Page 68 of Where Angels Hide
“Yeah. Brodie and Mick, get on the road now, and call the boys Sonny sent this way. If they haven’t already turned back, make them. Dodge, you keep an eye on the cop.”
Dodge nodded and gestured for Scott, standing a few metres from them, to follow him.
“You thinking we can ambush Isobel from behind?” asked Brodie.
“If Sonny can hold them.”
“Right.” Brodie and Mick took off.
Zep watched them go, then slowly surveyed the area. He wanted to bellow at the shadows to come and face him, to fight him man to man. But if any eyes were watching him, they stayed hidden.
Returning to the emergency waiting room, Zep slipped inside the double doors that separated the public from the treatment area as a young couple cradling an infant walked out. He spotted Abby, standing outside the closed curtains, hugging her arms around her body, their bags on the floor by her feet. He felt an increasingly familiar ache in his chest at the sight of her anguish. Knowing Rachel lay unconscious just metres away filled Zep with blind rage. He’d come to protect her from his enemies, he wasn’t going to lose her to this silent killer. Not now.
“Abby?” He went to place a hand on her shoulder, but stopped short.
“They haven’t told me anything.” Her voice was cold, distant.
He saw some chairs against the wall, in sight of the curtained cubicle. “Come on, let’s sit over here, out of the way.” Zep picked up the bags and strode the short distance, sitting on the chair at the end of the row. A moment later, Abby followed.
They sat in silence, an empty seat between them. Zep could sense her fear, the way it radiated off her in waves. The curtain was pushed aside and a nurse hurried out. Zep could see the corner of the bed where Rachel lay. A moment later, the nurse returned, pulling the curtain back again.
The minutes crawled by, each second feeling like an eternity. Finally, the curtain was pushed back again, and this time the doctor Zep had seen in Rachel’s room the other day emerged from behind it. Her face was grave, her eyes filled with a mix of sympathy and concern.
Abby and Zep got to their feet.
“Hello, Abby. How are you doing?”
Abby shook her head. “How’s Mum?”
“Let’s sit.” The doctor—the name of her white coat said Carchedi—nodded at Zep, then pulled a chair around. “Your mother has been experiencing some back pain for a while now.”
“She never mentioned anything,” Abby interjected.
“Yes, I believe she was going to mention all of these things to her G.P. when she saw him before worrying anyone else,” Dr. Carchedi said kindly. “As we spoke about, symptoms for this type of tumour often appear only once the cancer is large enough to affect nearby organs, or has spread. As the tumour grows it also causes pain in the upper abdomen, side or back. This morning, the pain Rachel has been experiencing escalated.”
“Could it have been caused by some kind of physical activity?” Abby didn’t look at Zep, but he got her meaning well enough.
Dr. Carchedi shook her head. “It’s difficult to know how fast the tumour will spread because we really don’t know how long it has been there. But in Rachel’s case, it seems it is spreading very rapidly.”
Zep ground his teeth to keep from swearing, his hands fisted so hard he thought his bones might break through his skin.
“What does that mean?” Abby choked on the question.
Dr. Carchedi placed a comforting hand on her knee. “It means the disease is progressing very quickly. Abby, you should prepare yourself for it to be only days, instead of weeks.”
The words wrenched his chest. Abby lurched forward, gasping. Zep squeezed his eyes shut, his heart pounded a wild and erratic beat. He opened his eyes, Abby's face contorted with anguish, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Dr. Carchedi's voice remained steady but laced with sympathy as she continued, "I'm truly sorry. We will do everything we can to manage her pain and make her as comfortable as possible during this time."
The suffocating weight of the news hung in the air. Abby’s breaths became more rapid. Zep wanted to shield her from the crushing reality of knowing her mother would die soon, but he didn’t know how.
“The plan going forward is to get her pain under control. Then, Rachel has made it very clear that she wants to die at home.”
Zep froze. Rachel had no home to go to, but neither she nor Abby knew that yet.
“Of course, that will be dependent on getting her pain management right. We can’t send her home until that is sorted.”
The vice in his chest released some of its pressure. He had a little time.