The Degrees of Obsession

Marilyn rolled out of bed begrudgingly to shut the blinds, shielding her eyes with her hands to prevent the rays from blinding her. It was 9 in the morning, and the sun was already up and burning this early. She groaned and headed for the toilet to brush her teeth before proceeding downstairs. As she went into the kitchen where her mother, Suzanne, was preparing breakfast, the whiff of freshly made pancakes made her stomach growl and her mouth water. "Morning mom," she said as she sat on the kitchen island stool. Her mom whipped her head around with a smile, "Hey honey, did you sleep well?" She asked before turning back to flip the pancake in the pan. "Yes I did, thank you. The pancakes smell freaking good." Suzanne grabbed a plate from the rack, placed some pancakes, squirted some whipped cream on top before handing her the plate. Marilyn muttered a "thank you" before shoving a forkful into her mouth. Her mom grabbed the stool next to her and sat down with her own plate, both eating in a comfortable silence. Marilyn scanned the kitchen before asking, "where's dad?" "He went to inspect the construction site, there were some complaints about a leakage, something like that." She waved her hand dismissively. Marilyn nodded and continued to eat her pancakes, relishing the savoury fluffiness as she shoved them into her mouth. Her mom chuckled beside her, "Easy there honey, you wouldn't wanna choke on that." She swallowed and looked over at her mom, "I actually woke up very hungry, plus I may as well enjoy homemade food before I go back to school." "You're right. But the great news is, this is your final session, before you know it, you'll be inducted into the field of Gynecology. I'm so proud of you Marilyn, you've worked so hard to get to this point." She smiled and got up to put her plate in the sink before turning back to face her mother, "I couldn't have done it without you and dad, even though I've threatened you guys about dropping out countless times." Her mom laughed and was about to reply when a tall, young man in his mid twenties walked into the kitchen, all sweaty from his morning jog. He took off his air pods and strode towards where the two women were sitting. "Morning mom." He said and took a pancake from her plate with his bare hands. Suzanne smacked his hand away but that didn't stop him from quickly shoving it into his mouth. "The least you could do is to wash your hands first Curtis." She scowled at him which earned an obnoxious laugh from him. "How's my little Dr. M doing?" Marilyn's eyes went wide and she ran towards their mother because she knew what was coming. It has become a ritual for her older brother to ruffle her hair or hug her while being sweaty each time he comes back from a jog. "Mom, tell him to stay away from me." She said, still standing behind her mom. "Go and have your shower or else no breakfast for you." He rolled his eyes and pointed at both of them, pancake still in hand, "You're all gonna miss having me around when I finally move out of Red field, you just wait and see." "Whatever, I'm going to have my bath, you should do that too." In the blink of an eye, Curtis ran towards her and pulled her in for a hug before she could escape. She squirmed and screamed for their mother to intervene, but she just sighed, obviously tired of his antics, before giving him a smack on the head before he eventually freed her from his grip. "You're so disgusting!" Marilyn yelled as she ran back upstairs to her room and slammed the door shut, muffling Curtis' voice. ****** Marilyn stared at her reflection in her dressing mirror as she brushed through her damp brunette hair absentmindedly until the ringing of her phone pulled her out of her trance. It was her best friend, Koko. She dropped the brush back on her dresser, walked over to her bed and plopped down on it. "Hey girl, what's up." "You wouldn't believe what I just heard Lyn." Marilyn's eyebrows furrowed because of her tone of voice. Something about her tone was off. Distant. In a way Marilyn had never heard before. She sat up straight and rested her back against her headboard. "What happened?" "Dr. Jane, the professor who's supposed to take us Reproductive Endocrinology is dead." A gasp escaped from her lips, "Stop! Are you lying." "Why would I lie about something like this?" "Where did you get this information? Oh my God..." "I read it on i********:, on Sally Wilson's page, she died from a heart attack last night." Marilyn raked her fingers through her almost dried hair, her chest tightening, "This is honestly the worst news I've heard today...she was the sweetest person ever Koko. The last time we spoke was last session and I remember telling her I couldn't wait to see her again in final year...this news just ruined my whole day." Koko sighed from the other end of the call, "Yeah...it's honestly devastating." They were both silent for a few seconds before Marilyn broke the silence, "Have you confirmed though? That it's not fake." "Yeah I did, I've checked all the school platforms, they've all confirmed it. Although at first I didn't believe it, until I checked Sally's page." "Okay... I'll check it too. How are you coping though?" She let out a sigh, "I'm okay, I guess, just shocked." "We'll get through it, she was truly special." "Yeah, she definitely was. Uh... I have to go now, we'll talk later. I have to go help my dad with something." "Alright, love you babe." "Love you too." After they hung up the call, Marilyn just tossed her phone to the other side of her bed and adjusted her head on the pillow before pulling her duvet over her face. It was midday, but she couldn't resist the need to escape reality through sleep. All she could see was Dr. Jane's beautiful encouraging smile from their last encounter.