Remember me When I'm Gone

Hey, I'm back. Did ya miss me? Anyway I know chapter 2 was a bit crappy but I had a big writers block so there it was hehe. I'm sorry for the late update but I had a lot on my mind lately. Anyway, this is chapter 3 and I hope you guys like it.

Chapter 3:

The following morning Cornelia woke up early as usual, at 7:30am, in order to get ready for school. Even though she got a full night's rest she still felt tired, but she couldn't risk skipping school anymore since she'd skipped school for over a week. So she got up from bed and rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. Thank God it was Friday! She just couldn't take another day of school. She got dressed in her usual pink clothes and then went to the kitchen to find her mother having a cup of coffee while Lillian was having her cereal.

"Good Morning." Cornelia said as she took out a carton of orange juice out of the refrigerator and poured it into a glass and sipped it bit by bit.

"Good Morning, honey." said, "Are you hungry? I made you some toast."

"No, I'm not hungry." Cornelia drained her glass of orange juice and then looked at the clock just above her head. It was almost 8:00am. "Oh, damn it. I'm gonna be late for school. Bye, see you later mom." She grabbed her back-pack and stuffed her History books inside it.

"I can drive you to school if you want." said.

"No, it's fine. Besides, that will make you late." Cornelia swung the bag around her shoulders, gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and ran out of the house. She reached the bus stop just in time because it was just taking off, she grabbed the handle and climbed on. She found a seat in the back and sat there. It wasn't like her to sit in the back but today she just wanted to sit there for no particular reason and that was good enough for her. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand and just stared out the window. After a few stops, Keira got on the bus and sat just beside Cornelia.

Keira saw that Cornelia was staring into space but she didn't ask her anything, maybe she was just thinking about something or maybe something was wrong. Keira pushed the thought to the back of her head because if there was something wrong Cornelia would tell her what was bothering her.

"Hey, how's your hand doing?" Keira said, "And your stomach?"

"My hand's doing fine but my stomach hurts now and then." Cornelia said, "No wonder all the guys Will battled back in Meridian never got back up. She probably electrocuted them on the spot." At this comment, Keira burst out laughing which made Cornelia laugh a bit too. After a few minutes the bus was done picking up kids and soon they were at Sheffield Institute where they meet Will, Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin. They were at their usual spot talking and making plans for the weekend.

"Hey, guys." Keira sat beside Irma while Cornelia sat beside Will.

"Hey." They all said.

"How are you doing?" Will asked Cornelia. She was sorry for blasting Cornelia into a barrel and hurting her in the process and for that she was feeling pretty crummy today.

"Fine, but I do have a bit of bruises here and there." Cornelia showed them what she meant and they all gasped at the huge bruise she had on her stomach and on her rib-cage.

"Oh, my God, Cornelia! I'm sorry. Are you ok?" Will said as she covered her mouth with her hand. Cornelia laughed at how she was reacting. She already said that she was sorry the previous day and now she was apologizing again which was a bit funny at the moment.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault, I should've been faster than I was. This teaches me that I need to react faster to on coming objects. And you already asked me if I'm alright." Just then the bell rang signaling the Sheffield students that another day of learning was about to begin or another day of boredom for most of the students. They got up from the ground and entered the school just like the other students were doing. Irma, Keira and Cornelia went to their lockers, which were situated next to each other, and got out their History notes and textbooks while the others made their way to their individual classes. The first lesson of the day for Irma, Keira and Cornelia was History with while Will and Hay Lin had Math whilst Taranee had Biology, her most favorite subject.

They made their way to class and once they entered they found three desks right next to each other. Keira took the middle one, Irma took the one to Keira's right while Cornelia was left with the last one making her sit right next to Josh. Her least favorite person. "Why do I have to sit next to him? He's your brother Keira, you should sit here." Cornelia told Keira.

Over the past few months the Harts had lived in Heatherfield, Cornelia hadn't quite kicked it off with Josh. In less then a week of living in Heatherfield he'd tried to dye Cornelia's hair pink, poured paint all over her while she was helping Keira and Josh paint Caleb's room, filled her locker with green slimy goo at school and for April Fool's he'd hit her with numerous pies on her way home which made her grab him by the ankle with one of her vines and toss him to the other side of the road. He was just so annoying and Cornelia had no idea why he was doing all this. And for what he did to her, Cornelia hated and despised him. Every time she thought about it she always ended up wondering why he hated her so much and yet she never did anything to him. But she never could get to the conclusion so she always gave up on it.

