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Chloe's breathing was labored but she smiled nonetheless as Kate's tiny hand intertwined with her own bony claw.
To say she looked a little ragged was an understatement.
The doctors didn’t sugarcoat it. She hadn't wanted them to.
She was dying.
Chloe wearily turned her head towards Kate as best she could.
She was staring down at their hands.
Matching baby blue nails.
Kate had painted them for her.
Blue eyes latched unto each other suddenly as the small girl realized she was being stared at.
“How are you feeling?” Kate asked in the tiniest voice, cracking and betraying that she already knew the answer.
Chloe smiled weakly, “Like crap, marshmallow.”
It made her feel better to see Kate's face soften at the nickname.
Kate was all she had anymore.
-----
Chloe hadn't known what to expect when her parents signed her up for the church group. She'd rolled her eyes at the time but knowing her parents decorated her room with religious imagery…
Well. She did it for them.
Chloe vividly remembered the first time Kate came to visit her.
Her mom popped her head in, telling her that her “Guardian Angel" was here.
Yeah, that was seriously the program name.
Guardian Angels.
The group was for “troubled girls" as the church had put it.
“Troubled” meaning anything from “getting into trouble” to “dying a slow, painful death” apparently.
Kate was exactly what she'd expected. Tiny, meek, probably hadn't committed a real sin in her entire life.
There was an awkward silence before Kate walked over.
It was the first of many times Kate held her hand.
Both cherished the memory.
“I'm Kate Marsh,” she'd whispered.
“Chloe Price.”
Another moment of silence passed between them.
Chloe let out a wheezy laugh, “Well, isn't this the part where we spill our hearts out to each other?”
Kate smiled painfully, “Yeah…”
“Well. Uhm. I'm Chloe, said that before. I was in a car accident. Now I'm paralyzed from the neck down and dying. You?”
Kate blanched as she stared at the ground, “My… my problems are nothing compared to that… I'm sorry…”
“Nah, come on this isn't how you play the game. What’re ya in for?”
Kate stared anywhere but Chloe as she answered, “I… tried to kill myself.”
“Not the sparknotes version, marshmallow, this is a tell all novel.”
Kate let go of Chloe's hand wringing her hands, “I was…”
She paused, trying to sum up her situation in her mind before spilling it.
Chloe watched in silence as the girl broke into tears, unraveling her story between sobs.
-----
Back in the present they remained in silence again.
It was a familiar silence now.
“It's there anything I can do to help?” Kate asked in that soft voice of hers.
Chloe closed her eyes.
“No, Kate. It won't be long now though. I can tell.”
Stinging tears rushed to Kate's eyes as she collapsed across Chloe's lap.
These past few months had meant the world to her.
She balled her small fists into Chloe's quickly dampening sheets as she continued to cry.
Chloe would have given anything to be able to reach out and wipe away her tears.
-----
They had met regularly.
It started out twice a week but quickly became every other day or more.
Chloe looked forward to Kate's visits, the doctors surmised it was the only reason she was still alive.
Their nights were varied.
Kate tried to help Chloe do everything she wanted.
They watched movies together. Kate had even carefully curled up next to her in the bed. Chloe couldn't physical feel the weight of Kate's head on her lap but she was comforted nonetheless.
Chloe had coaxed Kate into dancing to some of her CDs. It started off stilted and awkward but had grown genuine and energetic with Chloe's encouragement.
Kate had brought her drawings. They now decorated the walls of Chloe's room. They'd started off as random doodles but had quickly developed into things far more personal. Illustrations of a sick girl and her angel.
Every second they'd spent together would be written on their hearts forever.
-----
As Kate cried Chloe tried futilely to comfort her.
“Hey. It'll be okay Kate.”
The small girl carefully pushed herself up, slowly shaking her head, “No it won't.”
“Yes it will. I know you don't believe me but it will.”
Kate shook her head, her bun starting to come loose, “But… Chloe… you'll be…”
“I'll be fine. It's you I'm worried about.”
She froze up in confusion, “I'm… I'm not going to… I'm not going to try again.”
“I know you aren't. I'm worried because you're going to live. And it's going to hurt,” Chloe said as her own voice started to hitch.
Kate started shaking her head, tears falling onto Chloe’s hand as it was pulled to the tinier girl’s chest.
“But you are going to live. That’s the important part. Can you do something for me, Kate?”
Eyes red and puffy she looked up and nodded solemnly.
“Live enough for both of us, okay? I never got to follow my dreams so I need you to chase yours with all you’ve got. I know you can do it.”
Kate lost it again, bringing Chloe’s hands to her face as she started crying harder.
She nodded, tears streaming down her face.
The clock struck midnight.
“It’s time for you to go, Kate.”
She knew what that really meant.
It was time for Chloe to go.
Kate started crying harder and Chloe was fighting the urge to join her with all the fading strength she had left.
“I’m going to miss you,” Kate croaked out.
“I know. I love you, Kate.”
“I love you too, Chloe.”
At that Kate carefully bent over the bed, giving Chloe a soft goodbye kiss.
As their lips parted Kate nearly collapsed.
She placed her hand on Chloe’s one last time before leaving the room.
She didn’t look back as the the steady beeping of the machines flatlined.
-----
Two years later that night still haunted Kate every day but she’d stayed true to her word.
She was following her dreams for Chloe.
The hospital doors in front of her were daunting.
She could hear the children behind them waiting for her to come read to them.
Her knuckles were white, clenched to a copy of her book.
On the cover a blue-haired angel floated gently above a little girl.
“My Guardian Angel.”