Julia's Journey (A Coming Home Again Novel Book 2) (26 page)

~~~~

Morning shows up too soon
and I’m hurting all over. I roll over and wince in pain.

“What’s wrong?” Julia asks
from beside me. She’s gotten to where she watches me like a hawk.

I try to smooth the tension
from my face before I open my eyes and meet hers. “I think you hurt my back
last night.” There’s just a slight ache across my shoulders that radiates
through my chest. It’s not a debilitating pain.
Just
annoying.

“I’m sorry. Can I get you
something for it?” she asks full of worry.

“I’m just a little sore.
Maybe a couple of Tylenols.”

She hops up to retrieve
them, as I try maneuvering to the edge of the bed. I’ve managed to sit up by
the time she comes back with a bottle of water and two pills.

She hands them over and
watches me. “You need to see a doctor?”

“Nah.
Nothing Tylenol and a hot shower won’t fix.” I
slowly stand and tamp down a wince as best I can and head for that shower.

I’m slow moving today.
Thankfully, by the time I get out of the shower and have breakfast, the aches
have ebbed away mostly. I feel like I’ve already wasted too much of this day,
so I strap the cooler on the back of the moped and we head over to Stan’s. He
lives on the waterway so we are there in a flash.

I pull up to a
sunshine-yellow cottage with a tin roof. It’s so cheery and seems so fitting
for a Stan and Betty home. The little man is standing on the front porch. As
soon as he spots us, he starts making his way down the steps, waving.

“It’s so good to see you
kids again.” Julia and I take turns hugging him.
“Where’s
little
Fifi
?”

“With
my sister in South Carolina.
We are picking her back up after Florida.” Julia reassures him.
“I already miss her.”

I grab the cooler and Stan
points me to his outdoor kitchen by the dock. “I caught five flounder, and one
of them is a monster. I figured we can eat some and you can put some in your
freezer for another day.” I set the cooler down and scan the large yard with
huge shade trees that overlook the marsh. “You’ve got yourself a sweet place
here, Stan.”

“Thanks,
son.
This has been our
homestead for the last fifty years.
Me
and Betty
wanted to raise our children near the water.” We look out to the mellow water
rolling by and it is just amazing.

“This had to be a great
place to grow up.” I glance over to Julia and find her watching me with
concern. She’s been doing that ever since this morning. I wink at her and she
smiles a small smile. “I’m starved, so let’s get to these fish.” At this Julia
walks away from us.

Stan laughs. “My Betty
always did the same thing and went to running as soon as it was time to clean
and fry fish.” He says this fondly.

I watch Julia and add,
“Julia runs from anything food related, especially when it comes to cooking.”

Me
and my man Stan get on to frying up fish while
Julia wanders over and spends her afternoon in a hammock under one of those
large shade trees. She seems in her own world today.

After we’ve eaten our
weight in fish and fried potatoes, we sit at the end of the dock and watch the
day drift out with the tide. I sit on the hard wood bench for as long as I can
stand it, but everything starts aching again. I stand and try to stretch out my
back.

“What’s ailing you, boy?”
Stan asks.

I cut my eyes over to Julia
and smirk. “Miss
Priss
over there attacked me last
night right in the middle of the ocean. I think she jarred something loose in
my back.”

She pops her hand on her
hip. “I thought that shark was going to get me.”

“A
shark?”
Stan questions. The little
man looks concerned with wide eyes.

I laugh. “There was no
shark except for Julia’s imaginary one.”

“You kids are something
else.” Stan seems proud at this.

I rub my sore chest and
think about asking Stan for some Tylenol. “You know, I did wrangle in that
twenty pound flounder. I think that might be the cause. My chest is pretty sore
too.”

“Talk about an imagination,
Stone! You’re telling one tall fish tale there, buddy. That flounder was no
more than ten pounds.” Julia’s pointing that prissy finger at me.

