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this is the first chapter of a rewrite for this book that i never finished writing. you can read it if you'd like, but the full, completed, book comes after this! i'd advise maybe coming back to read this after finishing the first draft.

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ONE

A VIBRATION FROM the phone in his pocket jolts him out of his sleeping state, sending his back arching and his heart racing. His wide eyes are quick to return to a normal size as he takes in his surroundings, stark white walls and an enormous fish tank being the first things he notices—the overwhelming scent of disinfectant being the next. It doesn't take long to register that he's in a hospital.

He doesn't remember falling asleep in the hospital lobby, though it's not the first time he's fallen asleep somewhere and not remembered it. Shaking off his confusion, he slouches back in the scratchy seat he occupies and reaches for his phone, curious to see who exactly it is that has pulled him from his slumber.

With a text message reading, "here," from his mother, he knows he's found the culprit. Taking that as his cue to go, he begins to push himself up from the seat, only to stop moving altogether when his eyes land on a girl making a quick dash across the room, both her hands occupied by cups of coffee.

It's clear to anyone that this won't end well as she sprints for the closing elevator doors, a look of worry visible across her features. In a feeble attempt, she quickens her pace, only to be met with the doors closing on her and two scalding hot coffees finding residence on the front of her bulky yellow sweater.

Despite his best efforts, he can't hold back the laugh that makes its way up his throat. As his deep chuckle fills the room, the coffee-soaked girl's gaze finds his, her dark eyes glaring into his opposing bright eyes.

"I'm sorry," she says through gritted teeth, "is this somehow funny to you?"

He bites down on his bottom lip to conceal another laugh, the smile never leaving his face. "A little," he admits. "You know, the elevator would've been back down in thirty seconds. You didn't have to make a run for it."

She laughs, though her laugh lacks any sort of amusement. With a frown quickly returning to her lips, she says, "Not that it's any of your business, but I left my grandma alone upstairs. I was in a hurry to get back to her."

"I'm sure your grandma would have been able to fend for herself for an extra thirty seconds." He glances down to her newly stained sweater before looking to her eyes once more. "You didn't have to do that. Though it was quite admirable of you, I'll admit."

"Admirable," she mutters under her breath, scoffing at his use of the word. "You're right. My grandma probably would have been fine for an extra thirty seconds, but I don't even want to leave her alone for a single second. She's here for her first chemo appointment and I'm sure she's scared out of her mind."

His lips twitch up a touch, a glum look glazing over his eyes. "What a coincidence. Me too."

Brows knitting together, her cold demeanor fades slightly at his words. "What?"

"I'm here for my first treatment too. Maybe your grandma and I can become chemo pals." He breaks his gaze from hers, afraid that if he looks too long he'll be met with an uncomfortable silence. Glancing to the half-empty coffees in her hands, he nods. "You gonna drink both of those?"

She says nothing for a while, staring back at the blond boy before looking to the cups in her hands and snapping back to reality. "Of course. I'm obviously going to drink them. Why else would I buy them?"

"It could be your charitable act of kindness for the day if you wanted to forfeit one of those to me," he suggests, a confident smile tugging at his lips as he pushes himself up from his seated position. He doesn't have to walk far to meet her at her spot in front of the elevators. "They are half-empty, after all."

"Go buy your own coffee." She rolls her eyes, turning to face the reflective doors and pressing the button to send for another lift. Sparing him one last look, she adds, "I don't even know you."

"Cooper."

Against her better judgment, she peers over at him again. "What?"

His eyes brighten. "I'm Cooper Clarke. I have colon cancer and I'd love a coffee." He takes a break to breath, laughing to himself. "Wow, that was a lot of c's."

She stares back at him blankly, unsure how to respond to his unconventional introduction. Before she has a chance to think about it any further, a soft chime alerts her to the elevator's arrival. Deciding it's best to not answer at all, she turns to leave, immediately being stopped by a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You didn't tell me your name," he says, wearing an expectant look.

She sighs, glancing to the open doors ahead of her before turning back to Cooper. "Ellie Wilde."

He drops his hand from her shoulder, sending her a satisfied smile. She takes his silence as her okay to leave, sliding her body through the closing elevator doors and sending them flying back open. Before she can count herself too lucky, Cooper leans against one of the sides, stopping the doors from closing and delaying her journey.

"What are you doing?" She asks, her tone doing justice to the irritation coursing through her body.

With a quick laugh, he asks, "You're set on not giving me a coffee? Even after I pulled my cancer card? That usually works."

"I told you. Go buy your own. Even if you've told me your name, I still don't know you. I have no reason to give you one of my coffees."

His smile grows. "Make-a-Wish would be outraged."

