Status: Completed

Do You Remember

Epilogue

Ignoring the screeching of tires and the blinding red and blue lights of the ambulance alerting staff that there was yet another emergency at the small public hospital, oncology nurse Sarah Brighton walked briskly through the dark, echoing halls towards the ward she had worked for the past ten years. Although she had been offered countless promotions, Sarah always knew that her heart was with her patients in the cancer ward of the hospital.

Sarah went through her rounds quickly, but thoroughly, making sure to check on each one of her patients, pleased to see that each were sleeping soundly. A loud snore from elderly Mr Beckom on the end of the row of beds along the wall brought a smile to Sarah’s face. Her smile remained on her features as she glanced once more over each of the patients, and left the room, heading to check on the only patient in her care who had a private ward. Although Sarah knew that it would end in tears due to the extremity of his condition, she had developed a close friendship with Addison Sinclair and his family and friends over the past few years. She always looked forward to walking into his room and being met with a smile, despite the young man’s obvious pain. Sarah knew that Addison didn’t have much longer left; his cancer had spread too rapidly to fathom. It had started out as osteosarcoma, a highly malignant spinal tumour, and spread, taking over nearly all of Addison’s body in a short three years. It was only a matter of days, Sarah knew, for Addison to be overpowered by his sickness. She had warned his family that the time was coming; it pained her to see their broken expressions – Addison’s poor parents had lost their oldest son, Tyler, to leukaemia when Addison was four years old and now they were about to lose their only child left – and yet, it was her job to help families and friends through their loss, and always tried to do this as professionally as possible, no matter how close she had become to her patient.

As Sarah walked into Addison’s room, she had expected him to be lying down, fast asleep. Visiting hours were long over, so Sarah figured that Addison would’ve wanted to rest before Josh Banks, Addison’s fiancé, as well as Addison’s parents and most likely his friends Charlotte and Adam, came in right as visiting hours started at 10:00am. Instead, the young man was sitting up in his bed, something that Sarah knew he found increasingly difficult to do by himself due to the amount of pain he was constantly in. She decided that one of the other nurses must’ve helped him up.

“Addison?” she called quietly into his room. It was silent, unusually silent, as if something were missing. The way Addison was sitting, with his head bowed, had Sarah wondering if he was sleeping sitting up or reading the thick book that sat open on his lap. The boy didn’t stir, so Sarah ventured into his room and made her way over to his bed. “Addison?” she said again, slightly louder than before as she stood beside him. He remained still; his thin black hair hung over his face, hiding a pair of beautiful green orbs that always lit up whenever Sarah entered his room. Sarah touched the boy’s arm in an attempt to wake him. She shook him gently as her heart sank when realisation hit. She knew what was missing. Addison was missing. He was gone. And in his place, a pale, perfect shell remained.

Sarah allowed a silent tear to slide down her cheek as she ran the tests needed to confirm the young man’s death, and with a shaking hand, slowly filled out the mandatory checklist. She had alerted doctors and other nurses when she first realised that Addison was no longer with them. They had been cleaning up his body for when his parents came into the hospital to see their son for one last time while Sarah did her paperwork. After she signed her name, and her colleagues had left her alone in the room, Sarah’s eyes fell on the book Addison had been reading. She gingerly picked it up, and opened it. The first page was a large photograph of Addison and Josh. Sarah noticed how happy they were together, carefree and in love. It brought tears to her eyes once more, knowing how devastated Josh would be when he heard the news. With her left hand, she wiped her eyes, while her right turned the page. Her eyes fell first on the title: Do you remember when we met? written in Josh’s messy scrawl. She was intrigued, and although a little voice in the back of her mind was telling her that it really wasn’t any of her business, she read on, until the final page. Sarah noticed that it was slightly different to the rest. This final page contained no memories, like the rest of the book. The final page was a letter:

To my dear Addison

This is the last time I will say goodbye. I have said it while you were awake. You asked me why I was crying so hard it made you cry just seeing how sad I was; you didn’t understand. We had already accepted you were going to die in the next few days, you said. You didn’t know what I had planned, how could you? I only told you that I loved you, that I would miss you, and that I would see you soon, before I kissed your chapped lips and left.

You’re sleeping now, as I write this. I’m sitting by your bed. And after this letter is finished, I will kiss you one last time and then leave without waking you. You look so peaceful sleeping.

Addison, this chapter is the end. I’m saying goodbye, one last time.
I'm scared.

Please, darling. Forgive me.

I know we will meet up again when God claims you, just like He will claim me now.

Addy, I love you. And I can’t live without you.

Forgive me.

With all my heart,
Josh


A sudden realisation struck Sarah, and she gently placed the book on her chair, before bolting from the room. Frantically, she searched through the records accumulated from that night. Her heart broke when she found what she was looking for. A tear slipped down her cheek.

Joshua Banks: Date and time of death: 11.6.2011 10:42pm. One gunshot wound to the head. Self-inflicted. Pronounced dead on arrival.
Addison Sinclair: Date and time of death: 11.6.2011 10:43pm. Osteosarcoma.
♠ ♠ ♠
The End :(

I know a lot of you were hoping for a happy ending, but I had planned for DYR to end this way since before I even began writing. I hope, even though the way it ended wasn't the way you wanted, that you all enjoyed this story.

Thank you to everyone who's stuck with me, even though sometimes I took forever to update.
Thank you to all readers and subscribers, and an enormous thank you to everyone who commented:
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If you liked this story, if you like, check out my other active slashes: Corrupt Me and Fat