"Half the world is carrying a broken heart.
Half the world is dreaming of being put together again."

- D. J.

(lol this is the first time I updated two chapters in a day.)

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Andrew quickly stood up, refusing to believe Franco.

"Don't fucking lie to me."

He balled his hands into a fist, clenching his jaw. Franco's words were swimming around him.

"You're lying. You're fucking lying."

Anisha was fine. She had just fainted, that was all. Anisha had to be fine. She was stressed or tired or just not feeling well and that was why she had fainted. That was all. There was nothing wrong with her.

Andrew shook his head and instead turned to the doctor.

"You?" He took a small step forward, confused as Sebastian nodded to him.

"Yea. I'm Anisha's doctor." Sebastian shrugged, nonchalantly. He wanted to hurt Andrew. The image of Anisha's frail, pale face, her bony hands and wires all around her was still fresh. "And first lover."

He raised his eyebrow, smirking at Andrew's discomfort.

"I mean I certainly treated her a lot better than you ever did. And I treated her like shit so that's saying a lot."

Sebastian look a deep breath before stuffing his hands into the pockets of his scrub pants. "We can talk in one of the empty doctor's rooms."

He nodded to Andrew before turning to look at Franco.

"I should go. The kids are tired and my wife should be home soon. Is Anisha?"

"She's fine. She'll be fine." Sebastian offered him a gentle smile, practically thanking him for rushing to get Anisha to the hospital as soon as possible. "Thank you. I can't even..I just...thank you. That's all I can say."

Sebastian turned back to Andrew, who still had a blank look on his face, almost as though he was unable to process what was going on.

Andrew didn't move from his spot. He cautiously glanced from Sebastian to Franco. He didn't say anything as Franco gave him one last glance, notifying him he was going to leave. He didn't move a single inch as Sebastian walked out of the room, motioning for him to follow.

They were lying. It had to be a joke.

Anisha was fine. There was nothing wrong with her. She was fine. She had to be fine.

Andrew ran after Sebastian, snapping out of his trance. He needed to find Anisha. He needed Anisha.

"Where's my wife?" His voice was shaky and everything around him blurred. "Where's Anisha? I need to see my wife."

Sebastian opened the door, stepping into the office. "They're going to transfer her to this floor shortly. You can see her in about thirty minutes."

Sebastian took a seat as Andrew slowly walked in, as though he was debating whether or not he even should.

Sebastian turned on the computer screen, loading Anisha's file and clicking on her most recent blood test.

"I need to see my wife."

"I already told you she's not awake yet." Sebastian swiveled the chair around, turning to grab the printed document from the printer.

He looked at Andrew and for a second he actually felt for him. The top bottom of his shirt was undone. His hair was a mess and his eyes red, swollen. His lower lip kept trembling, in fear.

Sebastian ran a hand over his face as Andrew sat down across from him. But then Sebastian didn't feel bad for Andrew. He didn't want to.

"I remember a few months ago, I took Anisha out to lunch. She was smiling and laughing but we both know, she's good at hiding at her feelings. She's good at pretending like she's happy when she's really not. And I knew she was feeling down, even if she wouldn't admit it."

"Anisha said you were on a vacation with your mistress. She was talking about you took her somewhere to celebrate, I don't even remember. And you should have seen the way she smiled, it was heartbreakingly painful, like she couldn't even be bothered. She muttered something about how it was her wedding anniversary and no one even called, especially you. And I swear, I never hated you more than I did that day."

"It was the first day that I truly realized how devoid of color she was. It was like she was dull and empty and..." Sebastian kept his gaze on the table, forcing himself to hold down a sob. He was forcing himself to talk. "But there's been a lot more days like that."

"That same week, a few days later, we were having lunch in the cafeteria and she fainted when she was getting up to throw a napkin away. They did routine check-up procedures on her and I thought it was no big deal. She said she was stressed with everything and that she hadn't been eating a lot lately."

Sebastian looked at Andrew, his own eyes glossy and his sharp gaze piercing. "And again, I couldn't hate you anymore than I did that exact moment. She looked so weak and broken. But more than anything, she was all alone."

Sebastian rubbing his nose. He let out a deep breath, pausing before continuing. "You don't realize the extent of your mistakes but you will. Real soon, you will. I want to feel bad for you. You don't even know how sick and close to death your wife is. But you deserve it. You have no idea about what you've put her through."

"The blood tests came back. And they weren't normal. We did other tests and it was confirmed."

Sebastian looked around his office, avoiding Andrew's gaze. His voice was a little low, almost as if he himself didn't want to admit it.

"Anisha has acute myeloid leukemia. It's a fairly aggressive cancer but people do get better. The five year survival rate--"

"She's going to get better." Andrew believed it. Anisha would be fine. "I don't care. I'll pay as much as I have to. I will. I'll..." He'd do absolutely anything.

His voice quavered, unsure of what he could do, would do. The truth was slowly setting in around him. A part of him still refused to believe it.

Anisha had to be fine. She was going to be fine.

Just this morning, she had been laughing with Mira and Ryan. She'd promised Mira she'd buy her the new Cinderella doll Mira wanted and then teased Ryan about his math grade. Anisha had been perfectly fine.

"People get better. There's so many new drugs and people have gotten better." Andrew's eyes lit up, nodding frantically as he tried to convince himself that Anisha would get better. "Your sister had it? Didn't she? Leukemia or something and she's perfectly fine. Anisha will get better. She has to get better."

His words faded into a sob. His breathing was a little swallow.

Everything around him dulled and it came crashing down. The same dull gray now colored Andrew Hayes.

Anisha had cancer. Cancer, cancer that could kill people. She was sick, extremely sick.

But people got better. Anisha would get better.