She says nothing in response, shooting him a deadpan look in hopes that he'll take a hint and let her leave. When, still, he doesn't move, she considers walking over and pushing him out of the way of the doors, but decides against it.

He nods to her sweater, raising his eyebrows. "Dishwasher detergent. It's good for stains."

She follows his eyes, looking to the darkened front of her otherwise bright sweater. Grabbing onto either side of it, she pulls it up to get a better look and assess the damage. With her eyes trained below, she mumbles, "Thanks."

"Will you be driving your grandma to all her chemo appointments?" Cooper asks curiously, drawing her gaze away from the sweater as she stares back at him.

She nods slowly, "Yeah, probably. Why?"

"I guess you can get me a coffee next time. Bye, Ellie."

Before she has a chance to object to his ridiculous suggestion, he sends her an innocent grin and moves away from the doors, allowing them the opportunity to finally close. She peeks her head out to look for him, catching a glimpse of his platinum blond head as he walks towards the exit of the hospital. That's all she sees before the metal doors fully shut, obstructing her view and sending her to the fourth floor.

With a smile on his lips, Cooper exits the building to find his mom waiting outside just as she'd promised. He makes his way into the passenger side of the car, looking in the rear-view mirror to see a matching head of blond hair sitting in the backseat.

Too occupied by the video game console in his hands, he doesn't look up. Cooper takes this as his opportunity to reach back and ruffle up the young boy's hair, earning a momentary glance of annoyance from the nine-year-old.

"I'll kill you if I die, Cooper," the boy says earnestly, smashing away at the buttons below his fingers as he concentrates on the screen in front of him.

"Oh, I'm sure you will, Matty," Cooper teases.

"Matthew, don't talk to your brother like that," their mom snaps, glaring at her youngest son through the rear-view mirror before turning to her eldest. "How was your appointment?"

Cooper nods, his smile faltering as he reaches for his seatbelt, pulling it over his lap and clicking it into place. The texture of his jeans is rough against the palms of his hands as he runs them down his thighs before finally settling them on his knees. "It was fine."

"I'm sorry I didn't go," she says solemnly, her eyes beginning to water. "I wish I could go with you but I can't."

"It's fine, Mom." He sighs, staring ahead to the road in front of them, hoping that by avoiding eye contact, he'll somehow get her to change the subject. "I get it. Let's just go home."

She doesn't say anything for a moment, putting the car in drive and following his commands, crowning him as victorious this time around. She only speaks again once they're making their way through the busy Seattle roads. Even then, she says it so quietly that he thinks he may have misheard her.

"I feel bad," she chokes out.

"Mom. I said it's fine. Let's not talk about it."

"I just—I can't watch it. It's too much for me."

"Mom, seriously. It's fine. I already said I get it. Please, stop talking about it. I'm fine. My appointment was fine. I'm not fragile, stop acting like I'm about to break at any second. Like I said, I don't want to talk about this."

"Okay," she agrees reluctantly, guilt still evident in her tone. "We won't talk about it." She swallows, clearing her throat. "What do you boys want for dinner tonight? Your dad's working late so it's just us three."

"McDonalds," Matthew says instantly, not bothering to look up from his video game.

"I'm not hungry," Cooper says, resting his head against the seat and watching as the pedestrians mix in with the foliage and pass by in a blur.

His mom turns away from the road briefly to look at him skeptically. "You're always hungry."

"I'm not hungry today," he turns away from the window to look to her. "It's just you two tonight. I'm going to Brandon's."

"Mom, can we get McDonalds?" Matthew finally looks up from his game to send her a pleading look. "Please?"

"No," she says sternly. "I'll cook. We'll figure something out."

The boy groans, tossing his head back in defeat. "Dad would let us have McDonalds."

"Well your dad isn't here, Matthew."

Deciding that he's had enough of his family's bickering, Cooper reaches for his headphones, plugging them into his phone and situating the earbuds before shuffling through his music. Despite his mom's look of disapproval, he shuts his eyes, zoning out his surroundings and focusing on the melodies in his ears.

When a newly-acquainted girl in a coffee-stained yellow sweater passes through his thoughts, his lips quirk up absentmindedly. And suddenly, for reasons entirely beyond him, he finds himself anticipating his next chemotherapy session.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

the first chapter of the rewrite is finally here! time to celebrate. this was very nostalgic for me to write, i felt a lot of feelings during it. how'd you guys like it?

just wanna give a little quick shout out to my mom, who i love very much. she just read when my shift ends for the first time over the weekend and it made me very nervous and excited. luckily, she enjoyed it (or so she says). thanks for listening to me ramble on about my story ideas all the time, hot stuff. i love you.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net