I've left my original intro onto this post, probably because I've hesitated in submitting this one for months. I believe I wrote this in June, and have been sitting on it since. The words I wrote to open the post are as true as they have ever been, perhaps more so. Below you will find the conclusion to Chapter 3. I will repost the chapter in its entirety to a separate page soon. Look for that if you are hoping to have an easier way to read all of this.
And lastly before we kick off the long overdue part four, I want to say thank you to those of you who have come out and told me that you’ve read this. I appreciate your time and interest, and I probably wouldn’t be continuing if it wasn’t for your support.
---------------
Well, it has been awhile. It would be easy to forget and leave all of this behind me, but creativity is too important. I believe that being creative is a habit, the more you do it the easier it is. I will pick up where I left off in Chapter 3, part 3.
---------------
The lights in the room came up slowly as the table backed out of the machine, gently rousing Fred from a bittersweet memory. He buried his emotions back underneath his staunch stoicism and checked his cheeks for any stray tears that might beg for explanation and found none. He took a few calming breaths and sat up on the table, waiting for the technician to give him more instructions.
Fred listened to the clichéd message that the technician delivered to every patient and followed him back to the exam room where he was to wait for Ryan one last time before leaving. He was left alone again in dreadful silence as he changed back into his clothes. He fought against every incoming memory that threatened his confident façade as he waited patiently for Ryan. “Waiting for Ryan. Again. I can’t talk to him about this yet, I’m not ready,” Fred thought. There was a polite knock at the door before Ryan opened it slowly and entered the room. “Ryan will see through me if I don’t deflect him right away.”
“Hey buddy! How are you holding up?” Ryan asked. “Mike treat you okay?”
Fred paused just a moment, trying to read Ryan’s question correctly. Fred hoped that he only meant with the tedium of the scan and the stress of potential relapse and answered the question based on this assumption. “I’m doing well. I’m staying positive and not dwelling on it. I’ve beaten this before and I can do it again if necessary. I take it that Mike was the MRI Tech?” Ryan nodded. “Yeah, honestly I didn’t really pay him much attention. Seemed like a nice kid. I had other things on my mind.”
Ryan, not willing to miss this opportunity, asked, “Other things? You know, that as your doctor I am obligated to examine your mental and psychological state during treatment.” Fred laughed silently at Ryan’s construction of pretense for what was really a simple question. “What’s on your mind, Fred?”
“Well, I called Rachel. We’re planning getting together this weekend in Chicago,” Fred said cheerfully and slightly proud.
In sincere disbelief, Ryan replied, “No way! I don’t believe it. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never been the one to make a move. I remember that Sarah waited months to ask you out after finally growing tired of you dragging your feet. Anyway, continue.”
“Yes, as I was saying. I asked her out this weekend. We’re going to take in a few sights around Chicago and have a nice dinner,” Fred explained. He was slightly bashful to be talking about this with Ryan, knowing that the ribbing would only continue. “I’m sure that she’s been all over the city and the touristy things having gone to school at Northwestern, but she seems excited to show me around. It’ll be fun.”
"It’ll be fun,’ he says. Fun. A beautiful woman… wait, she is good looking right?”
Fred laughed again quietly, saying , “Yes, Rachel is very good looking. Not that…” before Ryan cut him off.
“Yeah, yeah, not that it matters and all that, I get it. Anyway, a beautiful woman, who was all over you at the conference by the way, offers to take you around Chicago and show you a good time and you think it will be “fun”. Fun is an understatement of what this will be,” Ryan joked.
Fred stood up to leave and said with a smile on his face, “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything to you yet. It’s always a joke with you, Ryan.”
“Hey, you know that I just want you to be happy. I joke and I give you a hard time, but I just want to see Fred back to his old self,” Ryan said, dropping all the sarcasm and barbs and offered him a hug.
Fred embraced him and said, “I do, too.” The sober statement hung in the air for a moment as they separated, and then Fred spoke again, “Say hi to my little sister for me, would you? She might have gone against my wishes and married you, but I know she still loves me.”
“Ooh, ouch. Fred scores big with a right hook to the jaw. Working that angle, huh? I suppose I have it coming,” Ryan said as he turned to follow Fred out of the exam room. “I’ll tell her. But be warned, she is probably going to call and ask a million questions when I tell her about Rachel.”
“Oh man, I hadn’t even thought of that. And wait until she tells mom,” Fred groaned.
“You will have your hands full when those two get involved. If you thought I asked questions and that I have been in intrusive… But remember, we bug you and we hound you about these things because we love you,” Ryan said. Fred had stopped in the hallway, touched by Ryan’s heartfelt words. Ryan, who found the seriousness of the current situation to be more than he could comfortably stomach in his current upbeat mood, added, “I don’t know what it is about you, but people seem to like you.”
With the moment broken and passed, Fred responded, “It’s a curse.” He was more confident in his decision to pass on bringing up the past with Ryan. After all, Ryan had been there through it all, and probably didn’t want to relive the pain either. At least that is what Fred had convinced himself to believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment