There we were, together on the old deck. The stillness of the water below us seemed so flawless. I looked around at the trees. Their branches were covered with dark red leaves. The autumn breeze glided through the air, cool and pleasant. The moment felt perfect.
She was sitting next to me on the old wooden deck, the cool, clear water of the lake barely tickling her toes, while I sat with my knees up.
“It’s beautiful, huh?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said, but I wasn’t talking about the lake like she was. My mind lingered on her.
She smiled, resting her head into my neck. “Do you think my hair will ever grow back, Cade?” she inquired.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I’ll keep shaving mine off until it does—even if that means never.”
“You didn’t have to do that, you know.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you?” she asked, turning to face me, her blue eyes almost wrestling the truth out of me.
“Because I…” I began, but then I caught myself before I could finish. “Just call it a friendly gesture.”
“Oh,” she sighed, almost as if she wanted me to say that I loved her. “I loved your hair though, you know. But thanks anyway.”
“Don’t mention it.”
What the doctor had said weighed heavy on my heart. I only had a week with her. A week to pour out the seven years of emotions I had kept inside of me. It was such a short time.
Being there together, we both enjoyed the time that we were having together, just by ourselves. Most of the things we did, we did with her grandparents or parents, so it was nice to be alone at last.
“Rose! Cade! It’s time for dinner!” called her grandma.
Her family was staying the weekend at their grandparents’ house near the lake, and had invited me as well.
“Coming, Gran!” she called back, running to the door.
I followed her, walking instead of running. The sadness that I carried was heavier than a boulder, and twice as hard to carry.
She waited at the door for me until I arrived.
“You shouldn’t run like that, Rose,” I scolded. “You’re not exactly at the top of your game. I’d hate to see you hurt yourself.
“Come on,” she ignored my warning, taking my hand. “Gran made chicken pot pie. She knows it’s your favorite.”
We sat down at the table. Rose sat right next to me.
“Would someone like to say Grace?” Mrs. Duffy looked around, and when she saw no one was volunteering, she posed, “Gramp, how about you say the prayer?”
“Why, I sure will,” he answered. “Lord Jesus, thank you for providing my wife to prepare this food, and of course, some fixin’s to make it. Thank you for this time, and in Jesus’s name, Amen.”
I looked around the old, rustic cabin and smiled. Nothing had changed. The old rust-colored curtains were the same, and they still owned the old blue couch that didn’t match anything in their house.
“Here you go, Cade,” said Roses grandma, putting a hefty piece of pot pie on the table. “Ya’ll enjoy!”
My pot pie was sizzling hot and pouring out with its fillings, just the way I liked it. I picked up a fork and ate it, amazed at how much I missed this good taste.
The first few moments of dinner were somewhat awkward. All six of us ate our pot pie, but none of us really started talking for a while.
Rose’s grandma broke the silence, “So how have you been, Cade?” she asked. “You’re lookin’ well lately. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you!”
“I’m doing well. Thanks.”
“Well that’s great!” she said. “How’s your pot pie? Did I make it right this time? I couldn’t remember if you liked it when I made it with tater soup, or celery soup, so I just added a little bit of both, ya’ll. I did! I hope it tastes okay, because I worked real hard on it.”
Rose’s grandma loved to talk. And it was obvious. Once she opened her mouth, you could expect not to talk for a while.
“It’s perfect,” I answered, smiling.
“Oh, good!”
Rose’s being sick was a huge elephant in the room. It always was at the Duffy’s house. It was almost like they were afraid, but I couldn’t tell.
“How’s everyone else’s pot pie?” asked her grandma, smiling so wide that you could see every single one of her fake teeth.
“Good,” everyone answered simultaneously.
“Thanks for working so hard, Gran,” said Mrs. Duffy, who was sitting right next to her, with a kiss.
I looked down at my empty plate, then at Rose’s, noticing that she was done, too. She looked at me, smiling.
