Chapter Two

Nine years ago...

The room was set in a low light. It sadly a medical room for a young sixteen year old human boy, he had short black hair and light brown eyes. He didn't look like he belonged in a room like that. He was watching a vid on the vid screen. He had a happy smile, but that didn't last long as he broke out in a violent coughing fit. A few doctors and nurse came rushing in to check on the poor boy. After a few minutes of checking and doing what they could for the boy, he stopped coughing and just laid there trying to cache his breath. He laid there knowing one fact about his life. He was dying.

He had spent most of his life in this place. His name was Jack Dawn. The life he was living seems so still at times due to the lack of people his own age talking with him. That all changed one day when another human girl about his age was put in the bed on the other side of the room. The girl had lovely long blond hair and a smile that could warm any heart in the area. The boy feeling his face turn a little red as the girl looks over at him and waves to him. He waves back.

One day he was sitting at the table in the room where he could sit down and do stuff like eat or do some school work. He wasn't letting something like bad heath that was slowly killing him, stop him from learning. He was got lost thinking about this problem that he was working when he felt a light hand lay on his shoulder. He turns his head to where the hand was. The poor boy about jumped out of his skin when he sees it was the girl that he was not sharing a room with.

"H...h...hello" The boy stammers.

"Hello, I'm Maire" Said the girl in a heavenly voice. That just cause the boy to forget what he was going to say to her. Then like a slap to the face, he remembers to tell her his name back. "J...Jack" He got said after a few minutes of looking at her face just give him a warm smile. He couldn't wrap his mind on why she was in this room with him. She didn't look sick or act sick when she came in. He was lost.

"It's nice to meet you Jack." She smiled at him. The boy got up and held out a head. The girl giggles and used his hand to pull him into a hug. His face turns bet red as she gave him a hug. The hug was so gentle and made him feel safe.

"Umm...Maire?"

"Yes Jack"

"Can I ask why you're doing in this medical place for?"

"I am here for the same reasons you are Jack. I am dying cause of things I cannot control. But I am lucky as it doesn't cause me much pain." He was at lost for words. He never thought something so sad like that would happen to such a cute girl. "Don't worry and the hug is a freebie." She giggled more and took a seat next to him as she pulled some work she was given. He blinks and sits back down and does a little more work. She leans over to sneak a peek at his work. He chucks and slides his paper over for her to get a better look. "You don't have to do that. Just ask and I will be glad to help you with the work." She smiles and nods. "Thank you so very much Jack. I don't understand all this stuff," She points to the paper in front of her.

He couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Don't worry, I know what that is like. I will help you with the work the best I can" Her face brightens up and hugs him again. He lets out a meeped and smile. The girl laughs and goes back to her work. He sighs and goes back to his work. He every now and then looks over at her hard at work. She was something else. The girl maybe dying, but it seemed like she wasn't letting it slow her down.

The days passed by slowly for the two. The boy didn't have a major fit of coughing for most of the days, but that all changed one day when a really bad one. The vid screen that was set up so that the two could watch vids together, they were laughing at a bad joke was told. It began as a light cough that he just brushes to the back of his mind. However, his luck was not on his side this time. His eyes grow wide as his chest began to hurt. He grabbed his chest and gasping for air as his beings to cough harder and harder.

Maire rushed over to the boy and was in a panic and scream for doctors or someone to come to help Jack. The doctors and the nurse came rushing in and pushing the girl out of the way. She watched in a panic as they try to stabilize the boy. One of the doctors pulled away and walked over to the girl. The doctor puts a hand on her shoulder and walks her out of the room. "I'm sorry Maire, but we need you out of the room for just a little bit while the others work on getting Jack stable again."

She looked very worried as the doctor told her this. The doctor gives her a warm smile and got on one need to look at her eye to eye. "Don't worry your little head about him. Jack is a strong guy, he will be up and giving you lovely dovey eyes." Her face turned red and looks away nodding. "You better mean it or me...I...I will do something I don't know what it will be." She blurts out. The doctor nods and goes back into the room to help stabilize Jack.

The girl stood in the hallway waiting to see if her friend Jack was okay. As she closed her eyes from the late hour, she was left standing there. The door opens and a doctor slides out. He walks over to her and smiles. "I know you want to know how he is doing." She nods and waits for him to tell her how Jack was doing. The doctor grins and steps aside as Jack walked out. Jack. She runs over to him and gives him a big hug. "I was so worried about you Jack. I couldn't lose my only friend I have."

She was shacking badly in his arm. Jack smiles and rubs her back. "Don't worry about Maire. It takes more than a little cough to take me out of the game." He was trying to act tough to keep her from worrying about him. She looks up at him and nods. "I will hold you to that Jack." He smiled and nodes. Jack sighs when he looks down and sees that she had fallen sleep on him. He just smiles and picks her up so that he could get her back into bed. He was so glad the doctors were able to keep him a life just a little while longer. He wasn't ready to leave her side just yet. She was truly his only friend. None of his friends he had in school came to see him when he fell ill.

Weeks flies by and the two grow closer. The doctors didn't see why the two couldn't get closer than just friends. They didn't have long to live. Sad as it may seem, but if they can enjoy what life they have left. They should. Jack yawns as Maire cuddles close and giggles. "Is my Jack getting sleepy?" He smiles and nods. "It could be from our little run around the track." She looks away and giggles. "Jack it's not my fault that you couldn't keep up with me" He just grins and pulls her closer to him. "Well it seems that I got you now."

