Chapter 4

Yellow, bright lights woke me up and I found us in a tunnel. I looked straight ahead, and further down you could see the airport.

"We're almost there," Eric said and kissed my forehead. I started to lift my head but it ached so I put it back down on head shoulder. "Oww," I whispered.

"What's wrong?"

"My head hurts."

"You can take some medicine in a little bit. Can you wait until we get passed security?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, ready to get out?" He asked as we found a parking space.

"Not really, but we all do things we don't always want to do."

"What do you mean you don't want to? You don't want to see mom and dad anymore?"

"No, Tory. I don't want to go through the airport. I wish we could just be there already."

"Oh," she spoke, quietly.

We all got out of the car and carried our luggage into the airport. We got 4 tickets to the next flight out to Nashville. We still had an hour left so we decided to go up in some little shops. We went to an apparel store and bought our mom a "Los Angeles" zipper jacket. Then we went to a magazine shop and bought some snacks, drinks, and some magazines. After we were finished shopping we went to our gate number and waited until we could board the plane.

"Only five more hours. Then you can see your mom," Eric said once we sat in our seats. Jon and Tory were in front of us.

"Finally. I just want to see mom and be with her."

"I know. Why don't you take a nap? It could make the time go by faster"

"I'll try but I don't know if I'll be able to sleep."

"Here, put your head on my shoulder."

I did what he said and linked arms with his. I closed my eyes and tried to make this nightmare go away.

"Tiff? Tiffany, wake up," Eric whispered while tapping my head.

"Hmm?"

"We should be landing any time soon."

"Oh. I slept that long?"

"Yeah. Did you sleep okay?"

"Mmhmm. What did you do?"

"I slept also."

"Oh. How was your sleep?"

"It was okay. I didn't have another dream about being married to you or breaking and entering into people's houses again," he said, frowning.

I laughed at his reply. Within this new mess, I forgot about what happened this morning and how excited I was to hear what his dream was about. I forgot that we became boyfriend and girlfriend a couple minutes later.

"There's your beautiful smile," he said while smiling.

I kissed him and he kissed back. He is the best, boyfriend. He takes care of me; he's funny, charming, handsome, kind, athletic, outgoing. I know we knew each other for less than a week, but I could tell I was already falling for him. He just seemed like the perfect guy.

"Tiffany? You okay?"

"What? Oh sorry. Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"You." I answered and blushed.

"Me?"

"Yeah. You have been such a gentleman, taking care of me."

"Oh, well. I really do care about you."

"I care about you too."

He moved a strand of my hair behind my ears. Then he kissed my nose and I blinked a couple times. I smiled.

"Eric?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like once we go to the hospital. Where are we going to stay? And for how long? And how am I going to be able to hang out with mom when I know she's going to die?"
He sighed. "I'm not exactly sure. We can see if there is a condo we can rent. If not, we can stay at a hotel. And as for your last question, you can look at the positive sides of this."

"What positive things could come out of this?"

"Well, one things is she won't be suffering much longer. These months are probably going to be horrible for her. It's going to make her very sick and weak. Also, you actually know how much longer you'll be able to hang out with her. A lot of times people just pass on without notice."

"I guess you're right."

"Tiffany, you can't just think about the negative or you're going to be sad all the time. I bet your mom wouldn't want that now would she?"

"No. It just sucks to know that she won't be here when I get married or see her grandchildren."

"No, she won't be down with you, but she'll be up there looking down on you: protecting you and your sister," he said while pointing to the sky.

"Where is this all coming from?"

He chuckled. "From my heart. Why is it weird."

"No, it's just usually what a girl would say to someone else. Most guys are like 'oh, I'm sorry' and that's it. You're different from everybody else."

"Well, people do say that I'm special," he said bragging.

"Special, huh?"

"Yup."

"Well, you are a little special to me."

"A little?"

"Okay, maybe a lot."

"That sounds better."

I giggled and lightly tapped him on the arm. "I better be very special to you then."

"You do. More than the world."

"I can't be that special. I mean we have only known each other for what like a week?"

"Yes, but you're growing on me more and more every day."

"Awe! My cornball." I smiled and gave him a peck on the lips. He carefully put both his hands on my face and kissed me. I of course, kissed him back. It was a very passionate kiss and I would have wanted to never stop, but we were on a plane after all. I mean, we've been probably grossing other people out. With that, I pulled away.

"Sorry, but remember we're on an airplane, in public."

"Oh, right. Thank goodness we're going to get off soon. I need to go to the bathroom really bad."

