Hero of Mine Read Online Free PDF

served his country forty-five years, and, six months after retirement, found out he had stage four prostate cancer. They’d taken his prostate but found the cancer had already spread to his liver and lungs. He’d gone through chemo and even a few experimental trials, but nothing had worked. He’d finally said enough.
    Henry took a few deep, labored breaths, the tubes in his nose fogging. “I’m trying to starve myself, you dumb fuck. Why won’t you just let me die?”
    â€œI get that, but here’s the thing. I’m not ready to let you bite it yet. I still need you around.”
    â€œFor what? The only shit I was ever good at was being stupid and screwing. And you don’t got a problem with either of those things.” Henry’s laughter turned into a hoarse round of coughing that ended in a few painful wheezes.
    â€œShouldn’t crack yourself up like that. Karma’s a bitch.”
    â€œFuck you,” Henry said weakly.
    â€œSee, if you can still cuss me out, I know you aren’t ready to die yet.”
    â€œTyler . . . ” Henry’s voice was hoarse, and Tyler met his foggy gray eyes.
    â€œYeah?” he asked.
    â€œYou . . . need to get yourself a life.”
    Tyler took a piece of the roast beef off Henry’s plate and fed it to Apollo, who sat next to his chair at attention. He was a young dog, but he and his brother, Zeus, were going to make wonderful therapy dogs. Tyler enjoyed bringing them by the children’s wing of the hospital and watching the kids’ faces light up. He was going to miss them when they graduated from the therapy program and became someone’s sidekicks.
    â€œI have a life. I have my place, my job, training the dogs. I even rescued a dog last week—”
    â€œI’m talking about something you can leave behind. Someone who will be there for you when you’re an angry old bastard being eaten up with cancer. Who cares if you live or die and cries at your funeral.”
    â€œI care, Henry. And I promise to pour a shot of whiskey on your grave when you go,” Tyler said, trying to lighten the mood.
    â€œAre you deliberately missing the point? You’re young now, but eventually you’re going to wake up and realize you spent your whole life serving your country and you have nothing to show for it except a broken dick and a lot of bad memories.”
    Tyler patted the older man’s shoulder. “I’ll get married, eventually. Don’t worry about it. I’m more concerned with Nurse Hatchet coming back and seeing that you didn’t touch your food. She looked like the type that would strap you to the bed and force-feed you.”
    â€œJust let me be, kid.” Tyler had never heard Henry so dejected, and for the first time, he realized that Henry meant it. He wasn’t just being a martyr to start an argument.
    He was done fighting.
    The doctors had given him six months a year ago, but he’d proved them wrong. He’d been beating the odds for a while.
    Tyler set the Jell-O on the tray and, unsure of how Henry would respond, took his friend’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Okay.”
    â€œDon’t you got some kids to entertain?” Henry didn’t shake him off or call him a pussy, like he would have a few weeks ago. It made the grief squeezing Tyler’s chest hurt worse.
    â€œI’ll get to them soon. Right now, I figured I’d talk you to sleep.”
    â€œWhat else is new? You can’t tell a decent story to save your life. You should try something with bloodshed, intrigue, adventure, forbidden love—”
    Tyler scoffed. “When have you ever told a story about forbidden love?”
    â€œThat girl I met when I got back from Operation Desert Storm.”
    â€œWhat girl? You mean the hooker?”
    Henry’s face turned beet red. “She was not a hooker; she was an exotic dancer.”
    â€œYeah, I hate to break