They finished their meals over less-important small talk about life in Victoria, Lee-Anne’s children, and Jerry’s newly acquired skill on the dance floor. Lee-Anne switched to green tea after her second glass of wine and they kept up the conversation right through dessert. Jerry suspected that they would have kept up the banter right up to dinner, but the alarm on his phone went off. He pulled it out and read the message on the screen.
“I’ve got forty minutes until my appointment.”
“Lots of time. What is it they’re doing today?”
“The planning scan, I think it’s called. This is the long one where they scan the tumour in depth and then use the data to plan the course of treatment.”
“Is Ana meeting you there? Because I can hang out with you if she isn’t.” Jerry believed she really would, too.
“She’s meeting me at the hospital. She had to take care of a few things and wanted to let us have our lunch together.”
“She’s a real cutie, Jerry. She’s funny and smart and there’s a retro-old-Europe-kinda-thing about her that makes me feel like I’m talking to someone who’s seen the whole world. She’s a keeper.”
“I suppose. As much as either of us can be ‘keepers’, I guess.” He let it drop at that.
The bill arrived, Lee-Anne used her company credit card, and lunch was on Manny. They got another taxi almost as fast as the first one and pulled up at the hospital a few minutes later. Lee-Anne moved to get out of the cab with Jerry, but he put a hand on her thigh, stopping her.
“Thanks, Lee-Anne, but I’ve got it from here. Ana will be here in a couple minutes and Manny just said for you to make sure I got here. You’ve been a real boost to my spirits, but you should get back to the office to do what you do so well and keep that place solvent. Just remember that you’re bright, talented, and beautiful, in that order. I’m sure that wherever Mary-Anne is, she’s damned proud of you.” Lee-Anne was speechless. Tears trickled down her cheeks so Jerry reached up and wiped one away. “Thanks for lunch. I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.” He got out of the taxi and walked into the hospital, looking around for a good place to free Ana from the book.
He found the Food Court and the Info Desk, but no place that he could have thirty seconds unaccosted. The ding of an elevator arriving decided it for him. “I guess we ride up and down until we’re alone.” There were two people on the elevator when the doors opened and although both exited, an older woman joined him. She pressed the 3 and looked up at him.
“You going to 3, too?”
“Um, no.” He looked at the panel, pressed the top button, then leaned back against the comfort of the mirrored wall. He closed his eyes for a moment but the elevator arrived at the third floor. The woman left, but no one got on, so Jerry whipped the book out of his pocket, rubbed his thumb along the spine, and hoped that Ana had enough time.
The elevator started up, the book glowed blue, and Ana slowly took shape beside him. She was still too transparent for comfort when they passed the fourth floor, but Jerry sensed the elevator slow for the fifth and held his breath. As she coalesced, Ana assessed the situation and the risk and floated behind Jerry and into the corner nearest the buttons. The elevator drifted to a stop on the fifth floor and just as the door slid slowly open, Jerry felt a hand touch his shoulder and lips kiss his ear. Two doctors entered the box, too wrapped up in their own conversation about a patient with some kind of arrhythmia to pay much attention to the couple who stepped into the back corner. One of the men pressed the button for the next floor.
“How was lunch with Miss Giggles-and-Wiggles?” Ana whispered in Jerry’s ear. He turned to face her.
“It was good. It was a cute little restaurant not far from the loft and they have jazz there on weekends, so all I could think of the whole time was when I’m going to take you there.”
“You thought of me, while you were out to lunch with a beautiful woman? Silly man.” The elevator stopped, the doctors exited, still oblivious. No one else got on. Jerry checked his watch. They still had twenty minutes to get over to the BC Cancer Wing. The elevator clunked upward.
“Of course. I think about you all the time. We even talked a bit about you. Lee-Anne thinks you’re charming and a keeper.”
“A ‘keeper’?”
“It means that I’m never supposed to let you go.” He pulled her in and kissed her firmly.
The elevator dinged and stopped. They reluctantly stepped back from the kiss as the doors opened. They were one stop from the top. An elderly man in hospital gown and robe rolled his IV-equipped wheelchair in and winked at them. “Don’t tell them, but I’m running away.” He looked at the illuminated button for the top floor. “They got a nice view from up there. I sneak out every chance I get. I figure I’ve got a half hour of peace and quiet before they miss me. A half hour of Heaven, away from prodding, poking, and pills.”
Ana laughed, “I sympathize completely, good sir. My younger brother was always looking for places to hide from the doctors and nurses.” She winked back at him. “We promise not to tell anyone you are here.”
The man smiled broadly, his huge dentures dominating his tiny face. “You’re a sweetie!” The doors opened and he wheeled himself out as fast as he could, rolling around the corner and out of sight. They laughed, and Jerry pushed the button for the Main floor.
“I guess we should get to that appointment, Shvibzik. You know that this scan is going to take as long as an hour. I hope you brought something to read.”
Ana gently tugged the Blake book out of Jerry’s hand. “Always.” She snuggled into him and he put his arms around her, drawing strength from her presence.
ANA DIDN’T READ very much while Jerry was having the planning scan done. She was fascinated by the whole process and watched intently as the staff shaved a small patch of hair on Jerry’s head and then drew three small marks in the area with a black pen. They explained that it was to help take measurements and aim the device, and they would do tiny permanent tattoos after this scan. They then positioned Jerry on the flat, padded table they called a couch, cradling Jerry’s head in a mould made specifically for him, to keep his head perfectly still. The radiographer, Gemma, gladly explained everything as they went along, to reassure both Ana and Jerry.
“The couch will move in and out and in and out of the ‘polo hole’ here as the scan is performed. It’s perfectly safe. Nothing will touch you or hurt you. If you need us for an emergency, just raise your hand and we’ll be right in.”
Jerry tried to look up without moving his head. “You’re not in here with me? That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.”
“The scan is perfectly safe for any single patient through the course of their treatments, Jerry, but we do so many of these that over our careers, the effects would accumulate. Don’t your dentist and his staff step behind a shielded wall, too?”
“I suppose.”
“Same thing here. Ana’s welcome to come back with us. She’ll be able to watch everything on the monitors. See? You’re on camera, there… there… and there.” Gemma pointed to three cameras positioned to keep an eye on Jerry at all times.
IT TOOK THIRTY-six minutes, according to the clock on the wall that Ana could see, and every time the mechanical couch moved Jerry back in through the hole, she clenched her fists. Everything looked safe, but she didn’t understand most of what was happening and so she worried. When it was all over, she followed Gemma and the staff back into the scanning room where they helped Jerry to sit up and handed him a glass of water.