I laughed and set back in my seat. I looked out the window and saw many trees. Home sweet home. The lady spoke over the intercom saying that we will land in a few seconds. I then looked at Eric who was also looking out the window. He looked back at me, smiled and intertwined his hand with mine. I returned the smile and looked back out the window. In less than 15 minutes we would be on our way to the hospital. Then I could see my parents again.

Once we landed, we headed to the exit since our suitcases were our carry-on. We left the airport ground 5 minutes later and headed to the hospital. I called my dad and let him that we should be there within 15 minutes.

When we got there, the taxi driver dropped us of at the entrances. I sighed and I got out and then moved to a bench while the others got out. We then all went inside the hospital. I took Eric's hand in mine and went to the front desk.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the administrator asked.

"Hi, we wanted to visit my mom and were wondering what room she's in," I replied.

"What's her name?"

"Susan Rogers."

"She's in room 405. Go up 4 flights through those elevators. Then take a right, follow that path until you see the number on your left. Are you all going to see her?"

"Yes."

"Okay, well there is a limit of 3 people in a room. So the remaining will need to sit in the waiting room upstairs."

"And where is that?"

"It's to the right of the desk. You can't miss it."
"Alright. Thank you."

"No problem. Have a good day, now."

We walked past the desk to the elevators and waited until one of them opened. Once we were inside, Tory said, "I hate hospitals."

"I do too. They creep me out." I agreed.

"Why do you not like them?" Jon asked us.

"Well, they have blood everywhere. And the doctors creep me out." Tory answered.

"And you can't forget that there have been people that passed on here. Imagine if you were touching a sheet where a dead body was on" I added.

Eric and Jon looked at us and chuckled. I didn't think it was that funny so I said, "What's so funny? I'm sure there is something that you guys are afraid of and wouldn't like it if we started laughing."

"You have a good point. I'm sorry," said Eric.

"Yeah. Me too," Jon said, apologizing as well.

"Since they're only 3 people allowed, is it okay if Tiffany and I go in so we can talk to our parents. Then we can call you when you can visit."

"Of course," Jon said. "We can go get some coffee or something."

"Are you two going to be okay?" Eric asked us.

"It will be hard, but we'll be fine." I replied.

"Okay. Are you going to leave our suitcases in the room?" Jon asked.

"Yeah, until we go. Do you know where we're going to stay at yet?" Tory asked the guys.

Eric responded to her question and said "We'll probably go to a hotel for the first night or so. Then we can look for a condo. That reminds me: we need to let Adam know that we won't be back in the house for awhile."

"We can call him down at the cafeteria. Call us when you have an update, okay?" Jon added.

"Okay. See you in a while," Tory said and pecked him on the lips.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Eric asked me for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, babe. It'll be okay. I'll call you in a bit," I said and we kissed goodbye.

"Okay lovebirds, break it up. Or I will," Tory said.

We broke the kiss and laughed. "Bye," I said while waving both Eric and Jon. Then Tory and I started walking towards our mom's room. Several seconds later we found it. Tory stood in the doorway and said, "Knock knock."

"Hey girls," mom said.

"Can we come in?" I asked.

"Of course," she replied.

"How are you mom?" T asked as we set the luggage against the wall.

"I'm alright. How are you two?" she asked.

"We're doing fine. Where's dad?" I asked.

"He went to the cafeteria to get us some food. Are those all yours? I don't remember those two?"

"They're our boyfriends." I replied quietly.

"Boyfriends? Where are they?"

"They're in the cafeteria as well." Tory said.

"What are their names? What are they like? Do they take good care of you?"

"Jon is mine."

"And Eric is mine."

"And they both take really good care of us." T added.

"And as for what they are like, well you'll see for yourself. It's too long of a list to describe, which is a good thing."

"Aww. How cute! I can't wait to meet them. Are you two getting along?"

"We're getting along fine, mom."

"Okay, I'm just asking."

"How could you now have known, mom?" I asked suddenly, wanting to know the answer.\

"Tiffany!" T said.

"No, Tory. I want to know how she couldn't have known sooner. There must have been some signs."

"I don't know, Tiffany. For awhile I would throw up, but I simply thought it was the flu."

"Well, now we only have two months. Two months, mom! That is not enough time."

"Don't talk to mom like that. What's wrong with you?" Tory said very upset.

"Tory, it's okay. And I know, sweetie. We'll just have to hang out a lot more."

