The kiss of death
It had taken a little over twelve months but Anne had finally gotten over Mike.
Anne had only been a year eight when she met him. He was the big high school jock. He had chosen her and she had succumbed to his charm. Anne knew that when all was said and done he would choose someone else but she never thought that it would end the way it had.
"Anne, I love you. You know I do but this is the most amazing opportunity of my life. I can't let it pass me, I just can't"
"If you love me then you'll understand that I need you more now than ever." Anne replied in hysteria.
"Anne, you don't understand, I've work my whole high school career to get something like this." Matt replied, pulling Anne against his chest in a comforting gesture which seemed to work.
Anne simply clung harder to Matt as she wept. She needed to tell him but she just couldn't get the words out. Every time she tried to tell him she would choke up. After some careful consideration she decided that he was right. This was something that he'd worked for. Matt deserved to have everything from life. All she would do is tie him down but she couldn't do this on her own.
So now Anne sat as her friends grouped around her all talking, waiting in the school gym, along with everyone else from the school. East Bridge high was one of the most highly renowned schools in the district and its basketball team (including Matt) was returning today from their overseas trip to America where they'd just faced off with Murraydale Prep School's basketball team in a one year round world basketball tournament and won. It was a great achievement to beat any school but to beat Murraydale you must be the best. They were completely undefeated for over three years.
The shouting that filled the hall dissipated as the school principal, a short bald man, spoke quietly into the microphone, drawing everyone's attention away from their conversations and towards the front of the hall. Anne had no doubt that soon enough the silence would turn into cheers of victory. She knew that Matt wouldn't recognise her, she had changed a lot, and when I say a lot I mean a lot. Her hair had changed dramatically and her figure had changed, as well as her skin. Tuning back into what Principal McMullen was saying Anne found her mood slightly drooping and her eye lids too. She hadn't had much energy in the last month or so.
She desperately tried to stay awake till Matt entered the hall but she couldn't. Waving her hand in the air she ushered her assistant to push her into the sick bay where she'd rest for a little while. Involuntarily Anne felt a tear leak out of her right eye and run down her cheek and fall onto her plaid skirt.
Back in the hall Principal McMullen finished his speech with a grand gesture at the glass double doors as they flung open and the basketball team came bounding through them. Cheers erupted and while he jumped and cheered along Matt searched the crowd for Anne's beautiful face. All Matt found was the faces of her four best friends, Lily, Maria, Lissa and Anya. At this Matt got worried. Making their speeches was the hardest as Matt had written his in the hope that Anne would be there to hear it.
Duncan, Bolman and Tristan had made their speeches and now it was Matts turn. Stepping up to the microphone Matt took in a deep breath and began, "It was a great honour to be chosen as someone thought worthy to represent our amazing school and I must thank each and every one of you for the chance I was given. I have to give thanks to Coach Harris for his trust in me as the captain of this wonderful team, my class teachers for supporting me and not letting my grades fall as a consequence of the extra training time needed. Most of all though I must give thanks to my wonderful girlfriend and the owner of my heart. Anne Leahy. You gave me your permission to go on this journey of discovery and I drew strength, every day from the thought of you, here waiting for me to return. So thanks to everyone and GO THE TIGERS!" Matt concluded his speech and everyone from the team split up, going off into the crowd to find their friends.
Matt knew where he wanted to be but he couldn't so he picked the next best thing. He strode right up to Lissa, Maria, Lily and Anya. "Hey girls. Where's Anne?"
"She's in the sick bay. You want us to take you there? I know she was looking forward to seeing you." Lily asked in her young yet strong English accent.
"Yeah, thanks." Matt replied, his heartbeat quickening for two reasons. 1) His favourite person in the world was in the sick bay and 2) he got to see said favourite person.
As they worked their way across the school yard to the sick bay Matt had a hundred things going through his mind and didn't even notice that they were there until Maria pushed him towards bay one and insisted that it was alright that he enters. Swinging the door open Matt expected to see Anne's long blonde hair in a messy bunch, covering her face as it always did when she had been sleeping. He expected her golden tanned skin to shimmer under the florescent bulb that lit the room. But the thing that Matt had been yearning for was one of Anne's famous bear-hugs.
What Matt was met with though was a lot different than he expected, Anne was slumped over in a wheelchair that sat in one corner of the room, not asleep in the bed. Her hair now was non-existent and her golden tanned skin was no more, it had been replaced by pale, splotchy skin that looked worn out, just as Anne's face did.
Approaching her, Matt knelt in front of the wheelchair and gently stroked Anne's pale, bony cheek. At the touch she started to stir and Matt almost burst into tears when her bloodshot eyes opened and a small smile took hold of her face. He knew that it was the best that she could do. Leaning forward Matt gently wrapped his arms around Anne's frail form and kissed the top of her head.
Smiling at the contact Anne tried to hug him back as best she could. "Lye with me?" Anne asked in a husky voice. Matt complied and lifted Anne's frail body, bridal style and lay her down on the single bed that was pushed up against the left wall and climbed in with her once again kissing her head. Matt smiled as Anne curled her body around his and they fell asleep together.
With that kiss Anne let go and drifted...
Roughly an hour later Matt woke up to an odd feeling on his chest. 'When'd Anne get this heavy?' he thought to himself. Shifting slightly to look at her, matt thought that Anne would wake up but she didn't. She had the most gorgeous smile on her face. He was sure that if her eyes would open they'd be lit up. Just then it hit him, she hadn't woken up. Shaking Anne, Matt began to panic and called for help. Help soon after came in the form of a nurse from the Woman and Children's Hospital. The insipid woman wouldn't tell Matt what was wrong with Anne, just told him to leave the room and she'd speak to him later.
Out in the hallway Matt slid down the wall and wept, he knew she was gone, he just didn't know why. After not even thirty minutes the nurse emerged and told Matt what was wrong. Anne had Leukaemia in the advanced stages and had lived two weeks longer than expected. With a final apology the nurse began to retreat when she looked down at something clutched in her hand. She'd taken it out of Anne's when she checked for a pulse. Turning back the nurse handed Matt the scrap of paper.
Looking down Matt unfolded the sheet and read it.
I knew you'd come back.
I love you.
I'll be waiting.
Anne xx