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“Jake.”
Looking around the room, his eyes settled on her.
“Where am I?”
“The medical center,” she said.
Searching around for the call light, she pressed the button to alert the nurse.
“You passed out, and Dan called the squad.”
He closed his eyes again just as the nurse came in.
“He woke up,” Pam said.
“I’m awake,” he mumbled, the face mask getting in the way.
“I’ll get a nasal cannula for your oxygen,” the nurse said. “How do you feel?”
“Tired. But I’ve been tired for a while. Do they know what’s wrong with me yet?”
“They’re just going over your test results now. The doctor will be in to give you a rundown of what’s known so far.”
She’d pushed some buttons to get a current blood pressure reading, and when that was finished, she left.
“Do you really just feel tired?” Pam asked.
“Just tired. I’m so sorry.” He finally looked at her, remembering that this older woman was his lover. “I don’t remember going to your house.”
“Hocus fried flounder. You were going to eat lunch with us. Lisa and Ryan and Dan were there. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d been alone when it happened. I was so scared.”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “How embarrassing.”
“Not to me it isn’t,” she said.
Several white coats came in then, including Blake Gage.
They introduced themselves to Jake. One of the doctors was an oncologist. That got Jake’s attention.
“That doesn’t sound good,” he said, glancing at Pam.
“No,” she said. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stevens. We did see what looks to be a tumor on your lung.” She went on with an explanation that went over both Jake’s and Pam’s heads. “We’d like to start you on radiation therapy right away.”
The other doctors put their two cents in, and when asked if Jake had any questions, he only had one.
“When can I get out of here?”
“As long as you are breathing without difficulty and can keep up with your fluid intake, I don’t see any reason that you can’t leave after we set up your radiation schedule. You can’t be alone tonight, however.”
“He’s staying with me,” Pam quickly said.
Jake didn’t argue. When Jake assured the doctors that he didn’t have any questions, they left.
“All I want to do is get out of here and google mesothelioma,” he said, trying to get comfortable and failing.
“I don’t,” Pam said. “The less I know, the better. I’ll be the one with her head in the clouds.”
“You can be in the clouds,” Jake said.
