Free The Next Door Boys by Jolene B. Perry Page B

whispered. My body felt thick and heavy from my stupid sleeping pills. I hated it.
    “There you are,” he whispered and slid closer to the bed. “You scared me.”
    “I'm fine.” I kept blinking. My eyes were dried out.
    “Do you feel better?”
    “Not yet. I still feel drugged. What time is it?”
    “It's close to 1 p.m., Sunday.”
    “I slept for almost 24 hours?” I sighed. A whole day lost.
    “Not quite.”
    “Have you been here the whole time?” I looked over at him.
    He nodded.
    “Jaron. It's completely unnecessary for you to sit here while I sleep.” Then I realized something else. “You missed your meetings?”
    He didn't say anything for a few minutes. “It's scary, Leigh.” I could see it in his face. It was a lot for him to admit. I suddenly saw this whole experience through his eyes. “It took everything in me not to run you to the hospital.”
    “Sorry.” I still hadn't bothered to lift my head off the pillow.
    “No, no, don't apologize. Don't feel bad that I'm here.” He shifted his weight and ran his hand over his head. “I couldn't imagine not being here. Besides,” he smiled at me, “What would Mom say if she thought I'd left you all alone?”
    I tried to laugh through my guilt and gratitude.
    “Julie went above and beyond for dinner for everyone tonight. I'm sure it's just about done. Wanna head up?”
    “How bad do I look?”
    He shrugged. “You look like you've been asleep for a day, but your hair is still impressively smooth and shiny.”
    “Well, I'm starving. I guess it doesn't really matter.” I started to slide out of bed. I had no idea what to tell everyone. How do you explain crashing at your brother's house and ditching the ward hike?
    “You might want to consider talking to everyone. You know I already told Brian about your last year. You said it was okay.”
    I nodded. “He was very nice.”
    “Well, he's a nice guy.”
    Jaron took my arms as I stood out of bed. He was right. I needed to say something. I just hated being the sick girl.

ten
     
    I heard them finish the prayer as we hit the bottom of the porch steps.
    “Leigh!” Julie's face lit into a smile.
    “Hey.” I tried to react appropriately, but my body still felt heavy and thick.
    “Sleepover at the boys’ place, huh?” Kim laughed.
    Maybe I shouldn't have been irritated with her, but I was. I only glanced at her briefly before sitting down. I put my hands in my lap and clenched them together between my legs. “Well, I'm sure you all have noticed that wherever I am, my brother is too. He's not normally this obnoxious about being so overprotective, but it was part of the deal if I wanted to come to school this year.” Everyone was suddenly quiet, listening to me. Brian was the only one who knew what was coming.
    “I didn't make it to school last year because I had cancer.” All the girls held their breath. Stuart looked surprised, but he watched my brother, not me. “The chemo was really hard on my body.” I looked down at my plate for a minute. “Sometimes I can't sleep, and that really spirals me down fast, so I need a day or two of sleep so I can function again. That's why I don't walk to school, that's why Jaron monitors me so carefully, and that's why I'm only taking four classes. I get dizzy easily. I get tired fast. It was recommended that I take another semester off to recover, but I was too impatient to get out of the house and start my life.”
    “Oh my gosh, Leigh.” Julie's eyes filled with concern. “Are you okay now?”
    “I'm in remission, that's their term. But I know it's gone. I've spent too many hours on my knees to have any doubt over that. The only lasting side effect for me is that I can't have kids, but in comparison… it's not such a big thing.” I couldn't believe I'd been able to get it all out, but it seemed if I was going to drop one thing, I might as well drop it all. “I just didn't want you all to think I was crazy or that Jaron was some kind of