PENNY (4 page)

Chapter five

Three days later (March 23, 2009)

Iris took her daily medication before leaving for class. She finished her exam and left campus. Her next stop was The Pub for a burger. The new medication she was on curbed her appetite. And she hadn't puked in days. Things were looking good so far.

She entered The Pub, proceeding towards the ordering counter. After placing her order, she stood at the pick-up side. "So, when were you leaving?" Charlotte sat at the table with Forrest in The Pub.

"Next week." She answered. "I'll be gone for a week." She happened to look away to see a familiar woman standing at the counter. "There's Iris." Iris headed pass their table with her food, proceeding towards the exit. "You're not gonna say anything?"

"She doesn't wanna talk to me." She looked away to stare at him. Now she was confused. They were usually inseparable so to see this made her wonder.

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. We should go." He stood up with his tray, making his way to the garbage can.

Iris sat in her car chomping down on her food. She was starving and this hardly ever happened. Food never tasted so good to her. "Mmm." She moaned while shutting her eyes.

A knock on the window startled her. She quickly looked away to see a woman standing at the window. It was Charlotte. She sat her food down, letting the window down with the push of a button. "Iris..."

"Charlotte...hi." She flashed her a smile.

"I saw you in there. I couldn't help but be concerned."

"About what?" She asked, noticing Forrest who was sitting in his car. So that was what she meant.

"Are you and Forrest okay? You're usually talking and smiling. He didn't even wanna talk to you when he saw you. Which is weird."

"Um...we are fine." She lied. "I appreciate your concern, Charlotte. But I should go." She turned the key in the ignition. "Bye Charlotte." She watched her back out of the spot, heading out on the road.

Charlotte was far from concerned. She was actually ecstatic about this. If Iris was out of the picture, then she had Forrest all to herself.

Two weeks later (April 6, 2009)

Still no word from Forrest. It was just what Iris expected the moment she confessed. He wanted nothing to do with her. She was relieved that he knew. Because now she could die knowing that he knew the truth.

She even stopped taking her medication. This would be the first time she'd thrown up in weeks.

After leaving the bathroom, she froze the second she saw her mother standing in the hall. "Are you okay?" She nodded yes.

"I'm fine." Her mother held up a bottle of pills.

"You have well over three weeks in here. Are you taking your medication everyday?" She rolled her eyes at her.

"Yes, mother. I've been taking them." She lied, feeling queasy again. "Excuse me." She turned, rushing inside the bathroom.

"I'm concerned about her, Roman. I don't think she's taking her meds. And I think it's because of Forrest." Iris overheard her mother talking in the hall with her father. "They were fighting. She hasn't been herself since."

She tried to sneak by without them noticing but she was spotted out immediately. "Iris, what's going on?" Roman asked. "Have you stopped taking your medication?"

"Um..." She was going to lie again but she saw no point. "Yes." The looks on their faces was priceless.

"Why would you do that?" Roman asked.

"Do you not want to live?" Peggy asked, her eyes shimmering with tears.

"I don't see the point in living if I can't live a normal life."

"That's ridiculous, Iris. The doctor said you could..."

"The doctor isn't living with HIV. So she knows nothing. I'm the one living with this horrendous disease. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to be born with HIV. I should have a right to choose whether I should live with it. Not you. Not daddy. Not anyone. This is my decision." Peggy covered her mouth as she wept softly.

"Iris, think about what you're doing. You are gonna die if you don't continue treatment." Roman spoke desperately. "Think about us. Think about all of the people you are going to hurt."

"I have thought about it." They watched her enter her room, shutting the door behind her.

"Oh god..." Peggy cried on Roman's shoulder. "We have to do something."

Two hours later

Iris had fallen asleep and was awoken by a knock on her door. She opened her eyes, watching the door open. To her surprise, it was Forrest. Was she dreaming? Or was he really there?

"Forrest..." He entered the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Hey." She sat up, watching him approach her with an item in his hand. "Did I wake you?" She looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It read, 6:30.

"You did. But it's fine. I was getting up any way." He decided to take a seat beside her.

"Your mom called me." That would explain why he was there. He'd been avoiding her for weeks. "What are you thinking not taking your medication? Do you wanna die?"

"We're all gonna die someday, Forrest. Some sooner than others."

"I won't accept that. You're not gonna die on me. You're supposed to grow old with me. We're supposed to live a happy life with our kids. And our grand kids." She held her head down, fiddling with her fingers once again.

"I told you I can't give you what you want. There's no point in living."

"Not if I want you to?" She met his gaze. "What about how I feel? Do you even care?"

"That's not fair, Forrest. Everyone is thinking about themselves and not about what I want. You don't know what I'm going through. Not being able to be with anyone. Waking up feeling sick with no appetite. Always weak and tired. I...I hate it. I can't do it anymore."

"Here." She looked down to see a photo album in his hand. "I brought this. Pictures of us. When we were younger...up until now." She knew what he was doing. "I want you to look at them and tell me that you still can't be happy. Especially with me."

"Forrest..."

