Restricted
Many words can describe a person's life. Restricted. That was one of the best ways to describe most of Hazels life.
When the cancer entered her system it put a restriction on life itself. A restriction on how long she could live. When she was told that the only way to breathe was by carrying a tank every waking moment, it put a restriction on what she could do and where she could go. Drugs managed to loosen it, allowing her some freedom from a breather when she was asleep, but she always had to go back to it eventually. Drugs only did so much to help. She as able to live longer but that only lead to more restrictions.
It seemed with every break through that could lead to a longer life, always lead to her being able to do less and less. It was only a matter of time before her previous restrictions on life came to a close.
Nothing in life really mattered much considering the fact that most things had some crazy restriction. If she wanted to travel she would have to bring multiple oxygen tanks, among other medical equipment to ensure she didn't die half way through the trip.
Sports, that never really was an option.
It just seemed to be that she could do nothing without having to have some restriction on her. Nothing was really an option anymore. Even going to the cancer support meetings started to lose its luster (like it ever had any).
Than she meet Augustus.
And it was as if all those crazy restrictions lifted.
With Gus she was able to live. Hazel could pretend to be one of the girls in school who fell crazy in love. Her tank soon felt like air when she was carrying it around. Whatever was holding her back before from living her life before, seemed to vanish.
It seemed the Gus was the magical cure-all along. No drugs were killing the cancer, he was by just giving her life back. All the miracle drugs that the doctors claimed would help her win her 'fight' were doing nothing. It was Gus that was causing all the magic. Doing the impossible and making Hazel healthier.
Of course he wasn't actually able to do that. If Gus had been able to do that then, not only would his ego become to large for his own good, but he would have lost his Gus-ness. And is anyone had ever meet him, they would all agree that if he lost himself, those lives that touched would never be the same.
He was able to get Hazel to travel. Of course the main point of it was to meet an author who happened to be a sever douche bag and drunk. But Augustus worked whatever magic was given to him and make it the most memorable trip of their lives.
With all those restrictions on life lifted, one would have thought that maybe they were gone for good. That the universe was giving them a break or God or whatever controled the world. But nothing is ever that simple.
Augustus lifted those restrictions from Hazel, but brought them upon himself instead.
But he still gave and gave, and the more he took off Hazels shoulders and took on himself, the sicker he got. It was like life had a vendetta against the two and it wasn't going to stop until they were both equally punished.
But they both went down guns blazing in the end. When Augustus could no longer take anymore of Hazels problems away, he had to leave. His death was one of the cruelest things life had ever done to Hazel.
Never had she felt so much pain over a human. And suddenly those cruel and harsh restrictions came crashing back down. The doctors called it a domino effect. Claiming that her emotional suffering was weakening her immune system, causing the cancer cells to multiply and make her sicker.
All those miracle drugs the doctors gave her before seemed to fail. Soon even their fail safe, the oxygen tank, seemed to fail. To Hazel it seemed like everyday it just got heavier and heavier.
One day, perhaps three months after Gus died, did Hazel soon feel what Gus felt.
Air, that was needed for all life, soon became a poison for her. But it was a poison she needed to take. Her lungs burned with every take of air.
Her parents tried everything they could to keep her alive. But Hazel knew something that no one else in the whole hospital knew.
Augustus had magic. And he used the last of it to extend Hazels life. It should have ended so long ago but Gus saved her. He took those cruel sentences on life to give her a new one.
When a person goes to prison, they are given an sentence.
That is what Gus gave her. Her previous sentence should have been filled long ago but Gus paid that. And he gave her one that allowed her to live.
The last few days in the hospital were a strange blur. Tears were shed daily.
One day after Doctor Maria gave the terminal sentence, Hazel fell asleep.
She wasn't dead yet. Not officially. She was in a coma. She could still see everyone and hear everything but she wasn't in her body.
She was looking at it.
In the three months that had passed since Augustus died she had become death. Her face had become severely sullen and thin, her whole body was pale. Color was lacking in her cheeks.
As the days went by she remained outside her body.
" You look angelic like that." A voice said next to Hazel one day.
She looked over to see Augustus. He looked just like he did before the cancer came back. Alive, handsome.
" I thought angels had long blonde hair and blue eyes." I said.
He smiled. " Yeah but those angels suck. They don't look real."
Hazel smiled and put her head on his shoulder. But the smile soon fell. " This is it, isn't it? I'm leaving."
Augustus stood up from where he had been sitting and offered Hazel his hand. She took it and it was as warm as she remembered.
" I wouldn't call it the end. Makes it sound to morbid. Let's just call it, a chapter starting." He said.
Soon a loud beep broke through the room. The monitors that her showing Hazels heartbeat were going off. Her parents became more frantic as more nurses came rushing in to see if they could prolong her life for a few minutes. So goodbyes could be given.
" Come on. I'm not going to spoil the place for you yet." He said.
" I'm not headed towards oblivion?" Hazel asked.
Gus smiled. " I don't do spoilers Hazel Grace, just trust me."
He began to walk her towards the doorway in her room. Out of habit she reached to grab her tank only to realize she didn't have it. She didn't need it.
The symbol of her restrictions were gone.
As Gus walked her to the new world, she took a look back and the old one. A nurse was taking the IV and other wires out of Hazel, as her parents cried endlessly over her. She walked with Augustus and found that she finally had what everyone wanted. What she had craved since the age of thirteen, when the cancer striked.
Freedom.
A/N Thanks for reading my first TFIOS fic!
C YA! LUV YA! E-SAW-BELL!