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"Do not"

"Good coood TV if it bit you in the ass"

Kate smiled, but it was as washed out as her complexion With her bald head and sunken eyes, she looked i tired?" Tully said, sitting up "Maybe we should go to sleep"

"I noticed that you apologized to me on air In your oay" Her s you were a bitch or actually saying the words You meant that you were sorry"

"Yeah, well, you're on hed, but it soon dissolved into coughing

Tully sat up quickly "Are you okay?"

"Hardly" She reached for the plastic glass on the table by her bed Tully leaned over and guided the straw to her reat"

"I'll need you to help lass back "So much of my life happened with you"

"Seems like our whole lives God, Katie, ere such babies e met"

"We're still kids," Katie said softly

Tully heard the sadness in her friend's voice; it ht noas how young they were For years they'd teased each other about getting old "How es" When Tully fell silent, Kate frowned "You aren't going to demand to read it?"

"I don't want to intrude"

"Don't do that, Tully," Kate said

"Do what?"

"TreatI need you to beyou It's the only way I remember who I a the only thing she had to give: herself "It's a deal" She had to force a smile and both of them knew it Some lies, it was obvious, would be unavoidable in the days ahead "You'll need my input, of course I was a witness to every iraphic hlight hair"

Kate laughed "There's ulated painthe hospital a difficult endeavor First of all, there was the crowd: her parents, her kids and husband, her aunt and uncle, her brother, and Tully Second, there was just so much movement--out of bed, into the wheelchair, out of the wheelchair, into the car, out of the car, into Johnny's arh the comfortable, pretty island house that sht's dinner, just as it always had He'd ht; she could tell That ht it would be tacos His two recipes She rested her cheek against the soft wool of his sweater

What will he cook for theone?

The question made her draw in a sharp breath, which she forced herself to release slowly Being ho with her fae way, it would have been easier to spend her final days at the hospital, without all these reminders around her

But easier wasn't the point anymore Time with her family hat mattered

Now they were all in the house, scattering like soldiers to their different tasks Marah had herded the boys into their roo casseroles; Dad was probablytheir way down the hallway toward the guest roo

"The docs wanted you in a hospital bed," Johnny said "I've got one, too, see? We'll be like Ricky and Lucy in our twin beds"

"Of course" She'd e what they both knew: soon she would have trouble sitting up and the bed would help, but her voice betrayed her "Y-you painted," she said to her husband The last time she'd seen this room it had been barn-red hite trim and red and blue furniture--a casual, beachy look with lots of painted antique pieces and shells in glass bowls Noas pale green, almost celery-colored, with rose accents Family photos were everywhere, in white porcelain frames

Tully stepped forward "Actually, I did it"

"So to do with shysters," Johnny said

"Chakras," Tully corrected hied "I did a show on it once Couldn't hurt"

Johnny carried Kate to her bed and tucked her in "The bathroo has been installed--railings and a shower seat and all the stuff they reco by"

She wasn't sure when she closed her eyes All she kneas that she was sleeping So "Sweet Drea in the distance Then Johnny was kissing her and telling her she was beautiful and talking about the vacations they would someday take

She aith a start The roo daylight hours, obviously Beside her, a eucalyptus-scented candle burned The darkness lulled her for a moment, made her think she was alone

Across the room, a shadow moved Someone breathed

Kate hit the button on her bed and moved to a sit "Hey," she said

"Hey, Morew accusto in a chair in the corner Although Marah looked tired, she was so beautiful that Kate felt a cinching in her chest Being ho and everyone with perfect clarity, even in this gray darkness When she looked at her teenage daughter, with her long black hair kept out of her eyes with little girl barrettes, she gliirl she was, the woirl" She smiled and leaned sideways to turn on the bedside lamp "But you aren't my baby anymore, are you?"

Marah stood up and rown-up beauty, the fear in her eyes ain

Kate tried to figure out what she should say She kneto be normal, but it simply wasn't Frohted, remembered That was a simple fact of life Or of death

"I've been mean to you," Marah said

Kate had waited years for this moment, actually dreamed of it in the days when she and Marah had been at war; now she saw it from a distance and knew that those battles were just ordinary life--a girl trying to grow up and a ht, actually; it would rand on their mothers And your Aunt Tully was a bitch to everyone"