Chapter
31
Dr. Benson had called Brian to schedule an appointment in June to see
how much the tumor had shrunk and to make sure the radiation was doing its job.
Leighanne was still in LA, so Nick went again with Brian. Ever since
the most recent scare, Nick had become even closer to Brian, it that was
possible. Ever since Brian had been diagnosed with cancer, Nick had understood
how important life is and how short it can be, but he had never witnessed
something as scary as what he had seen that day in the park in Germany. He would
never take life for granted, now that he had seen how quickly it could end.
This caused him to appreciate Brian even more and become more protective of
him. It seemed like lately wherever Brian was, Nick was right there by his
side. Nick got on his nerves sometimes, but Brian had to admit he needed his
best friend there to help him get through all of this. Without Nick, he didn't
know how he could have been strong enough to make it through any of this.
Brian's doctors appointment was on a Friday. During the check-up, Dr.
Benson didn't have the whole battery of tests run, just some blood work and
chest x-rays to show the shrinkage of the tumor, and a few basic others. The
x-rays looked great. The radiation was doing its work. What was left of the
tumor had shrunken considerably and was once again dormant. Brian and Nick went
home happy once again.
When the rest of the guys heard the good news about the tumor, they
wanted to celebrate. Just for fun, they planned a trip to Disney World. They
got rooms in one of the hotels inside the Magical Kingdom and stayed for the
weekend. They had a great time. Brian had been to Disney World tons of times,
but he was just a kid at heart, and he never grew tired of going.
***
They came home Sunday evening. When Brian got home, he tossed his
suitcase carelessly into his room, too tired to unpack it. He started to sit
down to watch some TV, but noticed the light on his answering machine blinking.
He went over to it and played his messages. There was one from Harold, his brother,
just checking up on him. Another was from Leighanne. Nothing important. But the
last message caught his attention. It was from Dr. Benson.
"Hello, Brian, this is Richard Benson. I'd like you to come to my
office on Monday, if that's possible. I need to talk to you. Come at 11:00 am
if you can. If that won't work, please call me back as soon as possible so that
we can arrange for another time. Thank you. Good-bye." Brian listened as
the machine stopped playing. He felt his stomach churn anxiously as he thought
about Dr. Benson's message. He had sounded quite serious, and Brian didn't like
it.
***
