“Doc, we look at these every day and see nothing but bad news. It’s a good day when we see good film, but this, this is a miracle.”
Wall nodded. “Let’s play this safe,” he said without taking his eyes off the film. “Do another round of x-rays, but keep this quiet until we get those back. Got it? I’ll order a new blood draw.”
“You bet, Doc.”
Phil raced to Shelly’s room as Dr. Wall stayed, studying the x-
rays alone. “Shelly, my dear, you may be one lucky little girl.”
*****
It took a painstaking two days for all of Shelly’s new tests to
come back.
“You ladies have a moment to talk?” Dr. Wall asked after knocking on the door of room 1604. Carol nodded, not speaking. She pointed to a sleeping Kristen. Shelly looked up and smiled.
“Let’s go out in the sitting area for a minute,” he whispered.
Carol and Shelly sat on the faux leather couch. Shelly cradled her arms against her chest and dangled her feet off the edge, peering down to see how much taller she would have to be to sit on a regular couch and reach the floor.
“What’s going on, Dr. Wall? How is the treatment working?”
Carol asked.
“Yes, yes, it’s fine.” He took a breath. “The treatment, Mrs. White? The treatment worked. That’s the thing. And quite frankly, I have no idea how this happened, but the tumor is gone. Not smaller, not shrinking. It’s gone as if it was never there. We double checked x-rays, ran new blood work, and it has disappeared …”
“You mean I can go home!” Shelly shrieked, interrupting the
doctor.
Carol broke down and began to cry—the emotions she had suppressed for the past few months unleashed.
Dr. Wall smiled, but a single tear collected in his right eye. “You betcha, young lady.” He flashed Shelly an even wider smile. “And we are going to have a little party to celebrate, if that’s okay with you, Miss Shelly.”
She jumped up and gave him a big hug. “Thank you,” she
whispered in his ear.