We go back and forth for a while
until I give up. She bickers better than I do. And Stan’s laughing keeps
cracking me up.

We leave Stan late in the
evening with promises of keeping in touch. I don’t promise to stop on the way
back through. I really feel it’s time to wrap this trip up. As much as I want
it to keep on going, it’s time for this journey to come to an end.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Julia

We are in Florida and I
couldn’t be more excited. I’ve never been to Disney World. We arrived early
yesterday evening and pulled into the Fort Wilderness Campground. It’s such a
charming place with lots of Disney magic. I spotted a gift store and so while
Greyson set us up, I went on a shopping spree for all things Disney. I
purchased every baby item I could find that isn’t gender specific. I bought
souvenirs for my two nephews as well as the whole lot of Mason Kids. I also got
Greyson and me matching Disney shirts to wear tomorrow. Cheesy I know, but he
got the biggest kick out of it.

I’m feeling bittersweet
about Disney, because it is the very last stop on our road trip. The original
itinerary included a three day cruise, but Greyson canceled that while we were
still in Bay Creek. He said something came up and we wouldn’t be able to get that
in. So Disney it is and then back to reality. Now that is one epic one-eighty
for sure.

Once I hauled all my loot
back to the RV, we headed over to the Trail’s End Restaurant where a gigantic
country buffet greeted us. Greyson didn’t eat nearly as much as he has been. I
have to say, it worries me.

When I asked him about his
appetite, he just brushed it off. “I think my body is finally caught up on
food.”

We strolled hand in hand
over to the beach after supper and watched the Electric Water Parade where
floating sea creatures danced along the top of the lake. It was quite magical
and I felt like a kid oohing and
aahing
over it. The
night was finished off by a grand fireworks display and I think it was the best
show I have ever seen.

Greyson is still sore. When
I asked him in concern about it last night, he just brushed that off too.
“You’re always more sore the third day. No worries.”

No worries... No worries…
That’s his answer for everything. No worries. Well, I’m worrying anyway.
Something feels off and I’m
worried
.

I’ve been a good girl and
have moved back to my bed even though it’s lonely without him. Greyson went
directly to bed after the fireworks last night. So I don’t feel bad about
waking him up at six this morning. I hear you have to hit the parks early if
you’re going to have a fair shot at checking everything out.

I scoot into his room and
find him snoozing away. I leap onto the bed and start bouncing up and down.
“Disney Baby!
Woohoo!”
I shout.
Greyson just grumbles and rolls over.

“Get up, sleepy head,” I
sing out as I plop down bedside him. I’m about to set in to tickling him when I
notice he’s sweating. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.
It’s just stuffy in here.” He wipes the fine
sheen of sweat from his face and slowly sits up.

Without another word, he
heads to the bathroom. After I hear the shower come to life, I work on
preparing us some oatmeal. I noticed the stiffness of his walk and feel right
guilty about it. I place two more Tylenols by his bowl.

Greyson comes out with his
dark hair damp and is wearing his Disney shirt. Even in such a whimsical shirt
he is still delicious. He rolls his shoulder a few times and looks at me in a
painful grin. “You did a number on my left shoulder,
Thorton
.”
He’s only teasing, but it makes me feel even worse.

While we have breakfast, we
plot out our plan of action at Magic Kingdom. Or I do anyway. Greyson just nods
his head at whatever I say as he pushes his oatmeal around the bowl. “What’s
wrong with the oatmeal, honey? Did I not fix it right?”

“No. I just think I have
finally had my fill of it. Maybe it’s time to pick another breakfast choice.”
He scrapes his bowl out into the trash and places it in the dishwasher.
“Okay, little lady.
Let’s take our selfie in these cheesed
up shirts and send it to my parents.”

By the time we unload from
the ferry, the park is already swarming with visitors. We start to the left of
the park. Our plan is to make a loop around. We enter Adventure Land and board
the Jungle Cruise. It’s silly and fun and we laugh all the way through it. The
guide is a pretty good comedian. Next, we climb on board for the Pirates of the
Caribbean ship ride.