"Look at them, Iris. Please." She took the book from him, opening it up to the first page. It was a picture of him and her sitting in the sand at the beach. She looked over at the next picture to see one of her alone. She was smiling with a missing front tooth.

He watched her flip to the next page. He sat there observing her. There were moments when she would smile and then there were times when she would tear up. She had no idea he kept all of their photos.

She wiped at her face, ridding of the tears. "I remember this one." She concealed a part of her face as she wept softly.

It was a picture of her holding a stray dog that they took in. His name was whiskers and he would always show up at her and Forrests' house for food. Until one day he got hit by a car. "Iris, I want you to live. I want you to live so you can be happy with me. Your parents want you to live too. You don't think you're being selfish by doing this? Who said we can't be happy together?"

"It's not fair to you. Asking you to give up everything just for me."

"You would do the same for me. No doubt."

"I just..." She sighed heavily. "I want you to be happy."

"I am happy. As long as you're in my life." She watched him lean in, gradually meeting lips with hers.

She reached up, resting her hand on his cheek as they kissed for the second time. One of the many kisses that were to come.

Chapter six

Three weeks later (April 27, 2009)

Iris entered The Pub, spotting out Forrest instantly. He sat at a table with two guys she only assumed were from college. He had broken up with Charlotte the same day he showed up to her house begging her t
o
f
i
ght the disease.

They had been hitting it
off
since then.

"Hi." He looked up at her.

"Iris..." His eyes wandered
off
to his friends sitting at the table. "Uhhh guys, you know Iris. Iris...this is Zane and Donte. You guys..." He hinted for them to leave. "Have a seat." He
off
ered, watching her take a seat after his two friends left. "I got you this." He slid the milkshake in front of her. "I hope you don't mind. I had some."

"Thank you." She sat a notebook on the table. He watched her open it up to a spec
i
f
i
c page.

"What's that?"

"I've been writing down all of the things I would like to accomplish before I die. I'm at numbe
r
f
i
fteen. My goal is to reach a hundred."

"A hundred? Wow. That's a lot." She chuckled softly. "What's number one?" He leaned over to get a closer look but she shut the notebook. "Ha-ha. Why'd you do that?"

"I don't want you reading it until I'm done." He stood up, taking a seat beside her.

"Well, if you must know. The number one thing I would like to do is graduate. Then I want to get married. The third thing I would like to do is have a child. Boy or girl. Doesn't matter. And then I want to..." She cut him
off
with a kiss. A chill ran up his spine. He always got tingly all over when they kissed.

She pulled back to peer in his eyes. "I didn't meant to interrupt. I've just been wanting to do that all day." He chortled softly.

"Me too." He leaned back in, engaging in a kiss with her.

A decade earlier (September 1, 1999)

Iris and Forrest rode their bikes into town. "Right there, Iris!!!" He pointed at the park. She followed him towards the specific area.

The two stopped and took a break to drink. At the time, she didn't know much about HIV. She knew it was deadly. She assumed through all bodily fluids. Such as saliva.

So you could imagine what was going through her head when Forrest asked for some of her water since he had ran out of his. "Don't you have your own?"

"I ran out. Come on, Penny. Just a sip." She felt extremely bad. But she couldn't. Only for his safety.

"I can't. I'm sick with a cold. I don't wanna give it to you." She coughed intentionally. "See?" He slid his empty bottle back in the cup holder attached to the bike.

"Fine. Be that way." She watched him hop on his bike. "Last one home is a rotten egg!!" She quickly hopped on her bike, following him down the street.

She was so focused on beating him that she didn't see the dip in the side walk. She ran into it, allowing her bike to flip forward. She flew
off
the bike, landing straight to the ground.

"Ow." She rolled over on her back, holding her knee that was bleeding from being scraped on the pavement. Forrest looked back to realize what happened.

"Iris!!" He made an instant turn, riding full speed towards her. "Oh, my god. Iris, are you okay?" He jumped
off
the bike, kneeling down in front of her. "Shit. You're bleeding pretty bad. I have some napkins." He removed his back pack, quickly unzipping it and rummaging through it for some paper towels. "Here." He retrieved the napkins. The second she saw him reach out to touch her leg, she jerked back.

"Don't touch it!" H
e
f
l
ashed her a b
affl
ed look.

"I'm just trying to help. You're bleeding bad. You might need stitches."

"I got it." She took the napkins from him, carefully placing them over her open wound. That was th
e
f
i
rst time he'd ever seen her react that way. It was as if she was afraid of him. "Mmm." She moaned in agony.

"I can go get your mom." She shook her head.

"No." She forcefully stood to her feet. "If you tell my mom, she won't let me play outside anymore." She climbed back on the bike. "Let's just go." He watched her ride
off
.

Present day (April 27, 2009)

"This is for you." Forrest handed Peggy a pie. "My mom baked it."

"Oh, thanks, Forrest." She invited him inside. "Iris is upstairs. You should go say something."

He took her advice and headed directly upstairs to Iris's room. He knocked first before inviting himself in. "Hey." She looked up from the bed.