“Hey babe,” Aj smiled, resting his chin on his shoulders.
“Hey,” she smiled back. It was about 10:00am when they woke up. Aj looked at the clock on the far wall.
“We should get up, have to get ready to go back to your house.”
“I’ll never be ready…”
“Are you worried?”
“Of course I am, I mean, how am I exactly gonna tell them? Am I supposed to say hey guys, I’m gonna be dead in two days. Okay, now that it’s out, I feel much better, okay, who wants pizza? No, it’s just gonna be hard.”
“I’ll be there for you the whole time, I’ll hold your hand,” he said, taking her hand in his, “and you can squeeze it, and just know that I’ll help you through it.”
“And when it’s all over do I get a cookie?”
“If you want.”
Melody laughed and sat up. Aj rolled over then stood up.
“What are you gonna do for cloths? You gonna wear that or do you want me to see if I can find anything a little nicer?”
“Something else if you can.” Aj nodded and headed to the guestroom, he searched through the closet. His cousin had stayed over about a month before and he remembered she had left some cloths. He pulled out a medium length, pale yellow sundress. He held it up; it looked like Melody could fit into it. All of the sudden he heard a thump from the other room. He ran back to his room as fast as he could.
“Mel, what happened?” he said, as he came in the room to find Melody spread out across the middle of the floor, tears falling down her face. She couldn’t answer him right away; she was too choked up. Aj crouched down next to her, stroking her hair.
“Babe, you gotta tell me what just happened, or I can’t help you.”
“I can’t feel my legs,” she managed to choke out in between sobs. Aj’s eyes opened wide with shock.
“Okay, let me help you up, and get you to the bed,” he said, he lifted her up from the floor and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her over to the edge of the bed and put her down, her legs dangling limply over the side.
“Shhh, calm down angel, don’t cry. I can’t stand to see you cry,” he cooed, kneeling next to the bed, looking up at her.
Melody could see Aj’s worried eyes through her tears. I have to be strong, for Aj if no one else, she thought. After a minute she finally managed to stop the tears.
“Aj?” she asked quietly.
“Yes?”
“Could you help me get ready?”
“Anything you need, that’s what I’m here for.”
It took nearly two hours for them to get ready. Melody still looked beautiful, even though her eyes had begun to lose that sparkle. The sparkle that everyone has, the one that shows you are alive, well, and happy. Melody’s spirit was beginning to fade, and it showed in her eyes. It was an emptiness that seemed to say she had already started to leave them. Aj had managed to get her down stairs into the living room. Aj left her for a moment to call Howie from the kitchen.
“Hey D, I need a favor,” Aj said, after Howie had answered the phone.
“Sure, what’s the favor?” Howie replied.
“Mel woke up this morning and…she can’t feel her legs,” Aj heard Howie draw in his breath on the other end of the line, “and I need help getting her back to her house.”
“No problem buddy, I’ll be over in a few.” Aj hung up the phone and returned to Melody. He sat next to her, and wrapped her in a big hug. She enjoyed the feel of Aj’s arms around her, she felt safe, like everything was right. He was the only thing that kept her going. Melody only had three days left, counting the current day. If she hadn’t found Aj she would have been in her room, crying non-stop, and completely depressed at this point. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Aj called that the door was unlocked and Howie walked in.
“How are you holding up Mel?” he asked looking at her on the couch.
“The best I can, I guess,” she said, smiling weakly.
“You take her left arm, I’ll take the right,” Aj instructed. After each had Melody’s arm hanging securely around their shoulders they lifted her, helping her to the car.
Aj slid in to the passenger seat and started the drive.
“Who all is going to be there?” Melody asked.
“From what I know, your parents, Suzy, Vallery, Kevin, Nick, Brian, Denise, Aj, and I will be there,” Howie informed her.
“That’s a lot of people,” Melody said, a little nervous. It wasn’t hard for her to tell Aj, because it had just slipped out. She didn’t know how well she could handle trying to tell all the people she loved.
Aj pulled up to her house, or as close as he could get to it. There were many cars parked outside, everyone was inside waiting for Melody to arrive.
“Ready?” Aj said, stepping out of the car, preparing to help her to the door. Melody nodded slowly, and took a deep breath.
