Continuing Story Part 41

Ralph and Rachel walked back with the doctor slowly, as the anticipation of what the

doctor was going to say. They felt an uneasiness as they followed the nurse to the doctor’s office and were shown where to sit. The nurse said the doctor would be in a few moments, and left quietly shutting the door behind her.

Ralph took hold of Rachel’s hands and with a shaky voice told her everything was going to be alright. What ever the doctor said, they could handle it with the strength of each other. The two then sat in silence waiting, and then the door opened, and the doctor came in. Ralph stood up to shake the doctor’s hand and then they both sat.

The doctor looked at them from over the top of his wire rimmed glasses and said, it doesn’t look good. I have here the test results of what we have run, and as you can see here, the cancer has taken over his entire brain hemispheres.

Rachel at once began to cry and the doctor offered her the box of kleenex. She dabbed at her eyes as the doctor continued on. He said, there is nothing more we can do, and we do not want to release him at this point. I believe he would be more comfortable here in the hospital.

Ralph asked the doctor, are you sure there isn’t something you haven’t tried yet? Maybe a new drug, or a surgery? The doctor shook his head back and forth, and said, son, I am afraid we are going to have to leave the healing in God’s hands. No one has ever been able to perform the type of brain surgery that it would require to remove the cancer. The chances of death or total vegetarian state would be very risky.

The doctor let Rachel and Ralph weep in each others arms, and then he asked if there was any questions they had, and being ignored by the two, the doctor stood up and walked softly out the door, closing the door behind him.

Ralph and Rachel remained in the room for some time. After no more tears could be cried at the moment, they released each other, and dried eyes, and blew noses, and sat taking deep breaths, and each wondering how they were ever going to tell the others this terrible news. Their son was dying, he was going to die right here in the hospital.

Before another crying episode broke out, they dried their eyes once more, and the two then stood up and walked out the door to the nurses station. The nurse asked if she could be of assistance, and Ralph asked if they could see their son, and the nurse said of course, and pointed them in the direction of Drew’s room.

Upon entering the room, and seeing the monitors, and all the tubing running out of Drew’s body, Rachel started to cry again. Ralph told her to please save it for later, or leave the room and come back. He was sure that Drew could hear her. She understood, and sucked in her tears.

The two of them walked up to his bed, and looking down at the lifeless body, Rachel spoke to him in a loving mother’s voice. Drew, I am here, it is your mom, can you hear me? She searched his face for some acknowledgement that he had heard, but found nothing.

She rubbed his arm and touched each of his fingers, as if this was the very first time she had ever laid eyes on him, remembering back to when he was just born, and she was counting fingers and toes. She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. All the while, Ralph standing behind his wife, not wanting to move a muscle, in fear that he would break down right here in the room. All he could think of was, my son, my son, I don’t want to lose you, I don’t like seeing you this way. A tear slipped down his face, and he turned away wiping it quickly, so that his wife would not see it.

The two stood on the side of the bed, until the nurse came in to check his vitals and to give  him some more medication for pain through his IV. Ralph took Rachel’s arm, and said let’s go. We need to let the others know what is happening. I am sure they are worried now as they have not heard from us.

The nurse glanced at them and told them they could come back in a little while, and the two nodded and hand in hand they left the room of their dying son. They walked down the corridor , down another hallway, and then out the double doors into the lobby where all of the others were waiting restlessly.

One look at their faces, told everyone that this was not good news. They all stood up and gathered in a group, then a receptionist came over to them and offered to show them where the hospital chapel was, and they followed her with no hesitation.

Once, they were all seated in the privacy of the room, Ralph stood up and went to the pulpit and looked over at each person.This was his family, and he loved each one of them. How God had been good to him and Rachel, and now he had to speak, as everyone sitting was waiting for the news.

He coughed from nerves and began to open his mouth, and at first nothing would come out, only tears began to flood his cheeks, and his wife came up to him and wrapped her arm around him and looked at everyone and said, it is not good news. The cancer has spread over Drew’s entire brain, and the doctor says there is nothing more to be done, but pray and wait.

You could hear a pin drop, the room became so silent, as everyone was trying to digest the information just given to them. Dahlia asked, are you saying he is dying? and Rachel shook her head in affirmation. Drake laid his head against Dahlia’s shoulders and wept. She wrapped her arms around him, giving him comfort. In between the sobs she could hear Drake crying out, my brother, my brother.

Each of them found themselves clinging to each other, and tears were being let loose, and God was reaching out drawing them all into his arms, bringing an understanding to each of them that they were going to lose their son, brother and good friend.

