Chapter 3
580 Words
Chapter 3
10:00 AM, Friday, March 29th, 2013
Lisa tried to creep out of bed. I’d been curled into her so the withdrawal of her warmth roused me from slumber.
“Where are you going?”
“Bathroom.”
“Are you coming back?”
“Mm, I’m kind of hungry.”
While she went on about her business, I sat up and ran a hand through my hair. After the night we had, I thought, I probably look a fright.
Since Lisa was using our on-suite, I got up, grabbed sweats and headed for the guest bathroom where I took care of my own needs and tried to arrange my hair into some semblance of order.
When I emerged, she hadn’t come out of our bedroom yet so I decided I’d start the foraging in the kitchen.
As I rounded the breakfast island, the blinking message light on the phone caught my eye. I punched the play button and then opened the fridge to peer inside while the mechanical lady voice began reeling off her usual spiel.
A more melodious woman’s voice was up on the first message, “This message is for Lisa Falk. This is Chastity with Dr. Welle’s office. Please give us a call to make an appointment at your earliest convenience.” Lisa walked into the room as the voice on the machine was leaving the number.
“Hey babe, that’s the doctor’s office. Your test results must be back. They want you to call them.”
“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. “What did they say?”
“Well nothing much on the machine; just a tech making the calls.”
Lisa played the message back, wrote down the number and then dialed. After a brief, terse, conversation with whoever answered, she dropped her miffed tone and said into the receiver, “That’ll be fine,” then she hung up.
“What’s going on?” I asked her.
“They want to see me A.S.A.P.,” she spelled it out, “and they had an opening for 2:30 today so I guess I’m going in then.”
“We’re going in then.”
“Babe, you don’t need to go with me. It’s probably nothing. Just stress. We’ve been going a hundred miles an hour lately getting this bar going and continuing to manage the others long distance. There’s no need for you to go to hear how I need to rest more, yada, yada, yada. Besides, this is the biggest ski weekend of the year, as far as the bar is concerned. I’ll be there as soon as they finish telling me I need to start taking better care of me.”
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“There’s a small mass in your cervix.”
“Mass?”
Dr. Welle nodded. “Possibly a tumor. That could explain your tiredness and your general malaise.”
“A tumor?” Lisa gulped, her fear evident on her face.
“It’s not time to be alarmed just yet,” Welle held a cautioning hand up. “We’ll want to do a biopsy just as soon as we can and have the tissue tested. If it’s benign, we have no real problem.”
“And if it’s...it’s...”
“Malignant?” At Lisa’s slight nod, the doctor continued, “then you’ll need surgery to have it removed before it metastasizes elsewhere.”
“Would you be doing the surgery?”
“First things first, Lisa. I’ll perform the biopsy here at Yampa and then send the tissue I take out for testing. If you need surgery, I’ll refer you to a specialist in Denver. We’re not equipped to perform anything but routine procedures here.”
“How soon for the biopsy?”
“The sooner the better.”
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“Cancer? I knew I should have gone with you!”
Lisa blew out a breath. “She kept cautioning me not to jump to conclusions yet. We won’t really know anything for sure until after the biopsy, Monday.”
“How quick do you get results back from something like that?”
“She said a couple or three days.”
I got up and moved around my desk to my wife. “I love you Lisa Louise,” I told her as I pulled her up out of her chair and into my arms. Whatever it is, we’ll get through it together.”
- Writer
