Wish Upon a Star

“You got her flower thing?” Garrett checked.

He nodded his head and lifted up the plastic box with the white rose tied with a ribbon inside.

“Well let’s go!” Garrett said rushing John out the door.

Nervously he walked up the front steps of her house. He looked back at Garrett who was putting his navy blue jeep wrangler in park. He shook it out of his head and rang the doorbell, taking a step back from the door.

“Oh, hello!” Her mother greeted a bit surprised, “She’s just upstairs getting ready with Lizz.”

He nodded understandingly. By now Garrett had joined him.

“You boys can come in,” She smiled and welcomed them inside before calling upstairs to the girls.

“You must be John,” her father greeted him with a firm handshake, “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” John replied with a handshake.

“She’s almost ready!” Lizz said rushing down the steps. She stood next to Garrett and kissed his cheek before he slipped the corsage over her wrist.

“So, you’ll have her home by ten, right?” Her father asked with a look that said if he didn’t he would be in trouble.

“Y-Yes,” John gulped.

“Eh hem.”

All eyes turned towards the top of the stairs.
There stood Abigail in her gown.

“Shoot! Let me get my camera!” Her mother shouted, dashing into the kitchen to grab it.

She looked down at John and smiled warmly. His eyes were glued to her figure. Beautiful couldn’t even describe her.

Gracefully she made her way down the steps.

“Hey,” She said in a hushed tone.
“H-Hey,” He stuttered out.

“Give her the flowers!” Garrett whisper yelled over to him.

“Oh! Right,” He smiled sheepishly, fumbling to open the box before slipping it over her wrist. She turned to her mother, who held out his boutonnière, pinning it to his jacket.

“One more picture before you all go,” Her mother called out. Her and Lizz nodded and stood together, posing for a picture. Garrett and Lizz took a photo, then Abigail and John.

“Now one of all of you!” Her mother ordered. Lizz stood with her back against Garrett’s chest and his hands on her waist. Abigail and John stood in the same fashion, but both of them kept a distance from each other, for fear that her father might freak out on them.

“Have a good night kids,” Her mother waved from the front porch as they made their way to the wrangler.

Both the boys helped the girls into the back seat and took off into the night.

“Prom night here we come!” Lizz shouted, as soon as they were a block away from Abigail’s house.

“You know you really do look beautiful tonight,” John said as he helped her out of the jeep.
“Thanks,” She blushed again.

Once inside, they never left each other’s sides fearful for what might happen.

You see, Abigail was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last fall. That was the most devastating news that any of her close knit friends had ever heard. She had never smoked in her eighteen years of life and she never inhaled anything toxic. The doctors said she wouldn’t live past the age of 19, and if she did, she wouldn’t want to be alive.

But here she was, defeating the odds.

She was happy spinning in small circles in her dress with John. Nothing could make this night more perfect.

Just as she thought of that, Lizz’s song she requested earlier had come on. The classic Disney song, Can You Feel The Love Tonight came pouring through the speakers as couples made their way to the floor, swaying to the beat of the music.

Abigail smiled to herself and wrapped her arms around John’s neck as he held her waist.

“Thank you for such and incredible night.”
“You’re welcome,” He nodded and flashed her a smile.
“Thank you for being the only one who would take me too,” She giggled.
“Plenty of guys would’ve asked you if I hadn’t gotten there first,” He stated.
“No,” She shook her head, “They wouldn’t have. Not after … you know…”

He leaned in closer to her and whispered in her ear, “I still would’ve.”

She blushed a little and smiled, “Thanks John.”

He quickly looked down at the floor beneath them, “If you wouldn’t mind, I was kind of hoping I could try something…”

“You aren’t getting in my pants that easily,” She joked.
“Well I sure as hell wasn’t going to do that!” He replied shocked.
“Alright then, I trust you.”

He licked his lips in anticipation and waited for the right moment in the song before pressing his lips against hers.

Let’s just say there were fireworks going off on both sides.

Her eyes slowly opened and a smile crept on her face as he pulled away.

A week after prom, Abigail hadn’t shown up to school. This was common for her to be gone so much, but something about this time just made it feel different.

