Six Months to Live by McDaniel Lurlene

Author:McDaniel, Lurlene [McDaniel, Lurlene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 0553542117
Google: zV6a6LwmbrwC
Amazon: 1581960034
Goodreads: 352753
Publisher: Darby Creek
Published: 1985-01-01T07:00:00+00:00

familiar things from her childhood

her mother’s matched Tiffany lamps… the portrait of her great-grandmother on the dining room wall.

She climbed the stairs to her bedroom, slowly, catching her breath every few steps. Her muscles were weak from disuse. She’d have to work on regaining strength in her flaccid muscles. She ran her hand along the smooth, dark wood banister. Her eyes took in the colors of her home, so different from the hospital’s green and soft yellow to which she had grown accustomed.

Her bedroom was just as she’d left it, except for the giant bouquet of flowers perched on her dressing table. The card read: Welcome home! Mom and Dad.

“Thanks,” she whispered. “They’re beautiful.”

Tears glistened in her mom’s eyes and her dad cleared his throat. “You hungry?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “I-I’d just like to be alone for a while.”

“Of course,” they said and left her to settle into her old patterns.

The unpacking went slowly as she stopped to rest every few minutes. Dawn decided she’d begin a regular exercise program before school started. She wanted to be strong enough to resume all her school activities once the new term started.

She put away her memorabilia from the hospital. She hung the poster Sandy had drawn

directly across from her bed, so that she could see it first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. She caressed her numerous teddy bears and took Mr. Ruggers from his perch on the shelf and hugged him tightly to her.

“Did you miss me?” she asked the time-worn bear. She thought of Sandy, of Nurse Fredia, and of Dr. Sinclair. They seemed so far away.

Neighbors came to visit, to welcome her home. Her grandparents called. Rob sent her a box of candy by special messenger. He was staying in East Lansing for the summer, working and attending a few summer classes. She missed him.

It took a few days, but Dawn settled into her former life as if no time had passed, as if nothing was different, except that now she took medicine every day. Now she rested every afternoon. And now she ate several small meals a day instead of three large ones.

Her girl friends came by… Kim, Rhonda, and Jill. “Kathy’s parents dragged her off on vacation,” Rhonda said. “She was desperate to stay here, too. Just when school got out Nate Hutchinson began to notice her. And then she has to go off for the summer!”

A chorus of sympathetic sighs went up. Dawn tried to get into the flow of the conversation, but she felt out of step, out of sync with her old crowd. Hey… I almost died! she thought. It was hard to get excited about Kathy missing a

summer romance with Nate. Sandy’s words returned to Dawn. “We don’t have anything in common any more

.”

It was hard to get back into the swing of her old life. So much had changed. She felt older, more seasoned. Things that were once very important, were no longer important. She felt at loose ends.

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