Best Friends Through Eternity Read Online Free PDF

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    When I’m done, I wash my hands and open the window wide. “Hello, Dad! I’m home!” I call as I head back down the stairs.
    “Hi, Paige. Just unloading some groceries. Come and look at these beautiful mushrooms we got in today.”
    I head toward the kitchen. “Dad, what really happened to Kim?”
    Dad turns from the counter to face me. He’s a tall guy, kind of slow-moving, with long graying hair and large, calm horse eyes. But I see panic flicker briefly in them. “I’m fine. How was your day?”
    “Terrible. You have no idea. My stomach is killing me.”
    “I’ll make you some Rooibos.” He fills the kettle and sets it to boil.
    His shoulder blades move under his gray T-shirt, and I feel bad for a second. In a week, he won’t ever perform this simple act of love for me again. “Okay. Really, Dad, was your day fine?”
    He turns and smiles, lights twinkling back on in the brown of his eyes. “Well, there’s these mushrooms.” He dumps the bag on the counter.
    The mushrooms are large and white. “Yeah, I can see how they would make your day.”
    “Besides that, I helped a guy buy the eggplant that was on his wife’s grocery list.” He hands me an oversize mugwith antlers on it, a souvenir from our canoe week in Algonquin Park.
    Sitting down at the counter and sipping the hot, sweet liquid, I feel soothed. Our kitchen is decorated, if you can even call it that, circa 1950. The cabinets are painted mint green; the counters are pale beige Formica; the floors are checkerboard tile. Jazz says it’s like stepping into a malt shop from a classic television show.
    “Dad, I was in the school library and thought I’d google Kim, just to see if I could friend her on Facebook.”
    He sips from his own tea, then releases a long sigh. “You found her death notice.”
    “Yeah. All this time, I thought she had left me without saying good-bye. It wasn’t her fault.”
    “You’re right.”
    “Why did you guys do that to me?”
    “Paige.” He says my name like an apology, then walks over to my stool and hugs me. “You were so young. We didn’t know how to handle her illness or her death. Your mother fell to pieces.”
    “And I felt deserted.”
    “You would have felt the same way if you had watched her die. We all did. We loved Kim.”
    “Dad, what did she have? Was it contagious?” That would explain us not visiting her.
    “No.” He sips from his tea again and shakes his head. “An
E. coli
infection. They call it hamburger disease.”
    I sputter all my tea out.
    “What’s the matter with you?” He grabs a cloth and wipes up the tea.
    “I ate a hamburger today.”
    “And you have a sore stomach?” He grabs the phone from the counter and keys in some numbers.
    “Who are you calling? I’m okay now.”
    “The doctor. What are your symptoms?” Phone clutched to his ear, he touches my forehead. “Yes, hello?” He speaks into the receiver. “My daughter is suffering from food poisoning.”
    “Dad, really, I just had the runs.”
    “Diarrhea,” he tells the person on the other end. “Any vomiting?” he asks me.
    “No.” I rub my stomach.
    “You want us to wait twenty-four hours? Let me speak to the doctor.”
    “Honestly, my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore,” I say quietly, trying to calm him down.
    “Fine! We’ll go to Emergency.” Dad slams the receiver down. “Come on, let’s go!”
    “I don’t want to, Dad. Can we just wait, like they said?”
    “By then it could be too late. Let’s go.”
    I slide off my stool slowly. Trips to the hospital involve hours of waiting till someone sees you. I know that from my sprained ankle a couple of months ago.
    Dad rushes for the door. “Put your boots on. Here,” he says, grabbing our coats and throwing me mine.
    Luckily, as we get to the car, Mom pulls up in the van.
    “She ate a hamburger and feels sick,” Dad calls to her as she climbs out. “We’re going to the hospital.”
    “What! Why did you do