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  Laura turned and looked at Henry. It was the first time she’d looked directly at him. When he’d been there yesterday, she had always kept her head down and avoided eye contact. The doctor noticed their eyes lock on each other. There was obviously something between them.

  “It appears I was right,” she whispered to herself. “All of your tests came back OK,” the doctor said to Laura, “so I think you should be able to go home tomorrow.” The doctor noticed their eyes were still locked on each other. “We’ll want to do some follow-up, but I can discuss that further with you tomorrow,” continued the doctor, although she wasn’t sure anyone was listening. “I’ll just leave you two alone now to visit.”

  “Thanks,” Henry said, suddenly realizing he should make some kind of response.

  When the doctor left the room, Laura turned on her side away from Henry and looked out the window. “I thought I asked you not to come back.”

  “Yeah, I guess I don’t follow instructions very well,” Henry said as he walked over to the other side of the bed. When he did, Laura closed her eyes. Maybe he would just take the clue and leave. He didn’t.

  “You know, I think you’ve been really brave dealing with this cancer,” Henry said. “Since you caught it early, there’s probably a 90% chance you’ll never have to deal with it again. Samantha told me they don’t think it has spread to your lymph nodes.”

  Henry looked at Laura. He knew she was listening, but she kept her eyes shut and didn’t acknowledge him. “Some people ignore symptoms hoping they’ll just go away by themselves,” he said. Henry suddenly felt very emotional and it took him a few seconds to continue. “My wife couldn’t deal with it and by the time she decided to go the doctor, it was too late,” Henry said with a quiver in his voice.

  “You’re married?” Laura said, opening her eyes.

  “Was,” Henry said. “She passed away almost three years ago. She’d had symptoms for months and months but said she was afraid to go to the doctor. She was afraid at how I’d react. How could she even question that after all of the time we’d been together?”

  Henry felt the anger and disappointment rise again that had been sitting dormant for years. “Women can be so stupid sometimes,” Henry continued. “Don’t they realize what’s really important?”

  Henry looked down at Laura and felt guilty. He was making her take the fall-out from his previous relationship. Laura reached out and touched Henry’s hand. “Sometimes we just forget and need to be reminded,” Laura said.

  Dr. Vant gave a small fist-pump and whispered “Yes” that was only audible to her. She had been secretly listening to the conversation from outside in the hallway. She had a smile a mile wide when she got back to the nurse’s station and told them that Laura would be discharged the next day.

  * * *

  When Samantha arrived at the hospital the next day, she found Laura sitting on the edge of her bed completely dressed. However, she still continued to fuss as she put on a big bulky sweater, then took it off, and then put it back on again. The nurse had confirmed that morning that she would be discharged today but she was still waiting for the doctor to arrive to give her any final instructions about the next steps.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Samantha said when she walked in the room.

  “You’re not,” Laura replied. “I’m still waiting for the doctor to arrive. The nurse said they really had no idea when the doctor would get here, but thought it could be anytime between 11AM and 3PM.” It was already almost 1PM and Laura was growing more and more impatient.

  “How do I look?” Laura asked. “I mean, can you tell…?”

  She didn’t finish the question, but Samantha knew what she was asking. “You look just fine,” Samantha said, trying to reassure her.

  “Do you have anything to take the flowers in?” Laura asked.

  “Flowers?” Samantha asked, raising an eyebrow. She was pretty sure she knew who had brought Laura the flowers, but waited to see how Laura would respond.

  “Henry brought them yesterday,” Laura said, feeling her face starting to blush. “The nurse loaned me a vase to put them in but she wants the vase back when I leave. I want to take them with me and I don’t want them to die.”

  “Good afternoon ladies,” said Dr. Vant when she came walking into the room. “You get to go home today, but I’d like to talk to you about where we go from here. As you know, the surgery went very well and our tests indicated that it hasn’t spread to your lymph nodes. However, we recommend that we follow up with a few sessions of radiation.”

  “Is that really necessary?” Laura asked.

  “It’s not mandatory, but I’d highly recommend it,” the doctor said. “It’s just precautionary. Even though our tests indicated the cancer has not spread, we’d like you to have fifteen radiation treatments just to be sure. If it’s OK with you, we’d like to start those treatments in about ten days.”

  “Sure,” Laura replied, although she still seemed a little apprehensive.

  “Is this your ride home?” the doctor asked, smiling at Samantha.

  “Yes,” Samantha replied. “And I’ll be staying with her for a while to keep an eye on her.”

  Samantha had originally invited Laura to stay at her place while she recuperated, but Laura had insisted she wanted to go home to her own place. It made more sense anyway as Samantha’s apartment was a small one-bedroom apartment whereas Laura had purchased a two-bedroom condo a few years ago. However, Samantha had insisted she move into Laura’s extra bedroom for a few weeks so she could take care of her until she was fully back on her feet.

  They had just settled into a taxi outside of the hospital when Samantha’s cell phone rang. She fumbled to get it out of her purse and smiled when she saw who was calling. “Hi Henry,” she said, smiling at Laura when she said it.

