The story you are reading is fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are purely from imagination and are for pleasure and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locality is entirely coincidental.
I hope you enjoy this story. If you do please let me know. I write to give something back for the pleasure I have received.
Every night I have the same dream that I'm sitting there looking into her green eyes. She lies quietly, with tubes coming and going everywhere. I pray with all my heart that she can hear me when I talk to her. I tell her that I love her, over and over again.
Peter and Chris (Christine) had been friends since kindergarten, and they did everything together. They were like brother and sister, not just friends.
Peter was 14, Chris was 13. Peter had the most intense blue eyes you would ever see, and with his light blond hair. Chris had green eyes and dark brown hair she looked like an angel. Peter played football and basketball and was an all-round athlete. Chris was small for her age, and she was a member of the school swim team. It was a warm day and they were at the pool at Peter's house. Peter had been silent for what seemed like forever and Chris wondered why. Finally Peter looked up. "I need to tell you something."
Then more silence. After about a minute Peter, looking down at his shoes, continued. "Chris, I think I love you." she looked at him with a shocked expression, and said nothing. Peter got up and ran into the house humiliated. Chris ran after him. Peter was in his room, lying on his bed. He looked up at Chris who stood just inside the room. "I'm sorry. I couldn't keep it to myself anymore."
Chris went over to the bed and sat on the edge. "I love you, too. I've loved you since forever."
Peter looked at Chris. "Then you... you love me? You didn't say anything..."
"I've loved for you for so long. Then you told me you loved me and I didn't know what to say."
Peter pulled Chris into a hug, and kissed her.
"I will always love you, Peter. I love you more than anything."
The following weekend they were at Chris's house. They had Lunch and went outside to sit by the swimming pool, then sat on the loungers at the side of the pool, and sat there just looking at each other.
Peter whispered, "I love you," got up and kissed Chris. As they kissed Chris's mom walked out and saw them. She smiled then turned to go back into their house. Chris and Peter looked at each other, Chris's dad and mom came out of the house, where they saw the two sitting there, saying nothing.
Chris was about to say something when his dad put his hand up for her to be quiet. They looked at each other then back at Chris's parents.
Chris's dad looked at his mom, then at the two. "How long did it take you to find out what everyone knew?" Neither one said anything. They just looked at each other.
Chris's mom smiled. "We suspected that one day this would happen."
They stared at each other then at both parents, and then looked at each other again. After a few seconds Peter looked up with a smile that would make an angel weep.
Chris's dad smiled back. "Now, Peter, your parents need to be told."
Peter's parents were told and said they had also guessed about the two and they glad that they had finally got together.
So, things went back to normal. Peter and Chris went to school as usual.
Christmas was a couple of weeks away, and they were looking forward to the holidays. Chris was sitting very quietly one day. Too quiet, in her mom's opinion.
"What's wrong, Chris?"
"I want to buy Peter a Christmas present, but I don't know what to get him."
"Tell you what," his mom said, "let's go to the mall this afternoon and see what we can find."
Chris happily agreed.
Meanwhile, Peter was worrying about the same thing. His mom suggested they go to the mall and look around. Peter looked at a few shops then passed a jewelers shop. In the window he saw a heart that was split in two pieces. It was perfect and he knew she would love it.
On the back of one he engraved, ME LOVE and on the other, YOU LOVE.
Chris and her mother looked in the large department stores in the mall. Chris saw a watch that she decided would be perfect for Peter. She had it inscribed, MY LOVE IS TIMELESS.
Christmas day came and presents were exchanged. It was the usual clothes and CD's and gift cards, and of course games for Chris's Xbox and Peter's PS3. Then it came time for them to exchange their presents. They loved their presents, and hugged for what seemed forever and even kissed, but not so much that their parents would say anything.
The Christmas holidays were finally over and it was the New Year, as usual. Peter and Chris went back to school, as usual. They had their sleepovers and spent their weekends together, as usual after their talk on the birds and the bee's.
Chris was a member of the swim team. The practice sessions for their first match were hard but fun. Chris focused on swimming, and after practice fooled around with the other members of the team, acting like a typical teenager.
One day Chris didn't feel, or look, very well.
"Are you okay?" Peter asked.
"I think I might be coming down with something. It is winter, after all."
