"Let's hear the good news first," Derek said.

"Ok--" the doctor began.

"No, tell us the bad news first," I interjected before he said anything more.

"Soph..." Derek said.

"I want the bad news first," I said again. The others sighed.

"Let's hear it, then," Chase said.

"Ok, so the bad news is that your friend has a disease called hepatitis," he told us. I dug my nails into the skin of my palm so hard that it hurt.

"She what?!" I exclaimed.

"Please hear me out," the doctor said. I felt my heart rate accelerate and didn't think I could hear anything else he had to say.

"Calm down, Soph," Eli whispered in my ear. His hand took a hold of mine and he grasped it, softly brushing my hand with his thumb.

"Is it acute or chronic?" Derek asked.

"Acute," the doctor responded, seeming slightly impressed.

"How bad is it?" Eli asked.

"She has acute hepatitis C, which is rare, if anything. Most cases in hepatitis C are chronic," the doctor said.

"Can she be cured?" Alyssa asked.

"Unfortunately, really the only cure for hepatitis C is liver transplant," the doctor replied.

"So it can be done?" Alyssa questioned.

"If we can find a proper match," the doctor answered. "Which is what the good news is. We caught it early on, so we have time to find a donor or a match," he said.

"How long could that take?" I asked.

"It could be anywhere from a few months to a few years," the doctor replied. "It can't really be predicted."

I looked at the others, whose faces were deep in thought as they let this information sink in.

"Can we see her?" I asked, breaking the silence. The doctor looked hesitant, but then nodded after looking at our emotionally and physically exhausted expressions.

"Yes, you may. But not too long. She needs to sleep," he said. We nodded and thanked him before going to the back. The door to Brooke's door was open and as we made our way to it, a nurse walked out.

"We just gave her some medication. She'll be going to sleep in about twenty minutes. So make it fast," she told us.

"We will," Eli said. She nodded curtly at us before letting us walk in.

I honestly didn't know what to expect upon walking in. I expected to see a pale and sickly Brooke, all broken and unkempt. And although the Brooke I was looking at wasn't exactly the picture of strong and healthy, she didn't look too bad.

"Brooke!" Alyssa exclaimed, going towards the bed.

When Brooke saw us walk in, her face lit up.

"You're all here," she croaked, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"Did you honestly think we wouldn't?" Derek asked. She smiled sadly at him.

"How are you?" Eli asked.

"I've been better," she replied with a hollow laugh.

"Did the doctor already explain everything to you?" Alyssa asked. Brooke nodded. "Are you scared?" she asked.

I saw the light flicker in Brooke's eyes and I felt a sadness well up inside of me. Brooke's eyes were always full of light and mischief. Now they were dim and sad.

"I don't think it's sunk in, yet, " she said.

"They'll find someone, Brooke. They have to," Chase said. She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She sighed.

"You didn't have to wait here. I'll be asleep in a few minutes, anyway," she told us.

"Shut up, Brooke," Alyssa sighed, sitting on the end of the bed. "I mean, you honestly think that we were going to go to all of those after-graduation parties when our best friend was being rushed to the hospital?" she said. Brooke smiled sheepishly.

"I feel bad for ruining your fun," she said.

"Brooke, we don't care about fun. We care about you," Eli said. Brooke's eyes found mine and her eyebrows knitted up to form worry lines on her forehead.

"You're quieter than usual," she said to me. I forced a smile, but it ended up turning into a grimace, which quickly changed into a sob, which turned into full out crying. Within seconds, Derek and Chase put their arms around me, trying to get me to calm down, but nothing they seemed to say was helping. There was a highly likely chance that my best friend was going to die. And I couldn't do anything about it.

"Bring her here," Brooke said, her voice trembling although I could tell that she was trying to sound strong. I was pushed forward by Derek and I stumbled over to the bed where Brooke lay. "Could you guys give us a minute?" Brooke asked. The others nodded and retreated out of the room, closing the door behind them. Brooke turned to me once the door was closed.

"Soph," she said. I hiccupped. "God, Soph. If you're like this now, what'll happen when I die?" she asked. I slapped her arm and she yelped. "What?! I was joking!" she exclaimed.

"That's a terrible, horrible joke, Brooke! Don't you ever say that again!" I cried, hitting her arm again.

"Well, at least you're not crying anymore," she muttered, rubbing her arm where I hit her.

"I hate you," I said, my voice quiet.

"I know," she said, her tone becoming serious.

We looked at each other for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"You can't keep crying," she told me.

"I know," I said.

"You have to be strong," she said.

"I will," I replied.

