Pain is great, but it passes. Although more difficult, it was the same for Hazel. Augustus's death left a hole in her chest, one that was difficult to fill if not impossible. Ever since she came back from the funeral she didn't leave her room. Her life confined to that small space, and an even smaller laptop. She didn't respond to any phone call. Her parents were the only ones who saw her, and they knew they had to do something….they called a therapist.
The therapist had to work hard for 3 days until she could get something out of Hazel and that too because Hazel thought that it was not right to hurt her parents anymore.
Hazel did get a little better after the therapy, but her stress levels were still quite high and she was depressed.
She went in for a regular checkup. Her negative mental state had caused more damage than expected. Her lung tumors were growing at an alarming rate. The Phalanxifor had failed. Hazel knew what that meant, and just nodded when her parents and the doctor looked at her. The Inevitable had finally arrived and there was no escape. The doctors gave her a month.
The time was here. Her body had broken down completely. She was almost always high on narcotics. Her breath was shallow, slow and labored.
She opened her eyes and saw her parents next to her bed. Their eyes were puffy from tears and sleep loss. She looked at them and smiled a weak but warm smile. They took her hands in theirs, and sat silent for a while. Then she fell asleep. She never woke up again.