Andy and Emily were walking down the street, and holding hands. Emily's hand was warm, in hers'.
It was the middle of December, and it was 20 degrees out there. Their cheeks were bright pink. And Andy lightly tightened her grip on Emily's hand.
Andy kissed Emily's cheek, and lingered for a bit. When she pulled back Emily looked at her, they were new, and they hadn't ever done that before.
Andy smiled at her, and Emily seemed a bit off, and Andy wondered if she did something wrong.
"Is everything okay?" Andy asked
"Yeah, I'm just tired."
"Okay,"
They walked through the park, and they still didn't speak. They liked to sometimes just walk in silence. It was relaxing, but Andy would wonder what Emily was thinking.
Emily always seemed like she was hiding something, and it worried Andy. She wanted to know what Emily thought that she had to hide.
They stopped at Emily's apartment, and they turned to each other.
"I guess I will see you tomorrow," Emily said, and Andy nodded.
"Okay, are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine"
"Okay, see you tomorrow." Emily walked into her apartment, and sat down on her couch.
She looked around the room, and she sighed. It was hard to keep from Andy, and soon she probably wouldn't be able to.
It was hard to keep from everyone. She kept it from her parents, friends, and now girlfriend. But she didn't want her mother to be a stress case, and was scared of what Andy would say.
But she needed to tough it out, no matter how hard it got, no matter how scared she got, nor how sick. She needed to face it alone.
Then the recurring thought came into her mind, and she wanted to cry, everything would be fine, it had to be.
…
Miranda walked in, and threw her coat on Andy's desk. Emily looked up, and back to her monitor. She knew she looked brittle, but what was she supposed to do?
Andy looked at her concerned, and went back to the coat closet, and hung it up. She knew that Emily wanted to be left alone. But she was scared to know what was wrong.
Emily looked pale, worse than usual.
…
Andy went to the bathroom to check on her hair. And she saw Emily rush in, and run into a stall. And she could hear her throwing up.
Andy looked behind her, and realised Emily didn't even have time to close the door. Andy kneeled next to Emily, and held her hair back, while lightly rubbing her back.
Emily kept trying to say something, but getting interrupted by a wave of vomit. Emily's jacket slid down just enough to expose a puncture mark, from a needle.
Andy didn't think much of it, it was flu season, maybe the shots made her sick? She had no idea.
Emily flushed, and Andy looked at her worriedly. She also saw a big bruise on Emily's arm.
"Em, what's going on? You've been acting weird, and you haven't looked well for a while now. Please, I'm starting to get scared. What is going on?"
"I'm just a bit sick, Andy"
"Why didn't you just say that? We didn't have to go out last night, you could've stayed in bed, and slept, if it made you feel better."
Andy tucked Emily's hair behind her ear, and furrowed her eyebrows, Emily's heart started pounding, now was when Andy was going to find out.
She watched Andy's reaction, as she slowly pulled her hand away. Her eyes widened, when she saw some of Emily's hair come out, with her hand.
Then she gasped, when She saw a glob of Emily's hair tangled on her fingers.
"Emily what is going on?" She asked sternly. "What is making you sick?" She asked, with worry in her voice.
Emily looked at the floor, she didn't want to answer that. But she knew she had to.
"Andy, please don't freak out, or treat me like I'm glass." Andy looked even more worried, as she wrapped the hair in toilet paper. "I have cancer, Andy, I had surgery a month ago, and found out that it had spread."
"What!?-" She screamed, Emily covered Andy's mouth, and it muffled the noise a bit.
"Shhh" Emily said
"You have cancer?" Andy asked, and tears were threatening to stream down. She could feel her throat tighten, and she thought that she was going to actually cry.
…
Andy sat down at her desk, she couldn't believe it, why would Emily hide something like that? She was scared for her girlfriend.
Maybe they hadn't been with each other for long, but she loved Emily. Even if she hadn't said it before.
Emily said that they caught it early, and she was in chemotherapy.
Miranda found Emily sick in the bathroom, and sent her home. Andy was worried about Emily, no she was terrified.
She refrained herself from crying in the office, but Nigel walked in, and he could read Andy like a book.
"Hey six," He said
"Hey, Nige," She said. He could tell by her voice that something was wrong.
"Did you two break up?" He asked.
"No,"
"Good, I was getting worried. Especially since you hid your feelings for her for three years." He said. "So, what's going on?"
"Nothing," She said. "Girl problems, you know what I'm talking about."
"Ah, okay," He paused. "But I do have to ask, because Serena is getting worried about her. She said that Emily hasn't been looking very well, and hasn't been eating. Do you know what that's about?"
"No, I'll talk to her, and see if she's just self conscious about her body again." Andy lied.
"Okay,"
…
Andy knocked on Emily's apartment door, and Emily opened it, looking pale as ever.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Andy asked
"Like shit,"
"I'm sorry," She said, and put her hand on Emily's arm.