A Step Of Faith Part 2

"They'll be here with your breakfast in a few minutes," Falene said.

"Thank you," I said. "Nicole, you remember my friend, Falene."

Nicole looked at Falene. "Of course," she said. "You came to my house in Spokane."

"That's right," Falene said softly.

Nicole quickly turned back to me. "So what happened? What are you doing here?"

"I started getting dizzy a few weeks ago. On the way to St. Louis I pa.s.sed out on the side of the road. I woke up here."

"Thank goodness someone stopped to help you," she said. "So they don't know what's going on?"

"He has a brain tumor," Falene said, sounding slightly annoyed.

Nicole looked at her. "I know," she said. "That's why I'm here."

"The doctor will be in around noon to give us an update," my father said.

Nicole took my hand. "Then I got here just in time."

The room fell into silence. Falene looked at Nicole for a moment, then said, "I'm going to get some rest."

"Of course," I said.

"I'll watch over him," Nicole said.

Falene glanced furtively at her, then said, "I'll be back before noon." She turned and walked out of the room. I watched her go, feeling uncomfortable about the tension between the two women. The room again fell into silence. After a moment I asked Nicole, "How is Kailamai doing?"

"She's doing really well. I couldn't ask for a better roommate. You were definitely inspired to match us up."

"Did your sister ever come to visit?" Nicole looked as if she didn't understand my question so I continued. "... You were going to get together for a vacation at Bullman Beach."

"I can't believe you remembered that," she said. "Yes, she came in May. We had a great time. It was ... healing." She took a deep breath. "So, back to you. Was this a complete surprise?"

"A gradual surprise," I said. "I got dizzy partway through South Dakota and ended up in a hospital in Mitch.e.l.l. But the doctor there thought it was just vertigo and gave me some pills. It didn't hit me hard again until just before St. Louis."

"We're lucky it was someplace you could be found," my father said. "Instead of some country back road."

"You do know that you've walked more than halfway," Nicole said. "I looked it up on MapQuest. Your halfway mark was a town in Iowa called Sydney. You probably don't even remember walking through the town, do you?"

I thought about a.n.a.lise and the night I had spent at her house. "Yes, I remember," I said simply.

Just then a nurse walked in carrying a tray. "Breakfast, Mr. Christoffersen."

Nicole stepped back as the nurse prepped the meal, setting it on the table over my bed. Almost everything on the tray was mostly water. Jell-O. Juice. Melon. I took a few bites.

After the nurse left, I said to Nicole, "Think you could find me some real food?"

CHAPTER Two

"Wait and see" is no easier now than it was as a child.

Alan Christoffersen's diary

Falene returned to my room about ten minutes before noon. She looked more tired than when she had left and still looked upset.

"Did you sleep?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not really. The only place I could find was the waiting room. There were a lot of screaming kids."

"You should have just rested in here," I said. "Like my father."

I pointed my thumb at my father, who was reclined in a chair, his head back, and mouth wide open as he snored.

"That's okay," Falene said. "I don't think I could have slept anyway."

My doctor arrived a few minutes after noon, studying an iPad as he walked in. He glanced up at all of us and said, "Good morning. Or afternoon. Whichever it is." He looked at me. "I'm Dr. Kelson. How are you feeling?"

"Tired."

"Still dizzy?"

"A little."

My dad woke, wiping his eyes and yawning loudly before realizing where he was. "Sorry," he said.

"Welcome back," Nicole said.

"Did I miss anything?"

"No," she said. "The doctor just got here."

"I'm Dr. Kelson," the doctor said to my father. He turned back to me. "Are we free to speak, or should I send everyone out?"

I didn't like the question or the way he asked it. It sounded foreboding. "I'd like them to be here," I said. "For the verdict."

He nodded. "All right then." He raised his voice a little. "You already know that we found a tumor. The question is what kind. After another review of your MRI and CT scans and after consulting with a few of my colleagues, we feel confident that the abnormality detected is a meningioma." He paused as if the word might mean something to me. It didn't, but it sounded bad.

My father's brow fell. "What's that?"

"A meningioma is a tumor of the membrane that surrounds the brain and spinal cord."

Falene lifted her hand to her forehead.