The People We Meet Along The Way by Beth Rinyu

Author:Beth Rinyu [Rinyu, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beth Rinyu
Published: 2020-09-16T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

THE NEXT FEW days flew by. Kate decided she wanted to keep her birthday low-key, celebrating at home with only Thomas, Theo, Anna, and me. She was going for her treatments each morning and she’d come home weaker and weaker with each one. I looked after Thomas while she was gone, freeing up Anna to drive Kate on the days Theo had to be in the office.

The beautiful sunny afternoon was being overtaken by the looming dark clouds overhead as Thomas and I played with his toy trucks in the backyard. I was amazed at how much fun playing in the dirt could actually be. I gasped and placed my hand over my heart when I looked up to find Theo standing over top of us.

“I didn’t even hear you approaching.”

His shoulders were slouched, his eyes red, and his face long and drawn. I knew in an instant that something was wrong. Anna came out and collected Thomas to get cleaned up for dinner while I remained sitting on the ground staring up at Theo.

“Everything okay?” I asked, even though I clearly knew it wasn’t.

He shook his head and kept his hands in his pockets, jingling around some loose change. I stood up and brushed the dirt off the back of my pants, before we wandered over to the garden area, taking a seat on the wrought iron bench. He was silent for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice was in a defeated whisper. “Kate’s decided she’s stopping treatments.”

These treatments were the last thread of hope that Theo was holding on to for his sister. But as an outsider looking in, I could see that they were only making her sicker, basically doing her more harm than good at this point. I think Kate had finally accepted her fate and wanted to live what time she had left without being used as a pin cushion for the poison they were injecting into her body. I admired her bravery in reaching that decision, but at the same time, my heart broke for Theo because of it. I wasn’t sure of what to say to alleviate the pain he was feeling. I remembered after Evan had died, people would try their best to offer me comfort with clichéd words that were normally spoken after someone lost a loved one. None of them helped, and I was certain there were no words that would help get Theo through how he was feeling either. When the first tears spilled from his eyes simultaneously with the raindrops from the clouds overhead, I knew no words were needed. Instead, I wrapped my arm around him, lending my shoulder for him to cry upon, hoping in some small way that I was able to take away some of the pain he was feeling.

_______________

Kate came down for dinner, basically moving the food around on her plate instead of putting any into her mouth. Theo didn’t eat with us. He said he had to run home to do some things, but he’d be back later.

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