Hazel wasn't scared of death. That wasn't the word to describe what was happening. She had always know that death was fast approaching. Her mother and father were standing by her, each holding one of her hands. She had said goodbye to Isaac a few days ago, he had come to visit her in the hospital. Everyone seemed to think that she was afraid. She wasn't. She would miss living, she would miss the few people she had allowed herself to grow stretched to and hurt when she, the grenade, exploded.

It was the middle of the night, but nobody in the room was asleep. They were all, in their own ways and for their own reasons, waiting for Hazel to die. It was clear that her life was ending only a month after Augustus' did. She had been admitted to the hospital and had been there for two weeks. On the fifteenth day, the doctor came in and told her that she was sorry. Hazel did not think that she had anything to be sorry for, but accepted her apology anyway. Only, it wasn't an apology, it was their way of saying that she had two days left if she was lucky.

Hazel had long since put down the old copy of An Imperial Affliction, she hadn't read it since she met the author since the reality of what she had originally thought of as a saving grace became apparent. It was just an old drunk's outlet for his grief, nothing more. She almost picked it up on her last day on earth, but didn't. She couldn't think of that old fool in her limited time.

Augustus was on her mind, too. There was a part of Hazel that wanted to just relive everything she could of their romance. Reread all of their texts, replay scenes in her head, put on his Bulldogs shirt. His family gave it to her. She knew that she couldn't do that. Whether he was right or not about the afterlife, and if she would see him again, it didn't matter then because it wasn't him who she would be hurting when she went, not anymore.

Hazel had decided that it was her parents who needed her. She spent her last day talking to them. While she was able to keep herself lighthearted, her parents cried through the whole thing. Hazel's goal was simply to make them smile once or twice more. It was all that she could do.

Soon, however, that day ended. They were brought to the moment that everyone had been waiting for. Whether they liked it or not, it was the main event. So, with her parents by her side, Hazel closed her eyes. She wasn't dead yet, but she couldn't bare to keep staring at her parents faces waiting for her to die.

"We are right here sweetie," her mom said through broken sobs.

Hazel smiled to herself, ready to embrace the oblivion that would eventually consume everyone.

"Okay." She whispered.