Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
My heart beat faster still.
“I’m so sorry to call you back in so quickly, but I’ve literally just gotten some news that I’m eager to share with you and it’s extremely time sensitive.”
“Yes?” my daddy asked.
“There’s a clinical trial that’s being carried out just outside of Austin,” Dr. Long said, getting straight to it. “Several weeks ago, when I suspected the treatments for June weren’t working as they should, I put her name down as a possible candidate should her results come back as I feared.”
A clinical trial? I hadn’t even entertained the idea of being nominated for one.
Dr. Long turned his computer screen toward us and brought up an email. He pointed to the screen, but I kept my eyes firmly on his. “There’s a drug company that is developing a new treatment for teenage patients with acute myeloid leukemia.” I stilled. The disease I had been fighting for over a year now. “There are eight places available at a private hospital on a ranch just under an hour from Marble Falls, which is near Austin.” He pushed a brochure nearer us, across his desk. “Initially, June was rejected, as she still showed some signs of improvement. But when I spoke to them a few days ago about how your treatment had stopped working, they said there might be a spot opening back up.”
Dr. Long paused, a flicker of sadness in his demeanor. Then it hit me—the spot had become free because someone else hadn’t made it. A teen with AML, like me, had lost their life.
A strangled sob came from my mama, but I was too gripped by what Dr. Long was saying. “June,” he addressed me directly. “This trial…” He shook his head. “I’m not gonna lie, it’ll be tough, but this is our last chance.” He then addressed my parents. “It’s residential, of course. There are family quarters. I don’t know how it’ll work with your jobs, but this is a real chance of remission for June.” Dr. Long tapped the brochure. “Take a few hours to look through this, but we must give them a decision by the end of the day. It’ll be a total life upheaval…but it’s a chance. Our final chance.”
I glanced to my parents beside me. They were completely wrecked. The past couple of days had been too much for them to cope with. “I want to do it,” I said, voice strong.
My mama nodded. She glanced at my daddy.
“We’ll make it work no matter what,” Daddy said. A flicker of a smile touched his lips. He turned to me and kissed my forehead. “Baby girl, we are going to give you this chance and we are going to make sure it works.” His voice broke. “I can’t lose you.” He shook his head, tears falling to the linoleum floor. “I won’t.”
Only then did tears spill from my eyes. For the first time since being told I was stage four, I broke down. I nodded at my daddy, unable to speak.
When I looked down at my hands again, I exhaled a shaky breath. They felt like mine again. I glanced out of the window—I felt like I was me again.
“We’ll do it,” Daddy said to Dr. Long, taking me from my thoughts. “When do we leave?”
The sound of Dr. Long and my parents making plans turned to white noise as I stared out the window at the bright Texas sun. I could almost feel its healing rays kissing my face.
Hope.
I was feeling a flicker of hope.
And I was going to hold on to it as tightly as I could.
CHAPTER 2
June
Harmony Ranch, Texas
Three days later…
The butterflies of anxiety in my stomach morphed into ones of awe as I drank in the view of the hospital that would be my home for the next few months. It was like no other hospital I’d ever been in. The pamphlet about the trial explained how it was once a working ranch, until it was repurposed and was approved as a hospital many years ago. The drive up to the ranch on its own had seemed utopian. The driveway was neatly graveled, and trees lined the side of the road. I smiled when I saw in the fields that made up the property and the horses grazing in the grass paddocks.
I adored horses. Before my illness, I was a rider. When the pain in my bones and limbs became too much, I’d had to pull back. It broke my heart. I hadn’t visited the stables since. It was too painful to visit the place that had once provided so much peace and solitude for me. It was a slice of happiness that had been taken from me. But I couldn’t help the smile that etched itself on my face as a chestnut gelding lifted his head at our car passing by.