Character Analysis: Don T Die, My Love

Have you ever been in love? In the book Don’t Die, My Love Julie Ellis and Luke Muldenhower have been deeply in love since the sixth grade. Now juniors in high school they are still madly in love and could not live without each other. When Luke gets what he thinks is the flu it turns their lives upside down. Will they get through this tough time together? It was evident that Luke did not look well even if he was acting like he was fine: “It’s the flu. I’m having trouble shaking it” (McDaniel 4). This is the first time Julie had heard of Luke feeling ill. Those words were the beginning of a never-ending nightmare. Later that day Julie and Luke were at the bowling alley with some friends when Julie noticed a bulge on the side of his neck. Luke pulled away saying it was just a swollen gland from the flu. Julie looked at him warily, but Luke changed the subject back to bowling. It was the next day when Julie saw Luke and she noticed he was not looking any better. When she told him he should go to the doctor and get checked, he snapped back at her saying: “you’re not my mother, Julie-get

Luke did not want anyone to know about him being sick so Julie was supposed to pick him up and then take him to the doctor. When they got to the doctors office the waiting room was full of sniffling kids. Forty minutes went bye and the door to the outside of the office had opened and Luke’s mom rushed in: “Nancy! Why are you here? The doctor told me to come. I didn’t know you were taking Luke to the doctor, Julie. Why didn’t you tell me” (McDaniel 36)? They did not tell Luke’s mom because they did not want her to worry. Soon after Luke’s mom had arrived the doctors nurse called him back into Dr. Portages office. Dr. Portage told the three of them that he did not like what he was seeing on Luke’s test. He suspected that Luke had some kind of infection and wanted him to check into St. Paul’s hospital in Chicago right