Phoebe's POV

I was pacing up and down the room. I had been getting bad vibes about the whole situation. The way Daniel left in a hurry, something was definitely wrong with his mother or someone in his family.
I wondered how it could have an effect on our relationship. The more I thought, the less I liked it.
Finally, I couldn’t control anymore and sent him a text message.

What happened?
Is everything okay with your family and mom?
You know you can talk to me, right?

I didn’t expect an answer so I scrolled down to disconnect the internet.

My phone buzzed with a WhatsApp text from him.

I’m coming over to your place. We need to talk. Don’t panic. Everything is fine with my FAMILY and MOM.

The emphasis on family and mom surprised me but I couldn’t make a connection why he would capitalize those words.

I went to the kitchen and put his dinner in the micro oven. Then I proceeded to prepare my own feed, carefully blending it. Once it was done, I laid out the food for him. I knew Daniel would kill me if he knew I had served out the dinner, but I felt good doing it. I needed to use my hands. Using them gave a sense of freedom which was seriously lacking in my life.

Earlier it was just me and my mom and I had to do a lot of things. Daniel actually kept me wrapped in a bubble of safety, pampering me by helping with every small thing in my life.

I actually needed to get back that control. I couldn’t let Daniel spoil me anymore.
The sound of the car tires pulling up outside my door made me rush for it, leaving everything behind.

I flung open the door to see Daniel walking up the stairs. Each step of his seemed to be heavy. It was as if he had aged in a few hours. As he staggered into the house and closed the door, I cautiously crept up to him, looking at his face, trying to judge his expression.

He stood stiff, not really responding to anything. A haunted look emanated from those gentle eyes. That look made my soul cry out loud. Something was terribly wrong.

“Daniel,” I threw myself at him, hugging him tightly, “Please tell me.”

I dragged him into the house where he slouched on the couch.

I sat face to face with him, dying to know the matter which was eating him up.
He simply held up a piece of paper which looked like a medical report.
I snatched it from him. The words blurred into a distant haze as I struggled to focus. My head was spinning. I clutched the chair for support as my hands trembled.

“No! This is not true,” I wailed. “Why? Why Daniel? How?”

My cries seemed to have jolted him back to reality as he dragged me on to his lap. He took the paper and tossed it across the room.

I turned his face towards me and whispered, “I’m sorry for frightening you. It’s nothing. Just a small tumour. I guess the doctors will take it out and throw it in a petri-dish.”

“But it’s in the frontal lobe of your brain and it’s an egg-sized thing…”

“Everything has a cure and a surgery is what it would take. Calm down, Phoebe. I know nothing will happen to me as long as you’re here,” he tried to soothe me by rubbing circles on my back.

“No. I don’t believe it. Why is God so cruel? No wonder I gave up hope on him.”

He only kissed my hand and cradled me to his chest.

I hugged him again, tears running down my cheeks. I made no attempt to wipe them off.

And when finally I drew back, I could see tears brimming in his eyes too.

“Phoebe, but why I came to you with this is another thing. As much as we may pretend, I hope you know the gravity of the situation.”

“One of my friends didn’t make it,” my voice broke. “I was in fifth grade at that time. I can’t lose you, Daniel.”

“That is one extreme I would rather not think of. There is ninety-nine per cent chance that I would make it out, alive. But I may lose the functioning of my body, or my coordination, or even maybe sight, speech, memory…”

“No. no…no…no…no-o-o-o…,” I screamed, as if denying it would make the nightmare go away.

“Phoebe, accept it. It’s a possibility. But not a sure thing. So I wanted to tell you, in case I can’t tell you later,” he paused. “Phoebe, I love you. I’ve never ever loved someone as much as you.”

“Why are you saying it as a way of goodbye,” I couldn’t recognize my own voice. “Why can’t you promise me you’d come back as my Daniel? Is it too hard to fight, to make that commitment?”

“Yes, it’s too hard knowing the possibilities,” he closed his eyes shut. “I know I’ve always told that to you, Phoebe. Yes, it’s no shame to admit I was wrong. Now I realise what it must be like to have your entire life turn into a big uncertainty. You were much stronger in handling things. You were a fighter. I am a loser. I accept my defeat.”

A/N Well... I'm crying myself...