A week. A week since that day on the beach and the couple were busy planning their wedding. They decided to make it a small one, probably to avoid controversies and haters from spoiling it. Planning was still never easy, now that they only have two months before the big day.

They invited their close friends and families. However, Tiffany’s dad would not even speak to her ever since she told him she was with Jessica. Humiliation was the word her dad used when she brought Jessica over to his house. The night didn’t end well. Tiffany ended up in tears and Jessica was boiling with her father’s reaction but didn’t commit anything in favour of Tiffany.

“Should we invite him, Tiff?”

She just stared on the floor, unable to give a response.

“Do you think he will accept it?”

“I have to give it to him personally if I am gonna do so. He is my father after all. But we never spoke since then. I don’t know if he wants to see me again, much less attending my wedding.”

“But it’s your wedding! Your life! How can he be so selfish?!” Jessica was steaming up at that thought.

“Hey, don’t talk about my dad that way! Ever since my mom passed, he was…he was never the same. It broke him.”

Jessica wanted to argue but she stopped when she saw the tears forming in her wife’s eyes. Tiffany missed her mother so much since she passed when she was eleven. She always teared up when she thinks of her mum. It was never easy.

“Leave it to me alright? It’s time for you to get to university. We’ll continue later.”

With a gentle kiss on the lips and a hug, Jessica left. Tiffany was alone to deal with her thoughts. There was a slight tingling in her eye. She just shrugged it off, preventing herself from crying. She loved her father very much and she was torn between him and Jessica. Her eyes felt swollen and she decided to lie down and snoozed with Cookie curled up on her lap.

***

            A typical long exhausting day at university and at work. Jessica passed the invitation to her best friends Yuri and Taeyeon as well as her childhood friends, Sunny, Yoona and a few others.

“You look exhausted. Your eyes are red…” Taeyeon voiced to Jessica.

“Yeah, was real busy planning.”

“Alright, in that case, go on home. Take the day off.” Taeyeon smiled.

Jessica thanked her kind-heartedness and went home. She found Tiffany lying down on the couch. “That exhausted huh,” Jessica mumbled.

“Sweetie, come on. Rest on the bed. It’s more comfortable there.” She tapped Tiffany on her shoulders but she didn’t respond.

“Hey…Tiff…” Jessica shook her but there was still no response.

“Tiffany. Hey. Tiffany!” Jessica felt her heart beat elevated. She felt the panic overwhelming her. She froze.

When she finally recovered to her senses, she quickly lifted the unconscious girl’s body and carried her to the car. Jessica’s hands were shivering terribly.

***

Uveal Melanoma. That was the phrase the doctor threw at Jessica after diagnosing Tiffany. A cancerous tumor in the iris of the eye.

“Wha…No…No…” Jessica cupped . Her legs wobbled and the doctor caught her before she collapsed on the floor. She was expressionless. Her mind desperately trying to decipher what the doctor just mentioned. She was too shocked. After a moment, tears began rolling down her cheeks as she sat on the seat wailing with covered. She could not withstand the wave of emotions crushing on her and broke down. She could not stop the tears from flowing. Her heart was beating so fast. Pain. Excruciating pain. That was what she was feeling.

She covered her face and continued weeping. The doctor tried to comfort her but to no avail. He knew there was nothing on Earth could ease her pain. Wails upon wails escaped uncontrollably as her eyes were swollen from the tears but she didn’t care. She couldn’t breathe as her nose was soaked in mucus but that wasn’t the main reason, she felt like her heart was guillotined. Shattered. A thousand knives stabbing her soul. The doctor could not stand the sight of the girl’s muffled tears of pain and decided to leave, hating himself, as he could have done nothing to comfort.

As he was about to walk away, Jessica grabbed his hand.

“Doctor…how…how…”Jessica tried to fight back the tears to enable her to even form proper sentences but it was so difficult to purge such dread. She could not take it. She could barely think straight.

“How…how long does she…does she have?” she whimpered.

The doctor couldn’t look at the damsel in distress in the eye. He looked on the floor and coarsely whispered, “I’m sorry. It…it has spread. I…I…”

“HOW LONG!!??!!” Jessica screamed in tears, startling the doctor.

 “Four months.”