Five Feet Apart

by Rachael Lippincott

Stella made it. Stella has new lungs.

As of now, she’s B. cepacia free. As of now, that’s enough.

She shakes her head and sighs. “No, sweetie . . .” She trails off, shrugging and smiling faintly at me. “Love is love.”

I love her.

I used to always be searching for something. Searching from every rooftop for something that would give me a purpose. And now I’ve found it.

He’s leaving. Will’s leaving.

NO STOP

He raises his hand, putting it up against the glass of the window. I weakly raise mine, resting it on top of his, the glass just the latest thing keeping us apart. I want to scream. Stay.

“I don’t want to leave you, but I love you too much to stay.” He laughs through his tears, shaking his head. “God, the freakin’ movies were right.”

“I will love you forever,”

She takes a deep breath, her new lungs working wonderfully.

“We need that touch from the one we love, almost as much as we need air to breathe. I never understood the importance of touch, his touch . . . until I couldn’t have it.”

She was always beautiful to me, but now she is free. She is alive.

And, for once, that includes fighting right alongside her. We’ve finally found common ground.

It’s just a few feet away.

It takes me about six seconds to spot her, and I’m not even surprised that when I do, her eyes are right on mine. Stella was always the one to find me first.

Idek what to say. Happy crying emoji

But then his mouth turns up into that lopsided smile and the world melts away. It’s Will. It’s really him. He’s sick, but alive. We both are.

I smile at him, and take just that one more stolen step, until we’re five feet apart.

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