“Have you talked to Abby?” John asked worriedly.
“Lizz talked to her yesterday,” Garrett answered, poking at his fries.
“Where’s Lizz?”

He shrugged, “I dunno.”

“She’s your girlfriend,” John hissed angrily.
“Dude, calm down,” He said putting his hands up defensessly, “Why are you so worked up anyway?”

“Because…” He started but then stopped himself, “I just need to find Abby.”

“I was thinking about ditching the rest of school, but you know we could always go use the excuse that Abby needs us.”

“Fine,” John grumbled, “Just find her.”

The boys were heading over to Abigail’s house when they saw Mrs. Dane’s car in the driveway and her getting out.

“Aren’t you boys supposed to be in class right now?” She questioned.

Garrett pointed to John, “This kid here is worried about Abby.”

“Oh,” She said as her eyes darted down to the ground, “I told her I should’ve told you.”

“What’d you mean?” John asked furrowing his eyebrows together.
“Well come on, I’ll take you over there,” She said motioning for them to come over to her car.

Pulling up in front of the hospital, John got this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something just wasn’t right. It wasn’t until he got up to her room that he knew what it was.

Lizz sat by the edge of her bed, holding on to her hand. She looked up and was surprised when she saw John and Garrett standing there.

“She didn’t want you to know,” Lizz whispered before getting up out of the chair and bringing the boys out into the hall.

Lizz took in a deep breath, “She’s asleep now, but it won’t be long before she wakes up and knows that you’re here.”

“I want to be here,” John stated firmly.

Lizz shook her head, “I promised her I wouldn’t let you see her like this. She likes you way too much.”

“Lizz,” Garrett spoke up, “Just let John go in there before he goes all psycho again.”

“I can’t,” She said and looked at John, “I’m sorry.”

“Please?” He begged.
“Do you know how much you mean to her?” Lizz asked, “It would kill her for you to see her laying there helplessly.”

“Do you know how much she means to me?” He answered back.

Lizz hesitated, “Alright, but if I get in trouble, I’m blaming you.”

“Deal.”

He opened the door and stepped inside the white room with the big window and a ton of machines that he knew nothing about. Hanging on the bathroom door was her white prom dress and taped up next to it was a picture of all four of them. Below that was a picture of her and Lizz and right next to the bed was a picture of her and John.

“John?” She asked hoarsely, snapping him out of his state of mind, “What are you doing here? I told Lizz not to let you in.”

“You really thought she was going to keep me out?” He smiled and pushed back her hair, leaning down to kiss her forehead, “Nothing is going to keep me from you.”

“I didn’t want you to see me like this,” She admitted shyly.
“I was worried about you.”
“I know. Forgive me?”

He nodded.

“Can I tell you something?” She asked quietly.
“Hmm?”
“Nevermind,” She said ducking out at the last minute.
“No, go on, tell me,” he urged, pulling up the chair and sitting next to her, holding her hand in his. You could tell that her heart skipped a beat for a second. He chuckled to himself and she turned bright red.

“You’ve always done that to me.”

He smiled and studied her face. Pain was ever so present, but overshadowing it was happiness.

“Abigail,” He paused and she looked up at him, “I love you.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead she started choking on her own breath and soon nurses and doctors were running into the room calling out things that he didn’t have a clue of what they meant. Her heart rate was out of control and the doctors said she was going into shock. They shoved a tube down her throat and hung liquids from an IV, hoping that she would recover. Nothing was working.

There was a long silence in the room as time stood still. A short beep, a long beep, and another short one filled the silence before the green line on the screen stayed straight for quite some time.

“Time of death,” The doctor announced, “Six Forty-two PM.”

Every who had rushed in cleared the room, leaving John the only one left.

His mind still tried to grasp what had just happened. Tears fell from his eyes as he held the hand of his cold, lifeless beauty. He always knew she was a fighter, but the fight got the best of her this time and she had lost.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead slowly, before wiping his eyes and slipping out the door.

Garrett and Lizz just looked at him as they went in to say their goodbyes.

John stepped outside of the hospital and looked up at the sky. Every star shone brightly above him. He knew she was happy now, even if she wasn’t with him.

Then it clicked.

“I love you”