"For me. Soph. You have to," she said. I nodded, wiping the warm tears that stung the corners of my eyes.

"Promise?" she asked. I looked at her through watery eyes.

"I don't think I can promise you that," I said.

She looked at me for a few moments and then pulled me into a hug. I cried softly into her shoulder, feeling horrible about doing so. She was the one that was dying and here I was, crying and letting her comfort me. It should have been the other way around. But Brooke was strong; she had always been the strong one.

When I finally calmed down a bit, I pulled away. She reached behind her and pulled out some tissues that were in a basket behind her bed. She handed them to me so that I could wipe my face and blow my nose.

"Better?" she asked. I laughed lightly.

"A little," I answered. She smiled and then pushed me off the bed. I caught myself on my feet and gave her a look.

"Now go away so that I can get some rest," she said.

"Amazing how even when you're sick in a hospital bed, you can manage to act like an incredible bitch," I said, shaking my head.

"Just because I'm hospitalized, doesn't mean my personality has changed," she replied, settling back into her pillows. I shook my head at her again and went to the door. My hand lingered at the light switch and I turned around to face her again.

"You're going to be all right, Brooke," I said. She smiled sadly at me.

"Let's hope so," she replied.

I turned the light off, then, so that she could get some sleep. I stepped out into the dimly lit emergency room waiting room where everyone was waiting.

"She went to sleep?" Chase asked. I nodded, going up to them.

"You all right?" Eli asked me. I forced a smile and nodded again. Derek put an arm around me and squeezed me tightly.

"She's strong. She'll make it through this," he assured me.

Brooke's weak, pale face flashed through my mind.

I wasn't so sure.

                                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 The next day, we got up bright and early to go visit Brooke. We stopped by a Panera cafe to pick up some breakfast and then went to a convenience store to get "get well soon" cards and flowers and balloons. Then, we drove to the hospital. The sun was shining and the weather was amazing.

Under normal conditions, we would have been out all night partying with our friends, hanging out with them one last time after graduation before we all parted ways. We would have gotten extremely wasted and have had terrible hang overs in the morning. We would have slept in until four and then gotten up and gone to the beach to spend the rest of the day. And then we would have done it all over again.

But these weren't normal conditions. Last night, after coming back from the hospital, we all crashed at Derek, Eli, and Chase's apartment. We woke up early, in sullen and silent moods, and gotten dressed. And now we were on our way to visit the reason for these abnormal conditions.

"Morning," Alyssa said, popping her head into the room when we got to the hospital. The doctors had shifted Brooke to a different ward, since she was going to have to stay for more tests and procedures and couldn't stay in the emergency room for that.

Brooke's face lit up once she saw us.

"Morning," she replied. We piled inside her little room and set all of her gifts around her, brightening up the room a bit. She beamed.

"Aww! These are so sweet!" she exclaimed, picking up a big stuffed unicorn that Chase had picked up.

"We thought you'd need a little color," I said.

"Especially because these walls are all so depressingly plain and white," Derek added.

"Thanks," Brooke said, smiling at us.

"And..." Chase said, pulling the bag of bagels out from behind him. "We brought breakfast," he said.

"Oh, great! I thought I would have to eat that awful hospital oatmeal," Brooke said, pulling the bag towards her and fishing out a blueberry bagel.

"How are you feeling?" Eli asked, going over to the windows to open the blinds. When he did, light poured into the room, illuminating it and making it seem much more cheerful than it had looked before.

"I'm all right, I guess. I hate that I have these tubes in me, though. It makes moving really hard. And I don't like that I have to stay in bed all day," Brooke said.

"That must suck. It's so nice out right now," Alyssa said. Derek flicked her head with his fingers. "Ow! What?!" she exclaimed. We all gave her a look and then she realized. She wasn't helping Brooke's surly mood by telling her how amazing it was outside. "Oh, sorry..." she muttered. Brooke chuckled.

"It's all right. I can see it from the window now," Brooke said.

"You're being an awfully good sport about all of this," Derek said, taking a bagel out for himself and ripping open the cream cheese container.

"I figure it won't help me to complain and loathe fate because it won't change anything. Now I just have to hope that something can be done," Brooke replied, chewing her food.

"That's a good way to look at it," Eli said.

"We're hoping for you, too," I said in a somber voice. She smiled at me.

"So, fill me in on what happened last night. Have you heard anything yet?" she asked.

"Well, there are some pretty crazy pictures up on Facebook," Chase said, pulling his phone out.

"People are such idiots," Brooke said, rolling her eyes. We all looked at her. "I still want to see them!" she exclaimed. We laughed and Chase sat on the bed next to her, scrolling through the pictures.

