Chapter 18
“The good news is that you’ve got nothing broken…”, the doctor tells me, holding my x-rays in a folder
“And what are the bad news?”, I ask, expecting some from the way she just spoke
“It’s not really bad news…”, she starts
I wait for her to continue
“It’s something I don’t fully understand now, and which requires a bit more investigation”, she concludes
“Ok, but what are you referring to, exactly?”, I insist
If she’s being so convoluted there must be something wrong.
She pulls out my x-rays and holds up one that shows part of my shoulder and part of my arm.
“Do you see, here?”, she asks, pointing at a small dot that I wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t pointed it out
I nod
“You said you’re not sure about what it is, but what is your guess?”, I ask
And I am thinking, cancer.
“I think we should extract it and analyze it”, is the diplomatic reply I get
“Ok”, I say
“We can do this tomorrow”, she states, although her tone makes the statement sound more like a question
I nod
“Tomorrow morning at 8”, she tells me
“What is the time now?”, I want to know
“It’s 5.30, we’ll bring you dinner in a moment”, she says
And sure enough few moments later I am lapping up a soup and realizing I am hungry, here and now, even though I could be dying of cancer tomorrow.