Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

his whispered voice racked with sincerity "Please."
Jade blinked back tears, and a sound that was more laugh than sob came from her throat. Tanner was right.
The names
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sounded beautiful together. And there was something neither of them was saying. Jade's name would live
on, even if somehow the cancer...
She squeezed her eyes shut and let her head drop for a
moment. She wouldn't think that way, not now. Not when their
baby was about to be born. She had to believe there was life ahead
for them. For both of them. When she looked up, she found
Tanner's eyes again and smiled. "I like it."
He kissed her, and his face lit up. "It's perfect."
They were talking about nicknames for Madison when the technician entered the room and motioned for
them to follow As Tanner was helping her into the wheelchair, jade had an idea.
"Don't I have an hour between tests?"
Tanner glanced at his watch as he eased her into the chair.
"You do."
"Let's go see Brandy"
"Who?" Tanner was behind her now, easing the chair through
the doorway and following the technician down a long hallway.
"Brandy Almond, the high school track star with leukemia.
Actually she should be home by now, but I want to try, just in case she's here. Besides, I'd like to see the
nurses. It's been a while." Tanner nodded. "It's a plan."
The test was tiring but uneventful. When it was over and jade
was back in the wheelchair, the technician found them in the
waiting room. She handed them a folder. "I'm not supposed to
give you results," she said, grinning at jade. "But you're a nurse."
Jade waited, her heart in her throat.
The technician continued. "I compared these results with the
last ones, and there hasn't been any growth. If anything, the
tumor's smaller than before." She winked at the two of them. "But
you didn't hear that from me."
The woman left, and the moment she was gone, Tanner took
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hold of Jade's shoulders and lowered his face next to hers. "I knew God would get you through this."
Jade reached up and took hold of his hands. She closed her eyes and a single happy sob came from
somewhere deep within her. "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you."
Their moods were higher than they'd been in months as they followed a long corridor into the adjoining
children's hospital and made their way to the cancer ward. At the front desk, jade's former coworkers
fussed over her and agreed that she was looking wonderful.
They talked about the department and the victories that had taken place in the time since she'd been gone.
Finally everyone drifted back to her work except Linda, the head nurse. She looked from jade to Tanner
then back again. "So what do the tests show?"
Jade's heart soared. "I get the results later today" It was wonderful to have hope again. "But it looks good.
I'm going to make it, Linda. I really think so."