"Ew, Debbie looks disgusting. What a slut," she commented.

"You have that same dress, Brookie," Alyssa pointed out.

"Yeah, but it works on me," she retorted, winking. We rolled our eyes.

After Brooke lived the after-graduation parties through pictures, she settled back in the pillows on her bed.

"I can't believe you guys didn't go to any of the parties," she said.

"We were beat after we came back from the hospital," Derek said.

"And it wouldn't have been as much fun without you," I added.

"True," she said, smirking.

Suddenly, her face fell and her eyes dimmed. A look of pain flashed across her face.

"You all right? Does something hurt? Do you have a headache? Should we call the doctor in?" I asked, standing up and starting to panic. Brooke forced a smile and shook her head.

"Calm down, Soph. I'm fine," she said softly.

"What's wrong then?" Chase asked, his eyebrows narrowing together in concern.

"It's just..." she trailed off and looked out the window at the bright sky outside. "The trip," she said, looking back at us.

Our faces fell immediately as realization fell over us.

Brooke wouldn't be able to go on our epic Europe trip with us.

"No. No way. There has to be a way that you can go," Chase said, standing up in his frustration.

"Yeah, it's just for three months," Alyssa said. "They can't find a donor that quickly, can they?" she asked, looking at Derek, Eli, and me. I swallowed.

"They can, actually. And she needs to be here if they find a match. There's a long waiting list for donors and matches and if you're not available right away, they'll give it to someone else," Eli explained.

"That's such a terrible way of doing things!" Alyssa exclaimed.

"It's fair, though. And it's the system," Derek said.

"Ugh! Damnit!" Chase cried, kicking a chair in anger.

"It's ok, guys. It's all right," Brooke said.

"No! It's not! Brooke, we've been planning this for four years now!" Chase said.

"And I've been planning for it for even longer than that," she said in a soft voice. "But I don't have a choice. I have to be here in case they find a match. They'll put me in surgery right away and then..." she trailed off.

"Then you'll be better," I finished. She smiled sadly at me, nodding. I blinked, wiping a few stray tears from my eyes. "That's more important than anything else, guys. Her getting better. We can't risk that," I said.

"Then we'll do the trip some other time. We can't go without you," Chase said.

"Yeah! We can go next summer. We'll all be back here, won't we? And it's not like anyone in graduate school takes summer classes. We can do the trip next year," Alyssa said, getting right on board with the idea.

"Brooke, you know it won't be any fun without you," Eli said.

"No," Brooke said sharply. The others stopped talking at once and we looked at her. Her expression was distant and sad, but determined nonetheless.

"This trip was meant to be a way to celebrate being done with college. It was meant to be a way to celebrate us because we made it through. It was supposed to be like a gift from ourselves, to ourselves. And I'm not going to let you guys just throw that away because of me," she said.

"It won't be the same going next year, because what we'll have on our minds will be the upcoming school year or our jobs or whatever else is going on. Right now, you're all free. There's nothing to worry about. One chapter of our lives is over and this is that intermission before the next one begins. You have to go. Without me," she finished.

"But--" Alyssa started.

"We already bought the tickets and those were expensive as hell. You can't give all that hard work up," Brooke interjected.

"Brooke-" Derek began.

"I don't want to hear it. You guys are going to go to Europe and you're going to have fun. I'm not going to let you ruin this for yourselves because of me," she said.

Her eyes had a fire in them and her expression was set. She had made up her mind and after knowing her for so long, I knew that there was no use in arguing with her. She was going to make us go. Without her.

"We'll take loads of pictures," Alyssa started.

"And make videos the whole time," Derek added.

"And we'll Skype or FaceTime with you," Chase said.

"You have to enjoy it in some way. You can't miss all of it," Eli said.

"As long as you all enjoy yourselves, I'll be happy," she said.

I could tell she was sad that she couldn't go. After all, she had been the one that was most excited about the trip. It was her idea. She had told me that it was one of the things on her bucket list to do, backpacking across Europe. And now that she was hovering on that line between life and death, it was just so cruel of fate to go and ruin that for her.

But life worked in mysterious ways and everything happened for a reason. And maybe, just maybe, this was what was best. For all of us.

____________________________________________________________________

A/N: Was that a crappy update? Please be honest. Do you like this story? I don't know why, but I'm not feeling it. I guess I just need some encouragement from you guys because I just feel like this story's plot line is crap compared to my other stories.

Leave me a comment below if you would like me to continue this story and just with your thoughts in general.

XOXO