He finally looked at me.
"It's cancer."
Nathan took my hand.
I sat down. "What kind?"
He answered, but the name barely registered. I heard aggressive. Advanced. Terminal. Treatment might buy him time, but it wouldn't cure him.
Then the sentence that hollowed out the room.
"They don't know exactly how much time I have."
I reached across the table. Nathan took my hand.
"I don't want to spend whatever time is left alone."
He stood, and put a small box beside the dying fern.
"You won't."
He laughed once, without humor. "Careful."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
He stood, reached into his coat, and put a small box beside the dying fern.