"It's not going to be the same. You're going to be tired all the time. And its just going to bring up the fact that you're not going to be here much longer."

"At least I'll be home with you guys."

"What do you mean at home? You're not staying here?"

"You think I could handle being in here that long?"

Tory and I giggled. She never liked hospitals.

"Girls, I have to tell you something."

"What is it mom?" T asked.

"Well they're was two options for me. I could stay here in this hospital. Or I could go home."

"And you chose to stay home." I said.

"Yes, but if I stay here I would probably have an extra couple months longer than at home."

"Why? Why are you choosing this?"

"Because I don't want to be hooked on wires and tubes and equipment for the rest of my life."

"I know you think I'm mad, but it's your choice and I want you to be happy. I'm sorry for the way I was acting."

"Sweetie, you don't have to apologize. It's understandable. And I'm glad you're okay with my decision. I love you girls so much."

"I love you too, mom." I said holding her hand.

"And I love you mom." T said holding her other hand.

We all hugged and soaked in this moment. Then a knock on the door interrupted us. I looked over and saw my dad.

"Dad!" I said and rushed to him. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, pumpkin," he said and patted my back. I moved to the side of one arm so Tory could squeeze in. "My favorite girls," he announced and then walked to our mom. "How are you doing?"

"I'm great now that everyone is all together. Well, except for the boys."

"What boys?"

"Their boyfriends, Eric and Jon."

"Boyfriends? You didn't mention this earlier, Tiffany."

"Well we were kind of busy talking about something else important."

"Oh, okay. Well where are they?"

"They are either in the waiting room or the cafeteria," I replied.

"Go ahead and call them up."

"Are you sure dad?" T asked.

"I'm sure. I want to meet them and ask them a few questions."

"Oh, boy!" T remarked.

"Dad!" I complained

"Phil, please don't do anything that you will regret." Mom added.

"I won't. I just want to see if they're good enough for my daughters."

"Dad, we're both adults now. You don't need to watch out for us anymore. Please lay off," T said, annoyed.

"Alright, alright. Go ahead and get them up here."

"Okay, thanks dad." I said and we went to the waiting room. They must have been at the cafeteria since the waiting room was empty. So we decided to text them saying to meet up back here in the waiting room. Within 5 minutes later, Eric and Jon were walking towards us.

"Hey, how did it go?" Eric asked me.

"It went okay. It was rough when we talked about it. But otherwise, it was great."

"That's good."

"Yeah, hey Tory, you two can go first. Eric and I will stay here."

"Oh, okay. I'll call you later then."

"Okay, good luck!" I shouted as they walked off to mom's room.

"Good luck?" he asked, confused.

"My dad."

"Oh," he replied, starting to look nervous.

I giggled and added, "It's okay though. I just said that to make her nervous, not you."

"Do you want some coffee or a bite?" he asked while pointed to his drink and a cookie.

"Actually, some coffee would be nice. Would you mind coming with me to the cafeteria?"

"Of course not." He got up and reached his arm out for me to take. I took his and got up. I then put the same arm around his waist and started heading to the cafeteria.

"You know, I was thinking."

"About what?"

"About where we are going to stay. I can ask my parents if we can stay in the guest rooms and Tory and I can sleep in our rooms."

"Oh, I didn't even think about that. Are you sure your parents wouldn't mind?"

"I'm not sure. Like I said, I'll have to ask them. Although, I'm sure they'll say yes."

"Okay cool. It would be cool to see the house that you grew up in. Have you lived there your whole life?"

"Yeah, all 19 years."

"That's cool. Not to change the subject but what kind of coffee are you going to get?"

"Decaf. I don't like any other."

"Same here. You sure you don't want anything else?"

"Yeah I'm good for now, thanks. So what time did you want to leave? It's 10:30 right now."

"It's up to you guys since your mom is staying here."

"Well she's coming home in a couple of days. But we should probably leave earlier so we can get some sleep. Then we'll have more time to visit her later on."

"Yeah, that's true," he said as he opened the doors for us to walk in.

We went up to the cashier and I ordered my coffee. Then we sat down at a table.

"I am so exhausted. I hope we'll leave soon," I said while yawning.

He chuckled and then said, "If you keep yawning, you're going to make yawn."

"I can't help it. I'm sleepy. I'll text Tory and see if we can come. Then I can ask if we can stay at our house." After I sent the message, I took another sip of my coffee. Almost instantaneously I received a text. "It's from Tory. She said that we can head up."

"Alright. You ready to go?"

