. She leaned forward holding her head, and a strange metallic taste formed in her mouth. She grabbed her father's sleeve as a sign. Understanding it, he quickly guided her back to Dr. Matthias.

They laid her down on the bed, torching her eyes, asking for MRI's, all when her friend lost her grandmother. She should've been there rather than lying down half numb.

"It's CSF leakage." Dr. Matthias. "Thankfully, the meninges weren't damaged as much so complete bed rest will fix the problem." He added. "Complete bed rest."

Specifying his words, Dr. Matthias went over to his desk to talk to her father. Of course, they talked about surgery. The last thing she wanted to hear.

"Aurora understands that the surgery is filled with risks because of the tumor location but if we left it as it is then..." Dr. Matthias paused. "Her hippocampus is half-way filled with malignant tumors that will keep on spreading as there is only little difference radiotherapy can make." He sighed. "Memory loss... is common in her case."

Aurora closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to hear any further. Her father left to check on Lucy's grandmother as she pretended to have fallen asleep. He learnt that the elderly suffered from a post surgical stroke that occurred last night, causing her soul to depart. Even with a successful by-pass surgery, and a previous open-heart surgery, they had hopped she would survive. However, the odds were not in her favor. Her will was beautifully written beforehand, as if she knew her time was up.

"I would like to donate my healthy organs to those in need." Her letter stated. "And my fellow companions, who also suffer from an illness to never lose hope as I made it this far." The one's who knew could tell that it was for Aurora. "Thank you to my daughter and grand-daughter for taking care of me."

Sophisticatedly written for those who were not aware, but beautifully written for those who were. The elderly was a beautiful soul too good for the Earth. Her wills were heard and one last surgery was held to secure her healthy organs. All while Aurora stayed on the bed, hopeless. She rubbed her eyes violently before waking up. Her father had been sitting in the room, waiting for her to wake up. Of course, she was taken back to her home for more bed rest. Her phone had only one text message.

"Don't worry about Lucy. Stay at home. Focus on recovering. Don't show up at the funeral."

Sean was always straightforward with his words but they were always correct. There was no reason to deny his words at this point. She knew she'd just add fuel to the flames by going the the funeral. What if she fainted or something? She couldn't trust herself anymore.

She wasn't the mighty Monarch Butterfly. Strongest before death? What a joke! She couldn't even stand properly. She was disappointed in herself and felt as if her remaining 5 weeks are going to be even worse. While her goals before death were just about making everyone happy, she could already tell how heartbreaking it could be for everyone to find out.

Sean and her father's words were alone tormenting. Even though they were meant to encourage her. She just wanted to get over with her 5 weeks. There was no spiritual reason why she ended up with a terminal illness. No spiritual meaning to anything ever. All life had, was death. So why bother living? She wished she could resurrect herself into a new life, where she wouldn't have these concerns. She let her thoughts eat her away as she continued to her eternal bed rest.

[November 29th, 2021]

"What would you guys do if you guys got diagnosed with a terminal illness?" Aurora asked out of curiosity, after watching a cancer story.

All her friends had gathered at her house, as she couldn't possibly get the permission to move until her ankle was healed. Even the mighty Ethan left his work to visit her. Well, the main plan was movies and gossips. Visiting her for sprained ankle was just an excuse.

"I would work to earn money for funeral." Ethan said. "Funerals are expensive these days." He sighed. "Imagine having to pay for your own funeral."

"On a serious note, have a rich friend to pay for your funeral and spend your own money carelessly." Sean said.

"Oh! Then I will adopt all abandoned doggies and take care of them with all my heart. Before dying, I will gift them to strangers." Lucy said. "If they want the doggies of course. Otherwise my mom could look after them."

"I will probably stop studying and start sleeping." Giselle said. "Or date a rich guy and die happy."

"I'll donate my possessions." Sean said.

"What about you Aurora?" Ethan asked.

"I'll... Spend time with you guys!" Aurora exclaimed cheerfully. "We could hangout all day, eat all the things we want. It'll be a ride."