We’ve only been on two
attractions and the day is already passing quickly. I feel like if we don’t get
it in today, I’ll never get it in. Greyson’s been dragging, so I keep trying to
hurry him along.

“It’s just so much to see.
I’ve not been since I was a young kid. Can’t we just slow down and take it all
in?” he asked me earlier. So we’ve slowed down and I try not to be too antsy.

We eventually make it to
Frontier Land and watch some animated bear show that Greyson got quite a kick
out of. We then braved an abundant line for Splash Mountain. We emerge from our
log slightly wet and giggling.

“That was fun,” I say as I
grab his hand and start us over to Thunder Mountain. I feel Greyson tug my arm
slightly.

I look over and find him
gazing at the ride skeptically. We watch as a train barrels around the track
roughly with passengers squealing. “I don’t think my shoulder can handle that.
It’s pretty tender. You go ahead and I’ll wait for you here.”

“No. If you’re not up for
it, we can just do something else.” I smile at him.

“You
sure?”

I start us walking past the
line. “No worries,” I tease, and he chuckles.

Greyson asks to stop
shortly after this. We are just outside the castle. “You mind if we take a
break at your home, Princess?”

“I guess.” I’m starting to
worry we aren’t going to get the whole park in with just one day.

Greyson sits on a bench
along the side of the castle and instructs me to pose for some pictures. He
snaps away and sends one to his parents declaring he finally got me home. I
didn’t find that too funny, but he did. I sit next to him for a while and watch
people stroll by us.

“You want me to grab us
something to eat? I know you have your heart set on one of those gigantic
turkey legs.”

“Nah.
Maybe later.”

“Are you okay?” I look over
at him and he’s sweating again. It’s relatively warm, but not that warm.

“Yeah.
This heat has just zapped my appetite.” He
smiles weakly over at me. “I could really use something to drink though.”

“Got
it.”
I leave him resting on the
bench and go grab two Gatorades from a street vendor.

I carry it back to him and
he downs it in one shot. I drink about half of mine as I watch him closely.

Placing the empty bottle
beside him, Greyson clutches his stomach. “Maybe I drank that too fast,” he
grumbles. I see his face flush.

“Honey, are you okay?” I
ask again. “Maybe we should call it a day. You don’t look to be doing so well.”
I make to stand, but he stops me.

“Just give me a minute. I
really want to get the Haunted Castle in.” He smiles weakly over at me again.
He’s not fooling me though. He looks right miserable.

“What’s with you and scary
stuff? You have to know I’m not a fan by now.”

Greyson chuckles weakly. “I
think that’s the reason I like it so much. But this one is mild. You can even
hold my hand.” He waggles his eyebrows, trying to be funny and I let him.

We finally make it to
Liberty Square and stand in line for about thirty minutes for the Haunted
Mansion. It’s more cool than creepy. I think it’s the best of all the rides so
far. Plus it was inside with nice air conditioning, for which I’m glad for
Greyson’s sake. He was true to his word and held my hand all the way through.
It didn’t escape my attention that his hand was hot and clammy.

Fantasy Land is in our
sites after this. We’ve not hit as many attractions as I’d like nor shopped as
much as I had planned, but the circle is coming closer to being complete. The
day has turned to late afternoon by the time we make it to It’s a Small World.
We sit in the shade and wait for a lull in the line. This ride’s popularity is
evident and it makes me even more excited to check it out. It looks so
whimsical from what I can see.

“All right,
Thorton
. Let’s get in line,” Greyson finally declares. So
we take our spot and wait patiently for our turn. He seems to be giving out,
and so I think after this we should call it a day. He either leans on the
railing or is kneeling during the wait.
He
gruffs
out at one point that he needs some Tylenol.
But I forgot it back at the RV. I promise to find him some after the ride.

