Terminal 19
Page 33
“Tell me everything is going to be okay,” I whisper.
He kisses my temple. “Everything is okay. Right now. Here. In this moment.”
And that’s all we have…this moment. Christian and I go running every day. It took me a long, long while before I could make it farther than a block without stopping to rest. But I’m getting stronger. He makes me green smoothies in the morning. Always has fresh fruit and vegetables in the apartment. I know what he’s doing…he’s determined to make me as healthy as possible, hoping it will keep anything from reoccurring. In any other instance, any other time, with any other person, I would be annoyed. But now…now I want to live. I want to have the best life I can while I’m here. And so I let him feed me spinach, I don’t complain when he hands me my running shoes.
“I have something for you.” He pulls an envelope from his back pocket and hands it to me. “I wasn’t going to give it to you for another week, but now seems a good time.”
“For me?” Curious, I sit up and open the envelope. “Tickets?”
“To Paris.” He shrugs, looking pleased and sheepish. “For next month, during our break.”
Stunned, I turn fully into him. It feels wrong to be so happy. “Are you serious? Paris, in spring?”
He grins.
I throw my arms around his neck and hold him tight. “Have I mentioned that I love you?”
“I could hear it again.”
“I love you!” I press my lips to his. “I love you! I love you!”
He laughs. “So then, I guess that’s a yes?”
“Yes! A thousand times yes, as Beth would say.” I press the tickets to my chest. We haven’t had time to travel much. We’ve taken the train around Denmark. We’ve gone to Norway a few times to visit his mother, Audrey and Max. But this will be our first trip overnight alone together.
He leans over and picks up Walden. “You know, I’ve read this book.”
“You have?”
He nods as he flips through the pages. “And this passage has always been my favorite.”
Intrigued, I take the book and read. “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
I let the words seep into my soul. Let them pierce the darkness, let them feed life into my cells. I feel the truth in those words deeply, completely.
Advances confidently in the direction of his dreams.
“So,” he says, watching me closely. “Are you living the life you imagined?”
I grin and wrap my arms around his neck, pressing my lips to his.
The End
Q&A With L.R. Olson
How did you come up with the idea for this book?
A dream. I’m not joking. It was our last day in Denmark and I woke up with the dream of a young woman dying from cancer. But I’d just watched a YA movie in which the heroine died at the end. The death came out of nowhere, and really annoyed me. I was tired of all these young people dying in movies and books. So instead, I decided to write a book that gave people… hope. See what I did there?
That brings me to my next question…have you been to Scandinavia?
I have! And it’s wonderful. I’ve been to every place Hope visits. I’ve even eaten Swedish meatballs at the small café by Krongborg. And fun fact, the background photo on the cover is an actual picture I took in Stavanger, Norway.
What kind of cancer does Hope have?
Hope’s cancer is loosely based on Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. You can find more information here: https://www.stjude.org/disease/epithelioid-hemangioendothelioma.html
Will there be more books in the series?
There will! There will be two more books: Terminal 20 and Terminal 21. These books will feature characters from Terminal 19. And of course they’ll contain appearances by Hope and Christian. I’m also planning on writing a PG version of Terminal 19 featuring Hope’s sister, Beth. This book will be written under my young adult name, Lori Brighton.