Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Phineas held his Little girl’s hand the next day in the doctor’s office. She sat rigidly still as if paralyzed by fright. He wished he could ease her mind or distract her. She didn’t have the bandwidth to talk about other things or to read. Only hearing what would come next would help her.
Of course, the doctor was running late. Phineas appreciated that the oncologist devoted the time he needed with all his patients, but this was torture for Tiffanie. They’d already completed the screening bloodwork. His Little girl had explained that was the routine at every visit.
“Something must be wrong,” she whispered to Phineas. “The nurse never delays this much in calling me back.”
“Do you want me to go ask at the desk?” He didn’t want her to know that the delay concerned him as well.
“Tiffanie?”
Phineas and Tiffanie quickly stood to follow the nurse who waited in the doorway.
“Sorry, just Tiffanie can go back for this,” the nurse added, meeting Phineas’s gaze.
“But I want him to hear what the doctor says,” Tiffanie protested, clinging to his hand.
“Definitely. We’ll come get your friend before you go to an exam room,” the kind-faced nurse said.
“Where are you taking me now?”
Phineas didn’t hear the answer to that as the two women disappeared down the hallway.
He crossed his fingers that they didn’t have to redraw her blood.
Tiffanie had shared that even though the techs were skilled and performed their tasks quickly and relatively painlessly, she had developed a phobia of the process.
He’d watched her white-knuckle the wait for them to call her back earlier for the first time.
An hour later, Tiffanie emerged appearing completely drained. Phineas stood and walked to her side. He wrapped an arm around her as he guided her to a chair. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“They wanted to do another scan. I’m sorry you’re wasting so much time here with me,” she said. Her voice was quiet and slower than usual. Her free hand gripped her thigh as she studied the pattern of the carpet below her feet, avoiding his gaze.
Studying her drawn face, Phineas guessed, “You’re worried.” Her obvious discomfort put him on edge as well. He was obviously new to the regular procedure of a visit at this office.
“I wasn’t scheduled for a scan. Something must have shown up on the blood test.”
“Tiffanie, the doctor is ready to see you.”
Phineas stood immediately while Tiffanie hesitated for a brief second before rising to her feet.
He let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her waist, guiding her after the nurse.
To his surprise, she led them into an office rather than an exam room.
The doctor was already there, reading information the from an open chart.
A scan showed on the screen next to him.
“Hi, Tiffanie. I’m sorry you’ve had to wait so long to see me. I’m sure you’re wondering what’s going on. Take a seat.”
The doctor extended his hand to Phineas. “Another brother?” he asked.
“No, I’m Tiffanie’s boyfriend. Phineas Green.”
“Nice to meet you, Phineas. I’m glad Tiffanie has great support.” The doctor waved Phineas into a seat before sitting himself.
“This has become an unusual appointment. Your bloodwork came back, and when I saw the numbers, I wanted a fresh scan to double-check the results.”
Phineas swallowed hard as he braced himself to support Tiffanie whatever the news would be. He reached out to link her fingers with his. She’s suffered enough. Please.
“The cancer has spread?” Tiffanie blurted out. Her voice sounded thready and panicked.
“No. I’m sorry. I should have met with you first, but I had an emergency to deal with, unfortunately. Your bloodwork showed you are low in a few things: iron and B12. What didn’t make an appearance was the cancer marker we’ve been fighting.”
The doctor paused to let her absorb that information before adding, “I ordered the scan to see what’s going on. Three radiologists reviewed the results, and not a single one found a speck of anything they deemed concerning.”
“That’s good news, right?” Phineas asked, as Tiffanie sat frozen. Hope flooded his mind as he squeezed her hand. He forced himself to squash the celebration in his mind to pay attention to the physician, so he didn’t miss something.
“The best news. Tiffanie’s levels have never come out this well. We need to address her low test results. That should help with the tiredness you’ve reported.”
“The cancer isn’t what’s making me weak?” she asked as if unable to believe what she had heard.
“At this point, I’m not finding any trace of cancer.
I hadn’t encountered labs like your last ones before.
I took them to a think tank of oncologists, and one reported findings like those in a patient who is now five years free of cancer.
Your body has signaled to us it doesn’t need any safeguards now. ”
As Tiffanie rocked back in her chair in shock, Phineas asked the question he guessed loomed in her mind, “What does this mean for the future?”
“You continue to come in for monitoring on a regular basis for twelve months. If everything remains the same, we’ll increase the time between your appointments.
After five years, if nothing has cropped up, I will consider you cancer-free, and you’ll come to see me annually.
Ten years from now, you’re likely out of danger of a recurrence. ”
Tears cascaded down Tiffanie’s cheeks. “You’re not kidding?” Phineas grabbed some tissues from the desk and wiped them away as the doctor answered. He kept himself from lifting her into his arms until they were alone to celebrate.
“I would never joke about anything like this, Tiffanie. I’m beyond pleased for you to reach this status.”