Chris stopped swimming with the team, and her laughter seemed to stop as well. She and Peter had English as their class before lunch. About halfway through the class Chris asked to be excused to go to the bathroom.
The period ended and Chris had still not returned, so Peter went looking for her. Peter found her on the outside of the building, sitting on one of the benches where students sometimes went to eat lunch.
"Hey, are you okay, Chris?"
"Not really. I've got a really bad headache."
"Let's go get lunch and come back out here. Maybe some food will make you feel better."
They went to the canteen and got sandwiches and returned outside to the same bench. After eating Chris was looking pale.
"You really don't look good. I think you need to see the nurse."
"Yeah. Maybe that's a good idea."
Peter took Chris to the nurse. She examined her then rang her mother.
"Chris has a bad headache. She needs to go home. Can you pick her up?"
"Yes, certainly. I'll be right there," Chris's mom, Becky, replied.
At home as the day went by Chris got worse and worse. His mother took her to their family doctor, Dr. Roberts.
"I want to examine Chris and run some tests. When I've finished I'll have my nurse call you. Can you sit in waiting room until I'm finished?"
Chris's mother objected. "I want to be here while you're examining my Daughter."
"Mom, please!" Chris pleaded, "I'm not a kid anymore."
The doctor agreed with Chris, "Teenagers are very grown up these days."
Becky agreed. And after the tests were over the doctor talked to her.
"I'm giving you a prescription for Chris. She should take these painkillers, one tablet four times a day. Keep her out of school for a day or two, and if she isn't better by then bring her back to see me."
On Wednesday Chris was definitely no better, so Becky took her back to see Dr. Roberts.
"Chris, your mother says you're not feeling any better. Do you still have the headaches, and are they getting worse?"
"Yes, definitely worse. The painkillers you gave me really don't help much."
"Anything else that's bothering you?"
"Yes, my vision gets blurred. I'm seeing double so I can't read without squinting, and I can't watch TV 'cause everything is doubled."
The doctor told Becky that he wanted blood tests, and that Chris should continue taking the painkillers and stay in bed and rest. He then had them go to the medical laboratory where they took several vials of Chris's blood to be tested.
One week later, on the Thursday, Becky got a call from Dr. Roberts. "I need to meet with you and your husband and Chris as soon as you can come in this morning if possible. I have the results of Chris's blood tests, and we need to discuss them and the next steps that need to be taken."
When they arrived at the surgery just before noon they were shown straight in to see Dr. Roberts. The doctor looked at Chris's parents.
"As I told you on the phone, Chris's blood tests have come back. Her blood tests don't show any reason for her symptoms. However, her latest symptoms of headaches along with double vision are indications of a possibility of a brain tumor. To be certain, I've scheduled for Chris to go to the hospital this afternoon to have an MRI scan of her brain. That test should confirm whether she does or does not have a tumor." Chris's parents looked at Chris then at Dr. Roberts.
"That can't be right, doctor!" Chris's father stated. "Chris is very active, she's a swimmer. She's in good physical condition. She passed her physical exam this summer so she could be on the swim team. Why does she have to have this MRI? Why can't we take her to an ophthalmologist to see what else could be causing this double vision?"
"That's why I want Chris to have the MRI. That will tell us whether her anomalous symptoms are caused by a brain tumor or if it could be something else."
He looked directly at Chris, who was sitting shaking with fear. "Chris, if you do have a brain tumor it's essential that it be taken care of right away. If you don't have a brain tumor, the MRI can help us diagnose what the problem might be."
He turned back to Chris's parents. "If Chris does have a brain tumor, and we wait, the chances of success are reduced. That's why I scheduled the MRI for this afternoon. I strongly advise you to take Chris to the hospital for this test."
After the MRI and a lengthy wait for a very nervous Chris and her parents, they were all surprised and disappointed when they were told by Dr. Roberts that Chris was to be admitted into the hospital. The paperwork was signed and Chris was moved to a room and put on a hospital gown.
That evening Dr. Roberts met with Chris's parents once again, this time in a consultation room at the hospital.
"Chris's MRI confirms that she does have a brain tumor."
After a few seconds of silence while she tried to absorb what Dr. Roberts told them, Becky asked, "What can be done? Will she okay?" She started crying softly, fearing for her only child.
