Nothing Lasts Forever by Cyndi Raye Page B

“I’ll go today and let them know after the show. I don’t want to upset anyone.”
     
    Sallie smiled. “You won’t. I’ll see what else they have lined up. I think we have some clowns on the list. We’ll move them in your time slot, so don’t worry.”
     
    Abby mustered up a weak smile for the woman. She got up, dreading her hour of volunteer work. Was she pitiful or what? She took a deep breath and gave Jon a kiss before she went to work for the last time as a volunteer.
     
    Later, Jon came to meet her to take her for some lunch. “One of the staff is sitting with him so we can go get some lunch,” he told her.
     
    “I don’t feel hungry at all,” Abby said, but then her stomach grumbled. Jon gave her the pointed look, his one brow in the air and grinned. He steered them towards the cafeteria and ordered for her while she walked beside him in a stupor.
     
    “You’ll feel better after you eat,” he told her. He chose a table for two along the garden area, where a small fountain shot water in the air, it’s mist reminding her of the one in the shopping mall.
     
    Jon’s phone went off and when he checked, a smile shone bright over his face.
     
    Abby watched him. “Are you going to share?” she asked. Jon scooted his chair beside hers and showed her the screen.
     
    She watched in amazement as the video showed the ocean in front of their beachfront home. The white sand and cool waters flowed while the birds sang in the air. An occasional squawk rendered in the air and then two dolphins rose out of the water and spun their tails before they plunged back in to the water. Abby grinned.
     
    “Keep watching.” Jon rested his arm around her waist. A small sail boat came in to view. Abby’s parent’s stood on it, their hands in the air as they waved and yelled out Kevin, we love you! A sob escaped from deep in her throat.
     
    Then the camera faded out and all at once Jax came in to view. He jumped up and down when a hand reached out to throw him a ball. His long hair rustled in the wind as he ran through the yard. Abby laughed in delight when someone threw some balls in his direction and Jax tried to gather them in his mouth all at one time. He kept dropping one after the other which made both Jon and Abby laugh out loud.
     
    Jake and Maggie came on and called Jax to the camera. Maggie had Jax sit back and lift his paw to the screen. “This is Jax, Kevin. He can’t wait to meet you. Welcome to our wonderful family.” They waved as the ocean took up the video and faded until Sara and Josh came in to view. Sara’s belly was bulging out because she was about to have a baby. She smiled and waved. “Kevin, guess what? You’re going to be an uncle, so you better hurry and get better. We can’t wait to meet you!” Josh waved and grinned and they laughed at his casual attitude. Josh was all man and didn’t like to be caught on film, even if he did like to spy on everyone with those same cameras.
     
    “Let’s go show this to Kevin. Maybe it will help him get better faster.” They all but ran back to the ICU. Jon made arrangements with the nurse and she found a cord that connected to his smart phone that would let the video show on the large screen television in his room.
     
    “Kevin, look at what we have for you. Remember the ocean we talked about?”
    His little head nodded. He seemed to be wide awake. “Look at the screen. Can you see the tv screen?”
     
    He nodded and then his eyes became bigger than saucers as the ocean came in to view. Jon turned up the volume so he could hear the sounds of the water over the monitor’s noise. His chest heaved when he saw the dolphins and when Jax came on the big screen, he laughed, his belly rolling under the thin sheet.
     
    The others wishing him well seemed to bring up his spirits. “They love me?” he asked. “They don’t know me,” his voice fluttered before his eyes drooped closed. Abby could tell he was still awake but too tired to keep his