Chapter 68

"Yeah…you're right…it isn't fair. She is your best friend. And you're her best friend, Adele. You know that; right?" Adele pulls her head away from Sarah and nods while wiping away some of the tears running down her cheeks. Sarah releases her hold, then looks at Adele for a brief moment before confessing… "Adele…I have to tell you something. But please promise me that you won't be mad at me." "I won't be mad, Sarah." "Good." Sarah takes a few steps away, then turns back to Adele. "Adele…do you remember back at the beginning of school…when Mr. Trudeaux assigned Nadine to be your friend for the class project?" "Yeah." "Well…back then…when you two first starting hanging out together…" Sarah exhibits a shameful visage. "I did something…something I'm not proud of doing now, Adele." "What?" "Adele…I…I…I told Nadine that I thought she should stop being friends with you. I told her that hanging around you was ruining her reputation. That people would only keep on making fun of her if she stayed friends with you." Adele begins to develop a hurt look on her face; which greatly disturbs Sarah. She quickly moves in closer and affectionately takes hold of Adele's hands. "But then when I got to know you, Adele…and thought about it…then I knew." "Knew what?" "The real reason why I think I was telling her what I did. Adele…I was jealous of you." "Jealous of me? Why?" "Because I was Nadine's best friend, Adele…but then she started hanging out with you and…well…" Sarah releases Adele's hands and starts walking away. Adele calls out, "I'm sorry, Sarah. I didn't mean to make Nadine stop being your best friend. I just…I just…I just wanted to have a friend. I just wanted her to be my friend, too." Sarah stops, slowly shakes her head, then goes back over to Adele and takes hold of her hands again. "No…don't apologize, Adele. It's okay. You're Nadine's best friend…and you deserve to be it…and she deserves it, too. Adele…you're a way better friend to Nadine than I ever was. Than I ever can be. Than anyone can. Nadine is so lucky to have you as a friend…her best friend. I just hope that you can forgive me and be my friend, too." "Sarah…you are my friend." Adele looks down to the ground and gently bites her lower lip; then looks back to Sarah with those charmingly endearing eyes of hers and tells her, "But…if it's okay with you…Nadine's always going to be my best friend…even when she...dies." Sarah looks affectionately into Adele's eyes and smiles. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Adele." With all the strife abounding the Martin household, there's one aspect that David has taken sole responsibility for so not to concern Cheryl and the girls with; and that's the financial burden created from the medical expenses. Every time Nadine had a bout with leukemia, he would be the only one to focus on the costs involved; alleviating Cheryl from at least one of the worries derived from their daughter's illness. David realized that Cheryl had enough to deal with during these times, and he was always ready to handle the financial matters himself. While Cheryl and Corrine spent more time directly with Nadine as she battled her cancer; handling all the bills, statements and expenditures was a constant reminder of her ailment, also causing David emotional grief…with this time around troubling him even more so than the two previous times. But it isn't so much the difference with the expenses involved; even despite that the costs today are significantly higher than they were when she was seven. What makes it harder for him this time is that with the last two financial strikes to the Martin budget he had at least seen the ‘return for the investment'. Nadine survived her illness, and as far as he was concerned no price was too high to pay for that. This time, however, there won't be any payoff seen. His little girl's going to die; and no amount of money's going to spare her life. And the most painstaking financial decision for David…making it glaringly obvious to him that there was no altering her fatalistic outcome…was when he had decided to reallocate Nadine's college fund to use for her inevitable upcoming funeral expenses. After having used up all his allotted paid time off, and still needing to take care of both the preexisting and amassing medical costs incurred by Nadine's leukemia, David has no choice but to be subjugated to his company's time demands of him. Cheryl's company is more lenient to excuse her from the job; being how she's paid solely on commission. As long as other agents are selling the houses represented by the agency, Cheryl's absence makes no difference to, nor affects, their business operations. And though David totally supports Cheryl's decision to spend most of her time at home tending to Nadine, this only increases the financial demand on him. Even Corrine's voluntary contribution of her wages earned from the diner doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the mounting costs; especially since she only works a few hours a week so she too can spend most of her time with Nadine. So once again, David willingly steps up and does what he must to take care of the financial responsibilities; regardless of how much he may despise having to do certain things involved in the process.