For Better, for Worse, Forever by Lurlene McDaniel Page A

climbed the stairs to April’s bedroom, Kelli shut the door firmly behind her and turned to face April. She said, “All right—it’s time you told me everything.”
    “Everything? What do you mean?” April’s mouth went dry, and her heart thumped nervously.
    “We’ve talked about everything but you. We’ve gone a lot of places today and tripped down Memory Lane. I’ve known you for most of my life, and I know when something is bothering you. Your parents look totally depressed, and I haven’t asked you aboutyour health because I figured out real fast that you didn’t want to talk about it earlier today. But now I want to know. Please, don’t keep me in the dark any longer. Tell me, April, what’s going on?”

14

    A pril stood in the middle of the room, looked Kelli straight in the face, and told her. She’d thought she would be able to get through the whole story without crying, but as she quietly delivered the news about her impending death, as she watched Kelli’s eyes widen and her hand clamp across her mouth to stifle sobs, and saw tears trickle down Kelli’s cheeks, April wept with her.
    “No! No!” Kelli kept shaking her head.
    April closed the distance between them and took her friend in her arms, trying to comfort her. “Don’t cry. I hate to see you cry.” It struck April as odd that she, the one who was dying, should be comforting the one who was not, but it seemed the rightthing to do. Kelli was devastated, and April wanted to help ease her pain. It was as if she were removed from the situation. As if it weren’t her they were talking about, but some other person, some mutual friend.
    Between sobs, Kelli managed to say, “I knew it was going to be bad news. I knew by the way you were driving around today, visiting all the places where we grew up, that you had something heavy to tell me. Oh, April, I’d give anything if it wasn’t this kind of news.”
    “I wish it was something else too.”
    “Your doctor … he’s positive? There isn’t any mistake?”
    “No mistake.” April fumbled for tissue from a box on her vanity and handed a wad to Kelli. “It’s been hard to even think about it. Some mornings I wake up and I feel real mellow, and then it hits me: I’m going to die. It sort of spoils the whole day.”
    Kelli blew her nose and attempted a smile at April’s dark humor. “It isn’t fair.”
    “What
is
fair?”
    “Well, not
this
!” Kelli sank onto the bed and grabbed April’s hand. “That settles it. As long as you’re here, I’m not going to leaveyou. I’m quitting school and moving back home.”
    “Kelli, you can’t drop out of school. I won’t let you.”
    “And I won’t let you die without me.” Kelli dissolved into fresh tears.
    April settled beside her on the bed. “Everybody has to die sometime or another, Kelli. You have to go on with your life.”
    “I’m putting my life on hold and you can’t stop me.”
    “Look, I don’t even know when this might happen to me. You can’t sit around in some kind of deathwatch.” She made a face. “It’s unnatural.”
    “Says who?”
    “Says me. You’ve planned to go back to Oregon in two weeks, and that’s exactly what I want you to do. I—I don’t want you to hover over me, waiting for me to keel over.”
    “That’s not what I’ll do.”
    “You won’t mean to, but it’ll happen. I remember what it was like to watch Mark die. I didn’t believe it was happening. I felt helpless because I couldn’t stop it. It was a nightmare, and you shouldn’t have to go through it.”
    “And so what am I supposed to do? Sit in Oregon and wait for my phone to ring? Wait for your mother to call and drop the bomb on me?”
    “Yes.”
    Kelli shook her head furiously. “I won’t. I won’t be three thousand miles away while you … while you …” She couldn’t finish her sentence.
    “Everything you’ve told me about has been about Oregon. It’s where your life is. It’s where all the people you