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that are the problem
.
    Tens swiped his sunglasses from the table and gently placed them on her face. “That help?”
    “I can see you fine. The girls are standing in front of the sun. Tell them to move.” She patted Tens’s cheek. “Let’s just get this announcement over with. My lucky headacheturned out to be cancer.” Faye’s graceful poise didn’t allow her to slouch in the wheelchair, though she held her right hand down with her left to stop the tremors. Her brave face didn’t betray any fear or wallowing. Gus took over, interjecting a false optimism that I called denial. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. There’s all sorts of things they can do. There’s a leading medical research center right here in town. You have to listen to them and do what they tell you.”
    The
them
were doctors. Doctors who delayed death as long as possible but hadn’t quite learned how to prolong life.
    With a sigh, Faye argued with him. “Honey, I can’t hold my violin. I can’t see to read music. I can’t even write my name. I’m not letting them poke me or poison me.”
    “But you enjoy watching your shows.”
    “Game shows and soap operas aren’t enough.” She whispered these last words.
    Gus seemed kicked in the stomach. Gutted. He thought she was giving up. I understood the only thing Faye controlled here was how she handled dying, not whether she was.
    “Marry me and I’ll make sure they do what you want.”
    “Oh, Gussy, I don’t need you to bear that responsibility.” She shook her head. Her eyes gleamed while Gus, frustrated, sighed heavily.
    I searched the faces around me. Juliet lifted her head and made eye contact. When she nodded yes to my unspoken question, Tony followed, then Rumi and Nelli. Tens leaned down and kissed the hollow between myneck and shoulder. His breath whispered over my skin and I nodded.
    “Would you like tea or anything? We need to tell you something,” I said to Faye.
    “I’m not hungry. And I haven’t seen you this serious since we first met. What’s going on?”
    “Gus, would you sit, please?” I asked.
    Tens wheeled Faye toward the sitting area.
    I perched next to her. “Faye, can you please close your eyes?”
    “What?”
    “Close them, please.”
    They drooped shut behind the dark lenses.
    I needed to understand if she was seeing our light with something other than her eyes. Maybe her soul? If we darkened the room and she continued seeing light where no one else did, she might believe us.
Worth a shot to demonstrate
.
    I held my hand out to Juliet, beckoning her over to me. Her hands were cool and damp and I felt her shiver a little as she extricated herself from my grasp quickly.
    “Now what?” Faye asked.
    “I’d like you to tell me when Rumi shuts off the lights. Okay? Tell me when he flips the switch.”
    “I’m confused. Why are we doing this?” Gus questioned. “Bear with me,” I answered.
    Rumi cut the electricity and the lavender of twilight filtered through the curtains. There wasn’t enough ambient light left to make out more than shapes.
    “I’m not sure I’ll know with the sunglasses on.” Faye lifted a hand and pulled them down. “Okay, I’m ready. Is it those new fluorescent bulbs, Rumi? Why do you need it blazing like the sun in here?”
    I counted to twenty-five.
    “It’s the cancer, isn’t it? It’s in her eyes? Her brain?” Gus’s voice quaked.
    I brushed my free hand across Faye’s cheek, then tugged Juliet away from them. “Keep them closed until Tens tells you to open them, okay?”
    Faye nodded.
    I gripped Juliet’s hand and headed for the long hallway toward the bedrooms and bathroom.
    When we were behind Faye and had closed the first door, we heard her say, “Oh my, that’s better. But you’re sneaky—that’s not all of them yet.”
    “Open your eyes, Faye,” Tens mumbled.
    “What’s going on?” Gus sounded perplexed. “I don’t understand.”
    Juliet stayed close to me as we reentered the room hand in