chapter 39

word count: 1381

an awkward silence pervaded the air following jeannies announcement that she planned to leave buzz if he was unwilling to support her in this very real battle she was waging against cancer.. neither she nor hank said a word during the remainder of the ride to new albany general hospital.. in fact, it wasn’t until hank brought the car to a stop outside the main entrance to the hospital that either of them spoke.

“i just want to say thank you, hank, “ jeannie said, her eyes moist with sincerity,, “thank you,, not only for the ride,, but for the feeling of empowerment i get from just being in your presence..”

“i assure you,, my dear lady,, the pleasure is all mine.” hank said as he grabbed jeannie’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze.. “now get in there and give ‘em hell!!”

hank looked on as the newly empowered jeannie approached the sliding doors of the hospital,, with an air of confidence in her step, and her head held high.. the jeannie he saw before him right this minute was a far cry from the fragile, broken jeannie he had come to know almost intimately over the course of the last few weeks.. for the first time he saw a jeannie that looked as if she had not only come to terms with the seemingly insurmountable hand that life had dealt her,, but was destined to turn those cards around,, and very possibly win the pot.

as jeannie approached the radiology desk to sign in for her appointment, she was greeted by the ever distracted, young receptionist. “don’t bother signing in mrs. miller, dr. klum called and cancelled your procedure for today,, and asked me to let you know he has set aside some time for a consult with you this afternoon instead..”

“oh, ok.” said jeannie caught more than a little off guard, “so then, do i just go over there now, or do you have to call him or something?”

“just go on over, he is expecting you.” replied the receptionist, as she picked up a holding call with a resounding, “new albany radiation, how may i help you!” abruptly stifling any further questions jeannie might have had.

any feeling of empowerment she may have experienced as she walked into the radiology office,, drained visibly from her being as she outwardly slumped and slowly made her way toward the hospitals main entrance..  a violent wave of nausea overtook her as she entered the main reception area.. before she even knew what was happening,, jeannie was spewing  the watery contents of her stomach onto the polished tile floor of the hospital lobby..  weakened by the dry heaves still wracking her fragile being,, jeannie melted to the floor, her arms wrapped tightly across her abdomen..

an orderly who happened to be walking thru the lobby witnessed jeannie’s collapse and called out to the ladies at the information desk to call for a gurney, stat.. as the ‘code blue’ rang out over the hospitals loud speaker,  jeannie faded into the strong arms of the orderly,, and out of consciousness..

 ***

the disappearance of steve learnagle’s little brother simon had a profound impact on not only steve,, but the whole jack pack as well.. gone were the days that they spent preying on the younger, weaker boys at school, as their time was now consumed retaliating for any negative gossip or lewd comments they caught wind of concerning simon’s vanishing without a trace. they banded together as a vigilante force, set on defending not only simon’s purity,, but the actions of steve learnagle that seemingly lead up to his disappearance..

everyone at school knew that jack and steve had had a run in with the police.. although the truth of the matter had never been revealed, the local gossips, (who just happened to be the mothers of many of the children that attended new albany elementary) had a field day with speculation.. bits and pieces of those adult conversations had been overheard by their overly imaginative offspring,, eagerly passed on,, and generously embellished upon by the time they made it to the school playground.

regardless of what version of the story was currently circulating,, the general consensus was,, if steve’s mother had not been distracted by steve’s having been hauled in by the cops,, little simon would never have wandered away,, and therefore steve stood guiltily at the core of simon’s disappearance.

for reasons unbeknownst to adam,, steve and jack had never focused their retaliatory attentions on him following the gun fiasco.. strangely enough, it seemed as if they had chosen to avoid contact with him at all cost. whereas adam was sure they were smart enough to have connected the dots and figured out that he had been at the crux of their problems with local law enforcement, their keeping him at arm’s length suited adam just fine.. though he knew it to be wrong,, a secret part of adam miller was almost glad that little simon learnagel had disappeared as it had seemingly diverted any retaliation against him.. for as long as jack and steve kept their silence,, adam most assuredly would do the same,, even if it meant never being able to share the truth of what went on that day with anyone,, even his best friend elliot..

over the course of the last month or so, adam and elliot had become nearly inseparable.. following the disappearance of simon learnagle, they had even convinced their respective parents that it was safer for both of them if elliot accompanied adam on the bus ride back to his west side home,, thus alleviating any worry about adam traveling alone on the bus,, or elliot’s going home to an empty house.. of course neither of them knew, the reason elliot’s mom and adam’s dad had been so receptive to the idea was that it afforded them a few minutes of ‘alone time’ each day when trudy came to collect elliot.. but if the truth be told, neither of them really would have cared..

on this particular day, elliot had been able to pilfer a couple of dollars from the paisley coin purse his mother kept secreted away in her underwear drawer,, so they stopped in at the dairy queen for a couple of cones before they walked the few short blocks between the bus stop and adam’s house..

as elliot handed the money over to the girl behind the counter, adam couldn’t help but notice elliot’s arms bore two new wounds. one was freshly scabbed over, while the other was still red and raised.. it looked like it hurt.. he wanted to ask elliot about them,, but he knew elliot would make up a story like he always did to explain them away.. ‘oh well,’ thought adam to himself as elliot pocketed the change and the two made their way toward the door of the dairy queen, ‘at least i’m not the only one with a secret..’

“so what do you wanna do today?” elliot asked as he licked a circle around the base of the soft serve to keep it from dripping down the cone and on to his hand.

“i dunno.. you feel like letting me kick your ass in another game of road rage?” adam queried from behind a wide toothy grin.

“kick my ass?? i don’t think so!!  but i’ll play if you’re ready to get your ass kicked this time!” elliot retorted, playfully punching his friend in the arm before he took off running across the vacant lot.

“hey wait for me!!” adam exclaimed as he broke into a sprint, nearly dropping the ice cream right off the cone..

he caught up with elliot at the cross walk. “damn you! you almost made me drop my ice cream!!”

“i would a laughed my ass off if you did!” exclaimed elliot, as he reached through the fence adjacent to the cross walk and began plucking the petals off the aromatic white flowers that just happened to be within his reach..

adam reached out and yanked elliot’s arm from between the fence posts. “hey man,, don’t touch them things!! that’s oleander.. my mom says it’s poisonous.. my little dog tiny ate one a those flowers once,, and she died..”