Counting by 7s(19)

And that made Mai smile.





Chapter 15


roberta & jimmy chance

In American Sign Language, the motion for the word parents is to follow mom with the sign for dad.




Roberta Chance was finally at her doctor’s appointment.

It had been over a year since she’d first seen a small dimple on the left side of her chest.

She was going to bring up the little dent during the exam, but Dr. Pedlar saw it before she even had a chance.

The next thing Roberta knew, she was being sent to the Bakersfield Imaging Center just down the street.

They wouldn’t even consider making an appointment for the future.

They wanted her over there now.

It was only three blocks away, so Roberta left her car and walked over.



The medical technician at the imaging center seemed to know that she was coming, but the woman didn’t smile when she handed her the lavender smock.

And most everyone smiled at Roberta because she had that way about her.

It wasn’t until she put back on her street clothes after the ultrasound that it occurred to her something was wrong. That was when the doctor asked her to come to his office.

Because wasn’t she already in his office?

Did he mean someplace where he did bookkeeping or ate take-out food for lunch?

Roberta followed Dr. Trocino down the narrow hallway and into a small room with framed pictures of pink angels.

On the doctor’s desk was a vase filled with silk flowers that might have once looked good, but now were dusty and faded on the side that faced the window.

It was there, sitting in an upholstered chair that felt moist, like someone might have peed in it and the whole thing never dried right, that the doctor told her the news.

Her dent was a tumor.

The physician’s mouth was moving and she could hear what he was saying, but it didn’t mean anything because this wasn’t happening to her.

Someone else was in the chair.

And then the doctor stood up and said he’d give her a moment to herself and that she should call her husband.



Jimmy Chance operated heavy equipment, which is how he and Roberta had met.

Just out of high school, they’d both signed up for an introductory class to get a commercial driver’s license.

Roberta was the only girl taking the course, but Jimmy would have noticed her even if the room had been full of beauties, because she was open and confident.

But he was really attracted to her because Roberta was happy and that showed.

Now, as he left work to meet her at the medical center, he felt like he was the sick one.

What did it all mean? They said that the surgery needed to be scheduled immediately. Her voice was so dull on the phone.

The only other time he’d heard Roberta sound that way was when the man in the fertility clinic had said they couldn’t have children.

It had taken his wife all of ten minutes to decide that they would adopt, and her enthusiasm for life then immediately returned.

That took four years to happen, but the adoption had worked out. So this would work out. There would be an answer. There had to be. For him. For Willow. For her.

Yes. For her.

Because he would do anything . . .

For her.



Roberta and Jimmy sat outside the medical center on a wooden bench that was dirty.

She put her shoulder blades back and realized that she was leaning against crusty bird droppings.

Did birds get cancer?

Jimmy was holding her hand but they were both silent.

She was glad for that.

There was so much to say but really so little. They had long ago said what mattered to each other.

Roberta put her head on his shoulder and sitting there, in silence, she didn’t think about herself. Or about her husband. She thought about Willow.

Her love for her daughter now literally made it hard to breathe.

Roberta shut her eyes to keep the tears trapped under her eyelids. She made her decision.

They wouldn’t tell her. Willow was far too interested in medicine to deal with this right now.

They would let her in on the situation when it was over.

After what seemed like five minutes, but was actually over an hour, they got up to go.

They decided to leave Roberta’s car in the parking lot down the street and take Jimmy’s pickup truck so that they could be together as they drove across town to the next appointment.

They would not be alone now until this thing was figured out.

Ever.

It was mid-afternoon and the sun beat down in a brutal way. Drivers were cranky as they navigated through congested streets, not giving an inch. It was every car for himself. Or herself.

But Jimmy and Roberta were in their own world in the front seat of the pickup. They were traveling down Eye Street and up ahead the traffic light was red.

Jimmy slowed, but before he came to a full stop the light changed to green.

Ordinarily he would have looked to see if anyone was entering the intersection.

But not today.

Not now.

Jimmy’s hand reached over and touched his wife’s arm and at the exact moment that he made this connection, the world literally came apart.



They were T-boned in the middle of the intersection by a driver for Med-Service Hospital Supplies. His box truck was loaded down with oxygen tanks and he was already forty minutes behind schedule.