Sarah just hugged him; "I love you Isaac. But what if . . ." "Sarah, knock it off. You are NOT going to die, you understand me. I won't let it happen." "But you can't stop it Ike, that's a power you don't have." He kissed her forehead, "I won't let it happen." She leaned back, "Ike, I'm too warm, get away." He moved and she took sharp breaths but they eventually evened out. That's when he heard someone knock on the door, "Ike, can we come in?" "Yeah!" And Taylor walked into the room and Zac trudging behind him, "hey Ike, four doors to the left is this girl. Would you mind autographing something for her?" "No, I'll go right now." And he walked out of the room and Zac handed him the marker on the way out. "So what did Ike get you?" "Jewelry" and she left it at that. They nodded and Taylor sat next to her, "well, we better get going now. Mom wanted us to help make Christmas dinner and we have to get in some practice time." "Alright, that's fine, thank you so much for coming!" "Don't thank us, we don't mind at all." And Zac hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and Taylor bent down and kissed her forehead. "Bye!" "Bye you guys! And thank you so much for the presents!" "Yeah! Think nothing of it." And they walked out of the door leaving Sarah alone in the hospital bed. She pulled her hand out of the covers and looked at the ring. She just smiled and prayed that maybe one day she would be able to marry Ike.
Ike drove home in silence. He was trying to figure out a way to tell his parents. Taylor and Zac on the other hand were blasting the radio and singing to Hole in My Soul. "How do it feel to be the one who turns the knife inside of me!" Zac grinned and Taylor started laughing. Ike winced at that verse. All he could think about was how Sarah couldn't die, she couldn't leave him. He had loved her since the first day they had met. And ever since then they had kept it a secret. Before she had gotten sick she had inspired him to write A Minute Without You. Even though all of them helped he wrote most of it. He wanted to dedicate it to her but all of their managers said it would kill them before they became famous.
Ike pulled into the driveway and Taylor and Zac jumped out. Isaac filled with anger. How can they act like nothing's wrong? We just visit a friend in the hospital and they think this is a joke? Why are they so immature?
He slammed the car door and walked into the house. "ISAAC! COME HERE HONEY!" He cringed, he was 18 and he mom still gave him stupid nicknames. "Coming Mom!" And he walked into the kitchen. "Ike, sweetheart, I need you to go and pick up some more bread and celery for the stuffing." "Yes mom." And he turned right back around to go to the store. But he realized where he was going and he ran upstairs quickly.
He twisted his hair into a baseball cap and put on a pair of sunglasses. He put on a windbreaker and flipped the collar up. He was about to take off his silver ring but didn't. Once again, he had another reminder of Sarah.
"Ike! Look what I got!" They both were in Sarah's room. They were leaving the next day to start promotion their new CD. "What?" Ike was rummaging around her room looking for a shirt of his Sarah had borrowed a while back. "I went to the mall today and bought this!" He walked over to her on his knees not feeling like standing up all the way. "So, it's just a silver ring?" She looked at him and scowled, "isn't it cool looking? And look at the inside of the ring!" Inside of the ring was Sarah in cursive engravement. "Hey, that is pretty awesome!" "Yeah!" And she tried putting it on her fingers. It was too big for all of her fingers. "Damn it! The only one left and is doesn't fit!" She got upset, "shoot! I mean, I probably should have tried it on but it looked ok! And I can't even take it back because it was on sale!" "Hey, calm down!" He took the ring and tried to put it on his thumb and index finger, "well, it's too small, hang on." And it fit perfectly on his middle finger. "Hey look, it fits!" She grinned, "hey! You have it! So when millions of girls are falling all over you guys you will remember me!" "Sarah, I doubt we'll get that much of a reaction, and how could I forget you?" "You better not, but have it! It looks good on you. Besides, silver isn't my thing, gold and diamonds are!" She laughed, "just don't forget me ok?" "I promise you, I won't! Besides, you are also a song of ours so how can I forget you when I sing it." "Nice try, scoring brownie points!" And he went back to looking for his shirt and she lay back on her bed watching TV.
