Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 118459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 474(@250wpm)___ 395(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 474(@250wpm)___ 395(@300wpm)
“They’re doing what they have to do to get you one hundred percent again. You know that, right?”
She shrugs.
“I brought you something.” I dig in the bag and pull out a small box.
I hand it to her. She opens it and holds it in the air. “What is it?” she asks, watching it twirl in the air.
“It’s a dream catcher. You put it in your room and when you go to sleep, it filters your dreams. It only lets the good ones in.”
“Where did you get this?”
“That one was mine when I was a little boy. My grandma bought one for your daddy and one for me. We had bad dreams, too. But that thing works and I don’t need it now. So I thought you should have it.”
“You still have that?” Julia asks. She’s watching it move as Ever twists it around. “I thought you’d have lost it by now.”
“Of course I do. It’s magic,” I say, tossing her a wink. “I wish I still had Gage’s.”
She smiles sadly at me. She starts to say something, but the door opens.
“Mrs. Gentry?”
Julia stands and walks around the foot of the bed. “Hello, Dr. Perkins.” I can see a bead of sweat glisten on her forehead, her lips a thin line.
“There are some things I’d like to talk to you about and I’d like to do it in my office.” He glances at me. “Are you Everleigh’s father?”
“I—” I start, but Julia cuts me off.
“No. He isn’t. This is my brother-in-law.”
I grimace, the sound of her making it clear I am not a part of her immediate family making me feel like a piece of shit. I extend my hand to the doctor anyway. “Crew Gentry. I’m Everleigh’s uncle.”
He shakes it firmly. “Dr. Perkins. I’m the pediatric oncologist. If you wouldn’t mind staying here with Everleigh, I’d like to take Mrs. Gentry for a few minutes.”
Julia looks at me, waiting for me to respond. She’s chewing her bottom lip and I want to pull it from between her teeth. I have no idea what’s going to be said, but I know it will be all right. It has to be.
“Yeah, absolutely. Me and the monkey here will watch some . . .”
“Doc McStuffins,” she says.
“Doc it is.”
“We’ll be back shortly. If you’ll want to be apprised of her condition at any time, we’ll need you and Mrs. Gentry to sign some forms.” The doctor looks at Julia, who hesitates, before nodding with a sigh. “I’ll send a nurse in with them shortly for the file.”
He turns to leave and motions for Julia to follow. She glances at me over her shoulder, her gaze full of trepidation, those dark brown orbs full of fear. It kills me.
“I’ll be here when you get back,” I say quietly.
Her eyes go cloudy, tears lapping across, and I’m ripped apart. I want to hold her, to make her know this will be okay. I want to rip every line out of Ever and toss them both over my shoulder and run away from all this bullshit.
But I can’t. And the inability to do any of those things eats me from the inside out.
I take a deep breath and turn to face Everleigh. She’s watching me curiously. I take the seat previously occupied by Julia and look at her over my shoulder. “What are we doing in here today, monkey?”
“I want to go home.”
“I know. I do, too.” I look around conspiratorially. “Think I could smuggle you outta here?”
“I do.” She giggles. “Please! Take me home.”
I tap my chin. “But if I do that, your mommy will wonder where you are. And she’ll probably panic when she can’t find you. Then she’ll come after me and, I’ll tell ya a secret . . . she scares me.”
“She does not scare you,” she says, giggling. She settles back into her pillows, resting her face so it’s facing me. “But she would worry. She worries a lot.”
“That’s what makes her special.”
“You think my mommy is special?”
I laugh. “Where’d you think you got your specialness from?”
She smiles, but her eyelids are getting heavy. “Read me a story, Uncle Crew.”
That’s one request I’m not prepared for. “I don’t have a book.”
“Make one up,” her voice is drifting off, sleep coming soon. “Or google one.”
I chuckle.
“I like princess stories,” she says softly, her eyes now closed.
I summon my storytelling abilities in a child-approved form. “There was once a beautiful princess. She was nice and friendly and had the most beautiful face in the whole world. She met a prince that was roaming the world, looking for his kingdom.”
I pause, thinking she’s asleep. “Was he lost?” she whispers.
“Yeah. He was lost, monkey.” I sigh. “He found the beautiful princess and she loved him, and he loved her. But he thought his kingdom was somewhere far away. And he went to find it.”