All of them sat back down and held hands in a circle, and Ralph began to pray to the heavenly father, asking him to watch over his son, and then one by one added their own request. More weeping was done and then silence fell over the room, as the touch of God’s arms wrapped around them was bringing them a peace they needed so badly at this moment.

As minutes ticked by, crying stopped and you could hear small gasping breaths from some, and others were trying to pull themselves back together. Sue spoke then, asking if they were allowed to see Drew, and Ralph said yes.

Each of the members of this group, stood up and said that they also would like to see Drew. They all walked out of the chapel door and back to the lobby, where others were sitting and now wondering what these people had been told that their faces were so forlorn.

Ralph walked up to the receptionist and said that they would all like to see Drew, and she reminded him of the room number and said that only two could go in at a time, and with this two by two they each went to see Drew.

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Continuation of Picture and Write It July 22, 2012, Part 2

Sophie was standing among other little girls and boys and they were all awaiting for the dance instructor to come in. Parents were fussing with hair and dresses, and shirts, making sure that their child stood out in the crowd and was noticed by the teacher.

The teacher walked in, breezing by the children, paying no notice to any particular child, heading straight to the parents and saying only once, that all parents needed to remove themselves from the floor and take their places in the seats to the back. One by one, each parent left, but not before whispering in their child’s ear, to smile and do their best. In no time at all, the only ones standing were the students and one teacher.

Dahlia looked out over the class and saw some with fingers in their mouths, others acted like they ants in their pants, and couldn’t stand still. Others were seen with tears in their eyes, and one had to use the restroom. She made a sigh and thought to herself what a mess. It was going to take much work to get these children in line.

She cleared her throat, and tapped a wand on the table sitting before her, drawing all eyes upon her. Tears were stopped, and hands were lowered. She asked them to all have a seat on the floor, and the direct order was played out.

Dahlia was an old-time teacher of dance. She had been brought up by two very strict parents. Both of her parents had been in the military, and her home life had been of military style. Rules were made, and not to be broken. If they were, there was a strict punishment to be followed.

Her family moved several times during her life at home, and she never made the attachment of having close friends, like other children did. Dahlia had a bicycle, but was not allowed to ride it anywhere other than the yard. Some days you could almost see the yearning in her eyes, as other children rode by, and she was not allowed to go also.

There was too much to be done to waste time with day dreaming, so playing with dolls was being idle. Dahlia had one doll that she called her own. It was a stiff doll, that would not bend, and refused to be loved and cuddled. It had dark curly hair and blue eyes, and a few freckles on her nose. With stiff posture, Dahlia would imagine the doll dancing and would take her by the head and spin her around and around. She would raise the doll’s arms in the air, to twirl like a ballerina.

Dahlia was allowed play time only when all chores were done. She had to help hang the washing on the line outside of the kitchen window. She helped to wash windows, and scrub the floors. One of her earliest things she was taught, was to cook. She could make biscuits and cook up a fryer chicken. She could even make a great cherry pie, but during these times of training,  her mind would drift to her doll and the ballerina she had created.

When Dahlia was sweeping the floor, she would twirl around the broomstick, using it as a way to balance in order  to try to stand on her toes.  She would try making jumps in the air, mimicking the dancers she watched on her parents black and white television.

Each Saturday night, her parents would tune in one of the three channels they received, and watch a program that was a variety of singers and dancers. If Dahlia had been good that day, she was sometimes allowed to stay up to watch this, as long as she remained quiet and sitting in one spot. She glued her eyes to the dancers and memorized the steps they each took, and envisioned herself doing this also. Her heart would skip beats as she admired the beautiful clothes they wore, and promised herself that one day she would have such beautiful clothes also.

As Dahlia became a teenager, there was more opportunities to read, as the older children were able to enter the school library. She always made sure that she was one of the ones chosen to be able to go browse through the books on library day. She would spend her time gazing at all the titles, and then when it was about time to leave she would  pick out one special book and rent it for the week.

Dahlia did well enough in school, her grades always up to par, but as she matured, she knew with no uncertainty, that she wanted to be a dancer. She made this known to her teacher one day, and the teacher said that if she wanted something bad enough in her life, she should work for it and then obtain it. Dahlia asked the teacher for her help in reaching her goal, and the teacher’s response was positive. She explained to her that the most important thing for the next three years of school was her grades. She explained how any college that taught arts would first look at this.

Dahlia knew she had good grades, but what the teacher impressed on her, was that she needed excellent grades. She was also impressed with the idea of no missing school, adding some subjects to her lessons learned, and to open her mind to the opportunities of the world. Each thing the teacher said, Dahlia’s sponge took in, and she became a determined student.