"Is It Breast Cancer" - Part Three

It was brought to my attention that I must condense some of my stories into other formats so that I can continue to write without causing significant delays in the uploading process. So what should have been the rest of the story, is now part three of four parts. I do apologize, if your coffee and muffins are cold, as I had promised you this story on Tuesday. What's the old saying - Better late than never?

 

 

"Is It Breast Cancer - Part Three"

When all else fails, I close my eyes and I can see the place
where all my dreams came true and that the ocean
is symbolic of the moment I found you, that sees me through
another day - Stacey Bolin

 

Following another night of worry and wonder, she managed to collect her fears and get herself up and ready to go with the light of dawn that began kissing the darkness away. Of all days to be filled with such fear, why did it have to be on Valentine’s Day?  Over the years she had grown to view this day of red hearts and people confessing their profound love to one another, as just another day her mind, but did however, enjoyed watching the happiness that it brought to others and in many ways; she harbored a small amount of envy. But today, she didn't have time to think about the Valentine dramas of the past - all she wanted to do was think about getting the flowers delivered to everyone, while feeling proud that she was the first person to see the happiness and joy of the recipients when they opened their door and was greeted with such a special gift by the loved one that had thought of them that day.

 She had gotten all of her early morning deliveries out, picked up her oldest son from school to help her, since he had gotten out early due to mid-terms, and was able to get back to the shop to reload for her second and final round of the day.  She had updated the florist that she would be taking a moment, around eleven, to stop at the Naval Academy to update some insurance documents and then continue to resume with the remaining deliveries. She was relieved when they gave her a smile of approval and sent her on her way. She took that as a sign that all was going to be fine, but the little voice inside her head suddenly put the negative bug in her ear, that all may not go as planned. Whether the customer service representative knew her, or not - would she really remember that November morning?

 She was on schedule and made her way to the other side of town to get her medical dilemma corrected.  Her son chose to wait in her truck to listen to his music, when she turned to him and said, with a strange chuckle to her voice, "This may not go well...if you hear police sirens, don't worry, they just coming to escort me out of the building." Certainly this was not a comment that any rational person would say, especially in the presence of their child of any age, but at the moment, she wasn't feeling anything but the urge to run, as far and as fast as she could.

 The customer service representative greeted her with a big and extra friendly hello and was eager to help just as she had always done before, yet immediately her disposition, went from friendly to guarded as the details of the insurance fiasco unfolded. Clearing she was not wanting to be told that she had not done her job, but in the same breath, remarked about everything that was said and done on the November morning - every detail, and the conversation pertaining to an upcoming wedding she was working on – she had recalled every detail with the exception of the form that had been filled out to schedule auto payments. She had denied ever doing such a document and that she has never taken a blank check to set this process up. This was her reason why she honestly believed she did not file any such document and continued to repeat over and over, in a voice like a child that had gotten caught with their hand in the cookie jar, "I don't take voided checks to file ACH payments."

 A cold silence filled the room when she stopped speaking to fully understand what the representative had been saying to her. What she thought was a person that she could trust, was now anything but, as in her mind she now viewed that this person had committed the ultimate betrayal - lying. Without a hint of anger in her voice, she stood up and simply said, “I can’t promise that this won’t go unaddressed.” And with that turned and walked out of the door, determined never to utilize this locations Tri-care assistance again. The only solutions she had left was to hope and pray that the Tri-care office in the Walter Reed National Medical Center, where her doctor appointment was tentatively scheduled for and in less than 24 hours, could correct this problem in time.

 Her son met her with a smile, when she got back to her truck. He was glad to know that she had found a way to keep her fear in check, as he was use to her over reactive ways that always led to unwanted stress and drama. Her personality mimicked a weather forecast - the calm before the storm - as they continued with their remaining deliveries before they could call it a day.

 

***

She stood in the driveway that cool, dusky early Friday morning, teetering on a fine line between, going over the edge, and snapped. Fearing the worst and hoping for the best, she asked her husband - "What do I do?" He looked at her with his best face to keep her spirits positive, but his eyes revealed a soul that was remembering her battle with lymphoma that she had faced in 1994. He was scared what the tests would reveal and all he wanted was to jump in his truck, go to work, hope that all of this was nothing more than a muscle injury and that tomorrow - life would go back to normal. Breast cancer were the two words that had the ability to shake this man to tears as his birth mother had succumbed to this dreadful disease before he had ever had the opportunity to meet the woman who had given him life.

 As he got into his truck, she kissed him, a little longer than normal, allowing herself to feel the softness of his lips. She stood in the driveway, a little longer than normal, as she watch him heading off to work. She closed her eyes and took in the smell of the morning air, a little longer than normal, enjoying a moment of quiet before the city would awake. She was doing everything and anything to capture the moments before the unknown would soon be revealed.

That morning drive was filled with anger, sorry, pain, frustration, as she spoke out loud to herself. Could it be that the guidance of a stronger power had been with her on that morning drive? Clearly she should have never had been behind the wheel that day. To this very day, it was a drive she couldn’t remember, but to her amazement would never forget the excessively busy roads of rush hour traffic on the beltway that had magically forged a clear pathway that offered no delays to her destination.

To be Continued.... 

 

How do you think the story ends?  Would love to hear from you and how you may be feeling about this story. Can you connect in some way? Do you have a friend or family member who has experienced the same medical fear? How did they cope? What was the outcome? We all have a story to tell, and I don't want it to be just my stories. I love getting your replies and it helps to inspire me with my journey to be a writer, even if I only succeed in the blogger world. I do hope that you have a great day and I hope to have the ending uploaded today. That is my goal, however, looking back on my entire blog, I didn't realize I had written so many stories, maybe I should make my blog into a book? (smile).  Until next time - Blog ya later.