I know, I know, for those of you who know me, I shouldn't be starting a new story since I have started so many already but I watched the movie "The Notebook" last night and here I am, submitting another story. Harsh critiques are welcome, as usual.
Also, if anyone as suggestions for a new title, let me know, cause I'm not sure I like this one.
Happy Reading
**Edited as of August 20**
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PART ONE—Present
Love and Death.
Such powerful words, one bringing such happiness and the other so much pain. It was a wonder how they both fit into Lana’s daily schedule. As she lay on her back, the nurse fluttering around her like a waning butterfly, she knew that it was time to let it all go. She had done all that she could.
At least, that’s what she kept telling herself.
Squeezing her eyes shut, a brief ripple of pain cascaded through her body, leaving her limbs aching and her wishing that it would all go away. The nurse soon presented her with the miracle pill, the one that could grant her wish. Swallowing it down, she eased back onto her pillows as the nurse backed out of the room. Lana used to be her, a young nurse tending to the needy, to the broken, aiming to fix them.
Now Lana was the one needing fixing.
Smiling softly, she forced herself back into the past. It seemed that she was living there now, reliving every moment that she could before it was too late. The memories were still clear, still fresh, and she savored them.
Light was fading, dabbing the sky with blues and purples. The moon was a sliver slicing through the sky like a tear in the velvet blanket stretched across the heavens, and the first twinkling diamonds were blessing the open vastness above me. I fell back onto the blanket, the wool fibers scratching my bare arms and legs. Peeking over to my right, I saw him, standing off to the side, looking into the same sky as I had. His eyes were hooded, lost in thought. His loose-fitting tee ruffled in the light breeze, forming to his shape. That’s when he turned to meet my eyes.
I didn’t look away; just allowed a shy smile to spread across my lips. His own smirked in knowing before he slowly padded over, his body moving in that coy way of his that I loved so much. “What’cha looking at?” he asked me, his voice soft in the evening air.
“You,” I answered without any hint of shame. “Who else?” I rolled to my side to better see him. He was standing at the foot of my blanket, legs shoulder-width apart, hands shoved deep into his pockets. His brown hair was long, curling around his ears and hanging low over his brow. His silhouette was imprinted against the sky, looking like something out of an art museum. He made my stomach grow wings and flutter, weightless, inside of me.
“I don’t know. Maybe fantasizing about all those guys in your class.”
“What guys?” I asked innocently, producing a smile from him. “The only guy I fantasize about is you.”
“I hope so,” he answered seriously, before falling to the earth beside me. I laughed softly, lying back onto the blanket again. The sky was slowly darkening in color, turning into an unforgettable black, one that swallows all the light from the earth; and suddenly, I was afraid.
”Charlie?”
”Hmm?” he mumbled, his lips unable to produce the words as fatigue slowly consumed his body like an unwanted drug.[I]
[I]”You think Dr. Davidson will find out what’s wrong with me?” My voice was a soft tremble, tumbling from my mouth like droplets of water from a roof after a heavy rain.
Charlie immediately awoke, his eyes wide, spinning to face me. “What’cha talking about? Of course he is. Don’t you dare doubt that, Lana Louise,” he scolded, eyes blazing.
”I know, Charlie, I know. I’m just—“ I cut off, eyes brimming with acid tears.
”Oh, baby,” he murmured, cupping my face in his hands and pulling me close to him. His palms were warm and rough, the calluses brushing my cheekbones. Sitting up, he pulled my face into his chest, holding me like he would an infant. My lips brushed the collar of his shirt, and I inhaled the smell of him—dry leather, sawdust, and pine needles. It made my heart start to pound, just being near him. “You’ll be with me, Lana. You’ll be with me forever.”
”How do you know? How do you know that God doesn’t have another plan for me?” I demanded, pulling away from him to look into his muddled green-brown eyes that reminded me of the forests back home.
”I just do,” Charlie answered with so much passion, with so little doubt, that I felt my own drain away.
”I love you, Charlie Boon,” I swore, my voice muffled against the cotton fabric covering his wide chest.
”And I you, Lana Louise. I could never love another but you.”
