LifeLine

The only sound in the room, besides my shaky breath, is the sound of her heart monitor. She looks as if she is sleeping, but doctors say her time could be up any day. Now I can’t even look at her.

“Pearl?...I-I don’t know if you can hear me, but uh..I came to see you, so…” I pull at the scuff of my sleeves, my voice heavy. “I uh-” I glance at her, my eyes saddening at her bright red beanie. Oh…where was her matching bright smile?...

“I know I’m probably the last person you’d want to see, after all I’ve done to you. But there are things I want to say, I need to say it before-” I suck in my breath and look back down.

“Do you remember when we first met?” I say softly, as the memory comes back to me.

“Micah! Bus! Now! You're gonna be late!” my mom shouts from her chair, smoke on her breath. I sigh, blowing my dark hair out of my eyes and putting my mom's pills back in her cabinet, pushing the idea of escape out of my mind.

“Coming…” I mumble, grabbing my bag and trudging out the door without glancing at her. The walk to the bus isn’t far, but it wouldn’t matter to me if it were. Most kids would call me emo, with my baggy dark clothes and the obvious dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. Heh… they wouldn’t dare say it to my face.

“MICAH!” Aiden's calls, popping his head out of the bus window. “HURRY UP! WE’RE LEAVING, LET'S GO!”

Aiden is technically my friend, if you would even call him that. Neither of us really likes the other, but it’s better than being completely alone. I walk to the back of the bus and stop, glaring at the kid in my seat. He looks up and raises an eyebrow.

“Get out,” I say coolly.

The kid immediately stands up and starts to move when a girl slides down next to him, offering him a bright smile. The red beanie on her head hardly conceals the fact that she’s bald.

“Wait! It's okay, you got here first,” she says sweetly, gently motioning for the kid to sit back down. My eye twitches. Who… is this girl? Who does she think she is?

“You going to take that, Micah?” Aiden laughs. Face red, I glare at the girl.

“Get up, both of you… now,” I snarl, leaning closer to the girl’s face. Instead of cowering away, she smiles.“No, I'm good. But I love your hoodie.” she giggles, almost too sweet. I scoff, backing up.

“What- listen, I don’t know who you are, but around here, you listen to me. Now get up and move before you spread cancer” I spit back, my pride too hurt to let it go. The bus goes silent at my comment. Taking a deep breath, she looks at me, her eyes practically searching my soul. Then, she smiles.

“I’m Pearl.” She takes my hand and shakes it. “Thanks for making me feel so welcome on my first day. I moved here from California because it's closer to the hospital for my treatments. I can’t wait to get to know you, Micah!”Baffled, I sat in the other seat, anger spreading through my chest. This girl will learn her lesson; I’ll make sure of it.

“I hated you. Every day, I wanted to make sure you knew that. But you never gave up on me. You went out of your way to try to be my friend. I pushed you away, teasing and hurting you, but you just… cared about me.” I lean back in my chair, my eyes growing heavy with the threat of tears. “I was so stupid…”

Pearl breathes softly, the sound is barely noticeable if it weren't for the silence of her room. “I know you said you forgive me, but I can’t help but regret it. You have always cared about me, and now… I realize just how much I care about you, too.” I look over at her unconscious body, and my eyes well up.

“I wanted to end it all before, but then I met you… and I wanted to live. You changed me, Pearl. I’m so sorry for everything! I never should have treated you or anyone like that,” I say full of emotion, my voice growing tight as I sniff back tears.

“I want to live, to live a life with you in it! But now… what’s going to happen to you?” I start crying and take her hand, laying my head on her chest. “What’s going to happen to you, Pearl!?”

“I love you,” I whisper softly through my tears. That’s when I feel her gentle hand on my back.

“Micah,” she says weakly. I sit up and look at her, tears streaming down my face. “I never hated you for it, not for a second. I saw past your exterior; I saw someone worth loving.”

I sniff as I look at her silently. She weakly removes her hat and places it on my head with a smile.“But listen, no matter how hard the road gets, I need you to keep going. I found you for a reason, and I love you for a reason.” She smiles softly, a small tear running down her face. I cry and hug her tightly. She exhales gently and lets me hold her. My eyes sting, and my chest hurts as I muffle the sounds of my shaky sobs. That’s when the machine starts beeping. My eyes widen as I look at her. “No, please, I’m not ready.”

“Keep living, Micah…” She coughs. “You were always my lifeline.” She smiles one last time before her monitor goes flat. My heart aches, and I hold her close, letting out a gut-wrenching sob.

“I—I will,” I whisper, tears streaming down my face as I hold her tighter. “This time I’ll do it right.”