Free Paper Cranes by Nicole Hite

that one of them was cheating on his girlfriend and I may have taken a swing at him.”
    “Seriously?”
    “I can neither confirm, nor deny my actions. I will say that that was the last night I ever drank. That was also the last night I stayed at that apartment. I packed my shit and hit the road in search of a new start.”
    “I applaud your courage. Not many people can recognize they have a problem until it’s forced in their face.”
    “You sound like you have experience?”
    Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved a blue medallion. Tossing it on to the table, I recognized it immediately. Digging in my purse, I pulled out an identical medallion, placing it next his.
    “Seems like we have more in common than we originally thought,” Lee grinned. “Five whole years. Those first couple of months were some of the hardest times in my life.”
    “What was your breaking point?” I barely got out.
    “The day a good friend of mine died,” he said, pushing the medallion across the tablecloth.
    “How did they pass?” I stumbled. “Never mind, don’t answer that.”
    “ALS.”
    “That’s why you run the groups…” I said meekly.
    “Yep. Towards the end, I had a hard time dealing with her leaving. I was just a kid at the time. I didn’t know how to deal with all that emotion, so I dealt with it the only way I knew how – I drank. See this scar behind my ear?”
    “Yeah…”
    “That’s a reminder why I will never drink again. I was slam drunk out of my mind the day she died and carelessly thought I needed to go for a drive. Yeah, I drove at 120 MPH without a care in the world. That’s until I slammed into a guardrail, ejecting me from my truck and nearly hitting a tree head on.”
    Covering my mouth, I shed a small tear for what could have been and how thankful I was to still have him here. That’s also why he can sympathize with the disease and me. It’s nothing new to him. I don’t want to be the reason he goes back to drinking though. I’m not strong enough for that and I don’t know if he is as well.
    “Please don’t cry, Dove. That’s all in the past. I’m not that guy anymore.”
    “How do you do it?”
    “Do what?” he questioned me.
    “Keep your shit together all the time. I can barely keep myself together to breathe in and out. Sometimes I don’t know which way is up or down.”
    “You don’t learn it overnight, Kat. It’s a progression. Just like the disease.”
    “How so,” I asked as I wiped the tear that had made its way to my chin.
    “You know, Kat,” he began. “This disease does not define you. Do you have a pen in that duffel bag of yours?”
    I handed him a pen as he took a napkin from the table. On the napkin he drew a giant circle. Within the larger circle he drew a smaller circle in the middle with a smiley face. In the bottom corner of the larger circle he drew a smaller circle with a sad face in it.
    Pointing with his pen at the larger circle, “See this bubble?”
    “Yes,” I grinned.
    “This, this is your life. Its huge and made up with so many factors like your job, car, house etc.”
    “Okay.”
    “Now, see this little circle in the middle with this cute little happy face?”
    Giggling, “Yep.”
    “That’s you. That’s what makes you, you and what makes you happy; friends, family, books, me,” he smirked.
    “Ugh, huh.”
    “This is your happy place, where nothing can touch you. Where you are content, enjoying this big ass life. Now see this tiny little fucker right here?”
    “Yes.”
    “This blob is ALS. It’s not what makes up your life or you for that matter, it’s a blip.”
    “A really shitty blip,” I turned up my lip at the very mention of it.
    “You see how you are reacting now? Don’t let that little shit move its way into your smiley face circle. Once you do, it’s won. Push it away and don’t let it grow to take over your entire life.”
    Placing the pen down, he looked up to meet my glassy eyes.
    “But what if I can’t put it