My Forever June (10 page)

Chapter Twenty-eight

Tucker

I
was happiest when June was wrapped in my arms, her head pressed against my chest. I worried about her, and she somehow seemed thinner than before. I pulled back and studied her. “Are you all right? You seem, I don’t know, you seem different somehow.”

She smiled reassuringly. “I’m fine. This last time was just harder because it was longer than the other times. I wasn’t sure you were going to come back to me.”

I felt the pain in her words, and wondered what it was that she wasn’t telling me. Her usual free spirit, the thing that drew me to her in the first place, seemed quenched a little. Then it suddenly hit me hard, like a thought hammering in my mind. She was giving up everything to be by my side. My parents had shared their concerns about her, but I didn’t want to see it before. This thought broke my already broken heart. The last thing I ever wanted for June was to steal her life from her—her spark. And that was exactly what I was doing. I could see it in her eyes. They weren’t sparkling anymore.

“So, what have you
been painting in my absence?” I was trying to lighten the heaviness in my heart by changing the subject, but the next words out of her mouth just confirmed what I feared.

She shrugged slightly. “I haven’t been painting lately. You needed me here, and this is where I wanted to be.”

My heart squeezed in the most painful way I had ever experienced. I knew then what I had to do. It would kill me, but it would save the only woman I had and would ever love, and that was more important to me than my own happiness.

“Um, I feel like I need to see my parents. Can you call them and
ask them to come and see me?” I asked, trying to plant a smile on my face despite the pain pounding in my chest.

She touched my
cheek sweetly, lovingly. “Of course. They have been here twice this week checking in on you, and they’ve called every day. I know they’ll be anxious to see you. I’ll go call them.” She said the words, but she seemed reluctant to leave my side, like I might vanish if she left me.

I guess that stood to reason after all she’d been through with me.

I smiled weakly. “Thanks, baby.”

She froze then, as if she sen
sed something, and turned to me. “I’m still your Forever June?” Her eyebrows rose in question.

I
laughed softly. “Absolutely.” I touched her cheek, staring intently into her eyes. There it was—the sparkle was suddenly there for a fleeting moment, and then it was gone. “You’ll always be my forever, June.”

She smil
ed warmly as she leaned into my touch then she got up and left the room.

When my
parents arrived, I was anxious to get my plan underway. And we didn’t have much time.

“I need your
help,” I said to them after the initial hugs and tears had passed.

“O
f course. What do you need?” my dad asked with eagerness.

Tears filled my eyes and I
brushed them aside as I continued. “I need you to get me out of here.”

“What?!” my
mom asked, her mouth hanging open in surprise.

“It’s June. She’s giving up everything for me. You were right, she’s changing. This whole thing is taking a major toll on her. And I love her too much to see her waste her life on me. I want you to get me set up in another place, somewhere where she won’t know. But we don’t have much time. She was reluctant to even leave for me to see you guys. I need to be gone before she gets back.”

Both of my parents stood frozen for a few minutes while the news sank in. Then they snapped into action, pulling out phones, packing my stuff and helping me out of bed.

“Are you sure about this?” my
mom asked, staring intently into my eyes. Her face was glum which surprised me. I thought she didn’t like June.

“I have to, Mom. I love her so much, but I can’t have her give up her life for me. I may not make it, and I can’t stand to see what it’s doing to her.”

She hugged me tightly. “I know, baby. I’ve seen it too. This will be hard for her, but eventually she’ll move on.”

I
winced at the thought of her finding love again, even though that’s ultimately what I wanted for her. “I know you’re right. I know you are. Now, let’s go.”

Chapter
Twenty-nine

June

I stopped by the florist on my way back to the hospital. The flower arrangement was beautiful, and I knew it would cheer Tucker up some. I had noticed how depressed he was acting since awakening from this last episode. He seemed different, and he had been asking me more questions about the things I had been doing while he was ‘gone’. Of course, I had told him I wasn’t doing anything but staying by his side and running errands. He seemed displeased by this. Then I thought for a moment about how I would feel if Tucker was stopping everything to stay by my side. Heck, I’d probably leave him just so he wouldn’t give up his life for me. Then I froze as a terrifying thought hit me. “No, he wouldn’t,” I whispered to myself, but I was already running toward my car in full speed.

