"Okay, here are his discharge papers," a deep voice says. I hear the sound of papers being shuffled.

"Okay, thank you. Is he allowed to go back to school?" A lighter and higher voice asks. It must be my mom.

I keep my eyes shut, fearing what would happen if I opened them.

"Yes, he will jusr need to wear a mask and everyone around him will need to have their hands cleaned." That same deep voice starts talking again.

I hear footsteps walking out and the door closing quietly. Then, I feel a hand gently touch and give a gentle rub on my shoulder.

"Hey, G, you awake?" Mom asks.

I slowly open my eyes, "Hey."

"Morning. Did you hear that conversation?" She asks.

I nod, stretching out my arms and cracking my knuckles. She laughs and puts a hand on my head.

"I'm really gonna get to go home?" I ask.

She nods, "Yep. You get to go home. Chemo isn't done, you'll still have to come back for that, but you will get to go home."

"Cool!" I smile, still stretching my arms out. "When?"

"Tomorrow, if we get these papers signed soon enough," she says.

I smile at her, looking back out at the window. My skin has gotten very pale due to not being outside for long enough. The sun will shine upon my skin and I'll be able to see that blue sky again.

"How about," mom pauses, "you go talk to Aphmau while I fill these papers out? It'll give you both something to do."

I nod, smiling like a maniac, maybe even blushing a bit. I hop of the bed, careful to land on both feet so I don't get dizzy and fall. I put on the paper mask, give a small wave to mom, and leave.

All around, the doctors in the cancer ward greet me. I don't see Hannah on the way there, but she might have the day off. I approach Aphmau's door. Giving a few soft knocks, she answers. She wears a purple scarf around her head today.

"Hey, Garroth! What's up? You're smiling like a mad man..." she comments.

I give a small laugh, "May I come in?"

"Sure," she shrugs, motioning for me to go in.

I look around her room. Flowers are on her side table as well as a small box of cookies and a couple of get well cards. Each card is decorated in purple flowers, but all in a different way.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" She asks, closing the door.

I sit down on her bed, "My mom suggested I come here so she could get papers signed."

"W-What papers?" She stutters. "Not DNR papers, right?"

"N-No, Aphmau! They're discharge papers!" I exclaim.

The thought of DNR papers scares me. Do not resuscitate, meaning if I die, they won't bring me back. It's a terrifying thought.
"Thank God," she says. "S-So you're leaving?"

I nod, "Yep. The doctor says I'm well enough to leave just not... well enough to stop chemo. The cancer's still there."

"I get ya," she nods. "But... you have to come and visit me. Every time you come."

"Promise," I say, linking my pinky to hers.

She gives a small blush, and in return I give a small smile. She doesn't like boys touching her, apparently.

No, I don't have cooties. But my weirdness may rub off on her who knows.

"Y-You made a pinky promise," she pauses, staring at her hand. "That means you have to keep it." She smiles and points a finger at me.

"Okay, okay! I promise." I say.

"Good." She giggles.

~•~

Mom gives me a hospital dinner on a silver tray. I have do admit, I'm hungry enough that everything's good. I start eating a chicken breast, and though it's dry, it's so good. I feel confident too knowing that I won't throw up.

"I thought you said you hated the food here, buddy," mom laughs.

I swallow, "I do, but I'm starving!"

"If I knew you were that hungry, I would have gotten you something nicer to eat!"

"That would have been nice to know..." I say, continuing to eat.

Mom laughs again, looking down to read a book that she's been trying to finish forever. I look over at a picture of dad that I have on the side table. I pick it up and trace my fingers gently over the clear plastic.

He's smiling, holding a huge rifle in his right hand. His left hand is placed on his knee, considering he's kneeling. He's in a camouflage uniform with camo paint wearing off his face. I smile back at him, knowing that he's smiling back from somewhere.

"What are you looking at?" Mom sits next to me. I hand her the picture.

"Ah, I see." She says, "You know, there's a story behind this. Would you like to hear it?"

I nod, "Yeah."

"Well, he was about nineteen here, and I hadn't seen him for about 8 months, and I hadn't heard from him in 6. Now, you remember that your grandfather was in the army with him, right?" She asks.

"Yeah, that's how he died." I say.

She nods, "Right. Anyway, so I was worried sick about him. But his father took that picture of him. A few weeks later, I received a letter from Iran. I thought it was telling me he was dead, but it came with a letter and the picture with the words 'I'm okay'. That's all it said," she finishes the story.

"Wow..." I say. He really did care a lot about her.

"Yeah," she says, wiping a tear from her eye. "You should get some sleep, you have a big day tomorrow."

She stands up and kisses my forehead. I slowly shut my eyes, too excited to sleep. Eventually, I sleep surrounded by hundreds of thoughts.

~•~

"Got everything?" Mom asks as I pick up the picture of dad.

I nod. She smiles and places a hand on my shoulder. Since I have my hands full, she folds a paper mask over my face. I look around awkwardly, it feels weird to have something paper on your face.

We walk up to the counter. Mom turns in the paperwork as I look inside Aphmau's window. She has a sad look on her face but she looks up and waves at me. I sadly smile and wave back. She looks back down as mom gently touches her hand to my shoulder and leads me away.

We go into the elevator, flying several feet down. We get out, and the sun washes over me. I shield my eyes for a second but put my hand down. Its nice to see the sun.

We get into mom's black car. The seats are almost foreign to sit in. I like how they feel, though. Mom starts the car. At first, the motion scares me but I get used to it immediately.

We drive through the city. Ah, Nebraska. The tall buildings and trees rush behind me.

"Weird, huh?" Mom asks. I nod, my eyes wide over the roads and trees. I smile wide.

We pull up to our house. I can see Vylad waiting in the window. His mouth drops open in excitement and he runs away from the window. We walk up the stairs slowly. I grab tightly onto her arm fearing I may fall. Mom holds onto me, making sure I don't trip.

We walk inside the brown door. Vylad jumps up and down, hugging mom first. She laughs.

"Hey, baby," she says putting him down. "Did you have a good day?"

Vylad nods with so much energy. He looks over to me with wide eyes and smiles. He hugs me tight, his arms only reaching my waist. He almost suffocates me. That kid may be small, but he is strong.

Mom grabs his shoulder and seperates him from me, "Not to hard, baby. Remember how we can talked about how he was still sick and we needed to be gentle?"

"S-Sorry, it's just I wanted to hug him," he looks down, his eyes feeling guilty. I try not to act awkward, I feel bad when he's upset.

"It's okay, Vylad. Just remember to be gentle," she says.

"Okay mom!" He says. "Garroth, c'mon, let's go to your room! I wanna tell you all about things!"

"I-I would Vylad but... I was kind of hoping to be alone for a few minutes?" I ask.

Vylad nods, "Okay, just say when you're ready."

"Okay," I laugh.

I walk upstairs, gripping as tight as I can on the railing. Luckily, I don't trip and fall. I get to the top step and walk to my room.

I sit down on the blue bedspread and look at the pictures on my nightstand. There's one of Aphmau, one of our family and one of dad. I add the picture of when he was young.

This may be what we call home, but it's just a house without him.

••••••••
No, this book isn't over yet.

Cray_Hair_Lover don't you dare say a word.

Thanks for reading! Bai!
••••••••