Hey, everyone, it's Augustus here again, Let us resume our story, shall we?

Hazel Grace is just starting to come around, and she's going to need the vent for just a bit longer, so I set a white dry erase board with a pen on the table. I hand it to her and let her know she can't talk just yet because of the tube, and I tell her she can tell me what she wants to say by writing it on the board. She nods and writes, What happened?

"Your lungs filled again, Hazel Grace, and it seems you will need... a double lung transplant. Your lungs have become irreparably scarred, and the only fix for it is a new pair.

Will they find 2 in time?

"I have no doubt of this, Hazel Grace." I smile reassuringly and give her hand a squeeze.

But, Augustus, this means... someone has to die so I can get lungs that don't suck at being lungs. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'll be happy when they find a match. It's just... another family has to lose a loved one so I can live, so I feel...

"Guilty?"

I mean, yeah. It's just not fair, you know? I'm glad that they will hopefully be able to find me a new pair, but I feel sad and guilty that that's the way it has to be. I mean, after all, there can be no such thing as a living lung donor. Even if I only needed a piece of one, it wouldn't grow back inside of someone, so...

She begins to get teary, so I squeeze her hand harder. "Hazel Grace, I understand. I do. I imagine some people feel just as you do. It is unfair, and you're right. I wish it didn't work this way."

But the world is not a wish granting factory, is it, Augustus?

"No, it's not, unfortunately. It's okay, though, because it will work out."

You think?

"I know. You know how I know? Because you've been through so much already, and you can come through this, too. I'll be here all the way. You won't ever have to worry I won't stay. You helped me know how to love in a way I never thought I could. I never even dreamed I'd ever feel this way about anyone, and I know things suck right now, but it won't always."

I love you so much, Augustus. Thank you for being here through all this.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be, Hazel Grace. I love you too, and this is why I stay. We've been through hell and back already, and this is just another bump in the road."

The girls. Who's watching the girls? Her eyes suddenly grow panicked. I know she might not remember coming here, so it kind of makes sense that she'd be scared.

"My mom is, and I just got a text from Isaac saying he and Kaitlyn went over about an hour ago. They're okay." She relaxes.

About a week later, he doctor comes in with a big smile on her face then and says, "Hazel, we found you a match, and we can bring you in for surgery right now if you're ready."

"Really?" She asks, her voice scratchy. She's had the tube out for a few days, but her throat is still a tad swollen, hence the scratchiness.

"Yeah. Are you ready?"
"Yeah."

I follow her to the doors. "Okay, Hazel Grace?
"Okay. I'll see you soon?"

"You will." They wheel her into the operating room.

I see Isaac coming over half an hour later. "Hi, buddy. Kaitlyn, your mom, and the Lancasters are at your place with the girls. How's Hazel?"

"So far, all good."

About 2 hours later, the doctor comes out and tells us, "She's all done. She did great and should be waking up soon. Augustus, do you wanna go and see her?"

"Isaac? Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, of course. Go. I'll take my turn later,"

When I reach the room, the doctor is asking Hazel Grace, "Do you feel ready to have the tube out?"

She nods.

"Okay, so when I pull it out, I need you to cough, then take your first big breath, okay?"

Hazel Grace nods again, and I take her hand and tell her, "It's okay. I've got you.?

The doctor pulls it free, and she coughs twice, and then she takes a huge breath.

"How do you feel?" I ask.

"Never better," she says, smiling.

"Okay?"

"Okay."