Stand A Little Too Tall, Say A Little Too Much

The doctors had managed to keep Justine stable for now. They were still baffled to what was wrong with her.
“We’re gonna have to take her in for a scan of her body tissue. Do you guys know anything that she might have eaten or taken that could have seriously affected her body?” the doctor looked at the 4 friends.
Chloe was the first to speak up, voice shaking. “Erm, a guy at the bar we were at bought her a drink but I’m not sure if he did anything to it…” she trailed off.
“Anything else?”
“The g-guy took her somewhere so something could have happened then. I’m not too sure.” Chloe responded weakly.
“Right, well we’ll take Justine for a scan. This situation has baffled us slightly, but once we’ve got the results from the scan back we should have an idea as to what exactly is going on.”
Chloe walked over to the bed and Alex followed.
“See you soon Justine.” She grabbed hold of Justine’s hand and squeezed it a little. “If you can hear us, we’ll be back soon. You’re just going for a scan and then the doctors can treat you.” She paused, a tear rolling down her face. She turned back to Layna and Ellie. “I’m going for a coffee. Take my mind off things, y’know?” Layna and Ellie nodded and Chloe focused back on Justine and Alex.
“Alex, are you coming? Maybe take your mind off a few things.”
“Can I have a word with Justine… privately.” He directed at all 3 of them.
Neither of them said a word and they all left the room. They closed the door on the way out.
He turned back to the doctors. “Can I have a private word with her please? If you don’t mind.”
The doctor nodded silently and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind them.
Alex turned his attention back to the cold, lifeless girl lying on the hospital bed in front of him. He tried to fight away the heartache that was trying to tear his insides apart.
“I-I,” his voice was shaky and threatened to break any minute. “I wish there was some way I could bring you back. I miss your touch, I miss your lovely smile and the way your features just make me jelloid inside. Most of all I miss you. Yourself. I probably don’t show it enough but Justine, I love you with all of my heart. I seriously mean it.” Alex’s heart started to pull on imaginary ropes inside of his body causing a bit of pain in his ribcage. He continued on despite the pain growing on him. “This is none of your fault but with you gone, I can feel my organs slowly giving in on me. I don’t want to imagine the worst of things right now, especially with you like this. This is going to sound stupid but if there is any way you could give me a sign that you’re still here, still fighting whatever’s affected your body it would give me some hope.” He paused, trying to think what to say. A few tears ran down his cheeks and fell onto the floor. After he wiped the tears away, he managed to find his words again and began to speak. “The doctors are going to take you in for a scan and hopefully they’ll be able to figure out what’s affecting your body and be able to treat you. They’re looking all impatient now so I suppose I better let them back in.” Still holding onto Justine’s hand, he manoeuvred to her face and pressed a light kiss on her lips. “No matter what happens, I am going to be by your side. I love you.” Alex paused before kissing Justine’s forehead and returned back to the side of the bed again. He started to loosen his hand from Justine’s when all of a sudden he felt a movement in his hand. His face had no expression to it and he stared at Justine’s hand. No, it couldn’t be… he’d just imagined that, right? His mind was just tricking him. Alex looked at Justine’s face and saw moisture forming around her eyes. Was she…crying?

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*NOTE BEFORE: NOW IN JUSTINE’S POINT OF VIEW*

I could feel everything. I could feel the pain seeping through my body and it was gradually getting worse. I didn’t know how much more I could stand up to this fight. My body was weak as it was. My organs felt like they were shutting down and that my brain was the only thing working. I was ready to give up any moment but knew that if I did so, not only would all my friends be affected but so would my family too. I couldn’t imagine the pain I’d put them all through if I walked into the light that was ahead of me but then again, weren’t they suffering enough as it was with my body barely alive and knowing that any minute I could slip away with no return pass? Maybe it would be better for all of them if I did go and put them out of their misery instead of trying to fight and dragging the pain out even longer. I stepped one foot closer to the light. I was two feet away from stepping into the light. I started to rethink my options. I could cut off the pain right here, right now. It didn’t have to go on for any longer. I wouldn’t have to fight any more against anything. I’d be able to be free of the pain striking my organs, slowly ripping me apart. I stepped another foot closer. If I was to step any further, I could put an end to everything; the pain, the fighting, the feeling of my body collapsing. I wouldn’t have to cope with it anymore, it would all be solved and I could rest peacefully. I went to step one foot closer to end it all when suddenly a guy from a distance entered my head. He started to walk closer over to me and when my vision focused a little more, I gasped. Alex. I could hear his words flowing through my head. I could feel his pain, what I was putting him through. I pulled my foot back from the light as he came over and grabbed my hand. His words were soft but the mental dagger in them was shooting straight through me. I’d forgotten about Alex as I was making the journey towards the light. How could I forget him? I could feel emotion building up inside of me. As Alex spoke, I realized how scared he was. How could I leave Alex all by his self? I couldn’t inflict any pain on Alex even if I wanted to. I felt the reality in my head when he squeezed my hand. He softly spoke about trying to find hope and a signal that maybe his girlfriend would be okay, maybe the doctors would hopefully find a treatment for the pain. Alex spoke about how the doctors were taking me in for a scan to see if they could find out anything about the pain attacking my organs. I wanted to give Alex something to keep him from doing anything stupid. I knew he wouldn’t but at the off chance that he would, I needed to give him something to stop him from doing anything ridiculous. I tried my hardest to get my hand to make some movement. My concentration was reaching the max but I pushed. I needed to give Alex a sign. The pain started to increase a lot more but I continued, I fought back against the barrier that was stopping me from moving. My hands were hurting so much and just as my motivation was about to give in, my hand shook against Alex’s. I exhaled deeply and tried to get my breathing back to normal. The pain was starting to decrease a bit but it didn’t decrease enough to stop the tear from falling out of my eye. As the figure beside me froze, I could only pray that the movement of my hand was enough to keep Alex from giving up all hope he’d built over the past few hours.