Prologue | Deathbed II
DAVID BENNETT

"Now remember," I said as I give the little girl a lollipop, "you have to take this medicine every night until 3 weeks have passed, okay?"

Lily opened the lollipop and popped it in her mouth, "Got it!"

Her expression then changed to a thoughtful one. "But what if I don't take it? Will I die?"

"Lily! Don't say that!" her dad scolded her.

"Hey," the little girl shrugged whilst the lollipop moved at every time she talked, "I'm just asking."

I chuckled and squatted down to her height to not look intimidating. "If you don't take the medicine, Mr. Snuggabear is gonna be sad."

"By the way..." I said. "Where is Mr. Snuggabear?"

Lily crossed her arms. "Hmph. Don't want to talk about it."

Martin, Lily's dad, scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Er... She left him at home."

"Oh? Why did you leave Mr. Snuggabear?" I asked Lily.

"My crush said yesterday that I looked weird having Mr. Snuggabear with me," Lily explained.

I gestured Lily to come closer to me so I can whisper to her. "When have you been classmates with this crush of yours?"

"Just recently! He's a new transferee and it was love at first sight!" she talked filled with enthusiasm.

"Okay then, how about Mr. Snuggabear? Since when has he been with you?"

Her mood immediately dropped. "He's been with me forever."

"Mr. Snuggabear has always been with you since forever! Why would you choose your crush over your friendship with Mr. Snuggabear?"

"These days, Mr. Snuggabear keeps ignoring me."

"Probably because you kept paying attention to your crush."

"That's not true! I may or may have not hugged Mr. Snuggabear imagining he is my crush!"

What.

"I'm pretty sure Mr. Snuggabear is hurt! Don't you miss him?"

"Of course I miss him! But my crush--"

"Then walk right up to your crush holding Mr. Snuggabear and tell him he has to accept you for who you are even with the bear."

I pointed at the poster that was pasted in the wall saying 'HOLD YOUR STUFFED TOYS WITH PRIDE.' with bears, bunnies, and rainbows.

"You're right! I'm proud of Mr. Snuggabear!"

"Attagirl." I fist-bumped with her and finally stood up straight because my legs were hurting from all those squatting.

"Because you gave me a piece of good advice, as thank you I shall take my medicines!"

I clapped. "That's great!"

"We should probably get going, Lily." Martin said, "Mommy baked a really yummy snack."

Lily gasped dramatically, "Is it fruit smoothies!?"

Martin nodded with a smile. "That's right."

"Yay! Bye-bye Dr. David!"

"Goodbye, Lily!"

Lily then dashed through the door with excitement. Martin then followed after he said a 'thank you' to me.

Finally, that was the last patient for today. I can go home early.

I'm really looking forward to today because it's been days since I got to talk to my boyfriend in person.

Though I video-chat him in my breaks, I still want to kiss him every time our conversation ends or just kiss him really. I want to be by his side to take care of him until he gets better.

It took me by surprise when I heard he wanted to stay in his bedroom instead of being confined.

When I get home every night, he's already asleep so I just check on him and sometimes sleep by his bed for an hour or so before I wake up and prepare for his medicine and instructions for Mr. Jefferson.

It was generous of Mr. Jefferson to take care of Tim and give me reports about everything that's happening to him.

The past few days, I heard from Mr. Jefferson that Tim has been taking less and lesser food. And even stopped taking his medicine.

I couldn't even bring it up to him during our video chat because I know he'll pretend he's okay. He even gets a little sad when I remind him to take his medicine early on the video chat.

Good thing today was the start of me being the one to take care of him. This is why I'm already here in front of our house around the time I know he's awake.

I immediately called his cellphone as I open the door.

I put down my things by the entrance and proceeded to walk.

I readied myself to speak in a light-hearted tone because he hates it when I cry in front of him.

He picked it up just right after it rang. "Hey, cutie!"

I was already climbing up the stairs as I talked on the phone. "I've got good news!"

I opened the door to his bedroom. "Surprise, honey!"

But it wasn't what I was expecting. I see a Mr. Jefferson filled with tears holding Tim's phone in his one arm and the other wiping his own tear.

"David?" Tim called out. His voice was hoarse and his appearance was weak.

Mr. Jefferson stood up and patted me in the shoulder as he wiped away his tears. "It's all gonna be fine, son."

He then left the room leaving only Tim and me.

I sat where Mr. Jefferson was sitting at. "Yeah, it's me, Tim."

