–

Six months was a long time. Dana had six months left to live. That’s what the doctor had told them, and Alice blocked out the ‘No guarantees’ part. Somehow, Alice had expected everything to become as they used to be. Dana got to come home. That was what she wanted, and she asked Alice to stay with her. For a while, however short, Alice fooled herself that everything could be just fine again. The first night Dana fell asleep in her own bed, with Alice’s right hand between her palms, made Alice feel that they were back. It made her forget about all the things ahead.

 But soon after her final diagnose, Dana got worse. She couldn’t eat. Alice cooked; she ordered in, she bought all of Dana’s favourite foods but nothing helped. Whatever Alice tried to give her, Dana just couldn’t bring herself to eat it. And she quickly got smaller and so very fragile. Two weeks after she left the hospital, Alice was sure Dana would starve to death before her very eyes. The doctor told her it wasn’t unusual in ‘this type of cases’ for the patient to loose all appetite. Dana got a drip. She began to have more and more intense pains. She’d cry and scream and cramp all night long, begging Alice to help her. The doctor got her a morphine pump with a button she could press whenever she felt any pain.  It helped, but the medicine made her groggy. Nurses came several times a day to check on her, and to help Alice with the basics.

–

“Who is it?” Dana whispered, sounding a little agitated. She was sitting up on her bed, the feet touching the floor. Her whole body weight was resting against Alice, who firmly held her around her fragile shoulders to keep her up. Her eyes hadn’t been open all day, and she was slipping in and out of sleep. With every breath she drew in, Alice thought it felt like Dana was trying to rise up, because it felt and sounded so forced. Like it was exhausting for her just to take a breath.

“It’s just me, Dane. It’s Alice.” She answered softly, trying to keep calm. “Don’t you recognize me?” Dana didn’t answer. She took another breath, it sounded like a gasp from a horror movie, and her body rose again. “Dane?” Alice whispered, losing her calm a little, when she didn’t feel or hear Dana exhale. “Dana?” She started to get desperate, but then she felt Dana lower down and exhale. “Are you trying to scare me, Dane?” She whispered into Dana’s ear. “You succeeded.” There was no reaction, just the breathing, steady again.