Page 191 of Halo

My throat tightens. “Love you too, sweetheart.”

We watch until he disappears through the school doors, and when Nick pulls away from the curb, his hand finds mine over the center console.

Neither of us mentions where we’re going.

We don’t have to.

The cancer center is only twenty minutes away.

By the time we get there, the knot in my stomach has worked its way into my throat. I’ve done this before. I know what the chairs look like, what the machines sound like, how the antiseptic smell seems to cling to everything. Knowing what comes next should make it easier.

It doesn’t.

Nick gets me settled like he’s preparing me for an eight-hour flight instead of chemotherapy. He unfolds the blanket I brought from home and tucks it over my legs, puts my water where I can reach it, digs my book out of my bag and places it on my lap, then produces a package of crackers I don’t remember packing.

“You know I’m not going to starve to death in the next four hours.”

“I’m aware.”

“Are you?”

He leans down and kisses me, his palm warm against the side of my face. “I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“Important business.”

“That sounds suspicious.”

“It should.”

He kisses my forehead this time before disappearing toward the little refreshment area.

I’m adjusting the scarf around my head when someone says my name.

“Leah?”

I turn and find my mother standing a few feet away with her purse tucked beneath her arm.

“Mom?”

She gives me a tentative smile. “Hi, sweetheart.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to be here.”

There’s something about how quickly she says it that makes me study her.

“Because you actually want to be here, or because you’ll feel guilty if you aren’t?”

Her smile fades. “I suppose I earned that question.”

I look down at my hands.

She takes the chair Nick left behind. For several seconds, she doesn’t say anything, although I can feel her looking at me.

“You’ve already lost your hair?”