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Coming home from school, I walked into the kitchen to find Johnny standing next to the freezer, devouring vanilla ice cream out of the carton.
When he heard me laughing at him, an expression spread across Johnny's face much like the look our dog had been wearing when we'd arrived home once to discover her sitting on the sofa.
"Aww, did your boyfriend dump you?" I mocked.
"Say what you want. I think I'm having a religious awakening," Johnny defended, gulping more ice cream as if he were being timed.
"No, I'm happy to see you eating anything, let alone with such unbridled enthusiasm. Carry on, good sir."
"My mouth's just been so dry lately," he explained between bites. That made sense. Dr. Ling had mentioned that Johnny might have mouth sores, and his gums might even bleed.
"Do you want to try it? It's really good," he offered.
I nodded and he spooned the ice cream into my mouth while I got out a sheet of binder paper for homework.
"Fucking yum!" I exclaimed. "That's what I'm talking about. You're right. Although it probably tastes even better to you right now."
"Oh, you have no idea. This stuff rocks my world."
"Do I have reason to be jealous?" I inquired.
"Not yet. I'll let you know if things heat up between us though," he said, practically making out with the ice cream; devouring it so intently.
"So it's helping your mouth?" I asked sincerely.
"Yeah, it helps a lot."
"I can start making you milkshakes, too, if you want. The Polish girl in me really wants to fatten you up." I would just be happy if he reached something close to what he used to weigh. He was skinny even then but now he looked like a fucking Olsen twin.
"Yeah," Johnny said animatedly. "That would be great."
"Okay, we'll just have to get some more ice cream because after this little maneuver of yours I don't think there'll be any survivors."
Johnny nodded his agreement, continuing to shovel in ice cream.
I began tonight's math homework.
"Oh, your favorite," Johnny said sarcastically, knowing that I had an on and off relationship with math that had been off quite frequently lately.
"It's actually not too scary tonight."
"That's good to hear," Johnny said. He coughed a little. Suddenly it occurred to me how stuffy he had been sounding.
"Getting sick, honey?"
"I think I might be," he said, sniffling thickly. "I was even more tired today than I always am."
"Okay, well we'll just have to keep an eye on you," I said assuredly. "We'll go to bed early tonight."
….
That night when the guys were over for dinner, they noticed how stuffy Johnny sounded, coupled with the fact that he was even more exhausted than usual.
"Coming down with something, Johnnycake?" Two-Bit asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Johnny answered.
"That's why you're going to drink this," I said, striding over from the blender where I'd been standing. In my hand was a tall glass of smoothie.
"What is that?" Ponyboy asked in a horrified voice, taking in the thick green substance.
"It's health in a glass," I said, trying my best to sound positive like Soda always somehow did.
"It more closely resembles Jabba the Hut in a glass," Two-Bit said, cracking up at his own joke.
"Honey, I'm not drinking that," Johnny said while slowly backing away from it. Even Mom looked skeptical.
"It has all the vitamins Dr. Ling mentioned. You only need them more when you're sick," I said in a pleading voice.
"Why don't you drink it?" Steve asked.
I started to protest, to say I wasn't the one with a cold in addition to leukemia, but then Johnny spoke up.
"I'd like to see that."
"Okay, alright," I said, acting like I didn't care. "I'll do it. I'll show you how delicious it is. We're a team. Solidarity."
I gulped it down, and then immediately wished I hadn't.
"Ladies and gentleman, duck for cover. She's gonna blow!" Two-Bit shouted, disappearing under the table.
Johnny gave me a smirk.
"How are you enjoying that health in a glass, Liv? Is it delicious?"
I flipped him off, and then sprinted to the bathroom to spit out the nasty stuff. Everyone's laughter was audible from the kitchen.