Read Online From a Distant Star by Karen McQuestion - Free Book Online Page B

pang of regret. I thought he might move more slowly or be not as quick-witted, but this was something else entirely. It was like he was learning to be Lucas all over again. How long would it take before he was completely himself again? I had said I’d be okay with anything, but the truth was, I wanted him how he used to be. I wanted us like we used to be. I imagined us parked in his car, his hands on either side of my face looking at me like he just couldn’t believe his good luck. Iremembered the smell of him as he came in from the fields slick with sweat and teasing me by holding out his arms for a big hug, me squealing and telling him to go take a shower. And after that, the long, luxurious kisses, the kind I wished would never end. We were constantly looking for ways to be alone. I knew the contours of his body and the feel of his skin, and even now the thought of him made my pulse race. Over time, we’d become more and more intimate. We were just a breath away from having sex when he became sick and then there was the diagnosis and the treatment. And the medicine to treat the side effects of the treatment. And it just got worse from there. We’d been through a lot, but now that it was going in the other direction, we’d have a second chance at a lifetime of happiness.
    Nancy wrapped a rubber tourniquet around Lucas’s arm and flicked at his vein with her fingernail. He watched, fascinated, as she quickly slipped the needle in and blood flowed out. She filled four vials, and then expertly covered the needle with a square of gauze before pulling it out. “Lucas, could you hold the gauze in place, please?” Nancy asked.
    Lucas didn’t move, so I stepped forward and placed two fingers over the pad. Nancy unwrapped a Band-Aid and nodded to me to let go, then removed the gauze and used it to cover the puncture mark. “There you are,” she said. “Good as new.”
    “Now I can stand and walk?” Lucas said. “I can leave the bed?” He looked from Nancy to his parents.
    “It’s up to your mom and dad,” Nancy said. “If you feel up to it, and have someone nearby for support, I think it would be fine.”
    “I’m better.”
    “I know you
feel
better,” Nancy said. “And that’s definitely a good thing, but we’ll know more once we get the test results.”
    Mr. Walker edged over to the window and lifted the blinds to see what the team was doing outside. I saw a slight frown cross his face, but I was distracted by Lucas who had pulled back his covers,exposing the catheter tube and everything else. “I want this out,” he said. “It’s not needed.”
    “Lucas!” Mrs. Walker hurried over and moved the blanket to cover him up. “Not in front of Emma.”
    But Lucas was yanking at the tube now, determined to remove it. Mr. Walker rushed away from the window and both he and Nancy had to restrain Lucas’s hands.
    “It’s not needed,” Lucas said again, looking miserable. “Take it out.”
    “Can you take it out?” Mr. Walker asked.
    Nancy hesitated. “The doctor didn’t say—”
    “Oh, for God’s sake, just take it out.” Eric’s voice rang out loud and clear, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. I’d almost forgotten he was there, but now he stepped forward, looming over all the adults, who were leaning over the hospital bed. “Lucas can get up and walk to the bathroom on his own now. He doesn’t need it.”
    Startled, Mrs. Walker’s eyes grew wide. “Eric!” she said and that one word said it all—that he was being disrespectful and speaking out of turn. That this was not his decision.
    But Eric didn’t budge. “What’s the big deal? He doesn’t need it, so just take it out. If you leave it in, he’s just going to yank on it anyway.”
    Mr. Walker cleared his throat. “I think Eric’s right. Would you take it out, Nancy? You can put in your records that it was at our request. His mother and I will take responsibility.”
    So it was decided that Lucas would be freed