Jinx

I Surmise

Short Story #1

Jinx

 

 

My darling best friend Candy has made me come to the doctor. It’s probably for the best because I’ve been miserable the last few months.

“I’m probably dying.” I say to her as she sits beside me in the waiting room. She smirks.

“Yeah, right. I just made you come here so you’d shut up.” She says as she begins reading a style magazine.

“You’re going to feel terrible when the results come back that I’ve gotten worse.” I say, joking of course. I’ve had a very mild form of Melanoma for a couple years now. It hasn’t been that big of a deal, I’d just like to make her feel bad for making me come back to this damn place.

“Parker Stoll.” Called a nurse with a clip board in hand.

I sighed and brought myself to my feet.

“Get ready with those tears, Tom.” I laughed.

“Ok, Jerry.” She laughed. Our childhood nicknames for each other. We have quite a long history together. We’ve been best friends since before we could talk. We’re pretty much brother and sister. The fighting, rivalry, trust, everything. We’re all we have.

As I follow the nurse back I begin to get nervous.

“What if they’ve found something else? Can I deal with it?” I thought, beginning to panic more and more as I got closer. Closer to possibly knowing my fate. How I’ll die. It’s a gut wrenching feeling. I begin to sweat a little from the nerves.

“Great, now I’ll be self conscious on top of everything…”

We arrive at the room where my prognosis will finally become a reality. That is, if there is a prognosis.

“Good morning Parker.” Says my doctor. He’s cheery old man that always makes me want to call him ‘Grandpa’.  I’m not positive why but I constantly have to refrain from doing so.

“Good morning, Dr. Henderson.” I say with a yawn.

“Why don’t you have a seat, I have your test results.” He says, His mood suddenly less cheery.

“Well?” I push.

He pauses for a moment.

“It’s not good, Son.” He frowns, almost looking as though he might cry.

“I don’t want to hear that, I want to hear what’s wrong with me.” I say angrily.

“Your Melanoma has spread.” He said as he closed his folder marked ‘Stoll’.

“I thought you said we had it under control?”

“We did but things happen. Unfortunately we didn’t catch this soon enough. You have a Brain Metastasis. It’s a cancer that spreads to the brain from another site in the body that also has cancer. I recommend Corticosteroid therapy. It is essential for all patients with brain metastases, as it prevents development of cerebral edema, swelling of the brain tissue, as well as treating other neurological symptoms such as headaches, cognitive dysfunction, and emesis. We’ll get you set up for a treatment of Dexamethasone as soon as possible. It’s the best corticosteroid for your condition.”

I’m not even listening at this point. I begin to walk out of the room. Not saying a word.

“Parker, we have to discuss this!” Says Dr. Henderson.

“I’ll call you once its sank in. I need to sleep now.” I say with a blank look on my face. I exit the room and head back to the waiting room. I head to the elevator without so much as a glance towards Candy. She Follows me without saying anything. She knows. We step into the elevator.

“Parker…” She says quietly. “Whats wrong?”

A million things come to my mind to say to her but not one of them can make their way to my lips. I remain quiet. I cant speak.

“How long do I have?” I wonder to myself. He didn’t specify. Probably because I acted like a zombie on my way out.

“What is this thing going to do to me?” Well, I guess it explains my headaches…and the nausia…and that one seizure I had about a month ago…I should’ve come sooner. My stuborn personality may turn out to be the death of me.

 

-

 

During the next few days my life became more and more empty. I began obsessing over this new illness I just leaned I had. Reseaching, night and day. Looking for a glimmor of hope anywhere in the words I absorbed like a sponge. Nothing but slight chances.

A knock came at my door.

“Parker?” Yelled Candy in a worried tone.

I got up to answer the door. Shortly before I arrived at the door it swung open.

“Oh! You’re ok…” Says Candy. She sighs with releif.

“I was coming…I’m not dead yet.”

“Well it would sure seem like you are! Not answering your phone for a week, not answering the door after I’ve been pounding on it for twenty minutes! You aren’t dead yet! Start living while you still can!” She scoled me, tearing up a little.

“…It’s been a week already?” I scratched my head in confusion.

“Yes. Now go shower, get all prettied up and we’re going out tonight! We’ve gotta get you laid!!” She said.

“Laid? Ha! As if any guy would want scrawny old me.” Due to my current state I’ve dropped a few pounds. And for a guy who only weighs 145 pounds, I cant really afford to loose much.

“Sure they do! Theres this cute gay guy at my work that you’d love! To be honest before I knew he was gay I kinda had a crush on him.” She giggled with delight.

“Actually…Can we just do dinner and a movie? Ya know, like we did when we were teenagers?” We’d hadnt seen a movie together in ages and it was long over due.

She paused for a moment and slowly a smile krept onto her face.

“Of course! Hanging out with you is way better than any date I’ve ever had.”

“Wow, you poor thing.” I laughed.

 

-

 

I took a shower, got my favorite outfit on, fixed my hair and I was ready to go. We ate at the nicest restaurant in town. Only because we ate there free because Candy’s family owns it.

“Wow, you’re a cheep date.” I said with a smile. “But you do look very pretty tonight."

“Well thank you! Why do all the nice guys have to be gay!” She whined.

“Because I deserve them more than you.” I teased.

“That is so mean!” She said with a simle.

We talked and laughed thoughout the entire meal and after we had finally stuffed ourselves we headed to the movies. Nothing really good was playing so we decided to pick one at random…Not a good Idea. It was a romance. It wasn’t horrible but we mocked it the entire time. Probably because we envied, like so many others, the passion and commiment that the couple had for eachother.

-

 

“Have you ever been in love, Parker?” Candy asked as we strolled down the street, arm in arm.

“Oh, Candy. You know you’re my only love.” I laughed.

“No, be serious! I really want to know. You never talk about boyfriends or anything,”

I paused for a moment to think.

“No. But I’ve been ‘in lust’ many times. Have you?” I asked.

“Me either. We have crappy love lives!” She wined as she so often did.

“Candy,” I stopped and turned to look at her. “You’re 24. You have plenty of time. Don’t rush into something that wont last.”

“Yeah…you’re right, as always…” She smiled as we began to walk again. “Hey, why did you want to go out with me tonight? It better not be like a last hurrah type deal…” She frowned,

“Its not.” I laughed. “Its just that, after you yelled at me and brought me back to earth I began to think. The bad news I got the other day has given me a new outlook. I’m not going to be counting down the days till I die anymore, because that’s hardly living. I’m going to live as much as I can while I can. I wanted to spend tonight with you because you are the most cherished person I’ve ever had in my life. So spending time with you is certainly time well spent.”

Candy began to cry and threw her arms around my neck. “What will I ever do without you?” She sobbed,

“We’ll worry about that when the time is closer. For now, we’re just enjoying what we have left. So you know what we’re gonna do next?” I said as I whiped away her tears with my scarf.

“What?” She said between the last bit of her sobs.

“We’re going to Disney Land!” I said loudly as I threw my hands in the air. Immediately her frown was gone and replaced by the beautiful smile I’ve known and loved for so many years.

“You’re so crazy!” She laughed.

We began walking once again. Walking into the night, arm in arm without a care in the world. If not for my dear friend, my life would be an empty shell. She has, and always will give me a reason to smile through the pain. Life isnt about the time you spend, It’s the people you choose to spend it with. And I think I’ve picked a pretty good one.