Two months after Gus's death, Hazel lay on her own death bed. Her lungs were too weak for her to go on. She was tired of fighting, tired of being in pain.
And there her parents were, standing around her bed crying, holding onto each other. She struggled to open her eyes, wanting to see her parents for the last time. 'We love you Hazel, you can rest now.' Her father said. Her parents, in turn, softly kissed her forehead.
It was then the nurse came in, filling her with morphine, so she could rest without pain. The morphine took over almost instantly, the pain disappearing into nothing. Though she was tired, and so she closed her eyes. She could feel the sheets beneath her, she could hear the sobs wracking her parents, and after what felt like forever, she felt her parents each take one of her hands.
Though she could not move, or talk. She couldn't tell her parents she loved them, or that she would be okay. And so she lay there. And thought about everything she wanted to say, and everything she should have said when she was able to talk.
She felt someone else touch her hand. 'Not long now.' The nurse said gently, feeling Hazel's pulse, which was slowing by the second.
Hazel could feel life slipping away from her. As the minutes passed she notices slight differences. She felt her breathing get shallow; she couldn't feel her parents caressing her hands, though she could feel their presence, and as much as she didn't want to let go, she wanted it all to end.
Not much time had passed, before her parent's sobs started getting softer, as if they were miles away. She knew this was it. She wasn't scared of dying, though she was scared of not knowing what was to happen after she died.
But then she had a thought, a thought that filled her with hope.
Maybe now, she won't have to live in a world without Augustus Waters.