Taylor pov:
"Can you stop that?"
"Stop what?" I say looking up from the magazine I was reading.
Beth twisted their head to face me. We were both sitting in the ward reading magazines I stole from the lobby.
"Grinding your teeth like that. It's really annoying"
"Oh" I said closing my magazine and placing it on my lap "sorry"
I was a little nervous after I called Frank. It had been just over an hour and my anxiety still hadn't settled. I felt a tad guilty giving him the news so bluntly but it was one of those situations where if I hadnt done it then, I probably wouldn't have done it at all
"Its okay" they replied, pulling me back into the ward, "but it was loud and obnoxious"
We were the only ones up in the ward. Even though the breakfast trolly had come through. Usually everyone was up by now so I had to relish these little moments of peace.
"I just didn't want anyone else to wake up, some of these kids get real annoying" They said vaguely gesturing to the ward
"Bold of you to assume you aren't one of them" I said smiling.
"I turn thirteen in six months" they said crossing their arms defensively "I am not a kid"
I raised my eyebrows at them. Beth was two years younger then me but we seemed to get a long well enough.
"Thirteen year olds are just twelve year olds trying to be tough. sorry, I don't make the rules" I said matter of factly.
They blinked twice and then glared at me.
"Fucken rude" they muttered
"Aren't you a little young to be swearing?" I asked, I didnt really care but then again, we shared a room with younger kids
"Aren't I a little young to have lung cancer?" They shot back
My eyes widened at the painfully blunt statement. They were right though.
"Fair enough"
They nodded their head as if to say they made their point and opened their magazine back up. They had a copy of Teen Star magazine and seemed to be flipping through an article about the Jonas Brothers.
We sat in silence for a while, skimming through different articles and photos. My issue of Kerrang! Had Foo Fighters on the cover and was filled with paragraphs on what different bands were doing
I read one short article on Patrick Stump and closed issue again. Nothing was really grabbing my attention.
"Hey Beth?" I said, suddenly thinking of something I've been meaning to ask
They hummed in response, not looking up from their magazine
"Can I ask you something?"
They closed the magazine to look at me "depends" they said apprehensively "what is it?"
"I was just wondering, you don't have to answer by the way" I added "but, why do you still use your given name, wouldn't it be easier to use something more neutral?"
They bit their lip "I guess I never really thought of it as given name, I've always liked Beth but it never suited me growing up. I've just never gotten round to picking a new one, my parents also still see me as a girl and I don't want to give them another thing to stress about on top of y'know-"
They pointed to the breathing tube stuck in their nose.
"-But yeah, I wouldn't mind going by something more neutral, just haven't given it much thought" they finished
I pursed lips "maybe I can help you?"
Beth clasped their hands together excitedly "like right now?" As they got more excited their voice started to get louder.
Ally stirred in her sleep making both Beth and I hold our breath. The last person we wanted awake was Ally. Id only ever caught her awake twice before. She was frail and weak. She constantly wore a brown knitted beanie because of the hair loss and her skin was patchy. She never said a word to me either, I wasnt sure if she was able to.
Ally had a brain tumor and so far had about 4 operations to get it removed. But It was persistent and refused to leave. It ate away at her daily. If I watched her heart rate monitor for long enough I could see the inconsistencies in it
Beth cringed at how loud they got "oops, sorry"
"Its okay" I whispered, still not taking my eyes off Ally. I wanted to make sure she didn't wake up. I knew out of all of us, she needed the rest the most.
"Close call" Beth hissed
I nodded my head in agreement. It made me a little dizzy but it was expected when I had medication being shoved down my throat every two hours.
I drew my attention back to Beth and shifted in my bed so I was facing them a bit more.
"How do you feel about Alex?" I asked, moving back onto helping them find a name.
They scrunched their nose. "Not for me"
"Agreed...maybe we should make a list first" I suggested
"Good idea" they said. "We can make our own lists and then you can help me pick from those"
"Sounds like a plan" I smiled and gave them a thumbs up.
