Page 195 of Between the Blue
“Jules,” I choke.
She turns her head to look at me. And it looks like it takes nearly everything in her.
My mouth hangs open. My words turn to razor blades in my throat. My head starts to fall, but she catches it with her other hand. Rubs my cheek.
“You’re just as pretty as always,” she breathes.
She smiles at me then. And it’s her. Of course it’s her. But this version of her is so thin. So pale. I worry the corners of her mouth will pop. That she’ll wither away if she exerts any more effort.
So I support my own head. Lean forward.
“But so am I, right?” Jules asks.
She winks at me. And a sick laugh burst out of me.
She laughs too.
We both laugh.
But then mine turns to a sob.
“What the fuck, Jules?”
She presses her lips into a flat line.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Hodgkin,” she whispers.
Tilt my head at her.
“And his fucking lymphoma,” she finishes.
My face crumples. “Cancer?”
Her mouth pulls up at one side.
“Jules, you have fucking cancer?”
“Dramatic, isn’t it?” she says.
I swallow, but the bile rising in my throat won’t go down.
“How long?” I mutter. Barely get the words out.
“How long have I had it? Or how long do I have left?”
My eyes squeeze shut. Hot tears pool over. I wipe them away.
“Both.”
She blows a breath out of her nose.
“I was diagnosed in May.”
My brows pull together.
“But that’s so fast–”
