i can't handle this mendes army!! 2 chapters left after this and im not yet ready to let this go😔

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Cameron and I had exchanged looks. I glanced over at Sarah before clearing my throat. "I suppose so." Cameron interrupted before I could say anything else. "Are you related to Hailee by any chance?"

"Did you sit with me because I looked similar to your friend?" she asked and when we nodded she continued, "Hailee and I met at Australia. Our mothers were good friends and Hailee's mom had a business trip there for over 2 months. Our mom used to tease us we were twins separated from birth since we looked exactly alike. I knew Hailee was sick even then. She hid it well but not enough. She would always wake up in the middle of night coughing or vomitting or just lay in bed staring at the ceiling. She never had a good night's sleep-even when she took sleeping pills."

Before Cam or I had a chance to speak, Sarah stood up and pulled Cam out of his chair, "Can I see her?"

He nodded as we left the coffee shop and headed towards the elevator. All of us just stayed silent. We met with Camila when the doors opened. She eyed Sarah with a distraught look. I signalled her to leave it be and gave her a I'll-explain-later look.

"Hi," Camila greeted Sarah before looking at me, confused.

"Oh, uh yeah," I scratched the back of my neck. "This is Sarah and we uh sort of met at the coffee shop downstairs. She knows Hailee. And Sarah, this is Camila, my girlfriend and Hailee's bestfriend."

Camila nodded before asking the obvious. "Are you related or anything to Hailee? You two look exac-"

"Yeah, I got that a lot from them." she chuckled, "But no. I think we just happen to be dopelgängers."

Camila and Sarah soon found them lost in conversations about medicine. Apparently both of them wanted to be doctors so they had plenty of medical topics to talk about.

Cameron and I decided to check upon Hailee. "Hailee," Cameron whispered as his voice echoed the silent room. "please wake up." His voice started trembling and he burst into tears. "I need you, Hailee."

I left the room to give Cameron some privacy and to prevent me from also bursting into tears. I went to the men's room and washed my face. I took a deep sigh as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. It stared back at me. I took my handkerchief and wiped my face.

I got out and dialed Camila's number. "Are you going home yet? Okay, I'll drive you."

I knocked at Hailee's room. "Hey Cam, phone your 'rents. Camila and I are going home. We'll come back first thing in the morning."

"You have classes."

I sighed. "It's fine, I'll skip-"

"Don't," Hailee let out a soft whisper.

---

The nurse came in to check on Hailee as I came back with Sarah and Camila. I texted my mom I'll be home a little later than usual.

Sarah and Hailee shared tears and fits of laughter as soon as they started talking and Camila and I bid goodnight to them. Cameron was to spend the night with Hailee and keep her company whilst her parents are abroad.

Camila's fingers intertwined with mine as we headed to where we parked. "It's a bit colder than usual tonight."

"Here," I took of my coat and lay it on her. "I've got a spare coat inside the car anyway. And, keep it."

She giggled, "I see you're being type A."

"But you want me to be all three." I smirked.

"I was joking!", she hit my arm playfully. "I want you to be you."

I winked before smirking again. "I know."

"Hey Shawn?" Camila's mood changed, "Would your mom mind if I stayed the night at your house?"

"Nah," I reassured her, chuckling. "She'd love it even. But I've got to ask you something."

"What?" our eyes met. I shifted my gaze quickly towards the road after.

"I'm sorry I won't be able to ask you for prom." The words came out on their own. "I don't think we can go to prom."

"I was just about to tell you that actually." Camila chuckled, "Instead of going to prom, what about let's just hang with Cameron and Hailee at the hospital?"

"You read my mind perfectly!" I let out a small sigh of relief and the biggest smile I could muster without looking too handsome.

---

"Mom, Camila's spending the night here and I'm home!" I shouted as we headed to my room.

"Not so fast, hon." Mom blocked us. "Where have you been? You weren't drinking were you?"

"I wasn't! I'm completely sober." I put up my hands in the air. "Why not we all head to the living room to talk? I need to talk to you about something. Aaliyah's asleep already, right?"

