Always and Forever Read Online Free PDF Page A

treatment while I’m pregnant.”
    She watched as he steeled his jaw, then looked away as his eyes filled with tears and he cleared his throat. Lisa knew what he was saying, knew that he was right even though she was so desperate for a different answer, for a different solution. How could she have cervical cancer? How could this be happening to her? She was so healthy. She’d always been so careful to stay fit and eat well.
    “Lisa, you can’t die. Not on my watch, not if there’s a cure.”
    “Because you want me more than you want the baby,” she finished for him, wanting to hate him, wanting him to say that he wouldn’t let anyone take their unborn child, that he didn’t care what the stakes were, that it was the baby he wanted to fight for. But she couldn’t.
    Matt’s grunt told her she was right. Her skin had that stabbing feeling again, the pain in her heart so severe she wondered if she was having a heart attack.
    “I can’t breathe,” she gasped, struggling for air, pushing back from him.
    “Come here,” Matt commanded, scooping her up as he stood and kicking the door back open. He marched through the restroom, impossibly strong, impossibly heroic as he stormed out into the corridor to get her outside. She might not agree with him, might want to save their child instead of herself, but right now she wanted him to take charge, to get her the hell out of Dodge. She needed to get away from this building and she never, ever wanted to come back.
    “I’m taking you home,” he muttered, not letting go, not putting her down for a second.
    If only he could keep her safe forever, protect her and their baby from the big bad wolf banging on the door.
    Her lungs finally felt like they were filling with air, her gasps no longer blindingly desperate. But she knew that the pain in her heart would never disappear, not until the day she died, not if she had to make the decision to say goodbye to a baby she hadn’t even had the chance to meet yet.

4.
    M att didn’t know what to do, but he could only stare out the window for so long. He wanted to get in his pick-up and drive to work, spend a few hours hammering nails and helping his guys get the framing up on the new house they had under construction, but he couldn’t. Lisa needed him and he somehow needed to figure out what to do for her. Their lives had changed so quickly. It had only been two weeks since the diagnosis and the awful decision they’d been forced to make.
    He pulled out some fruit from the refrigerator and grabbed a knife, roughly chopped up some pineapple and watermelon. He knew Lisa usually made up super smoothies—hell, she made them for him all the time—but he hadn’t exactly been paying attention when she was doing it. He turned, reached for a banana and added that to his pile of fruit, before scooping it all up and putting it in the blender. He let it buzz away for a while before taking a tall glass down and pouring the smoothie in for her, then crossed his fingers and hoped he’d gotten it at least half right.
    He forced a smile and walked down to their bedroom. She wasn’t there.
    “Lisa?” he called out, wondering if she was in the bathroom. He looked in but still didn’t find her.
    “Lisa?” he called again, walking back down the hall.
    Then he saw that the door to the nursery was open, instead of slightly ajar like he’d left it. He looked in and saw her curled up on the big armchair she’d planned on using for feeding.
    “Hey,” he said softly.
    She looked up. The skin under her eyes was dark, her face pale, hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Lisa had never been the sweatpants kind of girl, always in a skirt or dress or pretty top that she’d designed, but today she was wearing sweatpants and one of his t-shirts, which swamped her body.
    “You, uh . . . you okay?” He cringed, knowing from the look of her that she was definitely not okay.
    She didn’t reply, just turned and looked away. Maybe she was staring