fingers as she was reminded all too well of that argument. They almost didn’t survive that, which is why she was trying to break things off with Miles, to spare them from going through it again. She felt his presence lingering in the doorway long before she felt him wrap his long and wiry arms around her torso. Arms that got him the nickname “Water hose” back at the firehouse due to their narrow but stretchy frame. Sheila didn’t mind though, she loved everything about him; from his strong, brawny chest with just a touch of curly hairs in the center to signify he was a real man, to his nice, brown and full lips, and even yes, his water hose arms, she loved all of it. She loved him. Very much. But as much as she loved him, she loved her freedom to live at will even more. The disease had taken a lot from her, so she vowed to never let it control how she enjoyed her life. “Looks like you holding something mighty important.” There was a playfulness to his tone, but his body still tensed against Sheila’s. She gave him a squeeze and then turned to face him, “There’s nothing here that you haven’t witnessed before.” She searched his face for any signs that he’d react like last time.“Okay.” He said, kissing her forehead. “Okay?” She stepped away from him as if that would give her better hearing. He pulled her back into him. “Yes, okay. I heard you loud and clear two years ago, and I felt you trying to pull away yesterday, I can’t handle that. Baby, I can handle everything else, but I can’t handle you leaving me, so. If we living in the moment, carpe diem, all that good stuff, then that’s what we do.” Sheila broke out into a huge grin and quickly ripped up the scans and tossed them in the trash. “Good. Because if you want to get married, we need to practice our honeymoon first. I’m thinking of Mexico?” She put her finger on her chin, pretending to think. “Wherever you want to go is where I’ll be the happiest.” She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a peck. “I love you, Miles.” “I love you more, Sheila.” BLOCKAGE Grief washed over Miles like waves in the Rocky Mountains, as thoughts of his last moments with Sheila plagued his mind.“Uhhh, Miles, they’re ready to start,” Phil, Miles’s older brother, informed him.“Sure.” Miles stood up and straightened out the black Calvin Klein jacket while tucking in his button-up shirt. He popped in a piece of gum and took a swig from the water bottle his brother gave him, hoping it would mask the alcohol on his breath. When he walked inside the sanctuary, the preacher had already begun talking, he caught Sheila’s mom’s attention, and she waved him over to come to sit by her. He sat there trying to listen to Reverend Fisher talk about Luke: 8 and how Sheila wasn’t dead but sleep, but his thoughts drifted again. This time he couldn’t get the image of Sheila’s sweaty face staring at him in the ambulance out of his head. She looked so much at peace, and despite the dozens of tubes hooked up to her, she looked unusually comfortable. Like she was ready for wherever she was going.Miles was shaken from his thoughts once again, this time by Sheila’s mom patting his arm. He turned to her and followed her eyes to the Reverend, Sheila’s dad, Sheila’s two cousins, and his brother looking at him waiting for him to help carry the body out to the hearse. At the time that Sheila’s dad had asked him to be a pallbearer, it sounded like a no brainer, but now the thought of him helping to carry the love of his life’s body to rot away forever made him feel nauseous. He almost stumbled, going down the stairs, but his brother carried his weight. The ride over to The Shrine of
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