"Please trade seats with me." She pleaded.

"Isn't it enough I live with him? I don't want to sit next to him at school too." Keira said, "Enjoy." She smiled evilly and opened her textbook. Irma just shrugged and resumed drawing on her dairy.

"I hate you guys." Cornelia said, but they knew she was joking. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and slid further down in her seat. As soon as the last person sat down, entered the room holding a bunch of papers in one hand and a suitcase in the other.

"Now, class. We'll begin the day with our pop quiz. I hope you guys studied because it's a tough one." He said, he began handing out the papers.

"Oh my gosh! It's the Friday pop quiz. I was caught totally off guard." Irma said sarcastically which made Cornelia and Keira burst out laughing. "Did you guys know we have a pop quiz every Friday? 'Cause I sure didn't what a surprise." She continued. Just then, came by Irma's table and said;

"Better get started Miss Lair. You don't want to fail again." He put a paper in front of her and then added, "Or won't that be a surprise." At this comment she stopped laughing and began filling in the test. After they did the pop quiz they discussed how Christopher Columbus first discovered America and just when the last couple of students were dozing off, the bell rang ending the lesson.

"Don't forget to write a 4 page report on the founder of our country himself. Class dismissed." He then wipped the blackboard clean of chalk and got ready for his next lesson.

Keira, Irma and Cornelia were the first ones out of the room and then went to the locker to put the unnecessary books where they belonged. Cornelia took out Romeo and Juliet out of the locker along with her English notes.

"What do you guys have next?" she asked as she closed it.

"French." they both said, "You?"

"English." Cornelia said, "I get to do Shakespeare. Yay!" she said sarcastically. They closed the locker door and then went on their separate ways. The rest of the morning went by slowly and by the third lesson the gang was already bored out of their wits, until it was time for lunch. Cornelia entered the cafeteria and went to get herself a tray. She then went in line and got herself a ham and cheese sandwich and a bottle of strawberry milk. She scanned the cafeteria for the others and finally found them at their usual table. Just as soon as she sat down Keira came running into the cafeteria holding a flyer in her hands.

"Hey, guys." She took a seat next to Irma and sat the piece of paper down.

"Hey, what's that you got there?" asked Taranee as she took a bite out of the apple she was holding.

"It's a flyer. For volunteer work at the Franklin Gibbs Memorial Hospital. Just think how many people we'd be helping if we volunteer. We'll might even save a life or two." Keira said, excited as hell.

"I've never heard anyone say that just by doing voluntary work you could save a life." Hay Lin said as she played with her mashed-potato. "As much as I'd like to help I have to work at the Silver Dragon this weekend. Sorry, but I can't."

"How 'bout you, Taranee? You're always saying that we should give something back to the community." Keira asked.

"I don't like Hospitals. They always smell like soap and old people." She arranged her spectacles and threw the left over apple in the bin. "Besides, my mom's taking me shopping this weekend for a new laptop hard-drive."

"Ok, Will?"

"I have a study-date with Matt this weekend and I'm not going to miss that chance to be with Matt." Will said dreamily, "Sorry, I need to learn algebra or else I'll fail Math." She smiled and continued eating.

"Or Biology." Irma said to Hay Lin who stifled a giggle.

"Cornelia?"

"Uh…I have to baby-sit Lillian." She shoved the tray away from her and then took a sip of her strawberry milk.

"I'll volunteer, Keira." Irma said, "If it'll get me out of cleaning the garage, I'll do anything. Besides, I like helping others."

"Yay! Meet me after school so we can get an application from the Hospital." Keira said, happy that at least one of her friends volunteered with her.

"Ok." Just then the bell rang and the students all went to their separate classes. The rest of the day went by slowly for Irma and Keira and when the final bell rang they were glad that they had two days with no school. Irma was the first one out of class and then went to meet Keira in front of the school. She made her way past students, which were buzzing with all the weekend planning. Finally, she was out! It was like a maze in there. She looked at the school grounds for Keira until she came up the steps.

