Stolen Dreams, Heather M. Borger [top novels of all time .txt] 📗

dad didn’t call home? Of course, I noticed.”

“Are you going to tell your mom tonight?”

“About my dad?”

“No, about your leg.”

Skye shook her head, “No. Not yet. She’ll jump at any reason to try to convince my dad we need to move to the mainland. If I tell her, I might as well pack first.”

Brock nodded. Skye was right. He had already heard Alaina talking about how wonderful it would be if they could afford a second house on the mainland.

“Are you going to at least go home and see her before she’s off again?”

“Nope.”

“Really?” Brock raised an eyebrow at Skye.

“Why should I? She’s never gone around looking for me when she decides to come home. For all she knows, I have no idea she even returned to the island.”

“So what will you do tonight?”

“I think I’ll just hang out here for a while. Maybe Sadie will come back. I could use another swim and get out some frustration.”

Taking off his shirt, Brock grabbed Skye’s hand and pulled her up. Smiling, he lead her into the water.

“What’s this all about? You hate the water.”

“Sometimes you have to do things you don’t like to prove to people that they can trust you to be there for them when things get tough.”

Skye smiled, “You don’t have to prove anything. I know you’ll always be there for me.”

“You didn’t feel that way a little bit ago.”

Skye followed Brock into the water. Feeling the hot sun on her skin, she was forced to deal with the realization that her life would never be the same. Would she ever be able to fully enjoy the feel of the hot sun caressing her again? Every time she feels the warmth of the sun from now on, she’ll also remember today - the day she was diagnosed with skin cancer.

Skye had to decide what she was going to do. She could follow her dreams and take the chance that it would lead to her early demise. Or, she could follow her doctor’s orders, leave the island, and live a long, miserable life on the mainland.

Brock noticed the distance in her eyes and the forced smile on her face. “You don’t have to pretend to be happy around me. I’ll let you mope a little.”

She smiled at him, but it didn’t make her feel any better. “What do you do when something steals your dreams and you’re left with nothing?”

Brock shook his head, but found no words worthy of his friend’s agony.

“I think I’m going to swim out and see if Sadie is anywhere, I’ll meet you back on the beach.” Skye didn’t wait for his response. She quickly swam off.

“Be careful, don’t go all the way out!”

He watched her for a second, hurt that his attempt to cheer her did nothing. Slowly, he pulled himself up onto the beach and sat down to watch her swim. She was amazing. Skye moved with such swift, fluid motions; she looked like a dolphin as she raced out to the buoy. Sadie was nowhere to be seen and Skye returned as flawlessly as she left. There was nothing that could make this better; so, together, they sat in the sand, wishing it would all just go away.

Three

“Did Dr. Miller ever call you back?”

Skye looked away from her mother’s reproachful glance, “No. Not yet.”

“Oh, okay. Then it must have been nothing. They would have called by now if it was anything to be concerned about. You know, I told you that you shouldn’t worry so much. Do you realize how much that visit will cost us? I hope you plan to work a lot over the next few weeks because when the bills come, you’ll need to step up a bit, and help out with them.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Skye left without saying good-bye. She had come home during the night only to find her mother still there. Why didn’t she just sleep on the beach like she had planned?

Hoping to meet up with Brock before he had to start work she rushed past the lab and toward the homes on the other side of the island. She didn’t have to knock; he was just opening his door as she got there.

“Hi. Can we talk?” Skye was slightly out of breath and speaking quietly to avoid the possibility that anyone inside might hear her.

“Yeah, sure. What do you need? You sound upset.”

“Nothing new. Just had a run-in with my mom.”

Brock looked at Skye hesitantly, “Oh. What’d she say?”

“That I shouldn’t have worried about my skin so much and when the bills start rolling in I better be ready to help pay for it.”

“So you didn’t tell her?” Brock didn’t try to hide the surprise.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because she already tells me I’m the costliest mistake she’s ever made. Why give her another reason to be disgusted with me?”

“You weren’t a mistake.”

“I was for my mom.”

“Yeah, well she’s the only one who thinks so. You should tell her what’s going on.”

“You should learn to keep some of your thoughts to yourself.”

“Like that’ll ever happen.”

“I keep hoping. Anyway, I had a reason for stopping by so early.”