"Yeah, are you ready to meet my parents?"

"I'm ready as I'll ever be."

We joined hands and walked back to the room. As we turned the corner, we saw Tory and Jon outside mom's room. As we walked up I asked, "How was it?"

"It went fine. They loved him," Tory answered.

"She's exaggerating a bit," Jon added

"No I'm not. Come on; let's go get some more coffee."

"Alright, See you guys later."

"Tory I'm going to ask if we can just stay at the house. It's close and free."

"Oh, okay. Good thinking. Text me when you want to leave."

"Okay, bye," I said and walked into the room with Eric by my side. "Mom, Dad, this is Eric. Eric, this is my mom and dad."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart."

"Please, Call me Susan," Mom said grinning.

"And call me Phil."

"Okay. So how are you all?"

My mom sighed and replied, "Tired. It's been a long day."

"Yes. We could use some rest right now."

"Thank goodness I'll get to go home in less than a week," she added.

"Mom, Eric is attending UCLA."

"Really, what year are you?"

"I'm a sophomore."

"So you're 19 or 20?"

"Very cool. Tiffany is turning 20 on the 3rd of August. Just around the corner."

"I know, she told me. We have two birthdays to celebrate."

"Yep. I can't believe Tory's turning 21 already. And it seems like it was yesterday when I was holding you in my arms for the first time."

"Mom."

"What? Am I embarrassing you already?"

"No, but I can tell that you're going to start any minute. Plus, it's getting late. We need to get some sleep. I was actually wondering if the 4 of us could stay at the house."

"Sure, honey," she replied.

"Okay, are you coming home, dad?"

"No, I'm staying here. But I'll probably head over there in the afternoon for a bit."

"Okay, well we should probably get going. See you guys tomorrow. Love you both," I said and then hugged them. Eric shook hands with my dad and hugged my mom. I texted Tory, telling her that we would be on our way. We then got our luggage and walked to the waiting area. They got up and started to walk towards us.

"Let's go home," I said.

"They said it was okay?" Tory asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright. Let's go then."

"Crap!" I said as soon as I thought about how we were going to get home.

"What?" Tory questioned.

"We don't have a ride home."

"Yeah we do. Jon and I called after you texted me."

"Oh my gosh! Tory, you are such a lifesaver."

"I know. They said they should be here by 11:45. It's 11:40 so they should be here in a few."

"Okay, good. Are we all going to be able to squeeze into 1 cab?"

"I don't know but I ordered two so we wouldn't be all crammed."

We went down the elevator and out the exit. Then we stood in the entrance outside until our ride showed up. Eric and I took one car and Jon and Tory took the other car. We arrived 10 minutes later. I paid for the fare and then walked up the driveway where the others stood. Tory dialed our pin number on the garage-door opener and then went inside. I got the key and opened the house door. Tory led them into the house and I followed once the door was closed. We went to the living room and set our luggage down.

"Do you guys want anything to eat or drink?"

"No, thank you though."

"I'm good, thanks," Jon added.

"Do you guys just want me to show you your rooms then?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay, follow me," Tory replied.

We picked our luggage back up and headed upstairs. My room was closest to the stairs, in the corner next to Tory's room. Eric was next to Jon who's room is next to Tory's. Tory showed them the bathroom and the linen closet and then we each jumped in the shower (at separate times). After, I was done with mine; I unpacked my bags and then was ready for bed. I quickly went to Eric's room to say goodnight. I knocked on the door and went inside after he said "Come on in."

"Hey I just wanted to say goodnight," I said as I closed the door behind me.

"Hey," he said.

He was sitting up in bed so I decided to go to the other side and climb onto it. I scooted over to where he was sitting and I laid down .

"Okay, you going to bed soon?"

"Yeah, Aren't you?

"Yup. I'm just going to leave a text to Adam and Reese and then go to bed."

"Oh, okay. So Adam and Reese are your other roommates, right?"

"Yep."

"Will I get to meet them?"

"Sure, when we go back."

"Awesome, thank you. Well I should probably head off to bed. See you in the morning?"

"Sure thing."

"Okay, goodnight," I said and pecked him on the lips.

"Goodnight, beautiful."

I got off the bed and walked to the door, and said "Sweet dreams. And don't let the bed bugs bite."

"You too," he replied after he chuckled. "Oh, Tiff?"

"Yeah?"

"You look really hot!"
I giggled and said, "And you look extremely hot as well. Goodnight, now."

"Night."

I turned around and smiled before opening the door and returning to my room.