In Sickness and in Death (5 page)

“Of course, son. I’m looking forward to it.”

“It’s snowing a little. Will you be okay driving?”

“Give me a little credit, Brian. I’ve driven in this stuff practically all my life. Remember, I had to show those houses regardless of the weather. I’m not so old I’ve forgotten how to drive.”

“You know I didn’t mean it that way, Mom.”

She laughed. “I know you didn’t. I just couldn’t resist.”

“Okay, so we’ll see you at six.” Brian hung up the phone and turned to Adrienne.

“Dominic’s at six.”

Adrienne picked up her cup and disappeared into the bedroom. Brian sat for a while sipping his coffee and watching the snowflakes drift down. When he had finished, he pushed back his chair, took his cup to the sink, rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher. Entering the bedroom, he found Adrienne going through her closet taking out one dress after another and holding each one up, and scrutinizing it thoroughly then hanging it back inside.

Brian pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and went into the bathroom to grab a towel from the closet. “Think I’ll go up and check out the spa. It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to work out a bit.”

Adrienne nodded absently. “I wish I had something decent to wear,” she muttered. Without comment, Brian left the apartment and took the elevator to the top floor. The workout room was nearly deserted. Brian nodded to a man on a weight machine that looked to be in his mid-thirties. “Good morning.”

An elderly gentleman was apparently taking his morning stroll on the treadmill. Brian waved in his direction as he went to another weight machine. A short time later the old man, apparently completing his walk, stopped the machine and stepped down. “Merry Christmas!” he called as he headed for the door.

“Merry Christmas,” both Brian and the other man replied in unison. It did not take long for Brian to begin to feel the strain on his muscles.
No sense in
over-doing it
, he thought.
I’m really out of shape
. Throwing his towel over his shoulder, he went to investigate the lounge area.

Comfortable chairs were arranged in small groups before tall windows that overlooked the city. Brian went to the windows. The snow had stopped and a weak sun was trying to break through the clouds.
Maybe the streets won’t be too bad for Mom after all
, he thought, flexing his tired muscles.

Brian spent most of the day doing a few sets on first one machine, then another and wandering into the lounge in between. It was late afternoon when he descended in the elevator and re-entered the condo. As he went to the shower, he noticed that several of Adrienne’s outfits were scattered around the bedroom. Evidently she had spent most of the day trying on clothes. He wondered if she had yet made up her mind but he didn’t dare ask.

When Brian came out of the shower, the clothes were once more in the closet and he heard the clink of glass bottles on marble coming from the adjoining vanity. After quickly dressing, he went into the living room and turned on the early news.
Might as well get caught up on what’s going on while I wait for Adrienne to finish getting
ready
, he thought.

At five-thirty he called out, “Adrienne? You about ready?”

“I’m coming,” she said.

A moment later, she came into the living room wearing a shimmering jade green dress, with the gold necklace around her neck.

“Wow!” Brian exclaimed. “You look great. That a new dress?”

“Not really,” she replied with a slight smile. She glanced over her body and smoothed her skirt. “I’ve had it for a while.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.”

She shrugged and went to the closet for her coat. Brian couldn’t understand what it was, but he was sure that there was some hidden meaning behind that smile and her words. With a puzzled frown, he turned off the TV and followed her to the door. They pulled into Dominic’s parking lot a few minutes before six. Adrienne swept ahead of Brian into the restaurant and stopped before the hostess.

“Reservations for Forrester,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am, your guest is waiting. Right this way.”

At the table, Brian leaned down and kissed his mother on the cheek. “Merry Christmas, Mom.”

Sitting down, Adrienne smiled brightly. “How are you, Mrs. F?”

“Oh, I’m still running all over the place. You look well.”

A waitress appeared with their menus and took their order for cocktails. For a while everyone was quiet as they perused their menus.

After they had ordered, Adrienne took a sip of her cocktail and looked across the table.

“Brian has been working so hard. I tried to convince him that we should take a vacation, you know, like a cruise. But he said we couldn’t afford it.”

Brian blushed as a look of concern appeared on the older lady’s face. She looked searchingly at him.

