Josh walked into Nadia's hospital room. He watched as she slept quietly. He walked up and sat on the edge of her bed.
"Hey" He said as he ran his hand through her hair
"Hey" She replied, raspy
"Great way to get out of dinner" He joked
"Don't mention food please" Nadia replied
Josh laughed
"Do you know?" She asked
"Yeah, your dad told me" Josh replied
"Connor's back, with a vengeance"
"Connor?" Josh questioned
"That's what I've called the cancer since I was diagnosed"
"What's the secondary one called?" Josh asked
Nadia looked at him puzzled
"I may have been doing some research on cancer" Said Josh
"What do you think we should call it?" Nadia asked
"We name it, like a child"
"Well it's going to get cut out of me pretty soon"
"Nigel" Josh questioned
"What about an evil villain's name"
"Like what" Josh asked
"I don't know, Scorpion"
"Vulcan?"
"Kingpin?"
"Pyro?"
"Rhino?"
"Loki?" Asked Josh
"Bullseye, it is at the back of my chest"
"Walking around with a target on your back"
"Bullseye it is then"
Nadia moved across so Josh could lay down next to her
"You can't leave me just yet" Josh whispered "You're not allowed to die after three months"
"I won't, I promise" She replied
"What happens now?" Sophie asked Nate
"Well the tumors will have to be removed surgically then she'll undergo chemo and radio therapy"
"How serious is it?"
"We won't know till the biopsy is done"
"Just guess, what do you think it could be"
"I compared it to her scans from six months ago, the tumor in her brain has almost doubled and the one on her spine wasn't there originally"
"Doubled? How big is it"
"About the size of a tennis ball"
"And the one on her spine?"
"About the same"
"Do you think its the same as before?"
Nate shook his head "It's growing too fast"
"It's aggressive"
"Yeah, and there's every chance that it's terminal this time"
"No" Said Sophie "We've been told that before and she fought it"
"I want believe that she can fight this too but we have to prepare ourselves for the worst"
"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best" Sophie said to herself
"Yeah" Nate replied "She'll be OK" He said hugging her and kissing her on the cheek
"Can we see her?"
"Yeah but she'll be going to surgery soon"
Nate and Sophie walked into Nadia's hospital room. She was asleep in her bed with Josh sleeping on the chair next to her. Sophie went up and sat on the bed, holding her hand. Nadia opened her eyes
"Mum" She said short of breath
"Hey chick-pea"
"Nadie there's some things we need to talk about" Nate said kneeling down next to her
"Like what?"
"Like where to go from here"
Nadia looked at him confused
"You know we need to get rid of the tumors but after we need to consider chemo and radio therapy"
"No" Nadia replied
"Nadie just consider it at least"
"That's what they said last time and look what happened now"
"Nadia, please" Sophie begged
"It's ok, we don't need to talk about this now but it's something we need to consider after" Nate explained
It was quiet
"I've got to go, there's some paper work that needs completing" Nate explained "I'll come back before you go in"
Nate kissed his daughter on the forehead before leaving her
"Nadia, we need to seriously consider chemo after this"
"No mum, you remember what happened before and the time before that"
"But it could help"
"Or make me suffer for longer" Nadia explained "You remember what happened to Jessi, she was so sick she never left the hospital"
"But what about all the others, Like Halley, remember all the great things she got to do before she passed"
"But she didn't have chemo mum, Jessi did"
"We'll talk about this later chicken, you just focus on getting better"
A tear rolled down Nadia's cheek, she nodded her head
"I love you mum"
Love is stronger than death even though it can't stop death from happening,
but no matter how hard death tries it can't separate people from love.
It can't take away our memories either.
In the end, life is stronger than death.
R.I.P Madi.
2004-2016