A Walk Along the Beach by Debbie Macomber Page 0,70

meant that Harper would be in on the meeting. That made sense, although I’d prefer to keep her in the dark for as long as possible. If the news was debilitating, then I’d rather she not hear it. I felt it was my duty to protect my sister from as much of the negative as I could. She’d hate it if she knew that was what I was doing. She’d insist I was mothering her again, and I was. I couldn’t help myself.

* * *

—

Wednesday afternoon, Lucas got off work early and met Chantelle and me in Harper’s hospital room. She had a private room, which was decorated with cards and gifts from family and friends. Our father had found a stuffed white kitten so Harper would have Snowball by her side. It sat by her head, next to her pillow.

As we awaited the two physicians’ arrival, Harper’s phone rang. When she answered, a smile came to her.

“Hi, Daddy.”

Our father had talked to Harper only a few times. He checked in with me every night to ask for an update. When it came to Harper, he found it painfully difficult. I knew this was hard for him, and I loved him even more for making the effort.

“Better, I think.” She listened for several moments while Dad spoke.

She was still on the phone when John and Dr. Carroll came into the room.

“Sorry, Dad, I need to go. The doctors are here. Thanks for calling. Love you, too.” She disconnected and set the phone aside. Seeing that she was sitting up in bed was a good sign. It seemed a bit of her strength had returned. That was an encouragement when we badly needed one.

Dr. Carroll, unlike John, was middle-aged, probably early fifties, tall, slim, with warm blue eyes. Over the course of the time Harper had been hospitalized I’d had numerous conversations with him, and even more with John, as he was closely following Harper’s treatment strategy. Although Dr. Carroll was in charge of Harper, it was John who spent most of the time caring for her, although he wasn’t the physician in charge.

Ignoring the rest of us, John’s gaze immediately went to Harper, and he smiled. As I watched the two, I realized how strong his feelings were for my sister. It showed in the way he looked at her, as if he didn’t notice that she was bald and shockingly thin; he saw her as the beautiful woman she was. In that instant I fell a little in love with him myself.

“Dr. Carroll, this is my family. You’ve met Willa.” Harper motioned toward me. “This is Lucas. He’s usually here after you’ve left for the day. And this is his fiancée, Chantelle. You’ve probably seen her around now and again.”

The men exchanged handshakes. We all returned to our seats. Dr. Carroll stood next to Harper’s bed, his expression kind but serious. A knot formed in my throat, fearing what we were about to learn.

Lucas led the conversation. “Doctor, from what I’ve been hearing, the lab results aren’t showing the improvement in Harper’s white blood cells we’d hoped to see.”

“To this point, that’s true,” he agreed.

“You mean you believe they will?” Lucas’s voice rose marginally with hope.

I sat up a bit straighter myself.

“I’m optimistic. Her body is fighting hard and we’re doing everything humanly possible to give Harper every chance available. Hopefully, with a bit more time, we’ll see better results.”

Lucas reached for Chantelle’s hand. “Our wedding is coming up soon and Harper is a bridesmaid. We’re wondering if we should”—he hesitated and glanced at Harper—“if we should arrange to be married earlier than originally planned.”

“Harper is an important part of our wedding, so we really want her to be there.” Chantelle paused and looked at my sister. “Even if she needs to be in a wheelchair.”

“Do you think that’s possible?” Lucas asked.

The question hung in the air like a bomb ready to explode. The silence was eerie, filled with expectation. Dread. Fear. It seemed we all leaned forward, anticipating his response.

The two physicians exchanged a look. Dr. Carroll took his time answering. John looked at Harper and his eyes gentled.

“Of course I can’t make any guarantee; no medical professional would in good conscience,” Dr. Carroll said. “However, our hope is that Harper will be able to be part of your wedding, but I can’t say that one way or the other.”

“What needs to happen?”

For the next fifteen minutes, Dr. Carroll updated us on the next steps