"Hey, finally got out huh?" she teased and made her way down again.

"God, I think it's roomier in a can of tightly packed sardines!" Irma exclaimed. Keira laughed and took a sharp turn around a corner. "Did you call the Hospital to see if they have any openings?" Irma asked.

"Yep, the receptionist said that they were really short on volunteers and they could really use all the help they could get." Keira said, "How can people turn down offers in order to help people? I mean, I like helping others, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do like helping people. That's why I always liked being a Guardian of the Veil. It's amazing, you always find people who need help in the world even in other dimensions." Irma said, being a Guardian had a lot of perks but helping others was probably the best thing about it. After a few minutes of walking they arrived at the Hospital, a big plaque greeted the girls which read 'In Memory of Franklin Gibbs. Dedicated doctor and Scientist who died of toxic gas while in the laboratory.'

The girls had no idea who this Franklin Gibbs was but the statue dedicated to him gave them the impression that he was very important. They went through the big glass double doors and made their way to the reception unit. A plump woman named sat at the desk answering the phone and writing appointments on a notebook that lay open beside her. The girls waited for a few seconds until she spoke.

"'Ello, lassies. How may I 'elp you?" she said in a rich Irish accent.

"Hi, we'd like to see some applications for the candy striper opening." Keira said as she leaned over the desk in order to get a closer look.

"Well, aren't that great. Here you go. You can go and fill them applications at those tables. Okay?" She said as she handed them the applications. They thanked her and then went over to the tables that she pointed too.

"Doesn't you have a pen with you?" Irma joked around making Keira laugh and jab her in the ribs. She was trying to imitate but instead ended up making a terrible impersonation.

"Shh, she can still hear us." Keira said as she sat down on the tables and gave Irma a pen.

"Well, it made you laugh." They filled in the application and then gave it back to who got up from her station and went to give them a tour of the place. She led them through the white corridors that made up the Hospital. Everything was so bright it was almost hurting their eyes.

"No' that many people like to volunteer for these kinds of jobs." She began, "I fer one like 'elping people. Don't you?"

"Yeah, totally." Keira said, it took a while to make out what she said exactly because her accent was pretty thick.

"It's awesome!" Irma said a bit after Keira.

"I think so too. This Hospital is pretty big and every little 'elps. So, now on to the left wing we have…" she gave them the tour, which took a while to decipher but they still managed, she told them they would be responsible for supplying the patients with nonmedical needs like liquid refreshment, supplying of books and magazines, handling the get-well-soon cards and gifts, taking care of the notions cart and delivering the meal to the patient. They would also be needed for other small tasks that they were assigned. Most of the time it was running some small errands, like showing people to their appointments or visits, or keeping some of the patients company. Most of the patients were really lonely especially the older patients and so they needed someone to talk to for a few hours of the day.

explained that a nurse didn't have time to keep someone company because nurses were always needed else where but a candy striper had much more time available. When the tour was over gave them a stack of Hospital books for them to read at home and then she gave them their uniforms which consisted of red and white stripped aprons. They put them on and waited for further instructions. She told them they would be on a flexible schedule and they were to work at the Hospital three times a week.

"Ok, that be all. You should start in the Maternity Ward." The plump woman said to Irma, "You should follow the signs. It be the best way for you to get familiarized with the corridors and such. And you can go and help that nurse over there." She pointed at a much skinnier nurse who was pushing an old man in a wheelchair. Then she turned around and went to the reception unit.

"I didn't know we'd have to read! I didn't sign up for this." Irma complained. They began walking towards the Hospital locker room where they could put their personal belongings that they didn't need. "We have to read, Keira. Books I mean. I hate reading."

"Oh c'mon Irma. It's just two books and besides, a little reading may even teach you something about being a candy striper. It can't possibly hurt." Keira said as she opened her locker.

"I guess you're right." She put the books inside her locker and then closed it. "Well, I've got to go to the Maternity Ward, see you in a few."

"Have fun!" Keira said. She made her way to the nurse pointed out, , and began helping by pushing the old man to his room while the nurse who was in charge of him went with a doctor in order to help.

