Sing Me To Sleep

Alex’s P.O.V
I hated Tuesdays. I was in the middle of English when I got the message. My phone vibrated in my pocket, the moisture escaping my mouth, the lump in my throat got bigger and I brought a hand through my hair.
To: Alex
From: Debbie J
Message: It’s time Alex.
Three words. The three words I’d hated to hear. The doctors had said Sierra had 13 days...that was a month ago. She had outlived their expectation and truly taken advantage of that. She gained the courage, removed the beanie she’d stolen off me from her head and picked us up from school. The one thing she’d wanted to do. On the 13th day, she was leant against her car, sunglasses over her eyes like something from a film. We took a road trip and drove up to New York. Sierra had spent it dragging Zack, Jack, Rian and I around the shops whilst her, Hayley and Debbie tried on outfit after outfit after outfit. We took a stroll around Central Park, went for a swanky meal in a swanky restaurant before heading off to see a Broadway musical; Sierra had, understandably, picked the Lion King and cried practically all the way through. We’d put together a scrap book and had bbq’s. It never really was going to last forever though. It was about a week ago. The doctors had said that it would start as something incredibly simple. She caught cold. It was the common cold that was going to bring about her...I sighed closing my phone and standing in my seat. Pulling on my beanie I walked from the classroom ignoring the teacher’s protests or my classmates’ whispers. As soon as the door behind me closed I was sprinting through the school; I didn’t care for any rules and regulations anymore. Sticking my head into French I saw Jack and Rian both staring into space
“Guys” I said, swallowing my tears. They both smiled sadly before mimicking exactly what I’d done, leaving their books and stuff just got up from their seats and left the class before joining me in the photography classroom where we retrieved Zack.
Speeding through the streets of Towson hadn’t been scarier; I didn’t want her to leave without saying goodbye. We made it into the hospital and sprinted to Sierra’s room. I could hear her talking to Hayley, her voice was hoarse and her breathing was laboured, signalling her time was almost up. I think I felt my heart physically break. Jack was the first to speak up, he pulled her into a hug kissing her forehead
“You were the best friend I’ve always wanted. I love you Sierra” He cried, “Please don’t go” I watched Rian swallow the lump in his throat as he hugged Jack, Sierra’s hands gripping onto them both
“Don’t give up on me now; you’ve been so strong for me. I love you both, I’ll always be with you silly” She whispered, Zack had sat on her other side, taking a sobbing Hayley from her bed and into his lap where she wailed into his shirt
“Sierra I love you” I choked out sitting next to her,
“Alex promise me one thing” She whispered,
“Anything” I promised,
“You’ll move on. Don’t sit around and dwell over my being here always. Please, move on and don’t let this slow you down, you’ve got so much potential” I nodded kissing her forehead. Zack spoke a couple of words to her over Hayley’s head but I couldn’t hear, the pounding of my heart took over my ears too much to listen to what he was saying. I took a seat next to Debbie, closest to Sierra’s bed who gripped onto my hand for dear life. That was it for the goodbyes. Instead, we all gathered around Sierra’s bed and just talked like it was old times. We ordered pizza and ice cream, we laughed and laughed. Even Hayley broke a small smile. Then as the night drew to a close, with a yawn and a typical Sierra smile she closed her eyes.