“Did you want to go to the lake?” I whispered, and she nodded. “Thank you for dinner. Rose and I are going to go out by the lake. That is, if you don’t mind.”
“Go ahead!” said her grandpa. “Ya’ll enjoy yourselves! That’s what you’re here for, ain’t it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, ya’ll don’t have to be so formal,” he stated firmly, waving his finger at me.
“Oh, Bill, you old goat!” Gran rebuked. “If the child wants to call you a sir, then let him. You just said they were here to have fun. It ain’t much fun if you go wavin’ your finger all around at ‘em.”
“Oh, alright, you stubborn…mule,” he hollered back. Gran and Gramp had a funny way of expressing that they loved each other, but they did. “Go ahead. Don’t let us stop you.”
“Sure, Gramp,” I joked.
“Now that’s more like it!” he yelled as we were walking out.
We went back to where we were and sat down. She let her feet touch the water again, and this time, I did the same.
“It’s gonna suck,” she said, sighing.
“What’s gonna suck?” I asked, confused.
“Dying.”
“What do you mean?”
“I guess I hadn’t thought about dying much until this past week,” she said. “I just wish that I could live out my dreams to get married and start a family. And I know it’s stupid, but I’ve always wanted to write a book about coming out of this alive. I wanted to be like…like a hero, I suppose, but I guess that won’t happen.”
I sighed. I wanted to say how much I loved her, and that I would marry her if she came out of this, but I couldn’t.
“You already are a hero.”
“Thanks,” she murmured. “Another thing that sucks is that I miss my hair.”
“I think you’re beautiful just the way you are,” I said quietly, “even if you don’t have hair.”
“I, uh, I want you to know that I—” Before she could finish, she started to cough. The coughing grew progressively worse. She was leaning over, and before I knew it, she fell in the water.
“Rose!”
I jumped in after her, trying to grab her before she fell underneath. I wrapped her arms around my neck and swam to shore.
“Mr. Duffy!” I called for her father while pushing on her chest. I was trying to get her to breathe. Finally, she sputtered and opened her eyes, unable to say anything. “Mr. Duffy!” Her parents came running out, both of them with panicked expressions.
“Is she breathing?” I nodded “Rose! Rose, honey! Hang on! We’ll get you to a doctor.” said her mother frantically. “Dave, get her in the car. We have to go to the doctor.”
“Let me carry her,” I said, picking her up. I couldn’t tell if I could lift her because she was rail thin and very light, or if adrenaline was causing me to have a bit of super strength, but it didn’t matter. I ran to the car as fast as I could and set her in the backseat.
I got in the backseat with her and grabbed her hand. I could see her falling in and out of consciousness. Every time she would faint, my heart would almost stop beating out of fear. It was the worst car ride of my life, even though it was less than a half hour.
We arrived. Everything after that was a blur of people in scrubs and white coats rushing around. The next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital room.
I stood up, walked to her bed, and found her lying there, tubes running through her everything. She opened her eyes.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” said Mrs. Duffy. “Thank you so much, Cade. You are so sweet.”
Rose smiled. “Hey,” she said softly.
“Hey.”
“You fell asleep,” she said, smiling. “You wouldn’t leave. It was quite charming.” She chuckled.
“It was nothing.”
“This stupid tube is annoying,” she said, motioning toward the tube that was running through her nose.
“I’ll bet.”
“Come a little closer,” she said, reaching for my hand. I walked closer to her and grasped her tiny hand tightly. “I don’t have long. You and I both know that.”
Tears streamed down both of our faces.
I stammered, but managed to get out a few quiet words. “I just want you to know that I love you,” she said. “I love you more than you know. And I’m sorry I didn’t say sooner.”
I kissed her forehead and she whispered, “I love you, too.”
That was enough.
Please review! Still taking reviews and suggestions about the title!
I’m just curious why the grandparents and the parents have this style of speech when Rose and Cade obviously don’t.
Plus I don’t think it’s realistic for him to run either. With some help from Dad or Gramps, he would definitely get there faster than if he went alone in any case. 
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