2 His favorite place

Evan could still feel the tightness in his chest from the coughing fit just moments before as he stepped out of the patient room and into the waiting room. His mother was reduced to a sobbing mess, as her head lowered into her knees and hands over her eyes, she didn't notice Evan entering of the room. Silently walking over to her, Evan put his hand on her shoulder.

She promptly looked up at her son before giving him a large hug, the only noise she could get across was her continued crying.

"I'm sorry Evan, I wish you never had to deal with this" were the only words she could get out to her son.

Knowing that he had to stay strong in front of his mother, and having just released some of the pent up emotions, Evan was able to maintain his composure just enough and hugged his mother tightly.

"I know mom, it's ok."

The mother and son stayed like this for a few minutes. Separating, his mother dried her face with some tissues that she kept in her purse before standing up.

"Alright." She said after blowing her nose. "Let's get home, you want to stop for food down by the cafeteria before or after?"

"I.. I think I want to just walk around the ship alone right now. Trip down memory lane and all that ya know."

His mother looked dejected, but nodded her head silently. "Do you want anything specific for dinner then?"

"Something with meat?"

"That might be a bit hard on such short notice, but I'll see if Benny has any extra in stock. "

Meat was generally seen as a luxury item on the ships; as most ships did not have the space to store livestock. Instead each ship within the fleet was separated into 5 clusters of 10 and given a specialized role to perform. While each ship had means of being self-sufficient should the need arise, this was seen as a last resort. Due to this, each cluster would have periodic transport times throughout the year, where they would send smaller vehicles from ship to ship within their own cluster.

These transports were highly regulated as one would expect though, and any resources were heavily rationed among those living in the ships. Evan's was truly pushing his luck in hoping for meat to be in his dinner tonight, though that didn't stop him from asking. He only had a few weeks left at best, so why not?

"Thanks mom." he said before giving her another hug and a kiss on the cheek before walking towards the exit of the medical ward.

Walking through the medical ward, Evan thought to himself that this was probably the section of the ship that he was most familiar with. From the front desk that he never had to sign into, to all of the staff members he knew by name, or the tiny hiding spots he would find to avoid his parents, this place truly was his second home.

Waving to the nurses on his way out, the group of ladies had clearly heard the news as their faces were slightly choked up at seeing him. The other patients or family members in the ward mostly just waved back, clearly out of the loop that this might be the last time they see Evan alive. It truly was discomforting to the young man, that the people that he grew up knowing and seeing regularly throughout the ship would continue with their lives as he was given a funeral and ejected into the cold void when he died.

Thinking of this Evan quickly turned into a bathroom after leaving the ward and began to throw up the contents of his stomach into a toilet. This sort of dread isn't new to Evan, but this is the first time it has become real. That thought alone made him want to curl into a ball and do nothing, but he knew that doing so would only be letting his condition get the best of him.

Evan wanted to be strong in the face of this situation. Mostly he wanted to be remembered as being brave in the face of death and that death was the one that blinked. For that memory of him to happen, Evan had to be stronger than he had even been before. To put on a brave face and live these last few days out with as much life that he was afforded. Now was not the time for regrets after all.

Washing down the bile, and quickly cleaning his face, Evan stepped out of the bathroom and walked to his favorite place on the ship, the library. This place was quite special to Evan for a few reasons. Firstly, as someone with Mallory's Disease, he couldn't perform physical activities freely, as even something as simple as playing catch would quickly drain him. Second, the smell of the old books was simply refreshing, compared to the rest of the ship that had this sort staleness to the air as the vents did their duty to pump in the necessary oxygen. Though honestly these reasons and the many others paled in comparison to his favorite.

Inside the library, there was a massive two story tall window into space that was absolutely magnificent to behold. With some of the other ships in full view and the gentle quiet of the room were stunning. Not to mention the room's furnishing and design towards this wonderful window being the focal point of the room. All of these factors combined lent this room a magical charm to Evan, as a place that he could pick up a book off any of the many hundreds of shelves and steal himself away from all the worries and fears that plagued his mind.

The reason for such a beautiful library was simple to the designers of the ship. The crisp feel and leisure that a book and a quiet and serene environment to read them greatly outweighed the use of an electronic reader. Some called this decision stupid and wasteful and moronic, but in the end the designers had stuck to their guns and the books were brought on board.

As his step quickened, Evan rounded the last corner remaining and saw a familiar face one of the librarians.

"Ah, Evan. Good to see you again, I hope you aren't here to escape school again." The old librarian teased.

"No Mr. Anderson, just got free time is all." Evan smiled.

Evan recalled many times where he had done just that, and each time the librarians often covered for him. He was their most loyal 'customer' after all.

"Would you like some company or do you want to be alone" the astute Mr. Anderson replied. It seemed that Evan couldn't hide the sadness that was consuming him.

"I'd just like to be alone right now." Having been found out, Evan's face dropped into as neutral as he could manage.

"Well alright then. Section 9 doesn't have anyone in it right now, and I'll make sure to mention to the others that it's being 'cleaned' for a couple hours." he said with a wink. "Be strong bud, you can do it."

Evan felt his eyes begin to redden once more, but with a nod he held it in and walked away from the kind old man. Section 9 was in the second story of the library and the very middle of the window that Evan loved so much. The librarians had picked up on this fact when he was much younger, and as their own way of supporting him had always made sure it was empty if he needed someplace to go to. This gesture was not lost on Evan and as he walked, the kindness that he was always shown by these people never ceased to amaze him.

By the time he got to his favorite section, he was on the verge of breaking down once more, though his resilience was something to be attested to, as even then he managed to hold it all in. Walking slowly into the area, Evan crawled into one of the many booths and curled up into a ball to do nothing for a time.