Keep Holding On

"Hi... um... Ch-Charity? Would you like to... um... dance with me?" A slow song came on. Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne. The boy looked nervous, looking around, anywhere but at me since I hadn't answered.

"Sure. What's your name?" I asked, stepping closer to him. My doctors let me out to go to Prom. They said they thought I was healthy enough. I placed my hands around his neck.

"James." He'd said as he wrapped his arms around my lower abdomen. He was sweet, asking me to dance. I came alone because I didn't have time to find a date. After a while, I let myself relax in his arms, my chin resting in the crook of his shoulder.

There's nothing you can say...

There's nothing you can do...

There's no other way when it comes to the truth,

so keep holding on...

Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

I could only hope those words were true and Avril knew what she was talking about because I needed to know that if I kept holding on, I really would make it through.

"Do you ever think about death, Charity?" James asked me. That's a dumb question. Of course I do.

"Sometimes." I said, swaying back and forth with the music.

Hear me when I say, when I say I believe...

Nothing's gonna change, nothing's gonna change

Destiny... whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly

"Well, I hope you don't die for a long, long time, if that makes a difference." I felt the muscles in his face pull back, as if he was smiling.

"Me too." I said, still listening to Avril's hypnotizing words.

Then, for some reason, my eyes started to get heavy. My fluffy purple and black dress became to heavy to hold up. My vision started splotching. Blue, purple, and black. Patterns overlapped the surroundings around me. I started to get dizzy. I started to fall and James tightened his arms around me.

"Are you okay?"

"I... no. I don't think so." My mouth started to feel thick, like my tongue was swelling and someone had put cotton in my mouth. Then, I couldn't hold myself up anymore. I was drifting farther away every second.

Keep holding on

Keep holding on

There's nothing you could say

Nothing you could do

There's no other way when it comes to the truth

So keep holding on

Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

The song ended and I felt myself slip away. My body hit the ground but I was too far gone to feel it.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" James screamed. That's the last thing I remember.

8 A.M. The Next Morning...

Beep, beep, beep...

Beep, beep, beep...

I cracked my eye open to see white; all white. I sniffed the air and groaned. Back in the hospital? Really?

I should have never thought I was well enough to do anything else.

"Morning, Sunshine. How do you feel?" Tessa walked into my room with little Alice in her Mickey Mouse scrubs with a ponytail swinging behind her.

"I feel... disappointed," I said, looking down at my hands and trying not to cry.

"Why?" she asked as she busied herself around my room. She was refreshing flowers, fluffing pillows, checking my monitors, and things of that nature.

"I'll never get out of here, Tessa. I thought I was healthy enough to go to one little dance and I collapsed in the middle of the song. I was born here and I'll die here. Maybe I can never be normal." I started picking with my cuticles, a nervous habit.

"Don't start with those cuticles, Charity. I actually have a surprise for you. You'll meet him later." Him? "As for being normal, you don't need normal. You're special. You're amazing just the way you are." She could sugarcoat it any way she wanted but I knew I would die soon. I knew there was nothing outside this hospital room for me.

"Ity Bitty, why are there people sleeping in here?" Alice asked calling me her nickname for me. She took the Ity out of Charity. I looked around and saw Amia, my half sister, on the left side of the room and to my right was my two best friends, Aaliyah and Amity, sleeping on each others' shoulders.

"Because they wanted to make sure I was okay." Aaliyah was in her hospital gown but Amity and Amia were still in their dresses from last night's Prom. It made me feel loved that they had come but at the same time, I felt guilty because they had missed such a special experience because of me.

"Well, are you? I would'a slept here, too, ya know. I can't believe you had a sleepover and didn't invite me!" She'd said and placed her hands on her hips. She's silly, sassy, just like her daddy. I smiled even though I looked like crap and felt like it, too. I pulled the tangled wig from last night from my head.

"I'm fine, Alice. Thank you for asking. And I'll make sure to invite you next time." I was being nice to her... I wasn't going to take out my anger on anyone. How could I be so stupid? Here I was on my death bed and I'm tearing myself up about a dance.

"I love you, Charity." Tessa kissed my head and Alice squeezed my fingers lightly, before they left my room. My throat started to close up, signalling that I was about to start throwing up, as usual.

I closed my eyes and begged for death to take me.... and then I met my guardian angel.

Notes

Sooo, this is relatively new. I've had it sitting for a while but I'm gonna pick it up again. I think it's worth it.

-Kay