"I guess it's just you and me." Keira said, mostly to herself.

"WHAT?" he yelled and apparently he was a bit deaf.

"Nothing." Keira said, yelling a bit louder than him so that he could hear her. She wheeled him into his room and motioned him in front of the window.

"There you go . I hope you like the view." She said.

"Hey, kid, do wanna hear a story about my Army days?" asked.

"Sure." She pulled a chair next to him and sat down.

"There we were, battling the Germans…" he began while waving his hands in the air as if they were airplanes and continued with his story which was pretty interesting for Keira since she knew a lot about strategies and how to use your enemy's weapon against him and stuff like that.

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Irma trudged behind who was the head Nurse in the Maternity Ward. She was a kind old lady, maybe in her early fifties, which reminded Irma of her own Grandmother which wasn't much older than .

"Do you know anything about babies?" she asked as she opened the door to the Maternity Ward.

"Um… they spit, eat and poop?" she said with a small smile.

"Ha-ha, they do that too but do you know how to hold a baby?" asked.

"Nope."

"Here, let me show you," beside them were about a dozen babies in incubators. bent down and held a baby in her arms and showed Irma what to do.

"Cool." Irma said once she put the baby gently back in the incubator, "What are you going to show me next?" For the first time that day, Irma was excited about being a Candy Striper and welcomed any challenge that she meet from that moment on. gave out a hearty chuckle and then showed Irma how to warm up a bottle in case a mother who wasn't breast-feeding couldn't warm up the milk herself. Her chores in the Maternity Ward were; to empty any garbage bags, putting the flowers that were for the Mothers in vases and supply the Mothers and their husbands with liquid refreshment.

She spent the remainder of the next two hours, helping the Mothers out with what they needed, filling vases with water, and throwing dirty diapers in the trash can. Finally, it was time for a break. Irma headed towards the Hospital cafeteria and on the way she met up with Keira. They went over to the coffee machine and fed their change into the slot; they both got themselves a cup of hot chocolate and then went to an empty table. Almost all of the other tables were filled with interns, attendings, doctors or visitors.

"How were the past few hours for you?" Irma asked as she took a sip and let out a content sigh.

"Well, I heard the most interesting story from an old man named . He told me about the second world war and how he fought bravely in it." She took a sip from her own cup of hot chocolate and continued, "We talked about old strategies and the kind of weapons he used although I've never seen one, used one or heard about any of them they sound cool! Did you know he was a General back in those days?"

"Really? My past few hours were spent by filling vases and emptying bags full of dirty diapers. It was disgusting. Although the babies were kinda cute." Irma finished, just as soon as she looked up from her hot chocolate she saw Cornelia walking in through the doors of the cafeteria and she wasn't alone. Oh, no she wasn't! A really handsome doctor was with her and he was talking to her. Irma could have sworn that he winked at Cornelia a couple of times.

"Oh, my God! Keira, I think I know who Cornelia's dating. And he's tall, dark and oh so handsome." Irma said, she was shocked to see Cornelia with another guy, shortly after the horrible break up she had with Caleb. Apparently she was over Caleb but he sure as hell wasn't. He was a wreck, but he didn't want anyone to know about it although Keira saw how he looked. Which was miserable and lonely.

Keira turned around to take a closer look and was as surprised as Irma was, because Keira knew the truth, the whole truth. And the truth was that Cornelia claimed she didn't cheat on Caleb and now here she was with this doctor. It was totally confusing, was Cornelia telling the truth or was she playing her like she played Caleb? And didn't she say that she was supposed to be baby-sitting Lillian? Was that a lie too? So many questions ran through Keira's mind and yet she didn't know an answer to any of them. Cornelia walked past them but she didn't notice that they were sitting the same cafeteria that she was in. She just went to a far away table and they sat there, having her back to them.

"What is she doing here? Isn't she supposed to be baby-sitting or something?" Irma said as she eye-balled Cornelia's back, then she turned around and took a big gulp of hot chocolate.

"You just read my mind." Keira looked at her cup of hot chocolate and stirred it quietly. "Maybe he's a friend of the family. Or maybe he's dating her mother. She has a life too you know."