The doctor looked at Phineas. “I’ve called in some medicine for Tiffanie to begin immediately. We want to rebuild her energy levels. Take her out and celebrate with something decadent.”
He stood and smiled at them. “When you’re ready, you can check out at the desk and make an appointment for six weeks from today.”
When the doctor left the room, Phineas scooped Tiffanie up onto his lap. She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him every bit as hard as he squeezed her. Her muscles relaxed against him as Phineas rocked her gently.
“Want to get out of this office?” he asked.
“More than anything in my life.”
“Let’s go.”
Phineas boosted Tiffanie to her feet and walked with her to the checkout desk. When Tiffanie announced her name, the scheduler pulled up her information on the chart. An instant smile burst over the employee’s face.
“Congratulations, Tiffanie. We love seeing you, but we’re so glad you won’t hang around here so much.”
“Thank you. I think I’m in shock,” Tiffanie told her.
“Be prepared. Reality will hit you hard at some point. Don’t dwell on the journey. Focus on where you arrived,” the woman suggested. “Now, you need a follow-up visit.”
In a few minutes, Tiffanie had an appointment card in her pocket as Phineas guided her out the door. As they exited, the receptionist called, “Don’t forget to honk!”
“Honk?” Phineas asked as they walked outside.
“The doctor doesn’t ring a bell in the office for people finishing treatment. He has people blare their horns in the parking lot,” Tiffanie explained.
“Okay. We can do that.”
He settled his Little girl in the car and fastened the seatbelt around her. After sliding into the driver’s seat, Phineas waved a hand at the steering wheel. “Do your best.”
Expecting a small toot of his horn from the delicate woman, Phineas laughed when she leaned to the side to press both hands firmly on the wheel.
A long blast of sound echoed from the car, ricocheting off the large brick building.
Within seconds, figures appeared in the windows on many floors.
They waved and held congratulations signs up as other cars and trucks in the area answered Tiffanie’s announcement.
Tiffanie smiled for the first time. “I’ve heard that from inside the doctor’s office when I was getting my treatments. Even when I felt my crappiest, those honks gave me hope. I never expected these random people to celebrate my battle.”
“All this support must feel good,” Phineas said. He mentally thanked every single person who cared about his Little girl. He blinked away the tears that blurred his eyes. He would never forget being here to experience this with Tiffanie.
“So much more than that.”
He nodded. Phineas was sure he didn’t understand the magnitude of this moment from Tiffanie’s perspective, but from his own, Phineas appreciated the doctor’s decision to expand the reaction to more than simply the other patients and their families. “We should phone Ivan.”
“Of course!” she said, visibly appalled she hadn’t thought of calling him before now.
Phineas selected Ivan’s contact information and turned the phone on speaker. Ivan answered on the first ring. “Hey. I was worrying about you.”
“Hi! Phineas has you on speakerphone,” Tiffanie warned her brother.
“What’s going on? Your voice sounds like you’ve been crying.” Ivan’s voice was rough with concern.
“I’m done, Ivan.”
“What does that mean, Tiffanie? Am I taking you to a new clinic or celebrating?”
“I’m okay, Ivan. No cancer in my scans and my bloodwork is pristine,” Tiffanie said.
“Hot damn!” Ivan yelled. Phineas heard a loud bang and wondered what he’d thrown as he celebrated.
“Did you just put a hole in a wall?” Tiffanie asked.
A long pause followed before he answered, “I might have.”
“What’s up? Is everything okay? Is that Tiffanie?” Essie’s voice sounded close.
“The doctor says she’s cancer-free,” Ivan said.
Cheers erupted. Phineas could pick out Essie’s, Zander’s, and Sara’s voices as they shouted messages for Tiffanie. A loud yowl echoed from the device, filling the car.
“Marmalade, you’re going to break their eardrums,” Essie scolded.
“Come to Ferguson’s Folly. I’ll pull a cake out of the freezer, and we’ll have a party,” Sara suggested.
Phineas checked on Tiffanie. She had wilted against the car’s upholstery. Her surge of energy was depleted. “Can we get a rain check for that, Sara? They ran a lot of tests. We didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad until we met with the doctor.”
“Tiffanie, you must be completely wiped out,” Essie said. “Take her home, Phineas. We’ll celebrate when she’s recovered.”
“Thank you all,” Tiffanie said, sending Phineas a grateful look.
“See you soon!”
“Bye!”
“I’m so proud of you, sis!”
“Woo-hoo!”
Phineas disconnected the call. “Let’s go home, Princess. I need to hold you for a long time. We’ll make a quick stop at the pharmacy drive-through. I don’t suppose you’d want an ice cream cone from that fast-food place next to it?”
“I would die for chocolate ice cream,” she answered with a smile.
“I’ll have them add sprinkles,” he promised.
“You take such good care of me.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, Princess.”