“Brian, are you in trouble? I thought you got such a nice promotion. Is there something I can do to help?”

“No, mother, I’m fine. And I did get a good promotion.” He shot a sharp glance at Adrienne. “There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Yeah, right,” Adrienne said. “Why don’t you tell her what kind of hours you’ve been working?”

Mrs. Forrester gazed at him. “Son?”

“It’s not that bad,” he answered. “It’s just getting the new business up and running, it’s taking some time.”

“Well, why
don’t
you take a vacation? A cruise would do you good. I can let you have the money now and you can pay it back later.”

“No, Mother. I’m certainly not taking your money for something as frivolous as a cruise.”

“But if you need some time away . . .”

“I
don’t
need any time! Adrienne
wants
to take a cruise.” He glared hotly at Adrienne.

“It has nothing to do with me or my job.”

Adrienne demurely studied her fingernails. His mother took a sip of her drink. “Well, if you say so. But if you change your mind . . .”

“I
won’t
change my mind, Mother. We are
not
going on any cruise.”

Their dinner was served and they ate in uncomfortable silence. After dessert and coffee, Mrs. Forrester pushed back her chair.

“I had better be going,” she said. “I don’t keep as late hours as I used to.” She leaned forward and gazed intently at Brian. “Listen, son, if you change your mind, call me, okay?”

Brian nodded slowly. “Okay. But I won’t change my mind.”

“Well, if you do . . .”

As she began to rise, Brian stood up and moved behind her chair. “I’m sorry for this, Mother. Maybe the rest of your Christmas will be merrier than this dinner has been.”

“It’s been fine, Brian. Thank you for dinner.”

Brian remained standing and watched her walk toward the exit. He signaled to the waitress for the check and then sat back down and glared at Adrienne. “How dare you?”

She looked across at him and smiled.

After the Christmas dinner, Adrienne’s attitude changed. She became solicitous of Brian’s well being. She hovered over him, worrying about his long working hours, lack of sleep and his diet.

One evening, noticing that the saltshaker had been emptied, he rose from the table and went to the cabinet to refill it. Instead of the familiar container he was used to seeing, he found a box that said ‘salt substitute’. Holding the box, he turned to Adrienne.

“What’s this?” he asked.

Adrienne shrugged. “It’s better for you than the regular stuff. You need to take better care of yourself and not work so hard,” she told him. “You really should pay more attention to what you eat. Why don’t you start taking vitamins?”

“Look, Adrienne,” he told her. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. Really I am.”

She looked doubtful. “I’m not so sure of that. You look awfully pale to me, and are you sure you’re not losing weight?”

“No, I’m not losing weight. I weigh the same as I have for years.”

This same conversation replayed many times over the weeks that followed. Then one evening, Brian came home to find dinner on the table and several bottles at his place.

“What’s this?” he asked, picking one up and looking at the label.

“Herbal supplements,” Adrienne answered. “Since you wouldn’t get any vitamins for yourself, I got some for you.”

“Snagree root, wild ginger, squawmint, pennyroyal,” he read from the labels. “What’s all this stuff for?”

“They’ll increase your energy level. You just wait and see how much better you’ll feel after you’ve taken them for a while.”

“I don’t see how this stuff could be
good
for you.”

“Hey, don’t you trust my medical knowledge? Just take them, okay?”

“Okay,” he slowly agreed, opening one of the bottles. “I guess you know more about it than I do.”

“That’s right and don’t you forget it. Trust me,” she said with a smile. 

Over the next few months Brian began to think that he was indeed exhausting his body with his work schedule. He was feeling constantly fatigued and periodically he would have spells of dizziness. Not wanting to worry his mother whenever he talked to her, he kept silent about thinking anything might be wrong. He didn’t want to renew her insistence that he take a vacation.

One evening, after a particularly tiring day, he described his symptoms to Adrienne.

“You’re just working too hard,” she assured him. “Maybe you should increase the dosage of your vitamins.”

Dutifully, he followed her advice but, if anything, he started feeling worse. His face began to appear bloated. Sometimes his back ached horribly and he seemed to always have a nagging headache.

“You’re on the office computer too much of the time,” Adrienne told him. “Maybe you should have your eyes checked.”

“I don’t think it’s my vision,” he said doubtfully. “I can see fine most of the time.”

She shrugged. “Have it your way. I don’t know why you bother complaining to me, if you’re not going to do what I tell you.”

“I just don’t think that I have a problem with my eyes.”

As the weeks passed, Brian began having bouts of nausea and vomiting. With little sleep and unable to eat, he grew pale and haggard.

“I’m going to make an appointment with Dr. Harris for you,” Adrienne announced one evening.

“That the guy you work with?” Brian asked listlessly.

Adrienne nodded. “I’m sure he’ll get you in more quickly than some of the other doctors.”

“Alright,” Brian agreed. “I guess I’m about due for a physical anyway.”

“I’m sure you are. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

Adrienne came home the next evening and announced, “Dr. Harris’ office is squeezing you in first thing the day after tomorrow. They open at eight-thirty, so make sure you’re there a little before that.”

As he pulled into the doctor’s office parking lot, Brian punched in his office number on his cell phone.

When his secretary answered he said, “Cindy, I’ll be a couple of hours late coming in and I’ll be out of pocket until then, okay?”

“Okay, Mr. Forrester. I’ll see you when you get in.”

Brian punched off the phone and entered the doctor’s office. The receptionist gave him some forms to fill out, but the nurse called his name before he had them completed.

“I haven’t finished with these yet,” he told her, waving the sheaf of papers.

“Just bring them with you. You can finish them in the examination room.”

Brian was used to seeing such a large number of patients coming and going around any doctor’s office that it seemed strange to see the normally bustling setting so quiet. He was shown into a small examining room.

“The doctor will be with you in a minute,” the nurse said as she closed the door. During the next hour and a half, Brian underwent an examination and a battery of tests. When they were finally finished, Doctor Harris shook his hand.

“Well, Mr. Forrester, we’ll call you in a few days when we get the results.”

Doctor Harris watched Brian leave the office.
So, that is Adrienne’s guy
, he thought.
Seems like a nice enough fellow. I’ll see if I can get a push on those test results so
Adrienne doesn’t have to worry any longer than necessary.

A couple of days later, Brian was in his office in the mid-afternoon when his phone rang.

“Mr. Forrester,” said the young woman’s voice on the other end of the line, “I’m calling for Dr. Harris. He would like to see you. Can you stop by the office this afternoon?”

Brian looked at his watch. “I could probably be there about four-thirty, is that okay?”

“That’ll be fine. We’ll be expecting you.”

At four o’clock, Brian packed up his briefcase and left the office. “I’m leaving for the day,” he informed his secretary as he passed her desk. “I’ll pick up any messages when I get home.”

At four twenty-five he entered Dr. Harris’ reception area. Within a few minutes, a nurse escorted him into the Doctor’s office.

Brian waited nervously. If everything was fine, why had Doctor Harris wanted to see him? What could be such a problem that it required a personal conference? The minutes seemed like hours.

Finally Dr. Harris came through the door, carrying a folder. He shook hands with Brian, took a seat behind the desk, opened the folder and perused its contents.

“Mr. Forrester, it appears that you have some severe problems with your kidneys. That’s why you’ve been feeling so fatigued all the time and had the facial swelling. Your blood work shows some extremely high levels of toxins, which indicate that your kidneys aren’t functioning properly. Your blood urea, phosphate and creatinine levels are much too high.” He paused thoughtfully. “Your calcium level is also not where it should be.”

Brian felt confused as he listened. What was the doctor telling him? “What are you saying? What do you want me to do?”

“Our only recourse, at this time, with these levels, is to begin dialysis immediately. You’re familiar with the procedure?”

“Sort of. I know that they have to hook you up to a machine that filters your blood.”

The Doctor nodded. “That’s one method. What that requires is a rerouting of a vein and artery in your arm. Those procedures can take some weeks to heal enough to use them and I don’t think we can wait that long.”