Paper Cranes
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Nicole Hite does not own the rights to any music, or movies.
Paper Cranes
Copyright © 2016 by Kathryn H. Lee
Editing by
TCB EDITING SERVICES
Cover design and art: Pink Ink Designs, Copyright © 2016
Formatting: Champagne Formats
Paper Cranes
© 2016 by Nicole Hite
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older.
This book is for sale to ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language, which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be access by minors.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Copyright © 2016 Nicole Hite
All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter 2 – You are stronger than you think
Chapter 4 – You are a hopeless romantic
Chapter 5 – You are a ray of sunshine
Chapter 6 – You are trustworthy
Chapter 7 – You are understanding
Chapter 8 – You are a horrible dancer
Chapter 10 – You are hypnotizing
Chapter 12 – You are compassionate
Chapter 15 – You are the moon of my life
Chapter 17 – You are everlasting
Chapter 18 – You are an exhibitionist
Chapter 19 – You are exceptional
“It takes a remarkable human being to look into your future, see the hurt and devastation yet to come and instead of running, lifts you up and carries you into battle. That’s love.” – Kat Dove
To my warrior husband,
Thank you for hearing my battle cry.
I
know what you’re thinking. This is one of those sad, pathetic stories of how boy meets girl with a terminal illness, they fall madly in love and she dies just like Mandy Moore in a Walk to Remember. Well, you’re only partly wrong. Not all stories have happy endings, but what constitutes as a happy ending?
Conventional love probably consists of girl gazing across the room as she locks eyes with mystery boy. They play cat and mouse until one day one of them caves. Confessing their undying love for one another and riding off into the sunset as he proposes on a beautiful beach.
But that’s conventional love.
Here’s what would happen in my world. Girl’s car breaks down just as she gets life altering news. He tries to help, but girl blows off hot guy because she has a terminal illness. There are no declarations of undying love and certainly no riding off into the sunset. For starters, horses smell and she’d look ridiculous trying to ride a beast such as that. Secondly, it is inevitable that it will be high tide sweeping her away into a bed of seaweed. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t exactly seem like a swell time.
Screw conventional love.
Give me dancing on Mardi Gras floats, three am breakfast sessions and swimming with pigs in the Bahamas. That’s my kind of love, and it all started with a stupid paper crane.
This is my story, my life and my love. I can’t guarantee I’ll be alive by the end of the book, but at least I can promise you this – there will be love. Unimaginable love. A love that doesn’t require rules, stipulations or expectations.
This isn’t the story about how I died, but how I lived.
O
n January 20
th
, at approximately 10:20 a.m., my life came to a screeching halt. As I sat on the cold examination table, waiting for Doctor Mather, my knees and teeth began to chatter uncontrollably. The incessant buzzing from the overhead fluorescent lighting made my eyelashes flutter to the point where it was almost unbearable to keep them open.
Where was he? I’ve been sitting here for almost twenty minutes now.
At least, that’s what it felt like. Time crept along, as the second hand on the hanging clock seemed to sputter. I started to wonder if it had gotten stuck on the five-minute mark.
I looked down at my wristwatch to make sure the wall clock wasn’t entirely incompetent.
Nope
. I was just being impatient like I always was. A trait I clearly must have picked up from my father, unlike my mother who was incredibly patient. Too bad I couldn’t find out for myself what sort of traits I took from either one of them. I could only assume I knew the type of people they were.
The spasms were back, although they were accompanied by weakness this time.
“Carpel Tunnel,” they said. “No, no, parathyroid for sure. But what about Focal Dystonia?”
Will someone please make up his or her mind so we can move forward?
“I’m sorry Ms. Dove, but we need to do a few more tests. Yes, I know you have already had two other EMG’s. Yes, I’m sorry we need to schedule MRI’s the day after Christmas. Yes, I need to take more blood. We’re just trying to rule out all possibilities.”
Possibilities for what?
They should know something by now. I was an idiot for looking at my charts that one day. Trying to coddle my emotions before someone else could give me bad news. That was two months since their diagnosis of an “abnormal EMG.”