Page 20 of The Scientist
“Great,” Stuart said. “Now I can officially report back that your transportation has been covered, and I can stop hearing about it.”
I wondered what he meant by that. Was he talking about Lex? It didn’t seem likely that he would care how I was getting home, but maybe he was just being courteous. I could picture the relief on his face when Stuart told him that he wouldn’t have to bother with me and could practice remaining as quiet as humanly possible.
Chapter 6
“So, who is this Lex fellow I keep hearing about?” my mom asked as we sat in the back seat of the taxi on the way to her doctor’s appointment. She hadn’t been cleared to drive yet with the medication she was taking, and since I was officially car-less, we would have to resort to getting around this way for now.
I could see her studying me from the side while I deliberated on how to answer her. I sometimes hated how well she knew me. Even though I barely mentioned his name in the stories I’d told her from the past few days, she had somehow zeroed in on the fact that there were mixed feelings there.
“Remember, I told you he’s the one who gave me a ride yesterday.” I decided to keep it simple. “He’s the same guy who gave the commencement speech at faculty night.”
“And how do we feel about Lex?” she asked oh-so-casually.
“I don’t really know,” I answered honestly. “By all accounts, he’s a great guy, doing amazing work, but I don’t think he likes me too much.”
“That’s impossible. Everyone likes you.”
She said it so seriously, I had to laugh. “You might be a bit biased.”
“Maybe. But he doesn’t even know you.”
“It’s okay. Not everyone has to like me.”
“You’re right,” she agreed. “But I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t like you. Something’s clearly not right with him.”
I smiled because she meant that wholeheartedly and not as a joke at all.
“I feel like we might have gotten off on the wrong foot,” I said. “We’re neighbors, so hopefully if we get to know each otherbetter, it won’t be so awkward. His roommate seems to like me well enough.”
“Well, I’m glad you at least have Sarah. I remember the two of you were pretty close when you lived together.”
“Yeah, we kind of fell back into it like no time had passed. And I’ve met some of her friends. They all seem great.”
“Oh, that’s good. I want you to have people here,” she said before growing quiet. “You know I still want you to live your life, Hadley. You’re only twenty-eight years old. No matter what’s going on with me, you still have to keep living.”
I knew what she was getting at. I couldn’t bring myself to have this conversation. She’d been trying to go there with me over the past few weeks, but I wasn’t ready.
“We’re here,” I announced as we pulled up to Dr. Gremillion’s office, not acknowledging her words.
We didn’t have to wait long to see him.
“Ms. Olivier, I heard your surgery went really well,” Dr. Gremillion said as he entered the exam room.
She smiled. “Yes, both doctors were great.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Now as you know, the cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes and surrounding tissue by the time we found it. The reports from the surgeon show that they got most of it when they removed your breasts and a large portion of the lymph nodes, but there are still cancer cells that remain. The next step is going to be chemotherapy. I’d like for you to begin next week. The sooner the better, now that you’ve recovered from surgery. The treatments will be twice a week for the next few months, at least. We’ll monitor you throughout the treatments to see how well your body is responding to them.”
My heart beat nervously. “There’s still a pretty good chance for remission, isn’t there?”
“Yes, absolutely,” he answered. “You’re in good health, so I’m optimistic that this course of treatment will be successful.”
Every muscle in my body felt tense. “And if it isn’t?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if we get there. Let’s take it one step at a time for now.”
I sighed. “Fair enough.”
He was right. I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself.One step at a time. That would be my new mantra.