"Yes and what's going on? You two better explain yourselves." Mrs. Mendes eyed Camila before proceeding to the living room.

---

After I told Mom, I wasn't sure what to make out of it. She was terrified, shocked, and worried all at the same time.

"Just leave the door unlocked. I trust you two will behave."

"Mom!" I turned pink.

"Don't worry, Ms. Mendes. We will." Camila nodded before pulling me upstairs.

A phone call woke me up the following morning."Hey this is Mike-"

"Hey." I sat on my bed. "Yes. Really? That's great! We'll be headed there right now." I turned around and woke Camila. Lifting my mattress off the floor, I managed to stuff it into my closet. "Good morning!" I shouted which led Mila to cover her head with some pillows.

"We have to head to the hospital."

She sprang up. "But wait, we have class."

"Nope. Class was canceled because of the storm. The school secretary texted us. Check your phone. It's still sunny though. The rainfall is expected to make landfall in exactly..." I looked over at my watch, "two hours and twenty seconds."

"Gosh," Camila giggled. "You're such a nerd. Anyway, I'm gonna get dressed then."

You're the nerd!" I yelled as she headed towards the bathroom.

We got our sandwiches and headed to my car. "So," Camila smiled. "what's with your sheepishly develish grin?"

"It's not develish, I'm genuinely happy."

She chuckled. "Now that's scary-but do tell."

"Hailee's doctors found a compatible donor for her bone marrow transplant. But to do so, Hailee will have to tell her parents in order to get their consent for the signing of papers. And that's why we're going now."

"To give her support?"

"And to be also be there with her." I parked the car where we parked yesterday and opened the door for Mila. We headed straight to the elevator and to the fifth floor. I knocked on the wooden door and was greeted by Mike. "Morning, Shawn! Hailee's already awake. I'll leave you guys alone."

I nodded and thanked him as he exited the room.

"Ready to make the phone call Hei?", Cameron stepped out of the bathroom half dressed. His eyes widened as he saw us and quickly turned around to put on his shirt. I glanced over at Camila who looked at the ground all red. I pulled her quickly behind me.

Cameron giggled, "Relax, I won't steal her from you anymore. Mila, don't tell me you haven't seen Shawn's-"

"I-I haven't.", she stammered.

"Well, I never thought I'd say this but his are just as pretty as mine," he smirked.

"Shut up, Cam." I rolled my eyes and went to Hailee. "So...you ready?"

"No." Hailee sighed. "Cam, Shawn, I need to talk to Camila please...alone."

"Oh, sure." Cam said and slung his arm over my shoulder. "Why don't we go over to Sarah's room and bring her here?"

"Sounds good." I turned around to look at Mila before heading out. Once we were out, I glanced at Cam and we sat down upon the bench. "What room is Sarah in?"

Cam stood up. "She's in 712. Come on." He pressed the elevator button and got in as I followed. We reached room 712 and I knocked a few times.

Cam had asked a nurse who seemed to be in a rush"How may I help you, sir?"

"Is Sarah-"

"She was discharged half a few minutes ago. I'm really sorry to interrupt you but I have a patient to go to. Bye!"

"Well that was informative." I chuckled. "Let's go get coffee before we announce some bad news."

Cameron sighed. "Good idea. Who knows? She might have stopped there."

---

As Cameron had predicted, Sarah was there sitting alone in the far-end of the coffee shop. She sipped her coffee before resuming to read Pride and Prejudice. God, how I hated that book.

"Hey look," Cameron snorted. I knew why. "She's reading the very book that ru-"

"Shut up." I snapped. "Go order us some iced lattes." My mind spurred as I headed towards Sarah's table. "Hi." I politely greeted before cautiously sitting down across her.

"Shawn, right? Hey." she greeted back quickly before putting away the book on the chair beside her. Thank God the book was out of plain sight now. "What brings you?" she managed to snap me out of my thoughts. "Oh," I felt my face flush, "well..um...Hailee's going to get a transplant. And-"

"I knowz" she said, "I'm the donor."