She had forgotten that the picnic table was already in use and would need an alternative for hosting game night. It wasn’t in use in the way one would assume though. And how could she possibly forget?

The most traumatic summer already came and went, allowing her to forget the pain associated with leaving Roe alone at the hospital; the pain of never having a sliver of an answer other than, “If I had to take ten guesses at what this could be, my top five would be a type of cancer.”

If only she could talk to Roe, she could explain all of the poking and prodding. Why there was a tube traveling up her nose, why all possible IV sites have been sterilized and also aggravatingly inserted with tubes. But most importantly, Juniper would explain to Roe that no distance is too far to travel for answers, no receipt is too large to refuse treatment, and no minute of the day is devoid of guilt, wishing she could lay by Roe’s side through it all.