Drowning in Her Eyes Read Online Free PDF Page B

gestion. It had been a good decision. He had prospered here, and his family loved it. However, it had not been all beer and skittles. Today was one of the bad ones. He hated this part of his job. In his waiting room was a patient to whom he was to deliver the worst of news, a young man with a family and a good career ahead of him. He was about to sentence him to death.
    As the nurse ushered him into the doctor ’s office, Ji m my was still hoping for the best. This morning he had felt better than he had for a while, but he reasoned it was prob a bly adrenaline- fueled anxiety giving him a high. He was ushered to a chair, greeting White with a nervous smile. “Mr. Baker, ” White commenced, “I guess there is no easy way to say this. I am afraid that you have Mesothelioma , a cancer that rarely responds to treatment and is inevitably f a tal. There are many treatments I can apply, surgery, chem o therapy and radium treatment. All of these will have bad side effects, some quite debilitating and painful. You should talk this over with your family. You should also obtain a second opinion if you think you need it. I am sorry I cannot offer you better news or a better prognosis. This condition is us u ally caused by exposure to asbestos fibres. Were you ever a miner or a processor of asbestos material? ”
    â€œNo, ” replied Jimmy, “But I spent nearly four years in the Navy and there was a lot of asbestos insulation in those ships. Could that have been the cause? ”
    â€œProbably, ” said White . “ Y our condition is not u n known amongst Navy veterans. ”
    Jimmy said nothing for a long time. He could not get his head around this news. “So how long have I got? ”
    â€œIt is very hard to say. Your condition may progress very quickly. On the other hand, if you are lucky, you may have two years. I can promise you no more than that. ”
    Jimmy then asked him the question he always dreaded. “If you were me, what would you do? ”
    Dr . White hesitated. “Even if you undertake any of the treatments I have suggested, your disease will not be cured. Indeed, surgery may exacerbate your condition, since di s turbing the cancer may stimulate it into more rapid deve l opment. Chemotherapy and Radium both have serious side effects. You will lose your hair. You will spend long periods in hospital, and endure much pain. If I were you, I would let the cancer take its course and use what time you have left to enrich your life and that of your family. If you can afford to, take a nice vacation, travel, treat yourself to a new car or do whatever takes your fancy. Enjoy what time you have left. ”
    Jimmy forced himself to his feet. “Thank you for your frankness, Doctor, ” he said. “I will give earnest consider a tion to what you have told me. ” He took the elevator to r e ception. In a semi- dazed state, he phoned Margaret to tell her he would not be at the office for the remainder of the week.
    â€œAre you all right? ” s he said. “I ’m just a little off co l our, ” he replied. “I ’ll see you Monday. ”
    He crossed the street and began to wander aimlessly. Eventually, he found himself in a small park and sat on a bench in the cool shade of some trees. It was a lovely day. There were children playing on the green lawn. A couple of boys about James Junior ’s age were punting a football, bursting with energy. He could hear a couple of warblers calling high up in the trees. All around him were the sights and sounds of normality, but now they had a particular p i quancy. He looked at passersby as if he had never seen them before, and indeed, he had not, not with his new view of the world. How many of them knew when they were going to die? How many were thinking of loved ones left behind, of a life cut down in its prime?
    He sat for a long time and considered his new life. It was to be brutally curtailed, but he was, in