Thanks for the reviews. I will upload the next chapter soon.

I was getting used to go take the dialysis, but I can't get used to the pain. And the pain and sorrow I see in my parents' eyes, it makes my heart shrink inside. I thought that I was a burden to them for all of this. Apart from the issues they had to take care about, there was the Holly J problem too.

I was falling behind at school, on my last year. Going to Yale with Declan seemed like a blurred dream I had when I was a child. I couldn't think about it anymore. Tomorrow was the only word I took into account concerning my future.

I felt like calling Decks, once or twice. But then I remembered that he was far away and that he probably had better things than hear me speak on the phone, crying and complaining about my miserable life.

He came, however.

Momma Coyne had let him come every weekend to see me. She must have seen him really upset for letting him come so often. It brings me bittersweet feelings.

I felt extremely sick that Friday evening, more than usual. I didn't appear at school or Fiona's loft. I was too tired to get out of my bed to tell my mom that he was coming. So I let my mom figure it out by herself.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Sinclair," I heard his voice from the front door, "I'm here to see Holly J."

"Declan? Um, what a surprise to see you again," my mom replied. She never liked Declan to be sincere, so I was expecting her to be quite rude to him. Despite everything good he had done for me. Despite the few things he had done wrong. She always treated him like the first day.

Declan waited for her to tell him to come inside.

"Oh, sorry, Holly J's really tired, maybe she's still sleeping."

"Could you please check if she's awake?" he pleaded her. I imagined him making his best puppy face that melts everyone, maybe except my mother.

My mom peeked into my room. Before she got here, I sat up and made myself comfortable as fast as I could. "Yes mom?" I asked with a grin as soon as I looked up at her.

"Declan is here. He wants to see you. Should I let him in?"

"Yeah, sure," I responded. "I'm feeling a lot better now."

"All right," she said before leaving, with neither a smile nor a frown which was her usual expression those days.

He came in less than thirty seconds. He was wearing his usual high-class clothes, the long sleeve shirt with a loosen tie and the fancy shoes. I noticed his smile first. It wasn't like the ones he used to have before. This one was deep, suffered and saddening.

I tried to smile too, but what came was an odd, crooked smirk.

"Holly J, your mother told me that you weren't feeling so well… what's wrong?" he asked as he sat in the edge of my bed, close to me, but not to the point of suffocating me.

"Well, my stomach hurts more than usual and this migraine is going to kill, moving my muscles aches, and—"

"No, I'm serious. What's troubling you?" He took my hand into his and pulled up my chin delicately with his thumb.

I couldn't lie to those beautiful light blue eyes of his.

I sighed. "I wish I could tell you but not here," I lowered my voice. "My mom could hear it."

"All right…where shall we go?" he said, pulling out his striped jacket that he had laid earlier on my desk.

"Declan, I can't go anywhere like this," I argued.

"Well, then go change your clothes," he replied.

"My mom won't let me out…"

"She won't do that if we don't tell her," he grinned.

"You win," I said before awkwardly getting out of bed and slowly walking to my closet.