             
I made it to the hospital in record time. I ran down the hallways, holding the vase against me and taking the turns too fast and sliding, but I continued to run as fast as my shaking legs would take me. “Please, God. Please, God,” I repeated as I ran. I burst into Tucker’s room, surprising the nurses who were stripping the bed. Stripping the bed!!

             
My eyes roamed the room frantically in search of him. Tucker was gone.

             
I froze, dropping the vase of flowers I had been gripping tightly in my hands. The glass exploded and the flowers flew all over the floor. “No!!” I screamed as I collapsed to the floor and into the pile of broken glass.

* * * * * *

I didn’t remember the drive to the Mitchell’s home. I stumbled out of the car and staggered to the door. I banged on the door for several minutes before Tucker’s mom, Alice, finally opened the door.

“Good Lord, June! What happened to you?!” Alice Mitchell squea
led, staring in horror at my clothing.

             
It was then that I studied myself for the first time since discovering Tuckers disappearance. There was blood wiped across my blouse and soaked through my blue-jeans. I had cuts and scrapes on my palms and hands, as well as my legs where my jeans were torn.

             
“I-I think I fell,” I managed to say.

             
“Jim, help me!” Alice called to her husband as she took hold of me and ushered me into the house. This somehow surprised me. To see this kind of concern wasn’t what I had expected to see from her. After all, they didn’t approve of me as a match for their son.

             
Jim and Alice helped me carefully into the bathroom and studied my wounds more closely.

“Jim, can you go in the other bathroom? Reach under the sink and bring me the first-aid kit, please,” Alice asked, her tone firm and controlled.

Once Jim was gone, Alice helped strip me out of my clothing and into the shower to wash all the blood off of me. The warm, sudsy water stung my wounds, but I bit my tongue as Alice helped scrub the blood free. I studied it as it swirled around the drain and then disappeared.

Afterward, Alice app
lied a soothing salve to my wounds and covered them with bandages. She then helped me into some of her sweat pants and a T-shirt from her upstairs closet.

“Can you tell us what happened?”
Alice asked once she helped me into the living room and made me drink something.

I
peered up at the two of them as the tears streaked down my face. “Please, tell me where he is,” I pleaded.

“I’m sorry, June,” Jim Mitchell said with compassion in his voice. “We can’t do that. We would be going against Tucker’s wishes.”

I sat the drink down onto the coffee table, put my face in my hands, and my body shook as I cried. I didn’t know what else to do. Alice came and sat beside me and put her arm around me. “I’m so sorry, June.”

I
glanced up then. “But why is he doing this?” I didn’t recognize my own voice. It was shaky and rough.

“He doesn’t want you to give up your lif
e for him. He wants you to live,” Alice answered.

“But I
don’t want to live without him. Doesn’t he know that by now? I have been with him every step of the way with this. I can’t just walk away from him now. He needs me. And I need him too. I love him,” I began crying more heavily this time.

They sat with me, no one speaking for over an hour. Afterwards, Jim drove me
home with Alice following behind in his truck. They made sure I was tucked comfortably in my bed, and then they left me there to deal with my grief alone.

I
stayed in bed for two straight days.

On the third day, I
finally got up, got in the shower, and then dressed. As I sat there cuddled on the sofa in my soft, fluffy throw, I couldn’t stop the tears as I had a full-on pity party.

As if sensing my pain,
Felix jumped onto the sofa and whined. I managed a slight rub to his head, but that was about all I could do at that moment. Then I stopped and stared at Felix, instantly remembering how much Tucker disliked him, and I found myself laughing. Tucker had believed me when I said Felix was possessed and had tried his best to stay away from the finicky cat, but Felix wouldn’t have it. If Tucker was here, so was Felix. It was as if the old cat felt it was his job to protect me. I’m not sure why I found the thought funny, but I doubled over in laughter at the many memories of Tucker’s deliberate evasion of the old cat.