  “Yes, she was just discharged,” she continued. “We’re on our way back to Laura’s place right now. Do you want to talk to her?”

  “He wants to talk to you,” Samantha said as she handed the phone to Laura.

  Laura took the phone from Samantha and half-turned her shoulder away from her, as if by doing so her conversation would somehow be more private. She continued to play with the petals of the daisies that sat on her lap as she spoke. The nurse had been nice enough to wrap them up so they remained protected during the trip home.

  “Yes…..OK…..That’s not really necessary…..Sure, if you want to……OK……Bye,” Laura said. It was obvious that Henry was doing most of the talking. She handed the phone back to Samantha.

  “Well?” Samantha asked, her eyes widening with excitement. “What’s happening?”

  Laura looked away and out her side of the taxi as it made its way to her condo. “He’s heading back to Toronto tonight,” Laura said. “He said he’ll be back in Chicago the week after next and asked if he could pop over to see how I’m doing.”

  “And?” Samantha asked.

  “I said it wasn’t really necessary, but he could if he wanted to.”

  “He’s good for you, you know,” Samantha said. “And it’s probably a bit late to be playing hard-to-get.”

  Laura couldn’t hide the smile on her face as the taxi pulled up in front of her condo building.

  “We’re home,” she said.

  *** Chapter 14 ***

  Henry felt exhausted as he flew from Chicago back to Toronto. It had been a long week. But it had been a good week, all things considered. He’d managed to get the software upgrades completed at the firm and the partners seemed happy. But more importantly, he’d finally found out who the secret woman from the airport was and connected with her again.

  When he got back home later that evening, he headed for the La-Z-Boy chair, turned on the TV and reclined his chair to the full-back position. He didn’t know what was on the TV schedule for that night, and didn’t really care, but flipped from one channel to the next using the remote control. He was pleased when he heard David coming through the back door.

  “Hi Da
d,” he said as he came into the living room and slumped on the couch. “What-cha watching?”

  “Nothing really,” Henry said. “I just turned it on. So how’s your week been?”

  “OK,” David replied mindlessly. “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said, suddenly perking up. “I heard from the U-19 coaches. They want me to come to a training session at the indoor field up in Vaughan next Saturday. Alex was asked to go as well. I’m really excited about it, but also a little scared.”

  “You’ll do fine,” Henry said. “They wouldn’t have asked you to attend if they didn’t think you were up for it.”

  “How was your week in Chicago?” David asked.

  Henry told him about the software upgrades they’d completed, but he could tell David wasn’t really interested. He didn’t tell him about Laura. He wasn’t quite ready to start telling the family about her just yet.

  Henry continued to channel surf, but stopped when he reached the local news station. He hadn’t been keeping up with any of the local news while he was away in Chicago. Henry heard the first couple of stories, but was gradually drifting off to sleep.

  “You know, I think our political system is completely broken,” David said, pulling Henry back from his semi-conscious state.

  Henry hadn’t been following the last few minutes of the newscast, but one of the stories had obviously triggered the statement from David. “I’m sure there are a lot of people who would agree with you,” Henry said. “What made you come to that realization now?”

  “Well, the first story was about a new initiative that the federal Conservatives announced and the Liberals immediately came out against it,” David said. “The next story was about what the provincial Liberals are doing and both the NDP and Conservatives are against it. It’s like they’re immediately against whatever the other party is for, regardless of what it is.”

  “That’s politics,” Henry said. “It’s worse in the US. The Democrats and Republicans would rather do something to hurt the other party than to do something that would help the country.” Henry had seen the same useless bickering going on when he was in Chicago. “Both parties threatened to let the U.S. fall off the fiscal cliff rather than compromise and come up with a budget that both parties could live with.”

  “Yeah, but it’s like they set up the whole political system to fail,” David continued. “I mean, they call the other party, whoever they are, the opposition. By definition, they oppose everything the government tries to do. I think they’d be better off getting rid of all of the parties, just let all of them be independent. That way, each person would be accountable for their own actions and not just vote for something because their party told them to.”

  “I think you’ve got a point,” Henry said. “Maybe when you’re older, you can do something to change it.”

  “I’m not sure we can wait that long - It’s just so frustrating!” David said as he walked out of the living room. “Good night,” he said as he walked down the hall toward his bedroom.

  “Good night, David.” It had been a while since Henry had thought about politics and realized how apathetic he’d become. He was glad the youth of the world challenged the way things were done. That was the only hope that things would eventually change.

  He switched his focus back to the TV but could feel himself drifting off to sleep again. The last thing he remembered hearing was about a snow storm that would be arriving later in the week.

  * * *

  The weather forecasters had been right. The first real snow storm of the year had arrived on Friday, although it wasn’t as big as they had predicted. It was mostly centred around the Great Lakes, called a lake-effect snow storm.

  Alan was making his way to the Toronto Island Airport and was glad that he had chosen to take public transit. The first snow storm of the season always seemed to trigger a lot of fender-benders. People seemed to forget how to drive in snow from one year to the next.