Lana felt the drug working it’s magic. Her body was dulling, the pain fading. Soon exhaustion, like a heavy cloud, would pass over her and she would be gone until the following morning. She tried to fight against it, struggling to resurface the memories that were slowly sinking away. She wanted to pull them back, relive every moment. But the pill’s power was too much, and Lana’s eyes fell closed, blocking off the world of pain and happiness for another night.
She dreamed of happier times, of earlier events between her and Charlie…
”Charlie Boon, is that you?” I exclaimed, shocked to see the boy standing in the doorway, looking so out of place amongst the kids of my class. He was dressed in tan khakis and a blue blazer, his hair combed. I was in my school uniform, my black pleated skirt reaching to my knees and my vest buttoned up to my throat. “You know you aren’t allowed here,” I chided, my eyes narrowing as the whole class, boys and girls alike, watched the scene unfold.
“I know. I just couldn’t stop from coming over here.” He looked so innocent, his cheeks rosy from the run, that my knees turned to jelly and I had to grip the side of my desk to hold myself up.
“You’re going to get in big trouble, Boon, coming back here,” a deep voice warned from the back of the room. Both Charlie and I spun to face Harry Simon, his chiseled face grave. Charlie turned to him with his usual cockiness, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Oh, yeah, Harry? What’cha going to do? You gonna shoot me, Harry.”
“No, but you know what the principal said when he expelled you, sent you to St. Joseph’s.” Harry’s eyes gleamed with dislike.
“How do you know what he said to me?” Charlie challenged, his shoulder stiffening.
Harry grinned. “You ain’t the only one, Boon, that breaks the rules around here. I’m just not stupid enough to get caught.”
Charlie ground his teeth together, advancing on Harry, but I stepped in the way. “Don’t,” I said firmly, pressing my palms into his shoulders; Charlie froze. “Just go, Charlie, before you do get in trouble.” My voice broke through his fantasies and he blinked several times, staring down into my glassy bronze orbs.
“Yeah,” he agreed, shaking his head and slowly backing away, “Yeah, I better go. But you gotta promise me, Lana, to meet me at the strawberry patch after school.” I didn’t answer him right away, not sure how to take him. If he was serious or not. When I looked into his eyes, I saw a deepness to them, a sincerity, that made him look older than his seventeen years.
Then I knew I couldn’t refuse him. There was something in that crooked smile, in that cocky walk, in that husky laugh that just sent my heart a pattering like the weak motor of a locomotive. “Okay, Boon.” I allowed a fleeing smile to cross my lips before he disappeared out the door, his new shoes squeaking on the linoleum as he fled.
Lana smiled in her sleep, the memory sweet on her tongue. But she was rudely shaken awake by a pair of chilled hands, as if they had been sitting in a bucket of ice all morning. “Lana, Lana!” the voice hissed annoyingly until her lids fluttered open. She sat there for a few moments, unresponsive, as she glared up into the face of Dr. Vincent Davidson. “Hey, Lana,” he breathed, smiling apologetically down at her. “Sorry to wake you but we have to check some of your vitals, give you your medication.”
“Can’t it wait,” Lana grumbled, sitting up, the pain in her limbs ignited with hot, searing flames the licked her bones dry. She let loose a slur of unintelligible curses as the doctor brought about a palm full of pills and a needle connected to an IV.
“Sorry, Lana, I really am. But you know how we have to keep you under a schedule so your body fluids stay level.” He watched her take the pills, one by one, then injected the IV into her bloodstream.
“I have AIDS, doctor, not cancer,” she growled as he released her arm.
“Yes, but your body is trying to fight off a bad case of the flu, so just bear with me.” He tweaked her nose affectionately, producing a smile for his effort. “Nurse Cathy should be in a little while to bring in your breakfast. Sorry again about waking you.”
“It’s okay, Dr. Davidson,” she murmured.
“Good. See you soon, Lana.” And he was out the door, on his way to check on other patients. Lana sighed. Would her life ever return to a state of normalcy? Or would she forever be in and out of the hospital, her body unable to fight simple cases of the flu?
She guessed the answer was no.
{I know I ask too many questions}
I want to find out what happens to her.
But I just can't resist! When an idea pops into my head, I just have to write it down! I bet you can totally relate, right?
I will look into that...