Isaac smiled down at her. “I’m glad you liked it,” he said honestly.
Taylor looked from his older to his younger brother. “Okay, what now?” he asked.
“ ‘What now’?” Corey repeated, not quite understanding what Taylor was inquiring.
“I say we go out for some food,” Zac suggested. “I’m hungry.”
Isaac laughed and ruffled his hair. “You’re always hungry,” he scoffed.
“All the more reason to go eat,” he insisted. Then, turning to Corey, he asked, “Are you hungry?”
She shrugged as they walked up to the rental car. “Depends on where we’re going, I suppose,” she told him.
As he unlocked the driver’s side door, Isaac said, “We’re going to whatever restaurant you pick.” He opened the door and flipped the unlock switch.
Corey climbed into the back seat, thinking. Finally, she said, “This might sound strange, but since I’ve been in the hospital, I’ve been dying for a double quarter pounder with cheese.”
“McDonalds! Right on!” Zac yelled. Corey grinned.
“Okay,” Isaac said, putting the car into gear. “McDonalds it is.”
“Let’s sit here,” Taylor said, leading the way to a booth in the corner of the restaurant, dark brown tray balancing on his right palm.
Isaac, Zac, and Corey all filed into the booth behind him; Isaac next to Taylor, Zac across from Taylor, and Corey next to Zac. Once they were all in place, they began rummaging through the assorted wrappers and drinks on the tray, attempting to locate their orders.
Corey found hers first and quickly unwrapped her sandwich. By the time Isaac, Taylor, and Zac had found their respective sandwiches, Corey was munching contentedly on her own.
She smiled. “I forgot how good these things were.”
“You do know they use kangaroo meat, don’t you?” Zac asked, serious.
Taylor laughed. “Where’d ya here that?” he asked.
Zac shrugged. “A rumor.”
“Zac,” Isaac said, picking up the conversation from Taylor, “you of all people should know that rumors aren’t true.”
“Yeah,” Taylor agreed. “If they were, you’d be, like, dead or something.”
Zac shrugged. “Yeah, I guess,” he agreed, biting into his sandwich.
There was a long silence among them as they ate their food. Finally, after taking a long sip of his chocolate milkshake, he asked, “How come they don’t just operate?”
Though he hadn’t exactly aimed the question, Corey knew he was talking to her. “It’s inoperable. If they even to try, they’d end up taking out most my lungs. I’d die anyway,” she replied quietly.
“That sucks,” Zac said pointedly.
Corey smiled wryly. “I know. But, c’est la vie, I suppose.”
“You know French?” Taylor asked.
She shook her head. “Nope, only that. But my cousin Barry is teaching me Spanish. I always wanted to learn another language other than dumb-old English.”
“Your cousin sounds like a nice guy,” Isaac observed.
“Oh, he is,” Corey told him. “We’ve always been close, even though he’s, like, four years older than I am. And, when he got his car a few days ago, it was the sweetest thing: The salesman was trying to sell him a red car, but he turned it down, even though red’s his favorite color.”
“How come?” Taylor asked.
She smiled. “Because there was a blue one there, too, and blue is my favorite color,” she explained.
Taylor nodded. “That is sweet,” he agreed.
Corey nodded. “I feel bad for him, though. I don’t know what he’ll do when I’m gone.”
