The frozen lake cracked beneath his feet. As he stood there frozen in fear of what lies beneath the icy cold surface, he starts thinking about his life. All of these memories suddenly running through his mind in a frantic whirlwind, his heart racing and he starts to sweat. Lots of good memories, and also some bad ones. Like the news he received 2 days ago from his doctor after being so sick for about a month. "I'm only 16" he thought to himself. "How could this happen to me? Why is this happening to me?"


For 2 days, he's been beating himself up over the news, and the lack of sleep was starting to catch up to him. He's feeling weak and defeated, and there's really nothing anybody can do to help him. There is no cure, just measures in place to prolong the inevitable.


Off in the distance, he hears a voice calling to him; he turns and looks, and it's his girlfriend, Emmy. She's running down the path, waving her arms and screaming for him to get off the ice. Although it was cold that day, it had been fairly warm the last 4, and she knew it wasn't safe for him to be out there.


She finally reached the edge of the lake, and he yelled to her, "STOP! The ice is cracking; don't come out here! I'm stuck." Of course, she's a bit rebellious and decided she was going out there anyway. She slowly made her way to him, about 8 feet away when she heard the crack beneath her feet as well.


The fear that washed over her was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She instantly turned pale, and he knew he had to do something, and it had to be quick. In his head, he counted to 3 and somehow mustered up enough courage to quickly turn towards her and run as fast as he could, grabbing her arm as he ran by and dragging her with him.


With every step they took, the ice was breaking up, and soon enough, they were on shore. He was out of breath and was having a hard time catching it. She asked him with a look of concern on her face, "Are you okay?"


He replied with, "No, there's something I have to tell you. It's not good, but you should know." She stood there in awe, worried about what it might be, and then she said, "Okay, babe, whatever you need to tell me, I'll be right here by your side with listening ears. What is it, Jake?"


He looked into her eyes with the deepest, saddest eyes she had ever seen on his face. He was always so happy when he was with her, so she knew it had to be pretty bad. He said, "Emmy, I have some bad news; it's scary for me, but I need you to know. My heart is slowly failing; they say I'm still going to be here fighting through all of this."


She could feel her heart breaking—an unraveling wave of emotions came over her, and she started bawling. Jake took her hand into his and wiped her tears with the other hand and said, "While my heart is breaking and malfunctioning, I have this fear washing over me. There's confusion, shock and anger, and for a short time, I felt so alone. I know I'm not alone, though, because I have you."


She hugged him as tight as she could and said, "Yes, Jake, you do, but now I'm numb; I'm cold; it's freezing, and my face is frostbitten with the tears I'm crying. I can only pray the end is far away."


They stood there for a while, holding each other, trying to process everything. The cold wind blew around them, but they didn't notice. They were lost in their thoughts, in their fears and in their love for each other.


After a while, Emmy pulled back and looked into Jake's eyes. "We'll face this together," she said, her voice shaking but determined. "We'll find a way to make the most of the time we have, and we'll make every moment count."


Jake smiled weakly, feeling a surge of gratitude towards her. "I love you," he said.


"I love you too," she replied.


As the sun began to set, casting a golden glow over the frozen lake, they walked hand in hand, ready to face whatever lay ahead.


Over the next few weeks, Jake's condition worsened. His heart grew weaker.


Despite the challenges, Jake and Emmy's love remained strong. They cherished every moment together.


One day, as they sat on the beach watching the sunset, Jake turned to Emmy and said, "You know, I've been thinking. I want to make the most of the time we have left."


"What do you mean?" Emmy asked.


"I want to travel