Bill Almost Dies

“Blowin’ In the Wind”

Listen to Chapter 11, “Bill Almost Dies”

The summer soon passed, though not quickly enough for Julie and Bill. When school started, he could get a job on the college farm, which meant that he had to get up very early hours. They tried to see each other as much as possible, but they had no classes together, and worked and ate at different times. It was only on the weekends they could spend much time together. But they cherished every precious moment together.

It wasn’t long before Bill’s 20 hours of work a week increased to 30 and sometimes 40. He was carrying a full class load and struggling just to stay awake in class, let alone keep his grades up.

“I wish you didn’t have to work so much,” Julie often said to him. “You’re always so tired. You’re going to get sick!”

Julie did not know then just how right her words would be. On the night before the beginning of Christmas vacation, Bill and Julie ate supper together in the college cafeteria. Then they went to the almost empty Student Center before Julie’s drive home to Riverdale.

Bill put his arm on the back of the sofa and hugged Julie as closely as he dared, ready to move quickly if a faculty member walked in. Julie was sad and silent. “Oh, Bill,” she said, “I wish you were coming home with me tonight!”

“So do I, baby,” he whispered. “So do I! But you know I have to stay here and work during vacation. If I don’t make enough money to pay my bill here, I won’t be able to come back next semester.”

Julie brushed away a tear, knowing how very much she would miss him. “I know,” she choked. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” he smiled, “I’ll be home on Christmas day. We’ll be together then.”

Julie nodded. “I can’t wait,” she whispered. Then, seeing that no one else was around for a moment, she leaned over until her lips met his.

Bill walked with Julie to her car and put her suitcase in the trunk. Once again he kissed her lightly and quickly before she got into the car. “We’ll have real kisses on Christmas day!” he promised her.

But Christmas never came that year for Julie and Bill. It was the day before Christmas Eve that Julie called Bill’s dorm to find out if he needed her to drive to La Paloma to get him. There seemed to be some confusion by the boys who answered the dorm phone. No one had seen Bill all day. Puzzled, she hung up and dialed Lena Johnson’s number.

When Lena answered, she spoke quietly. Then she was silent for a very long time. “Julie,” she said finally, “the assistant dean brought Bill home late last night.”

A bolt of fear shot through Julie! What was wrong? If anything ever happened to Bill, she just knew she would die!

“He’s very, very sick, honey,” Lena breathed.

Julie began to cry. “Can I come over and see him, please, Lena?”

“Of course, dear,” Lena answered. “For just a little while.”

Julie walked into a quiet, tense house—a place where she had spent many happy hours with Bill and his mother Lena—now filled with impending doom. She was not prepared for what she saw, even though it had been not quite a week since she had last seen Bill.

He lay in his bed, still and pale, barely stirring as he opened his eyes briefly when Julie entered. He tried to reach his hand toward her, but it fell limply onto the bedcovers. He appeared gaunt, almost bony, and a chill followed by a hot flash of dread swept through her body. It startled her to hear a voice from the opposite side of the room.

“We’ve done all we can for now,” the deep, eerie voice said.

“Dr. Gaston!” Julie exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

The old man smiled thinly. “Some of us still do make house calls.”

But you’re a homeopathic, Julie wanted to wail at Kurt’s father, not a “real” doctor! But Julie kept still. She looked at Lena and could tell that she had been crying. Now Julie’s tears fell, too.

Julie sat carefully on the edge of Bill’s bed and held his hand between hers. She felt the extremely high fever that now raged through Bill’s very hot, limp hand. She bent down and gently kissed his cheek. “I love you, Bill,” she whispered, stroking his unruly dark brown hair. “Please don’t die, baby. Please don’t die!”

The next few hours, or days, Julie didn’t know which, were a bleak nightmare, something from a sad movie that doesn’t seem like actual life. She remembered, in a blurry way, being at home for Christmas day, seeing her favorite cousin Sue, then going back to Bill’s house, despite Momma’s protest to “let that boy get well without you smotherin’ him.”

It was a sad and reluctant Julie who returned to La Paloma College after Christmas vacation. Bill was not really getting any better, despite Dr. Gaston’s seeming to be at the Johnson house almost day and night. Julie had ignored him, staying close to Bill’s side as much as possible, sleeping in a chair with her head on the side of Bill’s bed and his hand placed limply on her neck. She would get up only when Lena came in periodically to see if Bill could drink water. But Bill could not eat or drink anything and could barely even breathe.

One night in desperation Lena had asked Bill if there was anything at all she could get for him.

“Vernor’s Ginger Ale,” he had replied weakly as he passed in and out of consciousness. Lena had come home with a six-pack.

But Bill could not swallow even one drop of his favorite soda. It foamed up on his mouth and ran down the side of his face. Julie was quick to wipe the foam from the side of Bill’s face and allow him to spit the foam from his mouth. Bill continued to put small amounts into his mouth and the result was always the same, but it went in further each time. Finally, he could get it all the way into his mouth. The foam was a deep chocolate color when he spit it out. Much later, when Bill could talk, he told Julie that it had removed the “cotton dirt” feeling that he had in his mouth for weeks.

It was a full month later, however, when Bill’s tonsils ruptured. When that happened, he could finally breathe normally again and slowly recovered. He had dropped to 87 pounds and had nearly died of malnutrition. He did not return to La Paloma College.

Julie focused hard on her studies that lonely second semester without Bill. She came home to Riverdale as often as possible and spent every minute that she could with Bill. He seemed sad and distant, quiet and pensive. But Julie didn’t press him to talk. All she could do was love and hug him. Soon the summer would come, and this time Julie would be back home in Riverdale.

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