She never said, but they both knew something was wrong. Time spent working out slowly began to decline, a slight cough turned into a persistent one, she could no longer walk for more than a minute without needing to pause.She never said, but they both knew something was wrong. She took ibuprofen like tic tacs for the ache in her chest, tried to hide the blood she coughed into her hands. He tried to ignore the valleys between her ribs, the bones that were trying to escape her skin.She never said, but they both knew something was wrong. She spent most of her days asleep, and when she was awake, she wasn’t really there. No teenage girl contracted bronchitis and pneumonia that often unless there was something seriously wrong.She never said, but they both knew something was wrong. She collapsed on the floor at her high school graduation and was rushed to the hospital. Damon never left her side.She never said, but the doctor did. Lung cancer. When they first discovered it, it was already too late. Aggressive treatment could give her a few more months, maybe a year if she was lucky, but it would be a painful year. She’d declined. She’d left with a two month diagnosis. She got six weeks.She never said, because her grave said enough. Eternity had always been too good of a promise.