Free Best Friends Forever by Kimberla Lawson Roby Page A

noticed.
    “I am so, so sorry. Here I came over to support you, yet I’m obsessing over Keith and what he’s doing to you.”
    “It’s not a problem. I know this is taking you totally by surprise, and you’re upset. I’m upset, too, but I can’t spend all my time worrying about Keith. What I have to do now is try to stay as calm as I can. I need to meditate and pray more than ever before and be here for Kassie.”
    “You’re right, and I’m going to be here for both of you.”
    “I appreciate that, and Jackson says he’ll be home for my surgery, too.”
    “Good. I’m glad you called him.”
    “The one thing I am going to have to figure out, though, is how I’ll get to all my radiation treatments. Because Dr. Jones is already planning for that to happen. I might be able to drive myself to the first few, but I saw online that one of the common symptoms of radiation is heavy fatigue. Everyone is different, but I still need to prepare for it.”
    “We’ll get all that worked out when the time comes. So please don’t worry about that. I’m also going to plan on taking a week of vacation when you have your surgery. That way, when you come home, I can stay here with you. Someone is going to need to cook, wash, and clean.”
    Celine listened as Lauren sat figuring out everything, and she thanked God for her best friend. She was grateful to have Lauren in her life, since she no longer had a husband to depend on; at least not one who cared what happened to her. He was only concerned about himself, and that made Celine think about something else. Not only would she have to sit Kassie down this evening to explain about her cancer and surgery, she and Keith would also need to tell her he was leaving. Celine was having a hard time digesting both pieces of news herself, so she couldn’t imagine how traumatized Kassie would be. Her heart would be broken like never before, and the thought of it all made Celine’s own heart ache. Too much was happening way too fast, and Celine just hoped Kassie could survive it. She prayed that God would protect her daughter completely.

Chapter 13
    C eline walked upstairs and then down the hall to Kassie’s room. Kassie had her door slightly closed, and Celine could hear her singing along with one of her favorite Disney Channel characters. She sounded so happy, and it killed Celine to have to tell her about her illness. It wasn’t the kind of thing you wanted to tell any child, and Celine prayed for strength.
    She knocked on her daughter’s door.
    “Come in,” Kassie said in her same singing voice.
    Celine opened the door. “Hey, sweetie, can you pause that for a minute?”
    “Okay,” she said. She was sitting in bed on top of her comforter, resting against three pillow shams.
    Celine sat on the side of the bed, facing her.
    “What’s wrong, Mom? You look sad again. You look sad a lot.”
    “I know, honey, but I don’t mean to.”
    “Are you okay? I’m starting to get scared.”
    “Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Mom’s going to need surgery.”
    “Why?”
    “I have a lump in my breast.”
    Kassie looked at her mom’s chest. “Which one?”
    “My left one.”
    “So your doctor is going to take it out?”
    “Yes.”
    “Does it hurt?”
    “No.”
    “Then why do you have to have surgery?”
    “Because it wouldn’t be good to let it stay in there. My doctor wants to remove it before it gets bigger.”
    “If it does, will it make you sick?”
    “Yes.”
    Kassie stared at her mom, seemingly trying to decide whether she should say what she was thinking.
    “What is it, honey?” Celine asked.
    “Do you have cancer?”
    Celine had sort of been hoping she wouldn’t have to use that word, but she also wasn’t going to lie to her daughter.
    “I do, but how do you know about cancer?”
    “Delia’s aunt had it. Remember?”
    “I’d forgotten about that, but yes, she did.”
    “Are you going to die like her?”
    Celine grabbed both of