"He's waaaay to young. He may be a family friend but he's winking all the time. Does a family friend wink at you?"

"I guess not. But I've seen him last week with Cornelia over at the drug store, I think. I didn't say anything because I thought that he was just a friend. He must be an intern or something. A doctor can't possibly be that young."

"Oh, he's a friend alright, a boyfriend." Irma said as she took another huge gulp and sat silently. They spent the next 10 minutes drinking their cups of hot chocolate in silence until told them that they needed to get back to work. Irma was assigned to the kids' section of the Hospital where they treated children who were sick with cancer and other diseases. Irma was assigned to that section of the Hospital so that she could read to them and play with them while Keira was assigned with handing out get-well-soon cards and gifts.

They went on their separate ways and Keira went over to the reception unit in order to get the Gift Cart. She walked side by side with .

"So, how do you like the 'Ospital so far?" she asked.

"It's awesome. I should've volunteered long ago." She said with a smile. The plump woman chuckled and once they were at the reception unit she handed Keira the Gift Cart. Keira wheeled it into the corridor giving the gifts and get-well-soon cards on the way through. 30 minutes later she was almost ready until Irma came up from behind her holding a beautiful bouquet of Lilies. 'Hmm… lilies. Cornelia's favorite.' Irma thought as she smelled the beautiful flowers.

"Hey! said that she forgot to put these in the cart and once she saw I was ready from my last assignment she asked me if I could give it to you." Irma said, smelling the flowers once again and smiling at the nice fragrance.

"Cool! This is my last stop. Room 108." Keira stopped pushing the cart and sat it at the side, "I hope they're not asleep. I hate waking up patients." Keira opened the door gently and let Irma in first since she had her hands full. Once they were in, Keira closed the door gently and then heard Irma let out a gasp which made her run to were she was standing. On the bed lay Cornelia, she had tubes running through her nose and an IV tube was attached to her arm supplying her with chemicals and liquids. She had dark smudges under her eyes and was pale white. She looked horrible, like she hadn't eaten or slept in days maybe both. She had her eyes closed and looked like she was asleep. Irma put the vase right next to the girl and then looked at her closely; she looked so fragile and under the fluorescent light Irma could even see the violet tracing of the veins at her temples. She laid very still, her chest barley moving when she breathed.

"I-is… is that Cornelia?" Irma asked, she had her hand over her mouth now looking pale herself. Keira looked at the chart that lay hanging in front of the bed which contained the patient's details. It read that it was actually Cornelia Hale.

"Oh, my God! It is Cornelia." Keira said, she sat down on a near by chair followed closely by Irma who looked like she was ready to throw up. Looking at your friend in a hospital bed with all kinds of wires and tubes coming out of her was a lot to take in, especially when they didn't even know what she was suffering from. Keira took a deep breath and then let it out slowly.

"Keira, what does she have? Is she alright? Why is she so pale?" Irma asked, grabbing Keira by the shoulders.

"I-I don't know." She looked at Irma and for the first time ever since she first met the bubbly teenage girl, she saw that she was scared and terrified. "I don't know." Irma released Keira from her grip and looked at Cornelia. She was sleeping peacefully but Irma wasn't feeling so peaceful right now. She wanted to know what was wrong with her best-friend. They spent the next 30 minutes staring at Cornelia and praying that she'd wake up soon. They needed to ask her what was wrong. Their prayers were answered when Cornelia finally awoke. Irma was the first one up and shortly after her Keira arose from her chair.

"Cornelia! What's wrong with you?" Irma asked, "Are you ok?"

"Why didn't you tell us you were sick? We could've helped you. We still can." Keira asked.

She coughed and then spoke up, it was barley a whisper, "I have leukemia, guys." Cornelia's eyes filled with tears, she closed her eyes and a single tear trickled down her cheek. She swallowed hard a couple of times and then opened her eyes to find that they were both right next to her. Keira grabbed her hand and found that it was really cold.

"How come we didn't find out sooner? You look really sick." Keira said, "Now I can tell that you're sick just from one look but how come I couldn't see it yesterday?"

"That's the magic of make-up." Cornelia joked but she knew that this wasn't the time to joke around. Even the goof ball formally known as Irma knew that.

