Page 103 of Misery and Ecstasy

“You have an absolute angel here.” Tilting my head toward Justin, she offers me a grin.

“Thank you so much. I think so, too.” She looks from me to him. “Ready, buddy?”

Justin hops up from his seat, but before he takes his mother’s outstretched hand, he turns to me and gives me a hug.

“Good luck.” His voice hits my ears and touches my heart all at once.

It’s as though he’s wishing me luck on both my treatment as well as in life.

“Thank you, Justin. You too.” I squeeze him back as though my life depends on it.

Breaking the hug, he places his hand in his mother’s before they walk into the back with the awaiting nurse.

“Kins!” Draven’s voice echoes down the hallway.

I turn in his direction to find him jogging down the hall toward me. When he reaches me, he drops onto his knees in front of me and cups my face in his hands.

“Hey, I’m sorry I took so long. Is everything okay?” He winces as though in pain, looking back-and-forth between my eyes.

“It’s fine.” Wiping my eyes, I look back to where Justin was just standing. “No matter what happens, we’re going to be okay.”

“I know we are.” He smiles softly at me before pressing his lips together. There is conflict in his eyes, like he has something else to say, but he’s scared. “Kins, I… I have to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Concern, seizing my muscles, I wait for him to drop a bomb.

“I just got off the phone with a doctor from Hudson.”

Something in my stomach flip-flops. Hudson James Hospital in Baltimore is one of the most advanced hospitals in the world.

“I’ve been waiting for their call, but I didn’t want to say anything and get your hopes up. They want you to come in tomorrow for additional testing. Is that something you’d be okay doing?”

Draven’s eyes plead with me to accept this gift I’ve just been given.

Oh my god.

My heart begins to soar until I remember that there’s no cure, no hope for survival.

And then I replay Justin’s words in my head again, that life is supposed to be about how you spend your time, not the amount of time you have to spend. If I have any chance to make the remainder of my time here the best I can, this is it.

How can I possibly say no?

“Of course, I’ll go. But wait… How did you know to call him? What else have you been up to behind my back?”

“Lots of things.”

With a smile and a wink, Draven leans in and kisses me from one cheek across my lips to the other.

“You’re family now, and this family has each other’s backs before anything else. Whether near or far, and if God forbid I’m ever not around, you will always have someone looking out for you, Kins.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

DRAVEN

Despite the Zofran they gave Kins yesterday, she’s been nursing a queasy stomach since we left the infusion center.

I’m not sure if it’s due to the chemo or if she’s just as nervous as I am about our appointment with Dr. Faust. She was also up most of the night with extensive pressure in her head. If we weren’t already headed to Hudson today, I’d be taking her right back to the ER.

Not that they’d be able to do shit for her.

---