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“No one in the family knows? That’s why neither of you were there last night?”
“No, the effects of the medicine didn’t start to show until after the first round. But now she is fatigued and losing hair.”
Drake stood and began to pace. “Start from the beginning and tell me everything, please. Then I’d like to see her file.”
Two hours later, Drake sat next to his mother’s bed where she slept. Her skin had the sheen of sickness, there were dark circles under eyes, and her face was pale and puffy. He spent the holiday right there waiting for her to need something. When she finally woke up, he was too worried to be upset with her for not telling him.
“You’re a good son,” she said, patting his hand. “But you’re busy in LA, and I didn’t want to worry you. I really thought I’d be in and out, one round of treatment, and it’d be gone. But it turned into more.”
“Does Ian know?”
She sighed. “No, though I knew I would have to tell him once this second round of chemo started to make me look and feel so sick. But he’s been swamped at work.”
“You should have told us,” Drake said.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to. The doctors said this was fairly routine and even Margo said all the literature shows a high rate of recovery.”
“Margo? Margo Monroe knew you were getting treatment? You told my ex-girlfriend, and you didn’t tell either of your children?”
“I’ve kept in touch with Margo for years, but I hadn’t planned on telling her until we ran into each other at the hospital. Then it was nice to have someone to talk to about everything with, woman to woman. She’s been supportive of me in a way I don’t have to worry about her feelings, I can be vulnerable with her. When I told your father he was devastated.”
“I see.” He pushed down his annoyance, having learned about the difficulty many women experience when dealing with breast cancer. Family wanted to be helpful but it sometimes added another layer of worry for the patient. “But, Mom, I’m a physician too.”
“You live in a different time zone and couldn’t leave work to fly out for every appointment. When I ran into Margo, I didn’t expect her to become such a huge support, but it’s been nice to complain to someone that doesn’t look at me like you are now. All worry and guilt.”
Drake ran his hands over his face and took a deep breath.
“Okay, but I am staying in town indefinitely, and I would like to be here for you if you need or want me. And I think you should tell Ian, or I will. He deserves to know.”
His mom sighed. “Are you sure you can take that much time off work? What about your patients?”
“You’re my mom. Let me worry about that.”
“All right, you can tell your brother, if it’ll get you two talking again. I’m just going to take a little bit longer nap,” she said, tucking back into her covers, and her eyes drifted closed.
After stepping into the hall, he called and texted his brother a dozen times until he phoned him back. Then Drake told Ian over the phone the same shit news: their mom had breast cancer. It looked like it was caught in time, but she wasn’t out of danger yet.
“I guess we’ll be having a family reunion, unless you’re just telling me before you bail again,” Ian said over the phone.
It was noisy wherever he was, and there were constant announcements being made over a loudspeaker.
“Going away to medical school doesn’t count as bailing.”
“That depends on the person’s perspective, and you didn’t have to stay gone for ten years,” Ian said.
“Where are you? Why wouldn’t you be with Mom and Dad for Thanksgiving?”
“Oh, that’s rich. You come home for two holidays in a decade, and you’re lecturing me?”
“I just mean you live in the same state, same town as Mom and Dad, and you’re not home for Thanksgiving?”
“I had a work commitment, and my flight got delayed or I would have been there. I’m on my way back now, but I won’t land in DC until midnight. I’ll see Mom first thing in the morning. So you can run back to LA.”
“I’m not leaving now,” Drake said.
“We’ll see,” Ian said and then hung up.
If Drake didn’t know better, he would say his brother resented him for leaving and making a life far away from home. But the truth was, he didn’t have a life in LA. He just had a job. A job he wasn’t passionate about anymore, and a job he could do anywhere.