Once we are seated in the
front of a boat, we are set off into magic land. The place reminds me of maybe
Willy Wonka. It’s so brightly colored and whimsical. It’s breathtaking for the
first minute, but then I am over it. Dolls of all ethnicities and cultures are
dancing around and singing the most annoying song ever written as we float by at
a painfully slow pace. Greyson lays his head down at one point. I laugh and pat
him on the back.

It just keeps going and
going and I feel like we have embarked on a worldwide trip to purgatory. Never
will I ride this one again. Cross it off. I’m done.

I’m just over it, so I sit
back and start studying the map for somewhere I can grab Greyson some
Tylenol—if we ever make it to the end of this ride that is. I hear Greyson
muttering something. “What was that, honey?”

“Get me off of here,” he
grouches out. I’m about to laugh, but catch the true edge to his voice.

I look over in time to
watch him lift his head and vomit out all of the blue Gatorade. I grab his hand
and find him burning up—so hot that I can barely stand to touch him.

“Call Mom,” he garbles out.
He has this confused look on his face and his eyes seem to not focus. It scares
me and I panic.

“Help!
I need Help!” I yell over the psychotic
children that keep singing as though there’s nothing amiss. Everything keeps at
its languid pace as I keep holding him screaming.

Greyson clutches his
stomach in pain and I notice his hair is completely wet through with sweat. He
starts dry heaving, and then a fountain of blood spouts out of him and I scream
until my voice threatens to leave me. I feel like it’s an out of body
experience.
Like everything is muted but on full blast at the
same time.
I want to shout out at those brats to just shut up! SHUT UP!
I look around to see workers running alongside the ride, yelling something at
me, but all I can hear are those brats singing over and over,
It’s
a small world after all, it’s a small world
after all. It’s a small, small world
. I hold tight to Greyson who has
slumped into my lap. I beg God.
Please,
God. Please
! I notice the signs at the end of the ride telling us goodbye
in all sorts of languages. I beg God some more.
Not yet! Please, God! Not yet!

Emergency workers stop our
boat as soon as we emerge from the tunnel. They pull Greyson out with some
effort from our seat while I sit in shock. I look down and find my Disney shirt
smeared with his blood. Then I hear someone wailing all of a sudden. Looking
around to find the woman, I realize it’s me.

The EMT’s pull me out and
bring me along with them.
Isn’t this
supposed to be the happiest place on earth
? These thoughts strike me oddly,
as I glance around the park while they shuffle us out a side emergency exit.
They keep asking me questions as we load into the back of the ambulance, but I
can’t respond. All I can do is watch on helplessly as they strap an oxygen mask
over Greyson’s beautiful face and start an IV.

Before we make it to the
hospital, I sort of snap out of it enough to tell the EMT what I know about his
medical history with
Non-Hodgkin’s
Lymphoma and how long he’s
been in remission. I fish his phone out of his pocket and hand it to another
EMT so they can call Greyson’s parents. I just sit and watch him. He’s been
unconscious since we left the park. I hold his hand and cry out to him not to
leave me, but he doesn’t respond. His fever has hit a dangerous one hundred
five and there’s a slight tremble to his body.
A body that
has looked so healthy.
So happy.
And now he
lays here and I feel so helpless. I want all of his pain. I want to free him
from it. He doesn’t deserve this…

Once we reach the hospital,
they whisk Greyson away and I’m left alone with some lady wanting me to give
her information that I really don’t know. I keep muttering to her that his
parents will be here in a few hours. I’m just too shocked to help. Everything
is muffled by the rushing blood assaulting my ears. The world in the ER is
continuing along its way and I feel suspended. I want to shout out to
everyone—Stop! Instead, I sit mutely in the waiting room for what feels like
eternity. At some point, a nurse brings me some wet wipes and helps clean the
blood off my hands. She gives me a can of soda that goes untouched. I can’t do
anything but watch that door, waiting for someone to reassure me he’s okay, but
they never come.