The Next Best Thing

The words echoed through Rachel's mind. Her mother couldn't possibly be dying. It wasn't right. She swirled the cold coffee round in her mug, refusing to take a drink. The last thing she needed was a caffeine fix to keep her up all night. Alex watched his girlfriend fall apart before him. Nothing he could do would save her from the rough ride she was in for.

"Do you need anything?" Alex asked, it was about the seventh time within the hour and he felt like he was a waste of space. He sighed, already knowing the answer. Rachel did the same thing she had done the past few times. She looked up, smiled weakly and shook her head, uttering a small 'no, thank you'.

Alex smiled back at her, and reached out, holding her hand. She was cold, and pale. Not like the usual golden goddess that everyone loved and was jealous of. Her blonde hair made her seem much frailer and Alex couldn't help but wonder what made her go that colour.

"In fact, I might get some water," she said and she stood up. She made her way through her sister's apartment and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, after fighting for a while with the door which seemed to have glued itself shut. "Do you want?" she shouted out. Alex stood up, walking through and shook his head.

"No thanks, I'm fine," he replied. Rachel nodded her head and propped herself onto a bar stood that her sister had just recently put in. She let herself adjust before changing the height of the chair. She let it drop down a few centimeters, the chair squeaking slightly as she did. She let out a small laugh, the sound amusing her for a little while. Alex smiled back, happy for the small moment of happiness she was experiencing. But it was soon over and the pair sat in silence again.

Rachel heard the phone ring out from the living room. Her heart almost stopped, the feeling of nausea jumping up from her stomach. She hated the sound of that dreaded machine. Alex looked at her, seeing if she was going to move. When Rachel was frozen to the spot, Alex jumped up, running to the living room to pick up the white handset.

"Hello?" He asked, answering the phone. Rachel watched his every movement, waiting to see whether it was bad news or good.

"Hey Alex, it's Caren," the voice said softly. She sounded tired and drained, something Alex wasn't used to seeing any of the Green family experience.

"Hey, how are you? How is Angie?" he asked, waiting for Rachel to move and take over. She didn't take the hint though, she sat on her seat, her head in her heads.

"We're both okay, just coping I guess," she murmured. "I was just phoning to check on Rachel? How is she doing? And when are you two heading back to Baltimore?.

Alex gulped and looked at his girlfriend. He lowered his voice and turned away, hoping she couldn't hear. "I guess she's coping too, I've never seen her like this though," he began, he could imagine Caren nodding her head in agreement. "And we were heading back tomorrow, but there's no rush."

"Well I was going to ask whether Rachel could stay a bit longer," Caren began, she sounded hesitant. "And you can stay as well, I just thought you might want to head back home and check on your band? You're more than welcome to stay though," she rushed.

Alex laughed lightly, trying to bring some sort of comfort into the conversation. "I'll see what Rachel thinks best to do," he said.

"Okay then, well I'll be home in about two hours. If you want to get food then that's fine, if not, then you'll have to wait until I come home and cook-"

"Caren, we're old enough to look after ourselves, don't worry yourself," Alex said, interrupting her. "I promise everything is fine here," he continued. He heard Caren sigh at the other end.

"Thank you Alex, you're not so bad after all. I'll talk to you later then. Bye," She said and with a few more goodbyes said, they both hung up.

Alex returned to the kitchen. Rachel at some point has rested her head on her folded arms and dozed into a small sleep. Alex smiled at his girlfriend, it was times like these that nobody could hurt her and he was grateful for it.

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"Thank you so much," Caren gushed, walking in. The entire time that Rachel had slept, Alex had moved her through to the bedroom and tidied up the messy house. Caren had obviously spent most of her time at the hospital and didn't have enough time to wash coffee cups and anything else. Alex had taken care of this though, and soon the house was looking like a billion dollars.

"It's no problem." Alex said, and when Caren looked around worried, Alex laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "She's sleeping, she's exhausted."

"Oh, thanks," Caren said and blushed slightly. He walked her through to the kitchen and asked her if she wanted anything. Caren laughed, finding the situation humorous. "It's ridiculous that it's my house, and I can't even find my manners to offer you-"

"You've been a little caught up in things," Alex said softly. "You deserve a break."

Caren looked up at him and smiled. "Okay then Alex, you make me a coffee and then tell me all about how Baltimore is."