Chapter 54

Nadine slowly sits up a little further in the chair. "What do you mean I lied to you, Adele?" Cheryl and Corrine rush into the room; coming to a quick halt. Adele looks at them, then back at Nadine. "I heard your mom and Corrine say you're gonna die." Adele briefly pauses to fight back a sudden urge to cry; and once that feeling subsides, she asks, "Is it true…are you gonna die, Nadine?" Nadine tries to downplay the severity of her condition and lighten the mood by giving Adele a small, tender comforting smile while glibly replying, "Well…truthfully…we're all gonna die someday." Adele doesn't find any comfort in Nadine's answer; and uses an imploring tone in her voice with a simple, "Nadine?" "I'm sorry. Yes…Adele…I'm going to die." Adele appears confounded. "But…the medicine. You said that if you took your medicine…you'd get better." Nadine remains silent. Adele begins to slowly look to everyone around the room; who solemnly bow their heads down when she comes to look upon them. Then she looks back to Nadine. "Then…the medicine isn't helping?" Nadine looks to Adele apologetically and softly confesses, "No." Nadine suddenly becomes ill again; throwing her face into the bed pan as she begins to vomit violently. Adele rushes to Nadine's side and holds her. She looks to Dr. Minoit. "The medicine won't make her better?" "No, Adele; it won't." "It's just making her sicker?" Dr. Minoit nods. Adele looks down upon Nadine while gently stroking her head as she continues to vomit. "Then stop it, Dr. Minoit." "Stop what, Adele?" "The medicine. If it's not gonna help…if it's only making her sicker…stop it." Dr. Minoit looks to Cheryl; who in turn immediately looks to Corrine. Corrine nods. Cheryl reciprocates; then turns back to the doctor. "I think it's time we stop the chemo treatments, Dr. Minoit; don't you?" Dr. Minoit nods in agreement, then shuts down the machine administering the drug. Nadine continues to be ill as Adele comfortingly embraces her. "It's gonna be okay, Nadine; I got you…I got you." Nadine's wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the Wilson's back porch swing; while Adele sits on the porch railing, gazing into a mason jar containing the fireflies she caught earlier that evening. "Adele…I'm sorry." Adele remains looking with wonderment at her captive quarry. "For what?" "For lying to you…telling you that I was going to be okay. It was wrong for me to tell you that." "That's okay. My Grandma told me that you only said it so I wouldn't be sad…that you were trying to keep me from being hurt." "Yeah…I was…but it still wasn't right. You're my best friend, Adele…and I should have told you the truth. I'm so sorry." Adele takes a moment from staring at the fireflies to smile at Nadine. "Don't be. It's okay." She returns to looking upon the jar's inhabitants. There's silence between them as Nadine prepares to reveal to Adele all her fears and concerns that she's kept pent up inside ever since she found out her leukemia's returned. There was a time when Nadine would have shared these thoughts and feelings with Corrine; but realizing how they may cause her sister even more emotional grief than she's already evidently going through, Nadine decided against it. Nadine wants Corrine to be at least semi-emotionally strong enough to be there as support for their mom; who's now starting to slowly break down after having accepted the fact that she's indeed going to die. Besides, Nadine's gotten to the point where it feels more comfortable, and natural, to relate her innermost thoughts and feelings to Adele; even more so than her own sister. Actually, Nadine's been anxiously waiting for the moment when Adele finally discovered the truth about her condition; this way she can release all those anxieties which have been eating away at her inside almost as fast as the disease itself.