Read One Summer for Free Online

squeaks of the final gurney ride for another patient. They came with alarming regularity. Soon, he knew it would be his body on that stretcher.
    He turned his head when the kids came in, followed by Fred. He was surprised to see Cecilia stroll in with her walker and portable oxygen tank resting in a burgundy sling. It was hard for her to go outside in the cold weather, yet she had done so for Jack. Jackie immediately climbed up on his dad’s lap, while Cory sat on the bed. Arms folded defiantly over her chest, Mikki stood by the door, as far away from everyone as she could be. She had on faded jeans with the knees torn out, heavy boots, a sleeveless unzipped parka, and a black long-sleeve T-shirt that said, REMEMBER DARFUR . Her hair wasnow orange. The color contrasted sharply with the dark circles under her eyes.
    Cory had been saying something that only now Jack focused on. His son said, “But, Dad, you’ll be here and we’ll be way out there.”
    “That’s the way
Dad
apparently wants it,” said Mikki sharply.
    Jack turned to look at her. Father’s and daughter’s gazes locked until she finally looked away, with an eye roll tacked on.
    Cory moved closer to him. “Look, I think the best thing we can do, Dad, is stay here with you. It just makes sense.”
    Jackie, who was struggling with potty training, slid to the side of the bed and got down holding his privates.
    “Gramps,” said Mikki, “Jackie has to go. And I’m not taking him this time.”
    Fred saw what Jackie was doing and scuttled him off to the bathroom down the hall.
    As soon as he was gone, Jack said, “You have to go, Cor.” He didn’t look at Mikki when he added, “You all do.”
    “But we won’t be together, Dad,” said Cory. “We’ll never see each other.”
    Cecilia, who’d been listening to all this, quietly spoke up. “I give you my word, Cory, that you will see your brother and sister early and often.”
    Mikki came forward. Her sullen look was gone, replaced with a defiant one. “Okay, but what about Dad? He just stays here alone? That’s not fair.”
    Jack said, “I’ll be with you. And your mom will too, in spirit,” he added a little lamely.
    “Mom is dead. She can’t be with anyone,” snapped Mikki.
    “Mikki,” said Cecilia reproachfully. “That’s not necessary.”
    “Well, it’s true. We don’t need to be lied to. It’s bad enough that I have to go and live with
them
in Arizona.”
    Tears filled Cory’s eyes, and he started to sob quietly. Jack pulled him closer.
    Jackie and Fred came back in, and the visit lasted another half hour. Cecilia was the last to leave. She looked back at Jack. “You’ll never be alone, Jack. We all carry each other in our hearts.”
    Those words were nice, and heartfelt, he knew, but Jack Armstrong had never felt so alone as he did right now. He had a question, though.
    “Cecilia?”
    She turned back, perhaps surprised by the sudden urgency in his voice. “Yes, Jack?”
    Jack gathered his breath and said, “Lizzie told me she wanted to take the kids to the Palace next summer.”
    Cecilia moved closer to him. “She told you that?” she asked. “The Palace? My God. After all this time.”
    “I know. But maybe… maybe the kids could go there sometime?”
    Cecilia gripped his hand. “I’ll see to it, Jack. I promise.”

9
    They all came in to visit Jack for the last time. They would be flying out later that day to their new homes. Bonnie was there, as was Fred. Cory and Jackie crowded around their father, hugging, kissing, and talking all at once to him.
    Jack was lying in bed, dressed in a fresh gown. His face and body were gaunt; the machines keeping him comfortable until he passed were going full blast. He looked at each of his kids for what he knew would be the final time. He’d already instructed Bonnie to have him cremated. “No funeral,” he’d told her. “I’m not putting the kids through that again.”
    “I’ll call you as soon as I get there, Dad,”