She just giggles and looks up at with the same smile she given him when they first meet. He could not help but smile back at her. He know things were moving a little fast, but when you don't know if this was going to be your last moment a life. You just have to spend it with ones that make your life happy. He takes a big gulp and looks at hir with a serious look. She looks at him and looks a little worried. "What is it Jack?"

His face turns red and pulls her into a kiss. She gasped and kisses back. After a few minutes they broke the kiss and looks at each other. "Maire, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" This time it was her turn for her face to turn red. The only word that came to the girl's mind, "Yes." At that he holds her close and didn't want to let her go. "Thank you so much Maire." They laid there for what felt like a lifetime. He could not be any happier in his life right now. His dream had come true, the girl that he had spent weeks getting to know was now his girlfriend. What more could a person ask for? Well in his case would be not to have this illness.

More time had begun to pass as they grow even close then anyone thought could happen. They would just lie in one bed and watch the vids play. The only thing that matter to them was being with each other for as long as possible. They did their work outs and homework together. Maire grins as she sneaks up behind Jack. He didn't see her sneaking up behind as he getting dried off after getting out of the shower. She jumps on his back pressing her breast on his back. The poor guy lets out a loud meep and his face turns beat red. She kisses the back of his neck that sent shivers down his spine.

"Maire...what are you...doing?" he tried to say to her.

"I found some vids while you were sleeping and well just say we haven't done some things boyfriends and girlfriends do after a while of dating" She whispered into his ears. That made him jump a few feet up. "What about our illnesses?" She turned him around to give him the smile that always melts his heart. "I check with the doctors and they told me that we should be okay doing this. But they did also say that we should not over do it." He nods and pulls her close.

"Maire you don't know how much I want to do this with you. However, I was too scared that it would hurt you too much. Over the time I have known you, you have always been there for me even during my worst coughing fits. I heard you talking to the doctor when he took you out of the room. It really touched my heart that my only true friend cared that much for me." She looked down and laid her head on his chest as he held her close.

That was the day they really open their hearts to each other. At that moment in time, they were the only ones in the world. The illnesses they had didn't matter to them. They truly were happy for once in their young lives. Only time would tell if they could live to have a family. They knew it would never happen. That is for many reasons. Once the act of their love was done. Maire cuddled close to him as she slept that night. He looked down at her with a smile. She was something else. He could never imagine she was that gentle during her love making with him.

He slowly fall sleep with her in his arm. For the first time in a very long time, his dreams were happy. Maire and he were living together in a house near the beach. They were sitting on the beach as the sun was setting and their kids playing around them. This was a dream he wants so much to come true. He felt a hand touching his face. He opened his eyes to see Maire looking down at him with her hand wiping something off his face.

It took him a little bit of time to realize that he was crying. He put his on hers as he gives her a warming smile. "I was dreaming of us. Growing old and having kids. We all lived near the beach were we could watch the sun set." She laid down on his chest and beings to cry. He holds her close and rubs her back. He didn't like seeing her cry. "Please don't cry my sweet. We will make that dream come true."

She nods and holds him close. He smiles and keeps rubbing his back. As they lay there, a nurse pokes hir head in and grins. Shi closes the door and lets the lovers enjoy each other. He gets up and lets Maire rest. He opens the door and looks at the nurse. "I saw you peeking in." Shi grins and just laughs. He joined and puts a handmade sign that read, "Please do not peek!! ^_^"

A day much feared by both came. As the two laid down watching a vid like they did on days they didn't have homework to do. Maire made a few little coughs and looked at her hand to see blood spots on it. Her heart stopped and fear overcame her. "Not now. Oh please not now." She cried out. Jack look down at her and it felt like all the air left his chest. He jumps out of the bed and rushes out of the room to the nurse.

He slams his hands on the nurse desk. "GET A DOCTOR IN THERE RIGHT NOW. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH MAIRE." He screams at the nurses. A few nurses rush into the room while one calls the doctors. He begins to go back to the room, but one of the doctors stopped him. "Hey, let me in. She is my girlfriend." The look on the doctor's face told him something that made the world around him stop. He pushes the doctor out of the way and rushes to be by Maire's bedside. She looked weaker, like she couldn't even pick up a tea cup. He picked up her hand and kissed it.

"Don't worry Maire, I'm here for you. I will never leave your side for as long as I can still draw breath. I love you my sweet." She looked at him and gives him the smile that he loved about her so much. He couldn't stop himself from crying. She moved a shacking hand up to his face and wiped some of the tears away. In a voice lower than a whisper, "Please don't cry Jack. You are my hope. I love you with all my heart." He nods and as he leaned down and gives her a kiss. A doctor came up and led him out of the room.

Hours want by and he hadn't heard a word about how Maire was doing. He could only hope that she would be led out to him, wearing that warm smile. After three hours of waiting, a doctor came out and with words that would stab Jack's heart like knifes. "I'm sorry Jack..." The doctor didn't even have time to get the rest out before he was slammed to the wall by Jack.

Jack's eyes were red from crying and his voice was laced with rage. "HOW COULD YOU LET HER DIE LIKE THAT? ALL ALONE, NO ONE TO..." That was all he could say before he dropped to the ground crying more. His world was shattered. The only person he loved in his life was gone. The doctor helped him up. "Do you wish to see her before it's too late?" Jack looked at him and walks off. "Please don't doc, I want to just remember as she was." The doctor nods and walks away. "I understand Jack." This was a moment that Jack will never forget for the rest of his life.