Lucy In The Sky Page #5

Lucy Noel, a young adult diagnosed with lung cancer, is ready to make peace with the world. But once she finds her beau, Arlen James, she finds that life is worth living, even if you’re dying. Make the best of your life on the planet so you can go out with a bang.

• Romance

								


Arlen was sitting on a bench outside smoking a cigarette. Lucy came out and Arlen immediately saw her and hid his cigarette right away. "Hi, Arlen..." said Lucy. "Hi. Come to apologize?" Arlen asked. Lucy sighed and sat down next to Arlen. "Arlen, what are we doing? Why are we so mad at each other?" Lucy asked. "Well, to be honest, Lucy. You kind of started it," said Arlen. "Right. I know. The thing is, and I forgot to tell you this...the doctor put me on new meds, in hopes that I could recover. Well, they're making me pretty...moody," said Lucy. "Are you kidding, Luciana!? You didn't tell me this!? Why not!" Arlen yelled at Lucy again. "I'm sorry, but it's why are you yelling? I was going to tell you, and-" Lucy suddenly stopped, smelling smoke. "Are you smoking...?" Lucy asked Arlen. "No, no. No...I'm not I just smell like it. Some man before me was smoking. I didn't-" Atlen panicked, being interrupted by Lucy, "You are! You are smoking!" Lucy yelled as she flicked Arlen's arm, making him drop the cigarette. "Are you fucking kidding me, Arlen!? Are you crazy!? I have lung cancer! Anything about that bother you at all!? I'm dying! And you're just sitting there, enjoying my arch nemesis! How the hell could you do this to us? And on our wedding night!" Screamed Lucy. "Shh, Lucy. We're outside! Someone could hear you!" Said Arlen, lowering his voice. "I don't give a flying! Hey, everyone! My husband just married someone who's dying! Now he wants to kill himself! What do you think of that, world!? Do you think that's fair!?" Lucy screamed even louder. "That's enough, Lucy!" Arlen yelled. "Yeah, Arlen. You're right. That's enough. Or at least I've had enough. Enough of this. Enough of you..." Arlen followed Lucy as she walked away. "Lucy, please. Please don't do this to me!" Arlen begged. "How am I supposed to trust you? This is a giant secret! Especially because of the fact you know I'm going to drop dead at any moment!" Said Lucy. "I know, and I'm sorry." Said Arlen. "And how could you do this to me? Just how? And what if someday you bring smoke into the house? Or it gets on your clothes? You do realize then what would happen right?" Lucy asked. "Yes, and I'm sorry. I'm also sorry I ruined your sex. And I'm mostly sorry about ruining your only honeymoon. I love you, Luciana. And I completely understand if you want to separate," sighed Arlen. "No, baby. No. I don't want to leave you. But one more time and I swear to God..." Lucy said. "Never again, babe. I promise. I love you too much to let this break up a beautiful marriage." "I love you, Arlen." "I love you too, Lucy." They kissed in the moonlight, then went inside and had perfect sex.

At a doctor's appointment, Lucy and Arlen sit waiting in the lobby. There were many patients there, but not many as sick as Lucy. This was just her primary care physician. A patient came up to Lucy and asked for a cigarette. Arlen shook his head and looked away, he knew this was going to get ugly. "Excuse me, but why are you bumming cigarettes from other patients? One, if you can't afford them, don't smoke them. Two, aren't you at all concerned about your health? And three...do you not care about other patient's health? Like, look around you. People are here because they're sick. Now they may not be as sick as me, but they're still sick. And how dare you ask whether I had a cigarette or not without asking why I'm here. I have cancer; lung cancer. Now tell me, do you honestly think I give a flying f*ck about cigarettes!? I sincerely hope those sticks make you sick! Maybe then you'll think twice about bumming sick sticks from people!" Lucy, of course, had to make a scene that day. But she was right, and she stood by her rights. "Oh my gosh, I sincerely apologize. I didn't know. I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" The lady asked. "Look," said Lucy, "you seem like a nice lady. But I just can't converse with someone who just asked me for a cigarette and then asking me if I'm okay. I don't need your sympathy. I'm sorry but you need to go have a seat over there; where you were sitting before." "I understand," said the lady. "Thank you," said Lucy. "Woah! You have cancer? You look so young!" "23. And yes, I do. Please don't make this a huge topic," said Lucy. "Oh no. Not at all. My daughter's best friend died of leukemia when she was 16," said the woman. "Oh, wow. Leukemia? I'm so sorry!" Said Lucy. "Thank you. It's been hard." Then a male patient signed in and saw her. "Wow, you really look sick, miss. Do you know what's going on?" He asked. "Luciana James?" The nurse called her name. Whew! Saved by the bell.

"Hey, doc. So, tell me some news. Good news, I hope." Said Lucy. "Luciana, I don't know how to say this. Your vitals were unstable. We're going to have to do an ABG on you to check for sepsis." "Sepsis? But I feel fine," said Lucy. "We have to check." Sure enough, Lucy's Arteal Blood Gas was very low. She needed to be admitted to the hospital. Her immune system was becoming so low that she couldn't even be in the outside world if the temperature was under 75 degrees. She wasn't fading slowly anymore; she was fading fast. Arlen stepped out of the hospital to get some fresh air. Right then and there, he hit his knees; screamed, then cried, then prayed while crying. "Dear Father, please. Please. Please! I need this from you. I need Lucy's immune system to rise. I need her to heal... I... I need her to get better. I love her, Lord. And you know that. So please, please. Not just for me but for Lucy. I need her to live at least a little bit longer. In your name I pray, Amen." “Lucy," Arlen said quietly, "I'm going home for the night. You get some rest. I love you. I'll be back at 8 a.m. when visiting hours open back up." Arlen kissed Lucy on her forehead and drove home. All night in bed, he couldn't shut his mind off to sleep. He was devastated, depressed, and had all these other mixed emotions. What if Lucy doesn't make it through the night? Or what if she goes and I'm not there? He felt so guilty for leaving her there by herself. He was up all night worried. The next morning, Arlen rushed to the ICU, only to find Lucy gone and her bed made. “Nurse Nala! What the hell! Where is my Lucy? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Arlen yelled. "Arlen," nurse Nala touched his shoulder, "Luciana isn't gone. We moved her down to the floor." "Oh my God! Really? Oh my God! That means...she is doing better?" Arlen asked excitedly. "A lot better. You can go see her. Her room number is 403," Nala smiled. "Thank you so much, Nala. I mean it. I just want to give this entire hospital a huge hug." Nala smiled back at Arlen, gave him a hug, and said, "Just go see your wife."
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