By Chance | Book One |

Chapter Thirty Two

Lyra

Three years ago

"How was school?" He asked instead of answering my question.

"Henry. Is it true?" I asked again.

"Who told you?"

My throat felt as if there were needles slowly coming up it. "Why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Ly," he sighed.

I shook my head. "Don't do that."

But I already knew why. I knew stage four breast cancer was fatal. Her chances were slim.

Accepting that fact was almost impossible. Accepting what my life would become without her was something I couldn't do. She was the only reason I was still here. She was the only reason I had to live, and now my time with her was limited.

"How long does she have?"

"She would want to talk to you about this, Lyra. It's not my place."

"How long?"

He closed his eyes, leaning back against his seat before letting out a shaky, "Two years at most. Realistically less than that."

My stomach sank as it all hit me. Bridgette most likely would never make it to her thirtieth birthday. Bridgette was always so excited to age, she couldn't wait for the milestones and things she would accomplish.

"Is she in a lot of pain?"

"She's okay. She's strong, you know that."

"She's not going to make it, Henry."

He looked like I just slapped him across the face. "There's still a possibility that she'll recover."

Henry loved Bridgette as much as I did. He absolutely adores her. He's been in love with her since he bumped into her at a coffee shop in the city five years ago. About two years ago she finally gave in and went on a date with him. 

He would have married her by now too, but she has a rule to not get married or have children until she's in her thirties.

"I can just go home," I offered. "You should spend as much time with her as you can."
He shook his head. "Don't say that."

Henry brought me back to Bridgette's and nothing felt the same anymore. Bridgette's bright smile seemed to dim, no matter how hard she tried.

When we got back to her house she was hardly able to tell me. I just got up and hugged her.

"Do you remember what we wanted to do for your seventeenth birthday?" She whispered. "We should do it for your fifteenth, or maybe in the summer."

I nodded. "Henry can come too."

She wrapped her arm around me and squeezed me tight.

I felt tears in my throat. It hurt, it stung. But they never fell. She was going through so much and I didn't want her to see me cry.

Henry and I made Bridgette her favourite dinner. When we were alone he asked if I was okay.

"I'll help convince your parents to let you go on the trip, they'll understand."

But they wouldn't, they wouldn't let me go on the trip. Bridgette and I would ever get to finish visiting the Disney's around the world.

"Thank you." I nodded. "If I can't go, will you take her?"

His brows creased together. "We're all going together, Lyra."

"Promise me, please. She should go to Paris at least once."

"Okay." He nodded slowly. He knew I had a point. I was preparing for the worst, because the worst is likely possible. Thinking about the worst helped me prepare for it. As much as I wanted to have hope, to believe she would be okay, it felt almost impossible.

When my father showed up mid afternoon on Sunday, Bridgette and Henry asked me to go to my room so they could talk to him about the trip being moved. I pressed my ear against my door and listened to them.

"We want to take Lyra to Paris on her birthday next year." Bridgette said. "I want to take her.. Just in case."

"Why are you discussing the worst case? Especially with my daughter involved."

"We have to. We have to plan for everything, bringing her to Paris early is what I want to do. Even if it's during the summer. Henry will be there too."

"She's tried to run away before, Bridgette. Taking her to another country at fourteen or fifteen will give her ideas."

I heard her sigh before Henry spoke. "Bridgette doesn't ask a lot, she loves your daughter and she loves Bridgette. We'll pay for the trip."

"Money isn't the issue. The issue is I don't trust my daughter to not run away while in Paris or at the airport for God's sake. She's troubled, Bridgette. We can hardly handle her. You could take Lilian though."

"She's never behaved like that with me. With us. Ever."

"We can hardly manage her. I don't want to put you through that. Plus she's getting a job once school is over with. Mel owns the bookstore in town and she's more than happy to give Lyra a job this summer. We can't just ask her to take vacation."

I moved back away from the door and slid down it. He would never say yes, he would never agree to it. I knew that.

I put my hands over my ears to drown out anything they were saying. I didn't want to hear it, I didn't want to hear Bridgette beg my father to let me go on the trip. I know I didn't deserve to go on or go on with Bridgette. My heart hurt, It hurt so much. It hurt to breathe. To think. To be around Bridgette.