"Right. Apart from the pains and stuff... I don't think terminal illnesses would be bad if all of us had them on the same time. Then we can leave the world together." Lucy chuckled. "You play too many games, Lucy. Too many games." She laughed at herself.

"As long as Sean covers my funeral dues, I'm chill and ready to die." Ethan said before coughing like an old man, indicating Hefty Uncle.

"Sure, I will. Just die." Sean smiled with narrowed eyes, unleashing is evil side.

"I bet God hates this conversation and is very disappointed in us." Giselle murmured.

They chuckled as much as they hated to admit that. Even with the sprained ankle, she was having fun. After they ended the movies, they decided to play indoor games. Aurora's mother brought refreshments for them as they spun a soda bottle, sitting in a circle on the floor of the lounge. In order to take turns to play 'Truth or Dare', soda bottle was spun inside their little circle.

"Truth or Dare?" Lucy asked playfully as the bottle pointed at Sean.

"Truth." He said without hesitating for even a second.

"Are you not gonna date? You're almost 18!" Lucy wanted chaos.

"I will ask someone out after graduation. I have someone in my mind." Sean murmured.

"Who?!"

"Isn't there supposed to be one question per turn?"

While sulking, Lucy spun the bottle again.

"Ask away." She mumbled as the bottle pointed at her.

"Truth huh? Who was it really, the one who gave you Mr. Goggles?" Ethan asked out of curiosity.

"Well." Lucy hesitated. "The boy I liked in middle-school. He rejected me after leading me on by giving me Mr. Goggles for my birthday. I don't hate him for that though. Mr. Goggles is my life-long partner in crime."

Hesitantly, yet openly, the bottle was spun again, pointing at Giselle.

"Let me ask her!" Aurora swiftly exclaimed.

"Nuh-uh." Giselle swung her index finger left to right, and right to left. "I want a dare."

Aurora pouted before biting her lips. She must've really wanted to ask a question.

"I dare you to eat all of these chocolates in one go!" Ethan, the evil, exclaimed.

Giselle had a terrible sweet tolerance.

"I hate you!" She clenched her teeth before unwrapping sweet white chocolate treats and stuffing her face all at once to get over with it.

It was something she brought upon herself by choosing a dare, so, she ate the chocolate treats without complaining till they were all finished, in one go. It was hard to accumulate all of those in her mouth but a dare is a dare. The bottle was spun again, pointing at Lucy again.

"Truth." Lucy said, fearing that evil Ethan might give a horrible dare. Plus, she had nothing to hide.

"What do you wanna major in?" Aurora asked.

"No!! That's not a question!.. Let me ask." Ethan complained on such a simple question.

"Technically, she never told us her major. So, I think it is an alright question." Sean said, rolling his eyes.

"Mass-communication. I never shared it because I'm still second guessing if I want to do it or not." Lucy said.

"Ah, that's a fair reason." Giselle said before grabbing the bottle to spin it yet again.

The bottle spun for about a few seconds before landing on Aurora.

"D-Dare... No! Truth." Aurora said hesitantly.

"Choose one thing genius." Lucy said.

"Truth." Aurora said before looking away.

"When will you start taking care of yourself?" Giselle asked.

"You spoke my mind." Sean said before sighing sharply.

Aurora looked away, trying to avoid eye-contact.

"I do take care of myself." Aurora let out a mumbled whisper.

"No, you don't. Face it!" Lucy exclaimed sternly.

"Why do you guys have to attack me?"

"If you don't, then it's no fun!" Ethan exclaimed before moving the bottle to his side. "Let it be, the last question of today."

"What would you buy if you had a life-time opportunity to get one purchase of any price?" Sean asked.

"Hmm." Ethan sighed. "Plane tickets." He said before passing a huge smile. "For my family to start living with me."

They all had their own stories to tell. And they sure did have a long life ahead of them to be telling those stories one by one. Slowly.