Always You(42)

Wrenn

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I threw myself down on my bed, not bothering to strip the wet clothes from my body. This couldn’t be happening. How could life be so unfair? The thought of losing him was too much. I couldn’t go through life with him just waiting for this disease to attack.

I sat up and walked over to my desk. Sitting down, I flicked open my laptop. I typed “Huntington’s disease” into Google and clicked on the first link: an entry from the Huntington’s Society of America. I’d never even heard of it. I had no idea what it entailed, or what kind of life he could expect if he did in fact have the disease. Would he just drop dead one day? Would there be symptoms? All these questions were racing through my mind, unanswered.

. . . Huntington’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that causes breakdown of brain cells . . .

. . . symptoms include muscle coordination loss, memory loss and loss of cognitive function . . .

. . . no known cure . . .

. . . life expectancy after initial showing of symptoms is usually ten to twenty years . . .

I slammed the laptop shut and stood up. I felt sick. Reading any more was going to make me feel worse. As amazing as the internet was, when it came to finding correct information, searching while an emotional mess was not a good idea.

Grabbing my phone, I deleted the numerous missed calls and texts from Dalton, and called Kass.

“What’s up?” Kass answered almost immediately, sounding like her usual upbeat self.

“It’s me. I need to get out of here. Will you come with me?” My tone must have told her this was serious, because for once she didn’t question me.

“Of course. I’ll be there in ten.”

Hanging up, I shoved a change of clothes into an overnight bag along with my brush and toothbrush. Zipping it up, I went downstairs. Thank God everyone was out. I left Layna a note saying I’d gone out with Kass and would be back the next day. Before I went outside, I fished around in the bottom drawer for the spare key to the beach house. My fingers finally grasped hold of it. Shoving it into my pocket, I went outside to wait for Kass.

***

True to her word, ten minutes later Kass pulled into the driveway. I climbed into the passenger seat and clicked on my seatbelt. Kass glanced at me with concern as she backed out of the driveway.

“Are you okay?”

“Not really.” I muttered. I put my head back and closed my eyes. “Can we go to Cinter Beach? My aunt has a holiday house there.”

Kass nodded. For the first time ever, she was speechless. She could see I was upset, and I think she didn’t know whether to try and get me to talk or not.

The first fifteen minutes of our drive were spent in total silence. Kass was focused on driving, and me, I was lost in my thoughts. Sighing, I stared out the window. The storm had passed, but the day was still miserable, reflecting my mood perfectly.

“He might be sick.”

Kass whipped her head around, alarmed. Her brown eyes were full of concern as she waited for me to continue.

“Dalton,” I clarified. “He might be dying.”

“What do you mean?” Kass said carefully. Her hands clenched the steering wheel as she glanced intermittently at me.

I snorted. “I don’t know. He might have a genetic disease that is terminal, but it won’t show up for years. Decades, even. But it will, eventually, kill him.”

“Oh, Wrenn. Shit, that’s bad. There is no way to find out whether he has it?” she asked softly.

I shrugged. What did I know? Nothing.

She reached over to me, her hand closing over mine. “I’m so sorry, Wrenn.”

“He didn’t even tell me himself, Kass. I overhead Layna on the phone to his mom. How could he not tell me something like that?”

I shook my head, still so angry. I deserved to know if the guy I was falling in love with was going to die. I deserved to f*cking know, dammit. I felt cheated. Betrayed. Would knowing that have changed the way I’d felt about him? It didn’t change who he was, but it might have affected my decision to chase him.

“Maybe he didn’t know how to broach it. I can’t imagine it would be an easy conversation to start,” she reasoned.

I glanced at her.

Maybe she was right. I gazed out the window again, closing my eyes. Maybe he was trying to protect me. I could’ve gone the next twenty years not knowing that I might lose him. Would that have been better than this?

I didn’t know. God, I was so confused.

***

“Wrenn.”

I opened my eyes and glanced around. Cinter Beach. Where I had spent the majority of my childhood vacations. Smooth, white sand that stretched for miles, crystal clear water, cute little ice cream stores that stayed open late into the night. Not so much in the dead of winter, though.

I had so many memories. Remembering made me sad. It made me wish Mom was there so I could talk to her. What advice would she give me? Forgetting for a moment that Dalton was my teacher, Mom would’ve told me to go with my heart. True, unconditional love was such a rare thing to find that a short time was better than not experiencing it at all.

“Up on the hill. The one with the white fence,” I mumbled, realizing that Kass was waiting for directions. As she drove along the boulevard, memories of my childhood came rushing back: Dad, teaching me how to body board; eating ice cream on the beach with Mom and Layna; fighting with Jordan over which room was mine. I wiped a stray tear from my eye.