The Road Ahead by A.E. Radley

Author:A.E. Radley [Radley, A.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance
Publisher: Heartsome Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

“She’s asleep,” Allison said.

Arabella glanced to her side. She suspected that Rebecca had fallen asleep a while ago. She hadn’t particularly noticed, in fact she’d been enjoying talking to Allison. She turned back to face the woman.

“Yes, she must be exhausted,” she said. Suddenly, she wondered if Rebecca had said anything about their journey home. She’d wait to see what information Allison provided, and hopefully get a reading on what she knew.

“She is,” Allison agreed. She lovingly watched her daughter. “She is very brave, I’ve put her through hell.”

“No,” Arabella disagreed. “You mustn’t think like that.”

“I don’t.” Allison let out a soft sigh. “Not really. Becky and I agreed, when all this started, that the cancer was like a third person in our relationship. It wasn’t to define me, and it wasn’t to define her, or us. It was just something that was there, like a bad smell. The worst thing about cancer is it takes your identity away. I’m no longer Allison Edwards, I am a cancer patient. And I didn’t want that. I wanted to make sure that I was Allison Edwards, Rebecca’s mum.”

Arabella nodded. She didn’t really understand. She was trying her best, but even she knew that Allison was just touching the surface of such a deep topic.

“And when I go, I don’t want Rebecca to still feel that the cancer hovers around her. I want her to be happy, I don’t want her to remember all of this.” Allison gestured around the hospital room. “I want her to remember before, and then I want her to build a new life. A happy life. I know you two haven’t been seeing each other for long, but I get a good feeling about you.”

Arabella swallowed nervously.

She wasn’t comfortable with lying to Allison about something so important. Up until now they had just made small talk. And she had done so willingly in the knowledge that she was helping a dying woman feel more comfortable at the end of her days.

But it sounded like the conversation was about to drift into something more serious. And Arabella wasn’t good at serious, heart-to-heart conversations.

She didn’t want to be making promises to a dying woman, promises that she knew she could not keep. She agreed that Rebecca was as unique, special, and deserving as Allison thought she was. Rebecca did deserve Lucy, the made-up perfect girlfriend.

“Rebecca is amazing,” Arabella said. “And I know that she is going to have a great life. She’ll never forget you, the good times, I mean. She never talks about all this.” Arabella gestured around the room. “She talks about you, but never about the third person in your relationship.”

Allison looked relieved. She let out a shaky breath. She’d noticed that Allison’s breathing had become more laboured since they’d been talking.

It was clear that Allison was extremely ill. Now and then her eyes would begin to close, and then open again. When they open they were brighter, more determined. She clearly didn’t want to rest.

“Thank goodness,” Allison whispered.

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