AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That would be the best thing in the whole wide world!” She pulled back, a huge smile on her face. A smile I couldn’t reconcile with such a young woman who’d just told me she was dying. “I’ve got a notebook filled with things. I’m sure some of it’s impossible, but that’s OK. I just want to do as much as I can.”
“Honey, let me see the list when we get back to the club. Do you have it with you?”
“Everything I own is in my backpack. The notebook with my bucket list is in there.”
“Let’s go. I want to see it. We can start planning right away. Anything I can help you do here we will while the others see to any logistics we need for any traveling.”
“The others?” She scrunched her nose as if not processing what I was saying.
“Yeah. Once they know the situation, they’ll all want to pitch in. We’ll do everything in our power to make it all happen. In the meantime, would you object to me getting a couple of our doctors on board?”
“You have doctors in your club?”
“We do. Fury is a doc, but I’m thinking more about a club in Palm Beach. There’s a guy there called Doc. His name is Donovan Muse. He’s board certified in pediatric oncology as well as emergency medicine. You’re not exactly his specialty, but with his background in oncology, I’m sure he’d be helpful.”
“I’m grateful for any help, as long as he understands I can’t pay him. My mom had insurance on me up until she died. That was just a couple days after they made the tentative diagnosis, wanting to do more tests. The docs said it was broken-heart syndrome, and I believed them. My mom and I were pretty tight. I imagine my diagnosis was more than she could take.” She took a breath, sighing. “Anyway, I had the remainder of the month on her insurance, and I told them to do what they could in that amount of time. After that, I’d have to reevaluate. I’m a college student just out of high school. Didn’t have a job, and my prospects with a new diagnosis weren’t great. I mean, who wants to hire someone they know is gonna be missing a lot right off the bat?”
“What about your dad? Can you get on his insurance?” I was grasping. Mostly wanting her to be comfortable with the plan, because now that I’d found her, I had no intention of giving her up so easily. Though my interaction with her had consisted of only a few hours, she was now thoroughly and completely sunk into my skin. I had no idea why. Maybe it was her attitude. Maybe it was the way she was with Holly and Bruno when I’d first come across them. Maybe it was just the beautiful fucking smile and contagious laughter. All I knew was this was the woman I wanted for my own. No matter how much time I had. But I was greedy for as much time as possible. If there was a way to help her, Doc would at least be able to tell me. Besides, she was right. My name was El Segador. The Reaper. I’d done some bad shit in my life, earning my name. It was only fitting she be given me as her protector and the person she went to for comfort during this period in her life. And I knew I was up to the fucking task.
“He left when I was a baby. I never knew him.”
That made me grind my teeth. Why did men do that shit? “We’ll figure something out. Besides, Doc won’t care. I’m only thinking about if he thought there was an intervention less invasive than a radical surgery like you described.”
“As long as it’s not horribly unpleasant and doesn’t make any extra time he buys me miserable. I realize it’s gonna hurt. But I don’t want to be constantly sick from the chemo or lose all my hair. I got lucky with the two rounds I did before. Probably because we stopped before going further, since the tumor was growing instead of stopping or shrinking.”
“I hear you. Now. Tell me the truth. Does it hurt for you to walk on it?”
She sighed. “Sometimes. Like when I’ve been on it too much or when I’ve been in one position for too long.”
“OK.” I turned around. “Up you go. Piggyback ride.” I bent over slightly at the waist and squatted.
“Piggyback ride?” She laughed but put her hands on my shoulders and hopped up. “I haven’t done this since I was a kid.” She continued to giggle as I approached the others.
“Everything OK?” Rycks asked as he stood up from where he was helping Bella and Holly sort seashells.
“Mostly,” I said. “Need you to reach out to Salvation’s Bane. I want to talk to Doc. Blade as well.”
Rycks looked from me to Swan. “Anything Fury can help with?”
“Possibly. But Doc Muse will be the most qualified. Fury could give him a head start if he’s not readily available, though.”
“Sure,” Rycks said. “I’ll have him give you a call.” He raised an eyebrow. “You guys headed back?”
“Yeah. We got some stuff to discuss. Also, I need to talk to El Diablo. We may need an all-hands effort soon. Got some plannin’ to do.”
“Well, that’s not cryptic or anything.” Rycks and Wrath both stepped closer. “What’s goin’ on?” Rycks glanced at Swan again. “Everything all right?”
I felt her shrug. “As all right as it can be, I suppose.”
“I’ll explain later,” I said. “Just have Doc give me a call at his earliest convenience. We’re headed back to the compound.”
“Bye, Holly. Bella.” Swan took one arm from around my neck and waved at the girls. “That was so much fun! We’ll have to do it again.”
Holly smiled. “That’ll be fun! You find the best seashells!”
“What can I say? I’m a shell-finding expert.”
The girls giggled and waved as we moved off. Swan laid her head on my shoulder and inhaled, her nose close to my neck.