"I..." he trailed off. He was breathing heavily, his tears streaming down uncontrollably.

He wasn't looking at me anymore. He was plainly looking at the ceiling, just reaching out weakly with his hands. "I... Just... Want... Say..."

"Want what?"

"I... Love... You."

I sobbed. I grabbed his hands and clasped them on mine. "I love you too."

"Love... You... For... Ever..."

I nodded. "Forever and ever."

"You... Greatest... Thing... Ha... Ppened... Life..."

"You're my world."

"I'm... Leaving... Remember... Me..."

"Of course. I'll remember you. We promised, right?"

Although his eyes moved, I knew he's just staring at the light. I kissed him on the forehead.

"I will be the best doctor and you will be the best architect to ever live." I continued. "I'm going to work at the building you designed and it's going to be beautiful."

I realized I couldn't control my tears anymore and let them fall freely. "Please don't leave me."

"Go... To... Bed" he said.

"I don't want to go to bed. You'll leave me."

"I'll... Wait..." he reassured.

My eyes stung as I stared at him helplessly.

His eyes were blank. His mouth was shaking. If I'm not holding his hands he would be reaching out on the ceiling light.

No. I don't want to sleep. I'm not ready to face another day of seeing him like this.

--that's what I thought until I slept after hours and hours of holding his hands and singing him every love song he sang to me back when we were in high school.

"David, wake up." a broken voice said. I slowly opened my eyes and see Mr. Jefferson in front of me sobbing uncontrollably. "Tim is..."

I sat up straight.

Tim was only staring at the ceiling light, his mouth hanging open and his hands were no longer moving but he was still breathing heavily.

This moment made me realize I had to move on. He's already suffering so much so why am I pleading for him to live on? He can't do it anymore. I can't force him to this suffering.

"Tim..." I cried. "It's fine... It's already too much."

He wasn't reacting to my words anymore and was just paying attention to the ceiling. "It's okay to let go. I'm okay."

I know he can still hear me. I pray that he can still hear me.

"I know you're doing it for me. It's okay I can handle it. I'm going to be strong."

I sobbed as I say the words "fighting".

"You're the best man I've ever met in my life. Thank you for being there when I needed you. Thank you for giving me the power to fight for what I wanted when we powerless. Thank you for cheering me on as I try to make it. Thank you for everything you've done for me be it a bad thing or a good thing. I love you. I love you. I love you and I'll never get tired of saying it."

Just then I heard the doorbell. "I'll go get it." Mr. Jefferson said.

He left the room and went down. I was only staring at Tim, the tears still streaming down my face.

A few moments after, the door opened again. Madeline entered first followed by Mr. Jefferson who closed the door.

Madeline's appearance was not normal. She had deep eye bags and her bright blue-dyed hair was in a messy bun. She was only wearing an over-sized shirt and some baggy pants--not her typical style.

She immediately walked towards the other side of the bedside and cried after moments of just looking at her brother. "Why are you going to leave me? I told you to wait for me."

Tim still had the same blank expression.

"You promised me you're going to be by my side when I open my shop."

"You told me you're the one who's going to be by my side when I graduate."

"You told me you'll always visit me when I have children of my own and tell them all the embarrassing stories about me."

"You promised to be with me to go through my whole life so why are you leaving?"

I held her hand that made her stop. "That enough, Madeline."

"We have to be strong." I started. "We need to let go. He's suffered for long enough."

She perked up. "I... I know that!"

She slapped away my hand and covered her crying eyes with her hands. "I just--!"

She cried loudly.

I stared at the floor, trying not to cry again. After that, I looked at Tim again. "He needs to rest already."

After a few sniffles, Madeline calmed down and nodded. "You're right."

She held her brother's hand. "Tim, it's okay. I'm happy that you waited for me."

"I'm happy that your suffering is going to end. Thank you... For being the family I needed. You didn't make me feel left out even though we already don't have a mom and dad." Her eyes widened in realization. "And I guess you're probably going to meet them now, huh."

She sobbed. "I love you and just... Thank you for everything."

I noticed that Tim's eyes widened a little and then his eyes closed slowly. Madeline knew what was going to happen next and cried again.

I still tried not to cry even though the tears were already streaming again. As his eyes closed to a shut I took his hand and felt for a pulse.

Nothing.

I searched for a clock.

Time of death. 9:31 am.

I took a blanket and put it over him. I whispered in his ear the last words I wanted him to hear before he rests in peace.

"Goodnight, Tim. I love you so much."