One Last Breath

Skylar

Noah and I sat there like that for a long time, his arm wrapped around my shoulder while I leaned into his chest. Our hands were still intertwined and our eyes were still glued to the scenery on the outside. I had never really found silence all that calming, more unnerving, but at that moment it was a type of therapeutic treatment for me. I hadn't been this relaxed in a long time. Unfortunately, this peaceful time ended when I saw two very familiar cars driving up the driveway.

I sighed and pulled away from Noah, with reluctance from my mind and from my body; I'd seriously been in that position too long, it had probably been bad for my muscles. He gave me a disappointed smile and stood up, straightening out his casual clothes. Why was he so damn good looking in everything he wore?

When he held his hand out to me, I took it without a second thought, feeling weightless as he pulled my up without any sign of strain. I laughed and stumbled into this arms, giving him a quick, and risky, kiss right before my parents entered through the door.

Both of their faces looked annoyed, as if they had been fighting even on the way up the path, but the second their eyes laid on me, I saw the soft faces that they had around me; ones that never used to be faked, ones that they never stopped using with one another.

"Look at you Skylar, you look so different without those drab clothes on you," my mother purred, giving me a large smile.

It was true, I wasn't wearing the sweat pants and tank tops that I usually had when I was in the hospital. I never really liked to wear anything else because these were easy to get on, good to work out in, and wouldn't be a hassle to clean if they got dirty. But for the special occasion of leaving the hospice, I had dressed myself differently.

My hair was pulled back into a pony tail, letting my face be exposed to everyone who really wanted to look, and it left my shoulders bare. The tank top I had on right now had thin, elastic straps that kept the tight top on my body. The light blue shirt was tucking into the pair of shorts that I had chosen to wear, and article of clothing that I hadn't worn in a long time.

And that was because it was more than obvious in my legs what this disease had done to me. Instead of the slightly thick thighs a regular dancer would have, or even the normal size of them, mine had become small and meek. Without even having known I had a sickness, anyone could have guessed that there was something wrong with my body with just a glance at my legs.

"You look gorgeous," my dad breathed, coming over and giving me a hug, erasing all the self-conscious fears I had about my body.

"Thank you daddy," I giggled, smiling at him widely when we pulled away.

"I guess I'll just be leaving now," Noah's voice said, floating into my ear and catching my small family by attention. As soon as his words registered in my mind, I wanted to beg him not to, but I didn't want my parents to know how close the two of us had become.

"Actually, Noah, we were wondering if you could actually stay, I mean through the whole duration of her… stay."

"Why does he need to stay?" I questioned, not like I was complaining. Just, nothing that my mother had just said made sense to me.

"Unfortunately, we both couldn't get the complete time off that we needed. We'll still be here a lot of the time, but there are going to be moments where Skylar is going to be alone, and we don't want that. And instead of some stranger taking care of her, we thought you could do it."

"I'd be happy to do it," Noah said instantly, not even taking the time to think about it. I wanted to smile at him, but pain was the main emotion on my mind right now.

"You sure? We wouldn't want to take you away from anything."

"Skylar is the only thing that is important at this time. I can drop anything else for her."

"Thank you so much-"

"Come on Noah, how about we go unpack?" I interrupted, turning my back on my parents and slowly stalked off to my room. I heard the man follow after me while my parents agreed that it was a good idea and went to go do the same.

Noah

I didn't need to ask Skylar what was wrong to know what her problem was. It was completely obvious, to anyone that really knew her, and I was surprised that her parents hadn't caught onto it. But that was her problem at this moment, so maybe it was the best that they hadn't.

"Skylar?"

She flopped back onto the bed that she had just sat on, her pulled back hair fanned behind her and her blue eyes were closed. She let out a slow sigh and I could see her chest deflating with the motion.

"Can you believe them Noah?" she questioned me in a whisper, her body language calm, but her voice screaming otherwise, "'We couldn't get the time off we needed'. Their daughter is going to be dead in a couple months, and that's all they have to say to me. They can't even spend the rest of my life with me."

"Sky-"

"Don't," she said, with more force, "please don't speak."

I bit my lip, trying to decide if she needed to hear what I had to say, but what she wanted at this point was more important than anything anyone else in the world had to say. I walked over her bed and sat down next to her, just watching her laying there. After a moment of silence, she looked over at me, her eyes shining with emotion.

"That's not excusable."

"No Skylar, it's not."

It was then that she turned her body around and laid her head in my lap. I undid her hair, letting it spill out like I liked it and ran my fingers through her hair until she fell asleep.