Free Six Months to Live by Lurlene McDaniel

and adding about twelve pounds, she felt she looked pretty good in her one-piece emerald green swimsuit.
    Greg and Mike arrived at the pool minutes after Dawn and Sandy. Greg was tanned and lean, testifying to many hours spent in the sun. Mike still wore jeans, but his bare chest was also firm and muscular like Greg’s.
    “You’re not swimmin’?” Sandy asked, the disappointment showing in her voice.
    Mike dropped his eyes and jammed his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “Naw,” he said.
    “But why?” she asked, her blue eyes wide. “Can’t you swim?”
    Mike stood self-consciously for a moment. “I, uh, had a kind of bone cancer,” he said quietly. “They had to cut off my left leg below the knee. I wear a prosthesis,” he continued with a shrug, “you know,… an artificial leg. I, uh, I have to take it off to go in the water.”
    The hot sun beat down. The sounds of kids
    laughing and splashing enveloped the poolside air. The biting smell of chlorine filled Sandy’s nose. Her insides ached for Mike.
    Sandy looked him full in the face, tipped her head and said, “I don’t care about your leg, Mike. I’d like you to come swimmin’ with me.”
    Mike allowed his eyes to settle into hers. “What does bother me,” Sandy continued, a teasing tone coming into her lilting voice, “is bein’ around a boy who has more hair than I.”
    A slow, shy grin spread over Mike’s face, reaching from his mouth to his eyes. He nodded and said, “You’re all right, Sandy. You’re all right.”
    The tension eased. Mike laughed and headed to his cabin to change. Sandy waited for him, and Dawn and Greg slid into the cool, fresh water.
    “Actually,” Greg said, breaking the surface and slinging the water off his face and hair, “Mike’s a super swimmer. We’re both on our high school swim team and we belong to the same swim club. We used to go to meets together all the time. Course, Mike can’t compete any more. It’s not a sport for a one-legged athlete. But he still works out and stays in shape.”
    “You’re a swimmer?” Dawn asked, surprised.
    “Since I was six,” he told her. “I’m hoping for an athletic scholarship to college. I’ve already won meets and tournaments at the State and National levels. And who knows? Maybe I’ll make it to the Olympics someday.”
    Dawn felt awed pleasure in his presence. Greg was planning a full and active future. And he had cancer, just like her. “What kind of cancer do you have?” she asked, no longer shy around him.
    “Leukemia,” he said, “since I was twelve. Two more years and they’ll call me ‘cured.’ I think I’m going to make it.” His blue eyes danced bright and colorful as the water. Small droplets clung to his golden skin and wet hair.
    “Race you across the pool!” he called.
    Dawn ducked under the water. She pushed off from the side of the pool in one smooth motion. She surfaced and stroked quickly over the surface.
    “Hey!” Greg cried, caught by surprise.
    Dawn laughed as he pulled alongside her with only a few strokes. Then he slowed and glided next to her through the water to the far side. She’d never felt happier, never more joyful.
    “You’re not a bad swimmer!” Greg said as they touched the far wall.
    “Thanks,” Dawn said. “I love sports.”
    Just then Sandy and Mike swam up alongside them. Dawn couldn’t help but glance below the rippling water at Mike. His thick and muscular thigh ended at his knee. But he pushed off from the wall with his good leg and did a beautiful back flip under the water. Sandy clapped gleefully as he surfaced and Mike took her hand and pulled her playfully up to his chest.
    Greg tapped Dawn on the shoulder. She
    glided toward him in the water and his strong hands reached out for her. She realized, suddenly, that camp was only two weeks long. There would be only two weeks with Greg, Sandy, and Mike, only two weeks out of an entire year …
    CHAPTER 10.
    Glorious summer days passed in