I woke up from the smell of disinfectant and a warm hand holding mine.

I don't know what happened but all I know is my throat is throbbing and my chest hurts a lot too. I tried to sit up and noticed that it was Dr. Cohen who was holding my hand.

He was asleep, his head was on the bed while he was sitting on a cushioned stool.

I looked around the room and noticed that I was in the hospital.

What happened? Did I pass out? Elijah's hand was warm and I have no clue why he was holding mine.

He looked upset in his sleep, upset but also calm. I tried to pick my phone up from the side table to check the time.

It was 3:44 AM.

I noticed a text from Greta. 'I hope you feel better when you wake up, You passed out in the toilets after you dialed your doctor's number. I took care of Oliver and your mom when she called. I told her you fell asleep after pulling up an all nighter yesterday.'

I still haven't told my mom about me being sick. I don't ever plan to worry her. I guess I'm being selfish but I don't want to burden anyone anymore.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Elijah woke up and wiped the sleep off of his eyes.

"I'm fi-" I tried to talk but my voice won't come out.

"Don't force yourself to talk, it will be okay, just rest. Your throat is swollen but its not damaged." He gave me a pat on my head.

I nodded.

"So, you have to stay here overnight, today and tomorrow just to monitor you." He stood up suddenly acting like a Doctor who wasn't asleep not too long ago.

"Greta was kind enough to bring you some of your stuff, its on that duffel bag over there." He pointed on the sofa, "And, I recall you didn't want to have your parents know about this?"

I nodded, "I didn't want to worry them any more." I whispered my voice ugly and hoarse.

"I respect your decision, you're of legal age technically you don't need a guardian for your hospital paper works but with what's going on and how fast your disease is progressing, sooner or later, you have to let them know and think about the surgery, please Ramona, consider it? you're still young." I looked away and pretended to think about it.

"If you need anything, you have my cell number, I have to go home and take care of something but I'll be back early in the morning to check on you."

"Thank you."

"Please go back to sleep, I will see you soon." He left my room and I sat there, thinking what my life would be if ever I did take that surgery.

The next time I woke up it was because of a nurse hooking up a new IV drip.

It was 11:12AM.

"Dr. Cohen will make his rounds soon. Please make sure you eat your food too." She mentioned the food that was on the tray.

I nodded my head and she pushed the table towards my way and placed the food tray on top.

It was oatmeal, soft bread and a banana. I guess they selected food that would be easy for me to swallow because of my throat.

After I got done eating, Elijah came in with a nurse behind him.

"Hey, feeling better, Ramona?" He asked as he writes something down which I assume was my chart.

"I feel a bit better and my voice is a little bit hoarse still but it doesn't as much before." I was able to talk a little bit now.

"That's good. If your progress is better than expected then you can be discharged tomorrow morning." He smiled.

He did a couple more checks here and there before leaving the room.

Once again, I was left with nothing but my thoughts and silence.

After an hour or two the previous nurse who fixed my IV drip came back and made me take some Aspirin and pain killers.

I asked her to open the curtains a little bit and she was nice enough to do so before leaving again.

The weather outside looked nice, it was sunny and bright.

"Do you want to go out on a walk?" I didn't notice Elijah entering my room.

"Can I?" I gestured.

"Of course, I'll come with you." He smiled as he try to help me get up.

"No it's okay, I can manage." I declined politely.

"My shift's over, I can come with you." and I just noticed that he wasn't wearing the same clothes he was wearing before when he made his rounds.

"Are you sure?"

"I have nothing else better to do." He smiled, and once again I got caught up in his smile.

I smiled back, "I'd like that."

He helped me to a wheelchair and placed my IV drip on the pole on it.

I actually didn't want to take a wheelchair because my legs were working fine but Elijah is being overprotective for whatever reason and forced me to sit on one. We made it to the hospital garden and I see that it's well kept.

The bushes were trimmed and the flowers and grass was watered.

Compared to the boring room I was staying in the garden looked very bright and the air for some reason smelled fresh.

Elijah parked the wheelchair near a bench and helped me sat on it even though I insisted that I can manage just fine. We sat in silence and I just watched as the people walk by.

"Ramona, do you want to tell me what happened?" He suddenly asked.

"Your friend was who I spoke to on the phone but she wasn't able to clearly explain what happened. Do you think you can tell me?"

"Same reason as before. I was supposed to call him, Oliver from the locker room after the game but I heard him talking to the girl he likes, I knew he liked her I was just in denial, I just saw them kissing and heard him say that she was his girlfriend." I explained, "I already knew that they were going to be together eventually with the way things are going between, I just didn't want to hear him say it, I guess I wasn't ready yet to know about it. I didn't mean to eavesdrop either."

"Have you taken surgery into consideration?" He asked, he was looking at me but i was avoiding his gaze, I didn't know why he was so focused on me, he has a lot of other patients he sees but why does it feel like when it comes to me, he going an extra mile.

"Not yet, I'm sorry."

"Think about it, okay?"

"I don't think I'll be happy even if I take the surgery, I kind of accepted it. It's not a bad way to die either." I half joked as I look at him. I couldn't read his emotion but his eyes definitely looked sad.

"You know, I told you about my friend right?"

"Iris?"

"Yes, Iris. You remind me so much of her, you are as stubborn as her about the treatment and I guess that's why I got drawn to you."