Two weeks had passed. John was coming back tomorrow. Lucy had just arrived home. She could smell food cooking.
"I'm home." She said. She went into the kitchen. Grace was chopping vegetables. The bruise on her eye was almost gone. It was a faint yellowish color
"Hi."
"You're making dinner?"
"Yeah."
"That's nice of you." "How's your eye feel?"
"A lot better."
"John will probably question you when he sees it."
"I know." "I'm gonna tell him the truth and hope he doesn't lose it."
"He's really looking forward to seeing you tomorrow." "I talked to him last night."
"How come you don't live with him?"
"Well when I decided to move here we were still just friends."
"Why did you move here?"
"After I gave you up and my parents kicked me out of the house I hitchhiked to San Francisco." "I felt guilty for giving you up." "I met some bad people and became addicted to heroin for the next twenty-two years of my life." "I ran into John one day he wanted to help me and he wanted to help me but at first I wouldn't listen." "He found me one night." "I'd overdosed." "I was rushed to the hospital." "He stayed with me the whole time." "When I woke up he told me he got me into a treatment facility and I decided to go." "In rehab is where I first told him about you."
"When did you guys get back together?"
"On your birthday actually." "That had always been an emotional time for me in the past." "John was there for me." "One thing led to another and we were together that night and we decided to get back together after that."
"So in a way I brought you back together."
"Yeah." "It was an easy decision to make." "It took no time at all to fall back in love with him."
The next morning Grace got up and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. She saw Lucy face down on the kitchen floor.
"Oh my god!" Grace said. She knelt down next to Lucy. Lucy had a pulse. "Lucy!" "Lucy can you hear me?!" Grace went and got her cell phone and dialed 911.
Lucy was rushed to the hospital. Lucy was still out. The doctor came in.
"Miss Reed." The doctor said. "We found a tumor of your mother's liver." "She has liver cancer."
"Liver cancer?"
"Yes."
"Is she going to be ok?"
"We need to start on chemo right away." "If that doesn't work we'll have to look for a donor."
"What are her chances of survival?"
"Fifty-fifty." "If the tumor gets to large there's nothing we can do." "Is your father coming?"
"He's on a flight right now so his phone is off but I left messages."
"I'm sorry to have to give you this bad news." "I'll be back later to see if she's awake." The doctor left.
Grace sat in a chair next to Lucy's bed and held her hand.