Last Words

With shaky hands, I pick up the phone like it's a venomous snake. I slowly dial the number, deliberately pausing to make sure I get it right. Calming myself down, I attempt to take deep breaths. One ring.... Two rings...
Before I lose my courage and hang up, he answers. "Hello?" In that one word, the world suddenly slips out from underneath me. For that voice I would keep fighting. To listen to him forever, I would go through all the pain. But I know the decision is made, and I struggle to stop the tears.
"Hey." I whisper. "What are you doing?" I pray that he is out an about, busy with something and that I can hang up and forget about saying goodbye.
"Nothing much, just shooting some hoops in my driveway. What's up?" he asks. I wish I could just pour everything out to him. Tell him the honest truth I've never told. Tell him how much it hurts to live like this, but how much more it hurts to know what I'm leaving behind. He would never tell, not in all his life. That I know for a fact.
I pretend not to hear his question. "Are you sitting? I need to tell you something." I say into the receiver in a weak tone. I listen to the thud of a basketball and the patting of shoes on concrete. When all is quiet and I'm sure he's sitting, I go on. "Today's the day. I'm having the doctors pull the plug. It's hurts so much. There's nothing they can do and I'm tired of constantly fighting.
Silence.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'll always love you. I'll always keep you close to my heart, wether it's beating or not." There's a sniffling noise coming from his end. He's crying. Oh my God, he's crying. He never cries. I feel conepletely horrible. I wish I had never decided to call him.
Neither of us talk for a minute. "I'll miss you." He finally chokes out. "I love you. I always will." I smile at his comment, knowing that every word he speaks is one of the last I will hear.
"Remember when we got married? When you told me that since we were only thirteen and too young to get married, that only solution would be to get me pregnant and move to Georgia?" I can barely make out the sound of a sad laugh from him. I continue, "And remember when we were watching that movie in class, and you told me that I would be the first one you would save if you were the hero?"
By now both of us are sobbing, barely able to talk. Finally he speaks. "Remember when I told you that I would ride all the way down to Florida on a motorcycle just to kill all the bugs for you? Then you said that there's too many for me to kill. But I told you I would kill them all, just for you."
I sniffle. "And remember when you told me you hoped I'd explode in a plane crash? And that you wouldn't care if I die?" He gives a strangled cry, almost too unbearable for human ears. "I know you never meant any of that. I just want you to know that I love you so much. So very, very much and that you are the best friend I could ever ask for."
"I love you too." He cries. My heart is breaking to the point as to where I cant bear it.
"Goodbye. See you in a while."

I hang up.