Five Star Desire by Jacquelin Thomas

Author:Jacquelin Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-11-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The stark light of morning sunshine streaming through the nearby window pulled Kellen from a fitful night of sleep and into the glare of his harsh reality.

Dreyden was gone.

He had peacefully stepped out of time, passing into eternity shortly after 8:00 p.m. last evening.

Kellen sat up in bed, thinking back over the past four months.

He had witnessed Dreyden’s rapid decline as death drew closer. Fatigue had taken over. His brother once told him, “I feel like an engine running out of steam. There are days that I have just enough energy to do one or two small things, and then it’s gone. It’s like I’ve used up my supply for that day. I’m getting tired of being tired.”

The doctor had explained to the family that this was normal and a symptom with advanced cancer. He also told him that needing more sleep was also normal in the last few weeks of life.

Tears welled up in Kellen’s eyes.

My brother is dead.

I’ll never hear his voice again.

I can never come to him for advice or just to hang out.

Dreyden’s last week or so had been filled with persistent pain. He had confided in Kellen, saying, “I need the morphine to do the things I want to do. I just hate spending my days flat on my back in bed.”

A soft knock on the door cut into his thoughts.

“Come in.”

Ari entered his bedroom. “I came to check on you.”

Kellen gave a slight nod. “How are you holding up?”

She sat down on the edge of the king-size bed. “I keep thinking about Dreyden and wondering if we did everything we could to try and save him.”

“We talked to the top oncologists in the world,” Kellen stated. “We did everything.”

They were joined a few minutes later by Sage and Zaire.

Zaire made herself comfortable beside him in bed, while Sage sat down on the nearby sofa.

“Has anyone seen Mom or Dad?” Sage inquired. “I didn’t hear anything when I walked by their room.”

“I hope that they’re sleeping,” Zaire responded. “They need to rest.”

“Are we having a sibling meeting?” Blaze asked from the doorway.

“Come join us,” Kellen said. “We’re just in here talking.”

Blaze sat down beside Sage.

They all sat in silence, each in their own thoughts.

“I knew Dreyden was leaving us when he couldn’t eat much,” Zaire blurted. “I read that when a person dies, their body goes through a series of changes that have an effect on their appetite. It’s because of the drug side-effects and bodily function issues that make it hard for them to eat.”

“I thought he was giving up,” Kellen said. “I didn’t know.”

“Neither did I,” Blaze responded. “I kept trying to force food down his throat.”

“Dreyden didn’t want pity,” Sage stated. “He kept a lot of what he was dealing with to himself. That’s just the way he was.”

They all agreed.

“What do we do now?” Zaire asked. “I feel as if a part of me is missing.”

Blaze nodded in agreement. “I was telling Livi that same thing this morning. As much as I love my family, my heart is broken at the thought of never seeing Dreyden again.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.