Brock smiled, “I thought you just couldn’t get through the morning without seeing me.”

Skye’s typical smile and giggle didn’t materialize. Instead, her dry response was a sure sign she was still not handling yesterday’s news well. “No, sorry. But, if you want me to talk to Dr. Miller about the surgery, I need a ride to the mainland for my appointment tomorrow morning. Can you take me?”

He was hurt by her unfriendly tone, “Why? So you don’t have to tell your mom?”

Skye didn’t seem to notice his cynicism, “Not only that. I don’t really want her with me for the visit. She’ll just criticize everything and tell me that going with me was a waste of her time.” Her voice softened, “I want someone with me who cares what happens to me.”

“Oh.” Brock nodded in understanding.

Skye was growing inpatient, “Will you take me?”

“Yeah. When do you need to be there?”

“I have an appointment at nine.”

“No problem. Can we talk about it tonight, though? I’ve got to get to work.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you later."

Brock hurried off before she finished talking, and Skye knew he was angry with her. She couldn’t help it. He had no idea how difficult this was for her. Why couldn’t he try harder to understand what she was going through?

Ignoring the agonizing heartache beginning to develop, Skye walked to her coconut tree and sat down. She wished her father was back on the island. She could talk to him. He would understand how the diagnosis could destroy her life even if the cancer hasn’t spread. But Brock doesn’t get it; he’s too scientific. Brock believes that there’s a solution for everything if you experiment enough to find it. He doesn’t understand Skye’s helpless feeling because he thinks there must be a solution. All Skye could see were two choices: ignore the cancer, stay on the island, be diagnosed with melanoma again in a few years. Or, get off the island, work indoors on the mainland, and spend the rest of her (much longer) life miserable. It was a devastating decision to make. Was a short, happy life better than a long, miserable one? How could she decide? She wished Brock would be more help. Honestly, she had expected him to be more open to the options she was considering. His steadfast attitude about her getting the surgery and working indoors - even if it was still on the island - was no help at all.


Brock sprinted for the lab. He was already late and now he had to try to explain why he needed tomorrow off without any warning or apparent reason. He should just tell everyone what was going on. Maybe with help from everyone else, he could persuade Skye to schedule the surgery and not take unnecessary chances. However, she trusted him and he decided to respect that.


“Where have you been?” Brock’s boss, Rafe, didn’t give him a chance to answer before continuing, “We just got a call from Billy. He’s way behind schedule and we’ve got to get in touch with someone from the weather service to find out what the next few days look like. He may not be able to leave the dock if there are any storms too close out there.”

“Sorry.” Brock didn’t know how to continue, “I, um, I ran into Skye on the way over and she needed to talk.”

“Has she heard from Billy?”

“No. I just told her what I know so far.” At least he didn’t have to lie, just stretch the truth slightly and make it sound as if he had just filled her in.

“He probably didn’t call her because he doesn’t want her to worry. For now, let’s keep this new information to ourselves. Okay?”

“Sure. No problem.”

Brock went directly to his table and started working. The lab was in a frenzy over Billy’s situation and he became quickly overwhelmed by everything going on. Trying to clear his mind, he got right to work.

“Hey, you okay? You don’t look so good today.”

It was Mark, Brock’s partner at the lab. Mark was very observant and enjoyed pointing out how well he knew everything that was happening in everyone’s life at any time. Brock enjoyed how little Mark really knew about him - no matter what Mark thought.

“Yeah, it’s been a rough few days.”

“Problems with Skye?”

Brock spun around, shocked. How in the world could he know?

“What?”

“Oh, well, you know, you guys are together ALL the time. She just doesn’t seem interested in men right now. It must be frustrating.”

Brock laughed, “Sorry, Mark. I’m not having problems like that with Skye. We’re great friends, but that’s where it ends.”

“Just like I’m saying … that’s where the problem begins.”

“Nope. That’s not a problem for me. But, you believe what you want.”

Brock smiled and went back to his microscope. He was studying a new disease found on algae off the coast and quickly became wrapped up in it again. Allowing his mind to focus on his work was good. It allowed him to avoid the yelling and constant flutter of worry over the forecast. The day flew by and before long, he was packing up his gear and walking out with Mark.

Remembering he needed to talk to Rafe about taking off, he quickly tried to detach himself