  Alan only had to wait a minute or two for the next ferry to arrive to take him over to the island. When he got to the other side, he saw Edward Bronson waiting for him. Edward was a licensed pilot and had his own small plane that he kept at the airport. He was a high flying executive in more ways than one. He normally flew on one of the commercial airlines or used one of his companies’ corporate jets, but this was a flight he wanted to handle himself.

  “Are you sure you want to fly in this weather?” Alan asked as he approached.

  “It shouldn’t be a problem, provided I get in the air before it gets any worse,” Edward said. “The snow squalls disappear once you get about twenty-five miles from here.”

  “I brought the suit,” Alan said, showing him the suit he had slung over his arm. Alan walked with him as he headed out to his plane which had already been fueled and was ready to go. “I’ve always wanted to go to New York, but never had the opportunity,” Alan said. “How long does it take to get there?”

  “I should be in New York in no time at all. However, getting back tomorrow might be a different story if this weather persists. If you’ve got your passport with you, you can come along if you want.”

  Alan reached inside the zippered pocket of his jacket and was pleased to see that his passport was there. He normally didn’t carry his passport, but had used it earlier that week to attend a Sabres hockey game in Buffalo and hadn’t bothered to take it out. Alan was excited by the thought of flying into New York on a private plane as he’d always wanted to live like the rich and famous. He didn’t have to work the next day, so that wouldn’t be a problem.

  “I have my passport with me, but I don’t have any place to stay,” Alan said.

  “I’m sure we can find some accommodations for you,” Edward said. “That won’t be a problem - my treat.”

  They climbed into the aircraft and Alan was immediately impressed. This was no rinky-dink plane as it had all of the latest technology. Although the visibility was limited by the snow squalls, Edward was fully qualified to fly by instruments only. He had done it hundreds of times before.

  As they taxied out onto the runway, Alan noticed a dark blue car parked by the fence. When a snow plow went by, the blue beacon light on the top of the plow showed the shadows of two men who were sitting in the car. He thought they might be security or customs agents watching for anyone arriving or departing that wasn’t supposed to. But he was flying with Edward Bronson, one of the most important men in Canada, so he felt confident they wouldn’t be questioning them about this trip. Mr. Bronson flew to New York all of the time.

  After the plane took off, one of the men in the car flipped open his cell phone and hit the buttons to call one of his contacts. “It’s Carter. Bronson’s plane just took off. Everything has been taken care of.”

  He flipped off his phone and turned to his partner. “OK, let’s go,” he said. The lights on the dark blue car lit up and it turned out through a gate at the airport and into the night. Their work for the evening had been completed.

  Up in the air, Alan felt quite nervous. He couldn’t see anything but snow and darkness looking out of the windows. Edward sensed his nervousness. “The key is to focus on the instruments,” he said. He explained each of the instruments as he pointed to them, the attitude indicator or artificial horizon, the vertical speed indicator, the altimeter, and the gyro. Alan didn’t understand anything that Edward was saying but he was right - he felt more at ease focusing on the instruments than he did by looking out of the window.

  Alan’s heart skipped a beat when the instrument panel suddenly flickered and went dark, but everything lit up again a second later.

  “That was weird,” Edward said. “I’ll have to get them to look at that after we land.”

  They continued on their flight to New York. Edward could sense that Alan was still a bit nervous about flying so he changed the conversation to help take his mind off it. “I’m quite pleased at the progress that we’re making on the environmental project,” Edward said. “The environmentalists came up with a pret
ty good approach to the new pipeline. They re-routed the pipeline to avoid most of the geographic areas of concern and where they couldn’t, they proposed using extra sensors and controls every five hundred metres. That way, if there’s ever a leak, they can automatically shut off the flow of oil at the last control within seconds. In less environmentally sensitive areas, the controls are only every few kilometres.”

  “Do you think the oil companies will agree to the extra cost?” Alan asked.

  “The cost will be a lot less than the billions of dollars it would cost them to clean up the mess without those sensors. I’ve had a couple of lawyers put the whole plan together along with a budget. That’s what’s in the package that you’ve nested inside my suit. The courier in New York will be delivering that package to a few different companies to see if they will buy into the solution.”

  “What if they don’t?” Alan asked.

  “I always have a backup plan,” Edward said. “That package is also being delivered to some companies on the west coast along with a few key people in Washington. In the end, I think we’ll get it right but we can’t let one or two people sidetrack the whole solution. Always have a backup plan.”

  Alan felt pleased that he had set up his own backup plan. Since his latest bipolar episode, he had come to realize how important it was. Alan checked his watch and noticed that they had now been in the air for almost half an hour but they were obviously still in the snow squalls. “I thought you said we’d be out of the snow squalls by now.”

  “We should have been,” Edward replied. “The storm must have moved further south than what they indicated in the forecast they gave me before we took off.”

  Edward sensed Alan’s nervousness, so tried to change his focus again. “I’ve also just started a new project, one to tackle gun control. I’ve already got a few people lined up to tackle the problem because it’s an issue that should have been addressed years ago. I’m optimistic we’ll be able to come up with something.”