Forty eight

Josh's POV

Well, me and Jessie are clear of any illnesses not that we thought we had any. Holly, Lily, Charlie and Jade are all clear too although we have found out that Jade now has asthma from the fumes in the warehouse. She had been given an asthma pump. We were now just waiting for the results of Zach's illness. We were all really worried.

A nurse came towards us. "Mr Milligan?" she asked. Mike nodded and followed him down the corridor. They were bent close together and we guessed whatever was being said wasn't great news. Mike walked into Zach's room and we were left on the waiting room chairs with the nurse watching us carefully. Jessie looked at me for reassurance but I didn't have any to give her. She started shaking uncontrollably. She was scared and I didn't know what to do. I wrapped my arm around Jessie's shoulders. She relaxed under my touch but she still looked terrified. Jade looked about five times worse considering it was her boyfriend in the next room. Potentially seriously ill. Mike came out and looked at us. He indicated we could go over. Tentatively we all walked over.

"you can go in and see him," Mike told us. Jade quickly walked through the door while the rest of us were unsure. Holly and Lily followed her while Jessie, Charlie and I deliberated.

"He's really ill. Isn't he?" Jessie asked quietly. Mike nodded.

"yes and right now he needs his friends with him. More than he needs me or the doctor," Mike explained. Charlie and I nodded and walked through the door into Zach's room. Jessie stayed outside, unsure whether she wanted to see him this ill.

"Josh, Charlie," Zach wheezed when we walked in. "Where's Jess?" he asked.

"She is debating whether she should come in or not," I explained while Charlie pulled two chairs towards Zach's bed for us. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Like I've been attacked with a saw. No, I'm feeling alright. I could be worse. Do you lot know what's wrong with me?" Zach asked. We all shook our heads.

"Do you not know?" Jade asked, holding Zach's hand tightly.

"He does," Jessie said as she walked into the room. "Mike was saying that's what he came to talk to him about. You can't come back, can you?" she questioned. Zach sighed.

"Not really," he replied.

"Jessie what's wrong with him," Holly asked her friend. Jessie shrugged.

"I don't know. But before I came in Mike and the Doctor where arranging to have Zach transported to some hospice. For those of you that don't know what a hospice is, it's a place terminally ill people go to spend their last few days in the best care, comfort and around the friends. They try to make them live their lives to the full," Jessie explained slowly. "So you must be dying!" she added. "So maybe you should start from the beginning."

Zach's POV

'Jessie is too bright for her own good,' I thought. Although I will let her off. "Ok, Jess. I'm dying. Happy. What more do you want me to say?" I asked her.

"Why are you dying?" she asked, looking at me intently. I felt Jade squeeze my hand comfortingly. She was the only one who knew the whole story.

"Alright. To start with you need to know why I ran away. When I was born, I had complications. I had a hole in my heart and my lungs didn't have much of a lung capacity. I was in hospital for three years. In, out, in, out. It was awful. My heart sorted itself out and my lungs well I tested them. I tested them and they grew stronger. But all the while they were still sick. I didn't know. I've always had these coughing fits where I cough up blood. I thought nothing of it, just thought I was stretching my lung capacity too much. Turns out I was wrong. Turns out it's much more serious. I found out before I ran away from home. I had lung cancer. I knew I was going to die back then but I never knew when. Mum became really overprotective. She wouldn't even let me go in the garden without her in case I relapsed. She had my friends follow me round school to check I didn't collapse. I couldn't live like that. So I ran away one night. I lived in that warehouse for four years. The coldness of it has made my cancer worse. So yes, I'm going to die. But no one knows when." I finished lamely. Lily and Holly both had tears in their eyes, Jade was just holding my hand, supporting me. Charlie, Josh and Jessie all just looked a little stunned at my response. "But I don't want to go. I like it at Elm Tree. I don't want to move again."

"In that case you'll have to talk to Mike," Josh told me.

"he doesn't have to. I heard the whole thing," Mike said from behind Jessie, who, quite funnily, leapt about a meter in the air. "Listen Zach. We'd love to keep you at Elm Tree but you just said you felt confined and well if you stayed with us we wouldn't be able to allow you to go to school, or out the house. You would be bound to the house and garden," Mike explained.

"I don't care. It's got to be better than my house. I'll have friends there at least. It's got to be better than some hospice where you lot come and visit me once a week. I want to spend my time with my friends and my friends are at Elm tree. Please Mike. Let me stay," I pleaded. He sighed.

"Listen, purely because you might not die this year, or even next year or maybe not ten years from now, yes you can stay. But I'm sorry you can't go further than the garden and the end of the drive. Because we have a duty of care to you and that would put you at risk."

A/N: Zach isn't going to die in the story. That would be a little bit mean. He's just ill and that causes probably more issues than expected. I really need ideas for how you want this story to continue and end. I'm thinking of ending after they actually perform the school play but how do you want it to end. Happy? Sad? Who do you want paired up with each other romantically? Please, please, let me know as I really need some help. Indigo :)