5.Here Without You-Three Doors Down

A hundred days have made me older

Since the last time that I saw your pretty face

A thousand lies have made me colder

And I don't think I can look at this the same

But all the miles that separate

Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face...

Ty couldn’t get the words out of his head. He didn’t want to believe what Mickey had told him. She hadn’t been in school for two months since that day. “Could she still be in treatment? Maybe she’s already home and just resting.” Ty thought, walking home from what felt like a very long day. Davis had to stay after school, McKenna was away in Michigan visiting family and Kyle had to babysit his little sister for the night. Ty was stuck alone on a Friday night.

        He arrived in front of the park, standing by its rusty gate. He was tempted to go over to Mickey’s house. He contemplated for a moment. Would Mickey be thinner and paler? Would he find another scar? Would this one be more visible? Before he knew it, he was slowly walking through the park. He had to see Mickey. He needed to be sure she was ok.

       In a short time he was on the other end of the park, right across the street from Mickey’s house. “Maybe I should try calling her again.” He pulled out his phone, dialing her number as he sat on the front porch. After one ring it went straight to voicemail. “Damn it.”

      He heard a creaking behind him as someone opened the door. “She’s not here.”

Ty looked behind him and saw Mickey’s mom. “Ms.Lorton, I...”

“I thought I told you to stay away from my daughter.” She said in a stern voice, speeding past him towards her car. “She doesn’t need to be around a bunch of hooligans who’ll just make her-”

“I know about Mick...Uhh, Michelle’s condition.” He blurted out causing her to freeze on the curb. “I know about the tumor, I know about the surgeries and I know that every doctor that’s treated her has failed to help her. Especially the one in Europe. But I want to be by her side for this. I’ve been going crazy non-stop worrying about her and-”

“Enough!” Ms.Lorton snapped, taking a deep breath and looking at Ty. “I’m on my way to the hospital right now, if I bring you maybe my Michelle will smile for once instead of sulking everytime she sees that it’s just me...” She bit her lip, looking away from Ty, her eyes getting watery.”Look, just...get in the car.”

Ty nodded as they both mounted the vehicle. It was a quiet ride as Ty stared out his window, watching as the passing houses were all just a blur to him as they drove by. As they drove over the Brooklyn bridge, a question came to his mind. “What exactly happened in Europe?” He looked over at Ms.Lorton as she peeked over at him through the corner of her eye. “She told me that it got especially worse there. How exactly did it happen?”

She gave a heavy sigh. “The doctors had sworn that she was finally on the brink of being cured, then the night before her discharge while they were running a final analysis, they found that the tumor wasn’t really gone. It moved deeper into her brain and had grown larger. It temporarily affected her eyesight and she would black out at random. They told us that our best bet was to--”

“Have her treated in New York.” He cut her off glumly. “Is it possible that they might actually be right? That she’ll survive this?”

“That’s what we’re hoping for.” Ty could see a slight smile forming on her face. “She doesn’t stop talking about you. You’re the first friend she’s had in a long time.” She wiped the corner of her eye. “She was just turning twelve when she found out about her tumor. She felt like such an outsider, a freak. She secluded herself without even the attempt to act her usual self. She started calling herself Mickey when we got to New York. It was ridiculous and irrational.” She looked at Ty, her face tear stricken. “Then she meets you and suddenly she’s smiling and laughing just like her old self.” He smiled, looking back out the window as they pulled up in the hospital parking lot. “You go on ahead, I’ll be up in a few.”

Ty nodded, opening the door and crossing the long empty parking lot. Inside the hospital, he felt a rush of sickness and depression crush down on him. The revolving entrance doors led into a gloomy, quiet, grey painted lobby. All he could hear were the sounds of his own footsteps and the typing of the receptionist sitting behind the front desk. “Uh, excuse me.” The brunette looked up at him, eyes bored and unwilling. “I’m looking for Michelle Lorton.”

She went back to the computer. “She’s in room 325,” she said after a brief moment.

Ty nodded as he walked over to a nearby elevator. Nurses and doctors rushed passed him as if he were invisible. He started pressing his palms together and sighing heavily as he waited, what felt like hours instead of merely seconds, for the elevator. He heard the ding as the doors opened and a middle aged woman came out wheeling a young girl in her wheelchair. “...It’s gonna be okay dear.” He heard the woman say to the girl as they went by him. “The doctor said it’s still in its early...” He stepped into the elevator watching as the woman wheeled the girl out of the hospital.

It was a quick trip up to the third floor and as he walked down the long, eerily quiet hallways he caught quick glances of patients being visited by friends and family. Mothers were crying at their child’s bedsides, fathers asking questions to doctors and nurses about the conditions of their children. As he found room 325, Ty’s hand shook as he put his hand on the door handle. He knocked lightly on the metal door as he opened the door and saw Mickey sitting up in her bed, her eyes widening up as she watched him enter.

“Ty!” Her face broke into a brilliant smile.

“Hey Mickey.” He said softly as he went over to her bed. As he made his way over to her, he took in the sight of her; her eyes looked red and puffed up, her lips a shade lighter than usual and the fluorescent lighting made her look paler. “Your mom said she’ll be right up.”

“Wait, mom brought you here?” Mickey asked, her eyes widening as he nodded.

“I was worried about you,” he said, looking away from her. “So I went to see if you were home yet and I just happened to catch your mom right when she was about to leave.” He chuckled lightly. “She thought you’d be happy if she brought me.”

“She was right,” She held onto his hand, smiling. “I’m glad you came Ty. These past few weeks of radiation therapy were so...” She paused mid-sentence, shaking her head and staring off into space. “Being in hospitals all the time scare me, y’know? I never know which’ll be my last visit. Whether or not I’ll finally be rid of this thing that’s slowly killing me.”

Ty smiled gently as he sat beside her on the bed and she pressed herself against him. “It’s gonna be okay.” He promised her. “I won’t let you go through this alone anymore.” He suddenly remembered something. “When are you gonna tell the others?”

Her head snapped up, looking at Ty with wide eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think they’d be able to help you through this better than I can.” Ty blushed, looking away from her. “I’m not entirely good at cheering people up.”

"I don't want to tell them." Her eyes darkened as she looked down at her hands in Ty's. "I don't want them to look at me differently."

"They'd be supportive." He said, tilting her head back up. "They're your friends too y'know." She shook her head away. "Mickey, it's ok. You can trust them."

“Ty, you’re the first person I’ve been able to trust in a very long time.” Mickey’s eyes seemed distant, her hands squeezing Ty’s. “I’m just really scared.”

Ty pulled her in for a hug, her face burying into his shoulder as he stared out wall sized window where there a perfect view of Prospect Park, rubbing her back with one hand and holding her head with the other. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

The miles just keep rollin'

As the people leave their way to say hello

I've heard this life is overrated

But I hope that it gets better as we go, oh, yeah, yeah