Enjoy, ma dudes! A change in p.o.v for once, euyyyy! I am very sorry for being a bad author and not updating fooooor... Jesus Christ nearly 3 months. Please accept my apologies along with some tea and biccies. On with the story!!!
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Madison's p.o.v
WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT, I WILL- oh, Jesus. Sorry, you scared me. I wasn't sure who you were for a moment.
I'm guessing Tom sent you. Where did he catch you up to? Oh, that part. Right, well I guess I'll tell you what happened to me afterwards.
I left the hospital, feeling incredibly guilty, of course. Why couldn't I stomach it? Why couldn't I be strong for him? Sniffing deeply and reminding myself that having a full-on existential crisis was something better done in private, I decided to head to the one place that didn't have any of Thomas' family. Somewhere I sort of associated with him, but more with stupidly long essays and boring lectures.
I went to school.
In some miracle, I managed to get there for 10 a.m, just in time for the lecture about the constitution? I don't know, I can't remember now. Anyway, it wasn't a lecture as such. We all came in and sat down, but our normal professor Mr Macnamara didn't show up. Instead, the head of the entire college Ms Betsy Ross stood up in front of us. Furtive glances and hushed whispers were exchanged. I slumped down lower in my seat in the corner at the bag.
"Hush, hush, the sooner this finishes, the sooner I can get out of here," she said, sighing heavily. Everyone shut up pretty quickly after that.
"Know what this is about?" Lee hissed at me, who was sitting next to me. I shrugged, but I had a pretty solid idea of what it was all about.
"Now, many of you here know of Thomas Jefferson," Ms Ross began, looking sombre and solemn. My suspicions were correct, then.
"Big poofy hair, always wearing purple, going out with that Madison kid, who doesn't?" I heard someone mutter. I slid down further in my seat.
"Well, um... there's no easy way to say this... he has cancer."
A collective gasp flew round the room. I felt all eyes on me, but I just screwed my own eyes shut and concentrated on the silence.
"I-is he going to be alright?" someone called. I was surprised to recognise Hamilton's voice.
"He should be just fine," Ms Ross said, and I looked up just in time to see the simpering smile on her face. "Now chop chop, back to your lessons!"
People began filing out in shocked silence, only a few whispers flying around. People kept looking back at me, but I glued my eyes to the floor as I hoisted my backpack onto my shoulder and walked down the stairs, concentrating very hard on not tripping over my own two feet and embarrassing myself in front of everyone.
Just as I went past her, Ms Ross caught me by the shoulder.
"James, dear, I know you're close to Thomas," she told me. "If you ever need anything, just tell someone, okay?"
"Okay," I murmured, giving her a small smile before moving back on my path.
It turned out that there was a whole group of people were waiting for me. John Laurens with his arm around Hamilton's waist, all three of the Schuyler sisters along with Lafayette and Hercules. Laf looked ragged and tired, his eyes still a little red. I gave them all a sad grin.
"James, sweetie, we're all so sorry," Eliza cooed, pulling me into a hug. I gratefully returned it, and we started down the corridor.
"Why are you sorry?" I asked, my voice good-natured. "It's not your fault."
"'Ow is 'e doing?" Laf said, his voice trembling. Herc squeezed his hand to let him know it would all be okay.
"He's... he's not the best," I said after a long pause. Laf whimpered and I backtracked furiously. "No, no, no, he's not like that. He's just struggling a little with the side-effects of the medication."
Laf nodded, but he didn't seem convinced.
"Have you seen him, then?" Laurens asked.
"I stayed with him last night," I said before swearing loudly and slapping my hand to my forehead, much to the confusion of my friends. "Fuck, I need to text Thomas' mum and ask her to go up to the hospital to keep Tom company."
I pulled out my phone and shot a quick text at Thomas' mother.
Mads: Hey, Mrs Jefferson, could you please go up to hospital to keep Thomas company? I've got school, but I'll drop by later
The answer was almost immediate.
MrsJ: Of course dear
MrsJ: And call me Jane
Feeling honoured, I made my way to my first class.
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It was almost 3 o'clock by the time I got back to the hospital. Jane was sitting at the side of Thomas' bed, looking tired and groggy. Hardly surprising. She was driving all night, and with the worry and everything I guess it was a little hard to sleep. Thomas himself was completely conked out, so conked out that he didn't hear me open the door, that he didn't hear me close the door with an accidental bang, and he didn't even hear me stumble into the side then jump around swearing and clutching my hip.
And this is the man who usually wakes up if a leave rustles a tiny bit half a mile away.
Giving Jane an apologetic look, I took a seat on the other side of Thomas' bed, pulling out my notebook and trying to get a start on my essay on the history of British politics, but I couldn't concentrate, not with my boyfriend, the love of my life lying there fast asleep because he's exhausted from chemo treatment because he has fucking cancer.
I know I keep reassuring him and telling him it's all going to be okay, but how can I keep doing that if I can't even fully believe it myself?
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OMG I'M SO SORRY GUYS I DIDN'T MEAN TO NOT UPDATE FOR SO LONG. I just had no inspiration, but I finally got some. I'm on 6 week holidays now, so I might be able to get a lot more. Hope you enjoyed this (very) late chapter!
