"Awsten open the door!" Patty demands. It's been ten minutes and he's still here. Maybe if I wait longer he'll leave.

"I'm not leaving until you open this door."

Well there goes all hope I had. "I will break a window if I need to and I know you can fucking hear me so open the damn door!" More shouting followed by more aggressive banging.

Reluctantly I walk down the hallway and reach out to unlock the door. Do I want to do this? No but I don't have a choice. Patty doesn't lie about shit like this.

Looking around I notice the house is a mess. He can't see this. He'll see I'm not a fully functioning human being. He'll think it's not safe for me to a be a member of society.

"One second! Let me find my keys." I yell through the door. The noise decreases and finally stops. A random pair of shoes are thankfully already near the door. Slipping my feet in I brace myself and unlock the door, throwing it open only to fling myself out and lock it behind me.

"You knocked?" I say with a smile. Patty glares at me but his expression softens quickly and he threads his arm through mine.

"Well now I finally got you out, let's go on a walk." We set off down the drive. Before we walk onto the street, I pushed my keys down into my pocket and looked up at the blonde. "Where are we going?"

He shrugged. "No idea. We're just going to walk. You need to get out the house and we need to talk."

Internally growling, I try not to let my frustration show. I knew this was coming. "Talk about what?"

"Are you ok?" There it is. The one question that everyone has asked. I'm getting sick of that fucking question!

"I'm fine. Just a bit upset. My husband died, it's not the end of the world." We round the corner and run into a cloud of smoke. Coughing and spluttering I walk through as fast as I can whereas Patty just strolls through without a care in the world.

"You ok Aws?" I nod, still coughing. I always hated smoke and cigarettes. Geoff used to smoke. He eventually stopped. He always told me that he would quit for me and I guess he loved me enough to finally do it.

"Are you sure? You don't look ok." Patty's concerned voice gets lost in a sea of ringing. "No, no. Not here, not now." I mutter. Pain radiates through my head.

Reaching around for Patty, I cling onto him and try to use him as a shield. No one can shield the pain from my brain. Not even myself.

Coughing and wretching floated through the wall, waking me up. That was the fifth time this week and that cough hadn't left either.

"Gee honey are you Ok?" I called. After a few more coughs a weak voice replied "Yeah."

Willing myself to roll out of bed, I enter the bathroom, kneeling down beside my husband as he vomits even more. "It's ok baby, I've got you." Sweating, Geoff leans into me.

"We're going to the hospital."

"No."

"Yes Geoff. We're going now. This has been going on all week and it's clearly not getting any better."

"It's just a bug Aws, it'll pass."

"It's not a bug because I'm absolutely fine." I stated. "That's because you have a better immune system than me." I looked at him. "Ok fine maybe you don't. Fuck it, let's go." Geoff cracked. I grabbed the sick bucket from the cabinet and handed it to him.

"We're going like this, no time to get dressed. Come on." With that I helped him up and down the stairs, giving him slipped to wear so it was comfier for him. Leaving Geoff by the door I raced upstairs and grabbed two shirts and my phone.

"You're gonna have to put the bucket down while I help you put your shirt on." I said, running down the stairs. "I'm sick Awsten not broken. I can put my own shirt on." To prove his point he took both shirts and pulled them on.

"Well done genius, now I don't have a shirt." Geoff shrugged. "Put a hoodie on." He said. There was two on the stairs and a sweater. I grabbed the sweater and pulled that on, then grabbed a hoodie. "Ok let's go."

"Why do you have a hoodie too?"

"In case I get cold. Move." With a loving shove from me, Geoff steps out the house, bucket safely in his arms. After checking I had everything, I then joined him in the chilly night air, locking the door.

I noticed him shivering and handed him the hoodie. "It was for you." I said truthfully, giving him a soft kiss. "I know you get cold easily." Geoff smiled at me gratefully and passed me the (thankfully) empty bucket.

Once his hoodie was on we both walked to the car. "You ok to drive"

"Yes Geoff because I'm the only one not projectile vomiting out the two of us."

"We could get a cab or something?"

"Shut up and get in the car."

-

The hospital was nearly empty. "This is creeping me out slightly." Geoff whispered. I nodded. "Me too. Where is everyone?"

"Maybe they're dead." Geoff joked. I glared at him and elbowed him carefully. "Shut up." Geoff laughed. "You love me really."

"Yeah I guess I do. No idea why but one day I decided to say those vows and sign that paper. I thought it was the worse decision I've ever made but I'm pretty sure staying married to you was." I joked.

My husband rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something; he had to duck his head as the only thing that came out was more vomit. Rubbing his back didn't stop the sickness but it definitely calmed him down.

Drained he just flopped against me once it was over. "Thank you Aws. I don't know what I would do without you." Geoff reached up to kiss me but stopped. "I taste like puke don't I." I nodded. "So why did you kiss me earlier?"

"Because I love you and you wanted to kiss me. It's only a few moments of bad tastes then it goes away." I tell him. "You're so sweet."

"I know I am."

"Geoff Wigington?"

We both looked up when his name was called. After locating the voice we stood up, Geoff was a little unsteady but, we walked over to the nurse.

We followed her inside to her office and Geoff got to sit on the table. Because I'm a child I was a tiny bit jealous, but that was overridden by my concern for my husband.

"Ok so what are you experiencing?" She asked, straight to the point. "Vomiting, coughing fits, dizziness." Geoff informed her. "And how long has this been going on for?"

"About two months but the vomiting on my started on Monday." He said. "Is there any blood at all and is the coughing painful?"

I looked at him. "Yes to both questions." Geoff replied, looking at me as he did so.

Everything froze. I didn't know there was blood. "Gracie." I mumbled. Geoff looked away.

The nurse stood up and unwrapped a stethoscope from around her her neck. She then proceeded to press it against Geoff's chest so he had to take the hoodie and both shirts off. "Ooh it's cold." Geoff giggled but I didn't smile.

The blonde nurse took a few blood samples in which Geoff had to squeeze my hand tightly but I wasn't bothered. I just felt numb. I had been through this before.

"Ok one last question. Do you smoke?"

"I used to but I quit about four months ago." Geoff said. She nodded and wrote something down. "How long did you smoke for?"

"Since I was sixteen so about nine to ten years." The nurse nodded again and wrote some more down.

"Ok, I won't know for sure until I get the results back but from my tests and what you've said, I suspect that you might have lung cancer."

Everything stopped. Geoff looked at me. "I'm sorry." I whispered then ran out the room.

It's ya favourite sad and lonely ginger back with another sad chapter. Sorryyyyyyy xox