Only The Good Die Young

In the heart of Austin, Texas lies a rancher in the middle of the woods. Living in that rancher are Sara Jane and her fiancé Luke. The high school sweethearts have been together for over eight years and their love just grows stronger every day and is a constant reminder of what happiness is. Growing up in a small town has its perks. More freedom, less people, basically easy living. There wasn’t a store on every corner, downtown was really 10 miles away and you knew everyone by first name. They didn’t live a very lavish lifestyle. Sara Jane was born a preacher’s daughter.

She would attend church regularly and on her free time growing up would tend the horses at her mother’s ranch. Her parents had been married for many years and she wanted her love to be just like that. When she met Luke in high school it was love at first sight. He made her heart flutter. She knew there was no other person that would make her more happy than him.

One day, Luke finally came up to her and told her he liked her. Her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach and she tried to utter the simply words “me too.” He knew how she felt about him before she even opened her mouth. He just felt the connection between them. He knew they could make it work. Staring right into her eyes with her hands wrapped in his, he asks “Will you be my girlfriend?” She smiles back and replies “I’m glad you asked. Of course I will!”  They were inseparable. They literally spent every minute together. He would pick her up before school and drop her off after school. They would go out for dates, and talk on the phone for hours. Until one of their parents yelled “Off the phone lovebirds, school tomorrow.”  Each day would start and end the same. However, things weren’t always perfect for them. They went through their periods of ups and downs and childish breakups. But they always found their way back to each other. 

Sara wanted to pursue a career in medicine ever since her grandmother passed away because she wanted to stop everyone from going through what she went through. However, she needed to prove herself. She needed to get into the best college. She needed to show everyone that she was serious about this.

She was a straight A student in high school and had perfect attendance, however she was scared that she was making the wrong mistake going to medical school and becoming a nurse because she was breaking the mold of everything her family does. Being a preacher’s daughter and her mother working on a farm, a nurse really doesn’t match their lifestyles. 

However, she didn’t want that to stop her. During her first three years of medical school she continued to get straight A’s until the last year of college when she moved on her own and became distracted. That was quickly changed when she realized that she wanted to be better and just get her last year finished. 

She graduated from college with a 3.89 GPA and was immediately placed at the neighborhood hospital. She started at the bottom of the hospital scale cleaning bedpans and making sure that each patient had water and then worked her way up to being the head oncology nurse, using her degree to the fullest. Oncology was the department that she wanted to stay with because she wanted to see if there was a cure to these cancers that people dealt with everyday and that claimed so many lives. 

The more she worked around cancer patients the more she began to question the way things were and how they were supposed to be and why people had to die. “Why does cancer exist” she asked herself one day. It just happened to be that she was standing in front of one of her patients rooms and he overheard her. “I ask myself the same question everyday when I wake up in here” he responded to her. “Oh my goodness, Mr. Johnson. I am so sorry I didn’t know you heard me.” “It’s okay sweetie, just be careful with what you say sometimes.” Those words stuck in her head for days after that incident. Mr. Johnson died a few months later of colon cancer and those were the last words Sara ever heard from Mr. Johnson. 

Sara and Luke were the most perfect couple, the did everything together and lived such a happy life. He loved that she was a nurse and he was a lawyer and their schedules matched up perfectly. He would cook dinner for her every night. They would spend hours just talking and then fall asleep in each others arms. What Sara didn’t know was that Luke was holding something from her. Luke sat Sara down one night during dinner and had to tell her something. “Sara, I need to tell you that I have been hiding something from you for the last few weeks.” “Okay, what is it.” “I went to the doctors the other day and they told me I have liver cancer.” “Oh my god, please say you are kidding.” “Why would I kid about that Sara?” “I don’t know Luke, but I cannot handle this.” “Why did you hide it from me?” “I don’t know Sara, I didn’t know how to tell you.” For three days there was not a word uttered between them. Sara was hurting and Luke didn’t know how to help her through it. His health was declining and he needed treatment. Sara made sure that he had the care he needed but was scared to loose him. He was her everything. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he knew he couldn’t be strong. Sara knew she had to find a way to cure him before she lost him. She couldn’t handle it. She would go to work every day and in the medicine cabinet try to figure out what could go together to heal him. One day she thought that if she could find a way to mix the medicines together, how would she know if they worked. She would have to find people who were dying of cancer and try it on them. But that was wrong. How could she do that? How could she potentially kill people while trying to save them? It could work, but there was no guarantee. 

She couldn’t tell anyone of these plans. These thoughts she was having were evil, but she needed to be sure that she was doing everything that she could. She needed to know that she tried to cure him and that if she couldn’t that she did everything to try to help him. She needed to plan this out. She needed to figure out how she was going to test the medicine on those patients. She had an idea but she wasn’t sure. The only way she could do it was by using their Iv’s. But how would she mix the different medicines? She would have to find a room and do all of it, or could she do it at home? She found a room in the hospital that she could mix all the medicines and fill needles so that she could inject the patient’s Iv’s with while no one was looking. She would do this and test the patients progress over a few days. 

Luke continued to get worse. Her treatments with the patients were a win and loose situation because there were good days and bad days. There was no clear set cure yet, but she wasn’t going to stop. Not with Luke getting worse everyday. But time was getting short. Most of her patients were getting closer to dying and she wanted to save them and save Luke but she didn’t know how to. There had to be a perfect combination of medicines she just had to find it. She then began to start making different combinations with three or four medicines and finally she started to progress. But how could she treat Luke? He was in and out of the hospital as his condition worsens. She had to tell him.. But she doesn’t know how. She was going to write him a letter. She was going to tell him before it was too late. She was going to try her mixture and hope for the best. 

When she went to the hospital later that night she injected him with the treatment while no one was looking and hoped that he will begin to feel better. 

Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Luke had a bad reaction to the mixture and whatever the hospital on him and later he lost his life.  However, she still had the letter she wrote him and was going to bury him with it. 

Dear Luke, 

I am writing you a letter to tell you something. I didn’t know how to tell you in person however I just need to get it out. I did something very bad and need you to forgive me. From when you were diagnosed with the cancer I spent my days thinking about ways to cure you. I worked at the hospital mixing medicines to cure the treatment and I used my patients as guinea pigs. I am so sorry. I didn’t want to loose you. I love you! 

Love, 

Sara Jane

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