"This isn't funny Cornelia." Irma said in a stern voice.

"I know but after having leukemia for so long you learn that life is to short for you to be a sour puss like I've been in the past." Cornelia said. They both looked at the white sheets and sat in silence for a couple of seconds.

"H-how bad is it?" Irma asked, she was afraid of finding out and yet she wanted to know the real truth so badly.

"The doctor said that with treatment I could get better, but it's a one in a million chance."

"But there's still hope that counts for something. Why didn't you tell us sooner, Cornelia?" Keira said. Irma was now sitting on the bed listening carefully and holding tears.

"I didn't want Caleb to know. He's been through so much over the past few months, with Meridian under Phobos' reign, training the Rebels for on coming attacks even after we won the war against Phobos, I just couldn't tell him, I couldn't tell him that he could lose me." She took a deep, shuddering sigh. "I know that he doesn't love me anymore. He has every right not to love me for what I've done to him. He probably thinks I'm with some other guy, he must think that I'm over him but he doesn't know how much it hurts." She started crying and Keira and Irma both gave her a hug. "It all just hurts so much." They both let her sob on their shoulders for a while and once they pulled apart Irma said;

"This explains a lot. So, the guy we saw you with in the cafeteria was your doctor not your new boyfriend." She nodded. "But why does he keep winking at you?"

"He has something wrong with his eyes. I don't know."

Keira ignored Irma's comment and continued "So he's the same guy I saw you with at the drug store." She nodded again, "Then that's why you were feeling so tired at school and that's why you wiped out back at the Warehouse." She nodded again and then took a deep, shaky breath.

"Cornelia, you have no idea how madly in love Caleb is with you. He's been a nervous wreck for the past few weeks just because he can't see you. You mean the world to him. You're wrong Cornelia; he would want to know, he can help you get through this. We all can." Keira said.

"Keira's right, you can't go through this by yourself. It's just… inhuman." Irma said. "It's insane."

"You're wrong, it's better this way. If he knows the truth it will devastate him even more."

"So, it's better for him to think that you cheated on him? He thinks that he isn't worth anyone's time. He keeps saying he doesn't deserve anyone. He's heartbroken and he keeps saying that he's worthless. It pains me to see my older brother in pain like that." Keira said, she was getting all angry and she didn't know why it wasn't her place to judge Cornelia's actions. She wasn't the one with cancer so she didn't know what Cornelia was feeling. "I feel like crap because of that. I feel like crap because I can't tell him that you didn't cheat on him but he doesn't have a clue. He's probably in his room staring at your picture."

"It's better this way." Cornelia repeated, she understood Keira's point but if Caleb knew the real truth it would surly devastate him and Cornelia didn't want that on her conscience. "Promise me that you won't tell him. Promise me that you won't tell anyone."

It took Irma a while to decide but then she said, "Ok, I promise. But let us help you through it."

"Ok, thank you." She gave Irma a weak smile and then waited for Keira's answer. After a few seconds she said;

"Ok I'll do it but only because you're like a sister to me not because I agree with you. I defiantly won't agree with a plan as dumb as that, no offense."

"None taken." Just then entered the room and said;

"Lassies, you need to be gettin' home. It's already 8:30pm." They said their goodbyes and then she ushered them out the door. They made their way to the locker room and once inside, they opened their lockers and took their belongings from inside it. They closed the locker door and then took off their uniforms, they did this all in silence. It was all too awkward for them. They exited the Hospital and then began their long walk towards home.

End of Chapter 3

So, what do you think? Do you like it? I know it's the loooooongest chapter I've updated but I just couldn't bring myself to separate it into 2. Oh let me tell you about the type of leukemia Cornelia has; it's called 'Chronic lymphocytic leukemia' or CLL it occurs in teenagers and in other age groups. The patient usually feels sick, suffer from vomiting and they experience nausea and headaches. It is usually linked through family history and in Cornelia's case her father died from leukemia.

Anyway, that's Cornelia's case of leukemia and I hope that you leave me a review or two. By the way, I know I did a crappy job with the accent but I just like the way the Irish talk. :-) --xKrissyx--