They reached over to grab something lying under their bed. They pushed themselves back up with a small grunt of effort to reveal a travel bag. It was old and had a faded floral pattern. Like those couches everyone's grandparents' seemed to own in the 80s
Reaching inside they rummaged around for a couple seconds and pulled out two pens.
"Here you go" they said leaning over to hand it to me.
"You don't happen to have paper?" I asked
They shook their head. "I thought we could just write on the magazines"
I quickly tested the pen on the glossy paper with a short scribble. The ink wasn't working. I frowned and tried again, this time pressing a little harder.
Still nothing. I huffed in frustration.
"Pen's dry" I said to Beth
"This one too" they said holding up the chewed remains of a pen.
Aiming for the waste paper basket next to the ward door, Beth threw the pen into the bin without even trying.
Slightly impressed, I copied them and aimed for it. I missed terribly though and it hit the wall and bounced back landing on the floor next to the bin.
"You got lucky" I muttered
Beth scoffed, both at me and my poor throwing. "I used to play netball" they said, readjusting their breathing tube.
"Ah okay, that makes me feel a little better about my horrendous aim"
"Oh, don't get me wrong you suck at throwing" they assured me, pointing their thumb at the empty pen lying on the floor.
"Yeah I know, don't have to tell me." I grumbled.
They stifled a laugh. "Just go downstairs and get us something to write with will you?"
"Cant I just go next door?" I whined, not wanting to make the effort of draging my IV to the elevator at the end of the passage
"But the lobby has so many, you can just take one and they wouldn't notice, I need one for my bag" they held up the bag next to their face as if it would make it more convincing
"Ugh fine" I agreed. Swinging my legs over the bed I placed my feet on the tiled floor. I could feel the freeze through my socks.
"Cant believe im doing this for your ugly ass bag" I chided.
Beth rolled their eyes but smiled. "Think of it as helping a kid with cancer" they called after me as I reached the doorway
"Im the kid with cancer" I said pointing to my IV pole I held in my hand.
Leaving the ward I stepped out into the artificially lit hallway and started the long walk to the elevator. The IV pole I was dragging behind me made an obnoxious noise as the wheels rolled over the grooves in the tiles. It made me self conscious as I past doctors and other patients.
After what felt like an eternity of walking past closed doors I reached the elevator. The silver sliding doors were smudged from the hands of past patients. Clicking the button I rocked on the balls of my feet waiting for the metal cell to reach me.
A small ding and the elevator opened up, thankfully it was empty. I stepped inside and faced my back to the mirror on the wall. I didn't feel like seeing myself, because I knew I wouldn't recognize what I saw. If I felt sick all the time I couldn't imagine what I looked like.
My stomach lurched as the elevator reached the ground. Another ding and the lobby lay out in front of me. A mix of gray and creme colored furniture with a single wood varnished desk was all that occupied this floor, along with the occasional plastic pot plant.
Only one person was sitting here. I could only see the back of their head, a rather tall person with curly, brown hair sat in a denim jacket facing the receptionist desk.
I stepped out of the elevator onto the plush carpet. It was a nice change after walking on mostly hard tiles for almost a week and a half.
Dragging my IV pole behind me I began to walk a little slower. Turns out trying to pull the wheels of an IV along carpet isn't the easiest task.
I reached the couch that held the tall figure. With my eyes set on the mug holding all the pens I got to the desk and leaned over to speak to the receptionist.
"How can I help you?" She said looking up from her computer screen
"I just need two pens" I smiled
"Oh of course" she reached over to the mug that said 'I ♡ NEW JERSEY' and took out two pens for me
Taking them from her I thanked her and turned around to walk back.
"Taylor?" The voice came from the creme sofa facing the receptionist desk
I couldnt belive it
A/N
Sry for the cliff hanger I needed something to pull everyone back in