It was when I was doubled over that my eyes w
ere suddenly drawn to the edge of a white piece of paper tucked under the desk by the door.

Curious, I got up, went
to the desk, knelt down and retrieved the paper. It was folded four ways. I unfolded it and began to read:

My Dearest June,

If you are reading this then I have gone to be with my maker, and you are here living at Darling like I always hoped for. I want you to know how much joy you have brought into my life. I have lived for our precious summers together. I am so proud of the woman you have grown to become. I know you will make wise decisions, and never let anything stand in
the way of your happiness. You deserve it.

             
Know that I love you very much and became a better person having known and loved you! I look forward to seeing you again someday. Until then…LIVE!!

             
                           
With love always,

             
                                          Tess

Tears were flowing with a vengeance now, and I pulled the letter and cradled it to my chest. “I miss you, Aunt Tess,” I muttered to myself. “What should I do now?”

As if answering me,
I heard the words from the letter repeat in my mind ‘never let anything stand in the way of your happiness’. It was then that I knew exactly what I needed to do. I went into my bedroom, grabbed my oversized bag and began filling it with clothes from my drawers. After my bag was packed and everything was ready, I was in my car and headed back to the Mitchell’s home to convince them to tell me where Tucker was. I was not going to give up on him. I would find him and bring him home no matter how long it took. There was no other option for me.

My
love for Tucker ran so deep, unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and I knew I could never let him go. He was only trying to protect me, and I knew it, but I would not let him go through this illness alone. That’s what love was all about; it’s not just loving each other when everything is running smoothly and perfectly, it’s loving each other despite the bumps and bruises along the way. And I intended to help Tucker through this, whether he wanted it or not. I would make him see reason; I just had to find him first. And that’s where the Mitchells came in.

They seemed surprised to see me back so soon. I guess they thought I needed more time to cope with Tucker leaving, but
I was strong. I had to be. I told them I wasn’t leaving. I guess that fact was evident to them when I pulled my fully-loaded bag out of the trunk. They said I was welcome, but they made it clear that they were not telling me where to find him. I guess they didn’t know me very well. If I had managed to handle my mother, and Blake, then I could surely handle the Mitchells as well.

Despite
their apprehension, they welcomed me in and allowed me to stay. And after only a few days, I felt they even began to like me. We ate dinners together, and I helped Alice with the household chores (shocking, I know), but I was also learning to finally grow up. I mean, how long could I continue to rebel against my mother’s control? She wasn’t even here anymore. It was time for me to get my life back on track if I was gonna find Tucker and convince him to have the necessary surgery that would give him his life back. I know we decided it was too risky, but if this time away from him had taught me anything it was that I couldn’t lose him to this sickness. Yes, it was risky, but he was willing to do it. It was me that was too scared. But now I knew it was the only way. It was either that, or he would die…and that just wasn’t an option.

* * * * * *

I had been with the Mitchells for over a month, and I was beginning to lose hope. It seemed to me that they weren’t going to give in and tell me where to find Tucker. All of my tricks to get them to fold just weren’t working. At first I pleaded with them. When that didn’t work, I tried to make them feel guilty. When that   didn’t work, I begged some more. And when that didn’t work, I tried killing them with kindness. This was softening them up, but they still weren’t giving up Tucker’s location.

All seemed hopeless until the phone call that came after lunch one day. Jim took the call and from the look on his face, the news was bad. He hung up the phone and Alice rushed to his side…and so did I.

“Jim, what is it?” Alice asked, her voice trembling.

He glanced over at me for a split second as if contemplating whether or not to say anything, but then his resolve broke. He let out a deep sigh. “Tucker has woken from this last episode and was screaming for June.” His eyes were pained as he locked eyes with me. “They couldn’t calm him so they had to sedate him. But every time the medication wears off he starts screaming again. They are having to keep him sedated constantly. We have to go to him.” Then his gaze turned grave as he took my hand in his. “You have to go to him, June.”

Tears flooded my eyes as the relief shot through me. I was finally gonna see him! And before they could say anything further, I bolted up the stairs to pack.