Like a Skyscraper

“You can tell me anything,” Paul replied as he slowly stopped the swing from its swaying. Kaelyn took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes.

“I’m dying,” She said quickly and kept going before Paul could speak, “I have leukemia and none of the treatments are working. My doctor told me this morning I don’t have much time left.”

“What?” Paul’s voice cracked, and the pain covering his face broke Kaelyn’s heart.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? How much time do you have?” Paul rushed. Tears welled up in Kaelyn’s eyes before spilling over and rolling down her cheeks.

“Maybe a month or two.”

“God dammit,” Paul growled and looked away trying to get in control again. When he turned back to her, his eyes were red, but he was holding back the full extent of his emotions.

“I’m so sorry,” Kaelyn broke down, finally letting all her feelings surface. She was tired of keeping it a secret and putting on a brave face when she was scared. She was terrified. She didn’t want to leave the world yet.

“Come here,” Paul’s voice was hoarse, and he wrapped Kaelyn up in his arms, holding her close.

“Don’t apologize. You haven’t done anything wrong,” he whispered and held her as she cried. Kaelyn held onto the older male as if he was going to disappear at any moment. Paul, on the other hand, felt like he was going into shock. He only had a month or two left with Kaelyn…?

“How long have you had leukemia?” Paul whispered after a few minutes of silence.

“I was eleven when I was diagnosed. I’ve gone through chemo three different times, but it always came back. This time won’t be any different,” Kaelyn mumbled into Paul’s shoulder. Paul exhaled shakily and nodded.

“Do you want to go to my house? I don’t feel like staying at Sam’s…” Paul said.

“Yeah, but should we go tell them goodbye?”

“No, they’ll understand. I’m pretty sure Jake and Sam have heard what’s going on,” Paul explained.

“Oh…” Kaelyn finished lamely but stood up with Paul and began walking the short distance back to his house. Paul unlocked the front door and Kaelyn walked in. She stood in the doorway and looked around realizing that she won’t be able to spend as much time here as she used to. Her time with Paul now had a limit. A very short limit.

“So uh are you hungry?” Paul asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Sure, let’s make lunch.” The two headed into the kitchen to make some sandwiches. It was quiet until Paul asked a question he was dying to hear the answer to.

“Does Cullen know about the cancer?” He asked, the word cancer coming out like it was taboo. Kaelyn shook her head.

“No, I’ve had limited contact with Emmett. I don’t plan on telling him or anyone else for that matter. I’m not close enough to people in Forks. I have you and Bella, but even then, Bella and I aren’t that close. I was planning on telling people I was going back to Florida and then not keeping in touch.” Paul froze.

“Is that what you tried to do with me? Tell me you were going to Florida and then cutting all ties with me?” He asked, the hurt evident in his voice. Kaelyn winced but chose not to lie to him anymore.

“Honestly, that was the plan. I didn’t know how to tell you, and I didn’t want you to watch me die. If you thought I was going across the country, it would have been easier…” Paul stopped making his food and turned to face the blonde.

“No it wouldn’t have been easier. I would have tried to contact you or go visit you. Eventually I would have found out what happened, and that would be worse. I’d have so many unanswered questions, and you wouldn’t be here to answer them,” Paul snapped before taking a deep breath to calm himself back down.

“No, it’s better this way. For me at least. Because now I know to make the most of my time with you,” He whispered. Kaelyn reached up and wrapped her arms around him.

“I’m sorry for not thinking about your feelings. I just haven’t wanted to face reality and telling people only makes everything more real. But I’m glad I told you,” Kaelyn replied. They finished making lunch and ate their sandwiches while Paul asked her what her plans were.

“My doctor told me about this hospital in Seattle that could help me so I’ll be transferred there after graduation.”

“Help? Like look for a cure?” Paul asked, feeling hope spark inside him.

“Sadly no. They’ll help keep me comfortable in my uh last moments. They’ll make sure I don’t feel any pain,” Kaelyn’s voice was barely above a whisper, but Paul’s sensitive hearing allowed him to pick up every word she said. It broke his heart all over again when he thought about the possible pain she might go through.

“I need to get back. I told my mom I would spend time with her after I talked to you,” Kaelyn said after they cleaned up their plates. Paul nodded and walked her to the door.

“Hey, call me whenever you need to. I’m serious; whenever you need to,” Paul said before she got back to her car that was parked in front of his house.

“I promise,” she smiled. Paul hugged her one last time before releasing her so she could go home. It felt like he was saying goodbye to her forever even though he knew they would see each other again soon. Paul watched her drive away before he let his feet carry him away from his house.

He soon became lost in his thoughts, thinking about the different things he could do to help Kaelyn. Medicine was obviously out of the question and there was no way to turn her into a shape shifter like him. His thoughts drifted to the Cullen and how Kaelyn was most likely his singer. Even though he turned her away, Paul always had a suspicion that there was more to it than that. He hated the leeches, but he didn’t think that they would lead girls on only to get in their pants.

If the Cullen knew she was dying, maybe he would do something to save her. He could change her—Paul stopped that train of thought and growled. No, it would be better for Kaelyn’s misery to end instead of being part of the living damned. Paul hated himself for even thinking about that as a possible option.

The young man looked up while he was walking and saw he had made it back to Sam’s house. Sam was outside on the porch with Jake waiting for him to return. They looked at him sympathetically and he hated it. He didn’t want or need their sympathy.

“Where’s Kaelyn?” Sam asked.

“She went home after we talked.”

“So, it’s true what we heard?” Jake asked cautiously.

“Yeah, she’s dying,” Paul snapped and brushed past them into Sam’s house. Emily was bustling around the kitchen but stopped what she was doing when she saw him enter. Sam filled her in on what Kaelyn had told Paul.

Paul sat down at the table and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and started spinning it around on the table, still deep in thought. Seeing that he didn’t want to be disturbed, Emily turned back to her cooking and let the man be. He’d been through enough that day.