Page 41 of Tiffanie

“Be prepared. Reality will hit you hard at some point. Don’t dwell on the journey. Focus on where you arrived,” the woman suggested. “Now, you need a follow-up visit.”

In a few minutes, Tiffanie had an appointment card in her pocket as Phineas guided her out the door. As they exited, the receptionist called, “Don’t forget to honk!”

“Honk?” Phineas asked as they walked outside.

“The doctor doesn’t ring a bell in the office for people finishing treatment. He has people blare their horns in the parking lot,” Tiffanie explained.

“Okay. We can do that.”

He settled his Little girl in the car and fastened the seatbelt around her. After sliding into the driver’s seat, Phineas waved a hand at the steering wheel. “Do your best.”

Expecting a small toot of his horn from the delicate woman, Phineas laughed when she leaned to the side to press both hands firmly on the wheel. A long blast of sound echoed from the car, ricocheting off the large brick building. Within seconds, figures appeared in the windows on many floors. They waved and held congratulations signs up as other cars and trucks in the area answered Tiffanie’s announcement.

Tiffanie smiled for the first time. “I’ve heard that from inside the doctor’s office when I was getting my treatments. Even when I felt my crappiest, those honks gave me hope. I never expected these random people to celebrate my battle.”

“All this support must feel good,” Phineas said. He mentally thanked every single person who cared about his Little girl. He blinked away the tears that blurred his eyes. He would never forget being here to experience this with Tiffanie.

“So much more than that.”

He nodded. Phineas was sure he didn’t understand the magnitude of this moment from Tiffanie’s perspective, but from his own, Phineas appreciated the doctor’s decision to expand the reaction to more than simply the other patients and their families. “We should phone Ivan.”

“Of course!” she said, visibly appalled she hadn’t thought of calling him before now.

Phineas selected Ivan’s contact information and turned the phone on speaker. Ivan answered on the first ring. “Hey. I was worrying about you.”

“Hi! Phineas has you on speakerphone,” Tiffanie warned her brother.

“What’s going on? Your voice sounds like you’ve been crying.” Ivan’s voice was rough with concern.

“I’m done, Ivan.”

“What does that mean, Tiffanie? Am I taking you to a new clinic or celebrating?”

“I’m okay, Ivan. No cancer in my scans and my bloodwork is pristine,” Tiffanie said.

“Hot damn!” Ivan yelled. Phineas heard a loud bang and wondered what he’d thrown as he celebrated.

“Did you just put a hole in a wall?” Tiffanie asked.

A long pause followed before he answered, “I might have.”

“What’s up? Is everything okay? Is that Tiffanie?” Essie’s voice sounded close.

“The doctor says she’s cancer-free,” Ivan said.

Cheers erupted. Phineas could pick out Essie’s, Zander’s, and Sara’s voices as they shouted messages for Tiffanie. A loud yowl echoed from the device, filling the car.

“Marmalade, you’re going to break their eardrums,” Essie scolded.

“Come to Ferguson’s Folly. I’ll pull a cake out of the freezer, and we’ll have a party,” Sara suggested.

Phineas checked on Tiffanie. She had wilted against the car’s upholstery. Her surge of energy was depleted. “Can we get a rain check for that, Sara? They ran a lot of tests. We didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad until we met with the doctor.”

“Tiffanie, you must be completely wiped out,” Essie said. “Take her home, Phineas. We’ll celebrate when she’s recovered.”

“Thank you all,” Tiffanie said, sending Phineas a grateful look.

“See you soon!”