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Madge greeted Sophie as she always did. “Doctor Roberts wants a weight on you before we start.” She glanced at the two men. “Duke nice to see you and who is your handsome friend?” She asked.
“I’m Brad Russack, Sophie’s father-in-law.”
Madge shook his hand. “I see where Josh gets his good looks,” she flirted with him and Sophie almost laughed at Brad who was flushing to the roots of his salt and pepper hair.
“Yeah, he’s a hottie still,” she teased him. Brad just rolled his eyes at her.
She handed her dad her purse and her multi-colored cape that she had been wearing everywhere because it was warm and comfortable. Brad was holding her blanket. Madge almost squealed when she saw the weight on the scale. “Sophie, you’ve gained four pounds. One hundred twelve pounds. That’s fabulous.”
“Sounds like she’s still pretty scrawny to me,” Brad complained.
Sophie glanced over her shoulder at him. “Watch it, mister or you can wait out there.” Then she looked at Madge. “My mother-in-law has been working on fattening me up.”
“Tell her to keep up the good, work. It’s so easy to lose weight when you’re doing chemotherapy and you didn’t have so much to lose.”
After that, Sophie began her treatment. Brad and her dad sat along the wall in chairs next to a young man. Wherever they went, they struck up a conversation. This time was no different. The young woman sitting next to her still had her hair. She turned and gazed at Sophie.
“That’s my brother, Steve.” She pointed at the man talking to her father and father-in-law.
Sophie laughed. “I’m Sophie Russack,” she told her. “That is my Dad with the white hair and my father-in-law, Brad is the other one. They thought my husband Josh needed a break from this.”
She appeared confused for a moment. “Why? You don’t get a break.”
Sophie smiled at her. “No, I don’t but I need him to remain strong so its fine with me,” she reassured her.
The young woman nodded. “Oh, I’m Amy.”
“Amy so nice to meet you. First treatment?” She guessed because of the hint of bitterness to her tone of voice.
Amy nodded. Sophie knew that after the next treatment her long, dark hair would start to fall out. She wondered if she should tell her what Deandra had told her. Shave it off.
“I’m only twenty-four,” Amy told her, her voice so soft that Sophie had trouble hearing her. She was looking at her brother who was engrossed in some football talk with her dad and Brad. “I froze some eggs to be sure that I could have children someday.”
Sophie reached her hand out to the younger woman. She couldn’t imagine what she felt when they told her she had breast cancer. Amy turned her pretty, hazel eyes towards Sophie and clasped her hand with hers. She squeezed it hard.
“I’m sorry,” Amy whispered.
“For what?”
“For dumping on you.”
“Oh honey, you can dump whenever you want to. I’ll give you my phone number. You can call me anytime.” She would repay Deandra’s kindness to her by helping Amy. “I must warn you that I won’t feel human until at least Monday so call me after that.”
The younger woman’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? The doctor said I might get nauseated, but the meds should control it. I need to work.”
Sophie explained she had a harder time with the chemo than most. Doctor Roberts thought she might be somewhat allergic to chemotherapy. She was hoping she could make it through the next few months of treatments as each one seemed to get a little worse for her. Sophie explained to Amy letting her know that her treatment could be different and probably would be.
She saw the younger woman visibly relax. Sophie was grateful for her situation where she didn’t have to worry about finances. Another thing to put on her list of things she had in her life that was good. If she had a job she had to go to everyday that would be a burden, she didn’t need. A burden Amy didn’t need either.
“How are your parents handling this?” She asked.
“They are kind of detached from this.” She glanced at Sophie. “Once we were grown they kind of started doing their own thing. They’re on a trip to Australia right now.” She sounded so hurt. This lack of feeling Sophie didn’t understand. “They call and check on me,” Amy added. She glanced across the room at her brother. Similar in looks, his hair was short and curly tight to his head. Big, hazel eyes in his dark, handsome face.
“I don’t know what I’d do without Steve.”
“The guy I was seeing broke it off. I could understand.” Amy shrugged her shoulders. “We’d only been together three months. Get out while the getting was good, you know. Who wants to care for somebody with cancer?”
“Somebody who really cares for you,” Sophie replied. “Like my husband Josh. Those two,” she pointed to her dad and Brad. “I’m really sorry kiddo. Doesn’t seem fair, does it?”
