Hope Springs Eternal

Subtitles by explosiveskull

Hope.

What an ironic name

for a girl dying of cancer, don't you think?

And what's more depressing than a kid dying of cancer?

Nothing, of course.

So I have two options.

I can either be depressed, emo teen, so obvs,

or I can embrace it.

It's my note from the doctor for life.

No homework. Teachers let you slide.

Ice cream in the lunch line.

People are nice to you,

because they feel bad for you.

And why shouldn't they?

I-It's cancer, and why shouldn't I use it?

I know how my story ends.

Terminal is terminal.

You know, I...

There are no unwritten chapters yet to come.

And I'm comfortable knowing that.

So don't judge.

I'm not giving up.

I'm just practical.

You know what? Hands out.

- Hey. Hi. - Hi.

All but one of them are ready.

I can have the other one sent to her at the hospital

- later if you'd like. - Oh, God, no.

Curbside service is enough. Don't have to do that.

No, Mom, it's my Zofran, and if I don't have it,

- I will be vomiting everywhere. - Ehh. That's gross.

Uh, yeah, that would be great.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

You know what? You haven't eaten anything yet,

so put the phone down, and then you can vlog later.

Eat this banana.

Banana!

What's that?

"Eat me, Hope. Eat me."

Okay. Give it to me.

My mom had the brilliant idea

of naming me Hope after her favorite line

from some dead British guy's book.

It's not her fault.

Who would have known that this would have happened?

Hope!

You shouldn't have.

- It's on me today. - Oh, thanks.

I promise I won't be around for much longer.

Wouldn't want to put you out of business.

But she's amazing,

if, at times, a bit much.

Okay, so I'm picking you up after school today

for your doctor's appointment.

Is that today?

Mm-hmm. Yeah, no.

Your test results came back.

Yay. More bad news.

All right.

You're strong and beautiful.

Chemo's nothing. You got this. I love you.

Do we really have to do this every time?

Okay, I'm strong, and I'm beautiful,

and I've got this, and I love you, too.

- Bye. - Okay.

Hey, Dr. Pham.

Kids are supposed to be like Twinkies,

born with no sign of an expiration date.

I'm more like milk.

There's one stamped right on me.

And, sure, you can try and run away from it...

but you're in for a rude awakening.

Uh, coming through. Make way for the dying girl.

You know, don't want to be late for chemo.

Gotta get my drip on, so, yeah, might not...

might not make it, so...

Hit three, please.

Chocolate still your favorite, Stephanie?

You know it.

So I learned to embrace my situation

with a sense of humor.

They say that laughter is the best medicine.

Two white blood cells bump into each other.

and one says to the other one, "Funny seeing you here."

Drop mic.

It's been a real lifesaver.

- Let's do this. - Okay.

Sarah, it is time to distract her.

Okay.

I just learned about guided imagery.

Okay, let me see if I remember.

You are laying on a nice warm beach.

Your feet are in the sand,

and you're laying on that tie-dye towel that I...

That's Sarah,

the best thing to come out of this entire situation.

We met almost five years ago in a hospital support group.

She has cancer, too, obviously,

and when you have cancer, you just get it.

All flushed.

Port seems to be working just fine.

I'm ready to hook you up as soon as Pharmacy brings up the bag.

It's important to get it.

How we doing here?

Oh, just, you know, chilling to some chemo

and "The Fault in Our Stars."

Any pain?

Well, if I had to give it a number,

um, it'd be an eight,

so can I have more snacks and a ginger ale, please?

Of course.

They should really start a patient of the month contest.

Don't you think that'd be an unfair competition?

God, you love attention.

I love attention just as much as the next person,

but I wouldn't say that I take advantage of it.

And how you doing? Any pain?

Um, I guess I'd say the second one,

who just looks constipated.

That reminds me, um, my mom wants you to text her,

something about fibrous juices.

I'm sorry. I know she's a lot.

No. Heh. No, it's sweet.

I welcome D's overprotective doting.

My mom's been so busy these days.

Okay.

I'm going to disconnect you and flush you again.

Okay.

I can taste it.

Mm-hmm.

Water, Zofran.

Mm. Thank you.

You all set?

You should come over this week,

any days your mom's working late.

D can make us something extra bland

for us to not want to eat.

Okay.

Love you.

Love you more.

Not possible.

That's Seth.

He's my best friend, too.

Yes, you can have two best friends. It's 2016.

Like most people in the world, he doesn't have cancer.

He's only 17, but sometimes he acts 40.

Hey. How you feeling?

- Hey. Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine. - You good?

- Did you eat before chemo? - Yes.

- You did? Okay, cool. - Yes.

Do you need the notes for Mrs. Laga's class, by the way?

Yeah. Here. I saved you a ginger ale.

No, you drink it. You need it.

Okay, well, let's go. We're gonna be late for school.

Wait. Since when do you care about school?

Since I have art first period.

Right.

- - That's Kai, my boyfriend.

That sounds weird to say out loud.

I definitely said it in my head thousands of times.

Yeah, my boyfriend. My boyfriend.

Okay, yeah, that sounds crazy.

Hang on, babe.

Y-You're doing too much.

Yeah, I should probably just take a nap or something.

Yeah, yeah. Let's get you a kip.

Okay.

Come here.

So my mother and I were

on my Make-A-Wish trip this past summer in Australia.

I always wanted to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.

Turns out, uh, snorkeling's harder than it looks,

especially with health issues.

There we were, just trying to capture some fish with a GoPro.

I must have looked like I was drowning,

'cause Kai swam up and offered his assistance.

Instant sparks.

But he showed us around the city for the next few days,

most romantic experience of my life,

even with my mom three steps behind.

So when he found I didn't have long,

he came to the States with us, applied for some kind of grant.

Apparently Australia is all right

with wanting young people to see the world,

so that's cool.

You make dying look so desirable.

Are you talking to me?

Is anybody else dying in art class?

No. Um, sorry.

I just thought you didn't know who I was, so...

Of course I know who you are.

You're Cancer Girl.

And Kai's girlfriend, of course.

Where did you get him?

Make-A-Wish.

You can get a hot guy at Make-A-Wish?

No, no. It was the trip,

um, and he was just a bonus, so...

Oh, I was gonna say, "I want cancer." I'm kidding.