Topaz barely slept that night. When she awoke the next morning, there was blood all over her pillowcase. Shit, another nosebleed, she thought to herself. She went into the bathroom and applied pressure with a cold compress. Soon the bleeding stopped. She knew that this meant she would have to call her doctor again. The thought scared her. What would he say now?

The phone rang, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hello?" She answered, still half awake.

"Topaz, did I wake you up?" It was Aj.

"No, I've been up for a little while. I um, just have a headache." Topaz replied.

"Aww, do you want me to call back later?" He offered.

"No, that's ok. I'll just take some aspirin, I'll be fine." She said, trying to sound convincing.

"I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner tonight. I figured I'd call early in case you had other plans."

"No...no plans. Dinner sounds great, just tell me where and when." She said, excited at the thought of seeing him again.

"Ok, how about I come to your room at about 7 and we can leave from there?" Aj asked, hoping that was alright.

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you at 7 ?"

"7 it is. Goodbye pretty lady."He said cheerfully.

"Bye Alex." Topaz replied, then hung up.

*********** She dressed carefully for her dinner with Aj. She wanted to look good for him and it showed. She had on a knee length black dress that criscrossed in the back, high heel sling backs, and a diamond bracelet her father had given to her before he died. It was her favorite, and everytime she dressed up, she wore it. She had tied her long black hair back into an elegant bun with a few loose tendrils framing her face. A pair of small diamond studs adorned her ears completing the look.

Topaz glanced over at the clock. 6:30pm. Aj would be showing up in a half hour. She knew that she had to take her medicine before she left. She opened up a rather imposing looking bag full of medication. She took out six bottles of pills and set them on the counter top. Systematically, she began to take each one, barely bothering to look at the labels before popping them into her mouth. It was all routine, and she had it down pat. She finished the pills off with a tall glass of water and sighed. She wished that she could be healthy again, back to the days before the chemo treatments, before losing her hair, before going into remission, and then getting sick again. She prayed every day for a full recovery, but to no avail. She knew that soon she would lose her gorgeous mane of black hair, and it wouldn't grow back. She shivered at the thought. Gotta live for tonight, she said to herself.

She took one last look in the mirror at her face. She could see traces of black circles beginning to form underneath her eyes again, but she just blinked the image out of her mind. She applied a soft bronze lipstick and stood back admiring herself. She did look great. She just hoped Aj would agree.

There was a light rapping on the door, and Topaz walked out to answer it. Was it him already?

She opened the door to see a floral delivery man standing there. "Are you Topaz?" He asked, giving her a once over.

"Yes. That's me." She replied, staring in awe at the beautiful arrangement of white roses and babies breath.

"These are for you." He announced handing her the glorious bouquet.

"Thanks." She took the bouquet from his hands, and closed the door. She reached inside for the card and read it slowly.

Topaz, I can't wait to see you tonight. Love, Alex.

She inhaled the sweet scent of the flowers. She couldn't remember the last time a man had sent her flowers and it touched her. Maybe she had been wrong about him after all. Soon there was another knock on her door.

She opened it to find Aj standing there looking more handsome than she had ever seen him look in her life. He had on black pants, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket. Nevermind he smelled good enough to eat.

"You are breathtaking." He said, unable to take his eyes off her.

"Thanks, so are you." She responded, trying to resist the urge to have him then and there.

"Shall we go?" Heasked, offering her his hand.

"Yes, let's." She grasped his hand and they set off for the restaraunt.

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