Chapter 38“What happens now?” Steve asks later that evening.
“One step at a time.”
“It’s not good news.”
“We don’t know that. But whatever happens—”
“I’m tired of hearing that,” he says. “Whatever happens. Whatever happens.” He turns to me, frightened. “I could be dying.”
We grow still. I can hear Steve’s breathe racing.
I say, “If it is cancer, then we’ll deal with it.”
“I will deal with it.”
Firm. “We will deal with it. I am not going anywhere.”
Steve reaches a hand to his throat. “I might die.”
I squeeze his hand.
Silence stills us, and the room grows unfriendly, icy cold.
Steve says, “I need to close my eyes.”
I nod. “I’ll be right here.”
Panic rises in Steve’s face; his mouth pinches. A tear spills out of his one working eye. He grips my hand. “Don’t leave me, Jack.” The
