The couple arrived back at their loft around twelve-thirty in the morning, and Jeremy was definitely tipsy from the drinks offered at the country club. Vivian took out her bedazzled cell phone and typed in a number to call while sitting on the spacious couch. “Who you calling this late, little lady?” questioned a slurring Jeremy. He attempted to take off his shoes, but ended up falling over. “Jeremy Michael. Get up and come over here. I’ll take off your shoes if you promise me you’ll go upstairs and take a shower.” “Okay, Babe. Can I go to bed after?” he asked as if he were a five year old. “Yes, my stomach hurts though, so I’ll be awhile. I’m going to make a quick phone call as well.” “Hey! You know what? I’m gonna be a doctor! I can diagnosssss you!” he replied as he jumped over the couch’s arm and started tickling her. After he decided she had laughed enough, Jeremy went upstairs gripping the railing for dear life and sang a tune that couldn’t quite be made out. Shaking her head, Vivian went back to dialing the phone number. “Hey, Mom. It’s bad. Way worse than what we were expecting” Jeremy stumbled down the stairs, a little more sober now, but still buzzed. Only wearing sweatpants and still towel drying his brown hair, he made his way to the kitchen to put his dirty clothes in the washer, and also wanted to grab a quick snack. After his scoop of peanut butter cup ice cream, he retreated to the living room to talk to Vivian. She was still on the phone. “Who have you been talking to for this long? Is it your other boyfriend?” Jeremy joked while he plopped down beside her on the couch. She was now gripping a pillow, and her makeup was smeared as if she had been crying. “What’s wrong? Why have you been acting so weird lately?” he asked. He had immediately thought that maybe he was right. Maybe she was talking to another guy. “Jeremy, it’s not a guy. I’m fine ok? Just go to bed. I’ll be up soon.” “You said that an hour ago. If this is because you think I have a drinking problem, I don’t! I barely ever-“ “Jeremy it has nothing to do with you! Jesus! You are so conceited. You think everything in my life revolves around you? Think again! If I decide I want to call someone in the middle of the night, then I’ll do so!” “Fine. You’re not going to tell me who it is? Then I’ll start having some secrets too!” a belligerent Jeremy retorted. “I’m leaving! I’m done arguing; I’m so sick of you thinking I have something to hide.” Vivian got up, put on her pink flip flops, and left, slamming the door on her way out. Jeremy felt a pinch in his stomach, and dread overcame his entire being. What had he done? They had never argued like that before. He thought that maybe some sleep would help, and maybe, just maybe, by tomorrow this would all be better and that this was all a dream.

Tomorrow came, and Jeremy jerked himself awake. He looked around with his widened brown eyes and rubbed the gunk out of them. He had the worst hangover in the world, and he headed to the bathroom to alleviate some of the pain. Jeremy opened his mirrored cabinet above the porcelain sink, and ripped open the bottle of ibuprofen.
“Thank God for painkillers,” he whispered to himself while holding his forehead. Where was Vivian? Jeremy noticed she wasn’t in the bedroom when he woke up. Perhaps she was downstairs making breakfast. He ran downstairs, ready to apologize for last night, but there was no Vivian. Frantic, Jeremy immediately dialed her number and left a voicemail when she didn’t answer.
“Hey. I’m so sorry about last night. I’ll never drink again, Viv. I love you so much. Please come home.” Click
Jeremy never imagined that he would lose Vivian after being with her for nine years. He should’ve proposed by now.  Jeremy just wanted to be a doctor before marriage; he thought she’d agreed to that. This was about him being a drunken fool last night, not marriage. Regret started to take a toll. Growls from his stomach interrupted his attempt to nap. Although his body was telling him to eat, his heart was saying he had bigger things to worry about.
After lying on the couch for two hours wondering what to do, Jeremy figured it out. He ran out the door without locking it and all the way down the building to the parking garage. A grey Ford Focus lit up as he hit the unlock button on his key fob, ignited the engine, and took off down the spiraling driveway. A pink fluorescent building along a strip mall appeared off on the right a street over. Jeremy parked in a nearby parking lot and swallowed his pride. A small sigh escaped his breath as he entered the overwhelming bright flower shop. Flo’s Flower’s was well-known in New York for its glittering tile, iridescent countertops, and of course the city’s most beautiful and well-kept flowers. Jeremy knew Vivian’s favorite flowers were Lilies, so he bought a bouquet of different colored ones.

As Jeremy pulled up to his parking spot, he saw Vivian’s red Volkswagen Beetle. He rushed up the stairs instead of taking the elevator so he could work off some of his extra energy from his anxiety. Jeremy burst through the door and shouted, “Vivian Noel Byer, I love you with all my heart and I am so, so--“
“I’m sorry, Jeremy.  There’s so much going on lately with me, and I took it out on you. I knew you weren’t in the right state of mind, and I still got mad. I love you, okay? Oh my gosh, Jer! Are those for me?” Vivian interrupted while rushing over to Jeremy and retrieving the flowers. “You even went to Flo’s!”
A warm smile overcame her face, and she started to cry. A confused Jeremy knew something more serious was going on right then, but he knew that sometimes silence was best.
After a day of contemplating whether or not it was the right rime, Jeremy decided that it was. Jeremy spent the remainder of the week preparing. Vivian woke up to a teddy bear nestled underneath her chin with a note that read, “Get up, get dressed and ready and meet me at our favorite restaurant.” It was followed by a teasing winky face and little drawn out hearts. Jeremy had never been this creative, Vivian thought. Being that it was twelve in the afternoon, Vivian guessed it was for lunch. As she finished straightening her last piece of hair, Vivian grabbed her set of keys and purse and strapped on her favorite set of black heels, and headed out to Leonardo’s. Leonardo’s was one of the first restaurants the couple went to together when they were still in college. The dim lit rooms added a touch of privacy. The smell of garlic and dough overwhelmed any customer who walked in through the glass door that chimed from tied on bells. A jukebox filled with music from the 70’s through the 90’s gave it even more character. Vivian entered through the glass door which was followed by the inevitable chimes. Jeremy was sitting down in the booth dressed in a suit with a gold tie. Vivian sat down and just stared at Jeremy wondering what the special occasion was for. After the chicken and anchovy pizza was eaten, Jeremy grabbed Vivian’s hand and said, “I can’t wait for the next place. Follow my car.”
 