He hadn't noticed. He hadn't. He didn't know what was wrong with her. He.

Andrew shook his head. No.

Anisha was okay. He loved her and she was going to be okay. They were going to fix their marriage. He was going to fix every single mistake he'd ever made. Anisha was going to be okay.

Sebastian placed the printed copy of Anisha's blood results in front of Andrew, ignoring every plea he'd made.

"These are her latest results from a few weeks ago. Her red blood cell count is far too low." Sebastian sucked on his lips, staring at the numbers he'd memorized. For days, he'd started at the results almost as though he magically expected the numbers to change. For the numbers to change and show that Anisha was in fact getting better.

"You know, you're right. Some people do get better. Even when you least expect them to. I see it all the time."

Sebastian shrugged as Andrew shook his head, arguing. "But not everyone does. Some people just aren't lucky."

"Anisha is going to be fine. She will get better." It was a promise. And Andrew would make sure of it.

Sebastian shook his head, leaving the topic there.

"When Anisha was diagnosed, the tests revealed that it was too late. Her case is extremely complicated and it's too late. The cancer has already spread to other parts."

"I told you a few weeks ago at your party that you had less than a few weeks to tell her that you loved her. So did you?" Sebastian leaned against his chair, trying to maintain a solid facade.

"Is she undergoing chemo?" The question tasted bitter on Andrew's lips.

His chest heaved, almost too heavy.

He was going to lose her. The seconds around him were winding down. The sun was setting. Everything slowly started to add up.

Ryan's suspicions. The bruises. The skipping breakfast and sometimes dinner. The reason why she'd stopped working. Everything.

He trembled with a sudden fear.

Everything settling in. Anisha was sick. He hadn't noticed. She was sick for months now. And she wasn't going to get better.

Andrew looked up at Sebastian, specks of hope still filling his eyes.

But Sebastian didn't offer him any hope. He just shrugged, carelessly.

"Isn't it sad? She's your wife, Andrew. How long have two been married? Seventeen years or eighteen? Yet you know nothing about her." His voice was soft, just a little accusatory. "She has a doctor's appointment every Thursday. Depending on that, I'll schedule for her to have another blood transfusion. She takes pills, three times a day. And more than anything, she's hours away from death. She's fighting to live another day, Andrew. You've never cared nor bothered enough."

Sebastian stood up as his phone pinged. Anisha was awake and the nurse had already checked her vitals.

"Today we did an Emergency Platelet Transfusion. She's awake now and you can see." Sebastian paused as Andrew stood up, his gaze soft and pleading. "But you need to start looking into Hospice and other End-of-Life Care Options."

"Anisha's near her end and it's what's best for her. I'm also going to increase her doses for the painkillers. It might seem a little high but she needs to be comfortable. I don't want her to be in pain."

Andrew stumbled a step backward. Everything around him pained. The words kept ringing in his ear, finally settling in.

His Anisha. The woman he loved more than anything. The woman who meant the world to him. The woman who hadn't given up on him. After all the hell, he'd put her through, she'd still loved him.

"No." The whisper was soft, heartbreakingly soft. "No. She will get better. Anisha, nothing is going to happen to her."

Andrew shook his head, heavy tears filled his eyes as he apart. His broken heart and misery highlighted him. "No. I won't let anything happen to her. Anisha will get better. Anisha has to get better."

Sebastian let out a sigh as he opened the door.

"Andrew-"

"Please, you have to. She's going to get better. I'll pay anything. I'll do anything. I can't live without her. Please. I...I need her. Please."

Andrew pleaded with everything he had.

"Don't you get it, Andrew?" Sebastian walked out, motioning for Andrew to follow. He didn't say anything as Andrew slowly walked behind him, a dejected look on his face.

Andrew looked around the oncology floor. It was sad, sad and quiet. And lonely. In one of the rooms, his wife was lying there, fighting, struggling, dying with cancer.

"Please Sebastian. I love her."

Andrew begged, his voice soft, broken. "I love her. I can't live without Anisha."

Sebasitan paused outside the room. The door was still closed.

"Anisha isn't going to get better, Andrew. She isn't." Sebastian reached for the door knob, pausing as he looked back at Andrew. "Don't make this too hard for her. She's suffered enough. You've hurt her more than enough. Just don't make this harder than it has to for her."

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Anisha smiled, faintly, the corners of her lips tugged upwards, slightly as the nurse continued to talk to her, mumbling something about what a beautiful day it was outside.

"Alright, Dr. Knight should be in to talk to you any second. Other than that, your vitals are good. I will check-up on you right after he's done."

Anisha nodded, closing her eyes as the door shut.

She felt tired. And numb.

She just wanted to sleep. She felt too weak.

Anisha refused to think about anything. Andrew probably hadn't even shown up at the ice cream shop. But she knew Sebastian would probably call him any second to tell him she was in the hospital. He had been trying to get her to tell Andrew for weeks now.

And Anisha didn't want to think about her children. Maybe she should've given them another kiss that morning before they went to school. Because now, the clock was ticking faster than ever.

Death couldn't be counted for.

She knew that.

In a way, it felt as if she was just waiting for things to end. That was the hard part. It seemed as though every day could be her last, every minute her final.

Maybe it was the uncertainty that she didn't like. The end was certain but the timing was uncertain.

But in all truth, she just wanted everything to stop. Once and for all. For everything to finally end for her.

She was just sick of it.

She slowly opened her eyes as the door opened. Her eyes widened as Andrew stepped into the room.

A soft whimper escaped her lips as he took a small step towards her, lips parted and hair messy. His eyes, hollow and broken, a dull blue met hers.

And she knew he knew.

He now knew. And she had always known.

This was the end.

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lol okay so now I actually have to study.