The river of time flows relentlessly as weeks flowed into months, which flowed into years and Jared became a permanent fixture in Alex and Alicia’s lives. Jared never saw his maternal grandparents again after the funeral, but his aunt and her husband proved to be more than enough motivation to keep striving for recovery.

The couple came to love Jared as their own son, not simply in Alicia’s case because he shared a resemblance with her sister, but because of his warm personality, his well-mannered behaviour, his resilience in the face of hardship, his blue eyes that brimmed with wisdom and his moral support to the couple.

Jared would infrequently have bouts of improved health, where he could move out of the hospital under strict supervision. Therefore, after the couple moved down to live near Jared permanently, he would either stay with the couple or Alicia would often come to his hospital room to spend time with him and get some of the pressure off her chest.

As Alicia fondly stared at the absent-minded expression on Jared’s face, rubbing her belly she couldn’t help but remember the pressure she felt from Alex’s family concerning her fertility after several years of marriage with no children in sight. Jared would often be a comforting presence outside of the relationship that Alex could not be, reassuring Alicia that these things take time. Time, they do indeed take, as a few weeks before Jared’s recent hospitalisation, the family was overjoyed at the news of Alicia’s pregnancy! Alex and Alicia began to take steps to find out how to baby-proof their home, visiting various stores and deliberating on what to get on top of the essentials.

It was on the evening journey home from one of their forays that they received a call from Jared’s nurse explaining that he suffered a major backlash from the cancerous cells, and he was currently on his way to emergency care. The couple quickly made their way to the hospital, all previous merriment gone from their minds. There they stood vigil throughout the night, praying for his recovery. Alex tried to convince Alicia to have a rest for the baby’s sake, but she stubbornly refused out of worry. Jared had had some bad days over the past 4 years, but they had never heard such urgency in the nurse’s tone on any of those other days.

*

Jared was brought out of his musings by the pleasant sensation of warm hands on his cheeks.” Jared, sweetie, your uncles gonna be here soon, he just went to drop off some of the baby stuff at home and bring you back your books, so you don’t get too bored. I’m gonna quickly grab a cup of decaf tea from the cafeteria and be back before he gets here. You want anything?” Alicia said. Jared replied, “Just a cup of orange juice please, aunty.” “Sure thing, dear.”. Before Alicia could turn to leave, Jared weakly grabbed her hand and said, “Aunty, I love you.” To which Alicia replied, “I love you too sweetie.” She made her way to the door of the room before spinning on her heels and giving him a broad smile, saying “You’re gonna be a great big brother, Jared.” To which Jared softly smiled in response as she leisurely left the room.

‘Big brother, huh? I like the sound of that.’ Jared thought as he smiled contentedly. Jared slowly returned his attention to the pleasant view from outside the 3rd-floor window, revelling in the gentle breeze that flowed across his skin, enjoying the beautiful combination of birdsong with the soft rustling of leaves on summer trees. Suddenly, Jared was overcome by a wave of fatigue, closing his eyes only to discover that he had lost his sense of touch and could no longer feel the cooling sensation of the breeze or even the sweat-drenched bedsheets.

Jared instinctively understood that this was the end of the road for him, with a certainty that could only be found in someone that has tussled with death frequently over the past few years. Following the tactile sense, Jared’s sense of smell was the next to go, ‘Goodbye, perpetual bleach odour.’ If Jared’s mouth wasn’t dry, he would’ve said that taste had disappeared afterwards, however instead it was his sense of hearing that he felt abandon him next. At that moment, he felt overwhelming grief at the idea he’d never hear his aunt’s jovial voice again, nor his uncle’s soothing baritone one, nor the beautiful melody of the birdsong and the breeze flowing through the trees. Worse still, he wouldn’t be able to hear his little brother/sister’s first words, see their first piano recital or listen to their vows on their wedding day.

As Jared’s sight betrayed him, he began to accept with a heavy heart that he had been living on borrowed time, but it was a blessing for him to have lost and found love once again from a position that seemed hopeless. ‘I only pray that aunty will soldier through the pain of my death for my sibling’s sake and that she and uncle raise my precious little sibling with 10 times the abundant love they showed me. A middle name isn’t too much to ask for either. Andrew/Andrea Jared Lawrence? Has a nice ring to it… Mum, Dad, I’ll see you soon.’ With those surprisingly light-hearted last thoughts, Jared finally lost consciousness.