Vivian followed his car back to their apartment complex’s parking garage. Jeremy got out and ran over to her. He blindfolded her and took her on a walk. He sat her down on what seemed to be a bench and untied the blindfold. They were in the chapel garden. Bright colored flowers surrounded the couple. Jeremy got down on his knee and Vivian’s face lit up.
 She started to cry and let out nervous laughs while Jeremy exclaimed, “Vivian Noel Byer. I have loved you since we were in high school. You are the only person in this world who brings out the absolute best in me. I love you more than anything, Viv. Will you marry me?”
Jeremy opened the tiny box which held the most diamonds on a band Vivian had ever seen. The ring looked big enough to weigh her whole hand down. Vivian’s tears turned into sobs and her face completely changed. A long pause followed.
 “I can’t marry you.”
Jeremy felt his stomach drop and his brown eyes started to tear up.
“Why? Why can’t you marry me? I love you and you love me! There is someone else isn’t there?!” he cried while he dropped the ring’s box. He squatted down and ran his hands through his gelled brown hair.
“I have stage three breast cancer. I don’t want you to waste your life away on me when I have a death sentence. I know I should’ve broken this off earlier, but I love you so much and I just couldn’t get myself to do it. That’s what those late night phone calls were about. I am so sorry.”
 Staring off into space, Jeremy suddenly started to quiver and uncontrollably sob. His face scrunched up, and he held his hands in front of it to prevent her from seeing him cry. She grabbed his hands and held them together while squatting down to be closer to him. She held him and started to cry too.
“I don’t care, Vivian.” Jeremy stuttered as he looked up at her. “I love you and you’re the only person I want.”
“You’re not thinking straight. You don’t want me, Jeremy. I’m going to die eventually. A ticking time bomb.”
“So am I! What’s the difference? I want to marry you, and I think you deserve to be treated like a queen while you still are able to! I’m marrying you!” He picked up the ring’s box, took out the ring, and slid it onto her ring finger. She slid it off and said, “No, Jeremy. I just don’t think it will work. So much stress comes with cancer. You’re about to become a doctor, and I’m not going to get in the way of it.”
 Jeremy was speechless. Vivian looked at him and held his head. She hated seeing him upset so she said, “I’ll go pack my things and go to my parents’ house.”
“If that’s what you want.” Jeremy replied with a lost look on his face.
 

Vivian went back to the loft and packed everything she could fit in her pink duffle bag. She threw the bag into her bug and sped out of the garage. She had tears filling her eyes and it made it hard to see. At this point, she really didn’t care if she were to die.
While speeding down the interstate to get to her parent’s house in Long Island, it started pouring down rain to the point that it was hard to see through. She turned her windshield wipers on full blast, but it wasn’t helping. She tried reaching over to pick up her cell phone to check her messages, but couldn’t find it. Vivian took her eyes off of the road and looked over to find it. SMACK The Volkswagen bug had rear ended a semi-truck going seventy miles per hour.
Vivian was unconscious and had been ejected out of the windshield. An ambulance happened to drive by and pulled over to assist her. Jeremy immediately drove to the hospital and was told to wait while the doctors operated on her. While waiting with anticipation for hours in the waiting room, Jeremy was finally called back to see Vivian.
“She doesn’t have long, Mr. Lancaster. I’d make this time with her count. She has a fractured skull, and blood is leaking in which is causing her to seize. She’s paralyzed from the waist down, and we don’t know how long she has.”
Jeremy walked to the room in silence thinking about everything he had learned in medical school with a disgusted look on his face. He had wanted to be a doctor so that he could save lives. The one person he needed saved, couldn’t be. Vivian was lying down on the hospital bed. Even scraped up, she looked like an angel. He went over and grabbed her left hand. He held it for a while and then started to cry.
“Don’t cry, Jer.” Vivian whispered as she grabbed his hands and carried them to her lips to kiss them. “Listen, whatever happens, know I will always be watching over you. I can feel that I don’t have much time left, but I want you to treat me no different than if I was totally healthy. I need you to be strong for me, ok? Please be happy with me while there’s still time.” Vivian weakly spoke.
“You’ve got it, Vivian.”
Jeremy spent the night lying down in the bed with her. They spent most of the night talking about the future and how many kids they’d have, and the details of their dream weddings. She wanted it to be all white at the chapel across from their loft.
They dozed off while in each other’s arms. Suddenly, in the midst of the morning, Vivian started to have a seizure. Jeremy awoke from the compulsions and screamed down the hall for assistance. The doctor came with a team of nurses, but it was too late. The doctor tried to resuscitate her, but it was no use. Jeremy stood in shock looking down at this girlfriend’s lifeless body.
“I’m-I’m so sorry for your loss, Mr. Lancaster. We tried everything we could.”
“Just go, please.”
Jeremy sat with Vivian’s body for as long as he could before the coroner arrived. He would live to honor Vivian for the rest of his life. Glad that he spent the rest of the night with her in harmony, Jeremy went home to his loft and smiled at their memories. She wasn’t suffering anymore, and for that, Jeremy was glad.