"The first step is that we're going to start Chris on a round of chemotherapy to try and shrink the tumor. Our objective is decrease the size of the tumor so we can use other treatments to eliminate it completely."
"What about surgery, doctor?" Chris's dad asked.
"Unfortunately, Chris's tumor is inoperable. I'm working with an oncologist and he has scheduled Chris's first treatment tomorrow."
"What about these other treatments? What are they?"
"I'm working with a neuroradiologist who is a specialist in the use of a Cyberknife. That's a new tool that can be used to target the tumor and destroy it once it has been reduced through chemotherapy."
Chris insisted that she be able to phone Peter. First, Becky phoned Peter's parents so they would be aware and able to help Peter when he learned that Chris had a brain tumor.
"Hi, Peter."
"Chris! Hi. Where are you? I tried calling you and IMing you and I sent you some emails and never able to get a reply from you. What's going on?"
"I'm in the hospital."
"WHAT? What for? Are you okay?"
"I'm not really okay. They discovered that I have a brain tumor and that was causing my headaches and double vision. I'm starting treatment tomorrow."
"Oh, my god! Oh, my god! What treatment are you starting? Can I come and see you?"
"I'm getting chemotherapy. They told me no visitors except Mom and Dad. Mom's arguing with them now to let you come see me. But I was told that I wouldn't feel good after my treatments. If Mom's successful letting you see me she'll call you or your parents when you can come."
Peter was in shock he couldn't believe the girl who was both his friend and the love of his life could have a brain tumor.
Friday came and Chris started her chemotherapy treatment. Her oncologist told her it was called IMRT for Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy. She went to the hospital five days a week, except on the weekends. Each session lasted about 15 to 20 minutes, and was a combination of the IMRT radiation and chemo drugs. Chris had this treatment as an outpatient which meant she was able to be at home instead of being in the hospital.
Slowly Chris started losing her hair and was virtually bald. When Peter was alone he cried for his friend and the person he loved, but he never cried when he was with Chris.
As the weeks went by Chris did not seem to be getting any better. The doctors told her and her parents that her tumor was very aggressive. Her oncologist and neuroradiologist decided that she would have to keep up with the IMRT and the chemo would have stronger drugs introduced into her system. These drugs made Chris feel much sicker, and Dr. Roberts recommended that she be admitted to the hospital instead of being at home and going in daily for her treatments.
Chris was sitting at the breakfast table one Saturday morning.
"Mom, Dad, I've made a decision. I'm not going to have any more IMRT or chemo. It's not working. Instead it makes me feel miserable. They want me to be in the hospital all the time and I don't want that. I want to spend what time I have with you and with Peter." Peter, her friend and boyfriend and her love, that's who she most wanted to be with for whatever time she had left.
"Chris, your mother and I feel that it's best if you keep getting these treatments. You never know if they are going to start working."
"No. I know that's not what's best for me. It's not working. You know that and so do my doctors."
Her parents met with her doctors and they agreed that Chris was right. It was a sad meeting for them; their only daughter was leaving them and there wasn't anything they could do about it.
So Chris stopped her treatment. Every day and night Peter and Chris were together. Chris's parents moved another bed into Chris's room for Peter.
One night Peter had just gotten in bed when Chris started talking to him softly.
"Peter, when I go I want you to find someone to love."
"I don't want anyone to love but you!" Peter started crying, something he never did in front of Chris.
Chris tried convincing Peter most of the night, but Peter refused to listen.
"I'll never love anyone else but you, Chris!"
Just before they finally went to sleep they kissed; not a passionate kiss, but a loving kiss.
During the night Peter woke because Chris was having difficulty breathing. He called for Chris's parents and they rushed her to the hospital. She was put on oxygen that helped her breathe and strong painkillers that made her feel comfortable.
Peter refused to leave Chris's side in the hospital. Sometime after midnight Peter knew this would be the final night he and Chris would be together.
Peter held Chris's hand and said over and over, "I love you, I will always love you. You are in my heart now and for always."
He felt Chris squeeze his hand, and then she was gone.
At Chris's bedside, Peter took one of the two hearts and put it around Chris's neck. Then he said, "I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER."
Peter kept the other heart as proof that his Love Is Forever.
The End