My steps quickened as I hurried home, nervously adjusting my tie. I couldn’t wait to tell Lisa. This was the big break both of us needed. Tom could grow up in sunny Australia instead of miserable, dark alleyways. I crept into our apartment, a bouquet of roses behind my back. Silence. Tom wasn’t home yet, but where was Lisa?

The phone rang.

My heart dropped like a stone. “The hospital?”

When I got there it looked like it may be too late.

Lisa lay in front of me, her hair fanned out on the pillow, as grey as her mother’s. Her eyes were glazed over, glassy and unseeing. For a moment, she looked like a corpse already, but then she croaked a weak “Hey there.”

How could a cough progress to something like this? It had happened too quickly. And on this day... I had thought nothing could ruin my morning. Well, I had been wrong.

Lisa’s mother and father entered the ward. Sandwiched between them was Tom, as small and slight as ever. His unhealthy complexion could improve so much when in Australia. But how could we even think of going now?

Lisa knew. She saw my expression: guilty and pitiful and miserable. Without saying anything, she placed her hand over where mine was resting on the bedside table. A silent reassurance. I knew what was going to happen. She whispered, “Go for it.” I shook my head adamantly, not bothering to wipe away the tears forming in my eyes. Lisa’s expression became stern; then she let out a contented sigh and closed her eyes.

This was happening too fast. I gulped, as my eyes blurred and everything seemed to be muted. As I stood up, a hand clutched mine and Lisa let out a rasping laugh that sounded more like a bad cough. “Go for it, you idiot.”

I didn’t get a chance to argue - she was snoring away.

I entered the ward an hour later, grabbing a coffee after feeling too ill to eat. Lisa was still snoring, her mouth parted and her nose turned up. As soon as I leaned over her, she opened her eyes and said, “ Goddamit, Simon, if you don’t take this opportunity, I’m gonna take you with me six feet under.”

Then she died.

We took the old hag’s ashes to Australia; maybe a bit of sun would make her feel a little more alive.