Chapter 19
The week following that chaotic
Thanksgiving day had flown by. If there was one thing I was thankful for it was
that as sick as I'd been I hadn't remembered most of the day's events. I'd
remembered being very sick following my last chemotherapy treatment and I'd
remembered Nick sitting up with me most of the night. After that it was all a
blur. It was clear though, that Nick still relived the moments over and over
again in his mind... at least he did in his nightmares. Many nights I would
wake up to the sounds of him crying out into the darkness and would reach out
for him. He would wake up in a sweaty panic unable to tell me what his dreams
were about. I think he remembered... I just don't think it was something he
wanted to share.
Aaron and Angel had spent the entire
week visiting and while I knew it had done Nick some good I felt horrible that
they'd had to spend most of their trip to Kentucky stuck in my house while I
was sick in bed. I had finally been able to get up and move around on Sunday
and Angel and I had spent that day sitting at the kitchen table with Kelly and
Kristin putting the finishing touches on my wedding plans. Nick and Aaron had
joined us at one point, and given their best shot at helping, but they soon
gave up and went out to the living room to play video games.
On Monday, after watching the two of
them sit in the living room most of the day arguing over who'd really won or
lost the game they were playing I'd finally set my foot down and told Nick he
had to take Aaron and leave the house. He'd tried to argue with me but I had
easily won. It was a beautiful day for the first day of December so the the two
of them loaded up the trunk of the car with hiking supplies and took off for
Natural Bridge. I then called up Kelly and asked her if she would mind taking
Angel out and showing her around town. She happily agreed and within an hour
I'd sent the two of them off on an all day shopping spree. I sighed as their
car vanished down the road. My blood counts were still too low to be out in
public. I watched from the porch until I could no longer see the tail lights
and then set out on a walk with Kahlua following happily at my heels.
I'd met up with Kate on the road and
the two of us had walked together and talked for a long while. She was always
so supportive anytime I was having a bad day or just needed someone to talk to.
They'd all had a lot of fun that day
and thanked me when they returned home happy and exhausted to find a homecooked
meal of turkey and dressing waiting for them in the dining room. We might have
missed out on having a real Thanksgiving dinner, but I wanted them to at least
have their turkey. We'd sat at the table that night for hours and laughed and
talked and told funny family stories. I felt good to be with family.
They'd left Wednesday morning and ever
since then the house had felt empty. I missed having them around to talk to and
I missed how happy they made Nick.
***
