by Lynn Murphy
She felt the nausea subside and told Evan she’d like to lie on the bed. He picked her up and carried her and she put her head on the pillows and asked him to turn on the ceiling fan. The doorbell rang and she was surprised, Casey was due to come over after an exam, but it was early for that. Evan said, “Will you be okay?” She nodded and closed her eyes.
Evan went downstairs, expecting to find Casey, but instead Ross and Molly were standing on the doorstep. He embraced them both and they came in the house.
“Last night we started talking about today being the third chemo treatment and Ross said this one might be a little worse,” Molly said, “and we prayed for you and both of us felt like after the prayer that we needed to come be with you.”
“I’m glad you did. I don’t know how you got a flight that fast. I try to put on a strong front for Mary Katherine, but I really hate this.”
“Did you sleep at all last night, Evan? Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look terrible.” Molly gave him another hug.
“Not much. Don’t expect to sleep much tonight either.”
“Yes, you will,” Ross said. “That’s why we’re here. We’ll take shifts.”
They climbed the stairs and Evan felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It would help to have Ross and Molly, along with Casey. Some things, he had decided, you just couldn’t do on your own.
Mary Katherine opened her eyes as they came in and a smile crossed her face. “What are you doing here?”
` “Helping Evan take care of you,” Ross said, bending to kiss her cheek.
“He does well enough taking care of me. I just need someone to take care of him.” She struggled to sit up. “Evan, I’m going to be sick again.”
Evan eased her to her feet and back into the bathroom. Molly looked at Ross and there were tears in her eyes. He pulled her close and said in a whisper, “Don’t worry, that’s fairly normal. She actually looks pretty good, considering how many times she’s had it.”
They heard Evan talking softly to Mary Katherine and Molly went and found a wash cloth and wet it with cold water and brought it to Mary Katherine and sat on the floor with them. After a minute Ross came and joined them.
Mary Katherine said, “I know who really loves me.”
“Your best friends are always the ones who will hold back your hair,” Molly said. “That’s how I knew Evan was my best friend.”
Ross said to Mary Katherine, “Another story from their past.”
Mary Katherine, who needed the distraction, said, “Tell me.” She shifted in Evan’s arms and he held her tighter.
Molly shared the story. She had agreed to accompany Evan on a flight with some of his father’s Blue Angel friends-even though she was terrified, she climbed into one of the planes and had the worst experience of her life. Not only was the plane going too fast, he also did a couple of rolls to show off, and then landed.
“I got off that plane and promptly starting barfing,” Molly said.” Evan held my hair back while I tossed, but he was laughing at me the whole time. He didn’t get sick at all.”
“I flew with them all the time, even upside down.” Evan said.
“That’s why my dad always called him ‘your flyboy.’” Molly punched his arm affectionately.
“Somewhere there’s a picture of me in a Blue Angel jacket with all of them.” Evan said, stroking Mary Katherine’s hair.
“I have it. I kept it on my dresser until the Christmas I came home my freshman year in college.”
Ross said, “Then she must have replaced it with a photo of me.”
Mary Katherine said, “Ross, I always wish we had a previous relationship when they go down memory lane.”
Ross said, “Tell you what, let’s just invent some memories and pretend they really happened.”
“Okay, but I’m going to be sick again first.” Evan sat her back up and she was sick and the light hearted moment was gone. Molly went into the bedroom and pulled the covers back and plumped up the pillows and went to get Mary Katherine some ice water. Ross waited with them until she was done and then Evan helped her back to bed. Ross sat on the sofa as Molly returned with the water and Evan climbed on the bed beside Mary Katherine and helped her drink a little. She collapsed against him and he lay down with her until she fell asleep. Molly and Ross just sat with them, not talking.
Evan covered Mary Katherine and moved to sit on the chair opposite Molly and Ross. “And we’ll do this ten or fifteen more times today at least,” he said, softly.
“You already look exhausted,” Ross said. “Why don’t you sleep a little now while she does? This takes a huge emotional toll on you too. You need to pace yourself, not just go until you’re ready to drop.”
“Casey is due to come after her exam.”
“Good,” Ross said. “She and Molly can be on food detail and you and I will take turns with our patient. Let’s take a few minutes to pray and then you are going to rest.” Evan closed his eyes as Ross prayed but he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. When the prayer was finished, he wiped his eyes and kicked off his shoes and lay back down on the bed beside Mary Katherine. He didn’t think he would be able to sleep, but he closed his eyes anyway. As Ross expected, he fell asleep in minutes.
Molly went to one of the bookshelves that flanked the bay window, selected a book and curled up in the chair. Ross took out his cell phone and sent Casey a text saying that he and Molly were there and both Mary Katherine and Evan were sleeping, so she could just let herself in. He picked up one of the magazines on the table by the sofa, the new issue of Newsworthy and opened it to Tara’s latest article about Kel.
Lily hung up the phone as George came into the room.
“I thought I’d take you out to dinner,” he said.
“That would be lovely. I’d love a date with you.”
“Who was on the phone?” George opened the door for her, then opened the car door for her as well.
She waited for him to get in the car and said, “I was on the phone with Molly. I’m so glad they decided to go. Mary Katherine has been very sick. Molly said Evan seems to suffer as much as she does. I hate thinking of her being sick, George.”
“I know. I worry about Evan too.” They had pulled up to the country club.
“Can we pray before we go in?”
“Of course. Don’t we always stop what we’re doing and pray for our children when they need it?”
Lily smiled. “They are our children, aren’t they?”
“The way I remember it, we had two, inherited four and then adopted Evan and Mary Katherine. That makes eight kids, plus grandchildren. And you know what? I don’t feel any different about the ones that don’t have our genes. ”
“Neither do I.” They held hands and prayed for Mary Katherine to feel better and for a good report when it was over and for Evan to remain strong .
Casey put her hand over the telephone receiver and said to Evan, “It’s Mary Katherine’s mother. She wants to come over.”
“I guess I have to say yes. Otherwise it will be a big argument. Tell her it’s okay.” He stood and paced the living room. Molly was upstairs with Mary Katherine. Casey relayed the message and hung up.
Ross said, “I take it she hasn’t come to help at all?”
“She waits until it’s all over and then comes and acts like she’s Florence Nightingale reincarnated.”
Ross could already picture Margaret Christenson bustling around and thinking she really was making things better, after the fact. He had only met her on a few occasions, but she was always more than gracious to the O’Briens; in fact she considered his relationship with them to be Evan’s only redeeming quality. Evan had one remarked that she was the only person on the planet who would think there was something shameful about being the son of a high ranking naval officer and instructor at the Naval Academy. And indeed, Margaret did tend to treat Evan as if he were trailer trash instead of a well -respected physician. Evan had never been able to win them
over, his father in law, Tripp, was just as cold as Margaret. Evan was well aware that they had anticipated Mary Katherine marrying Harry Thurston and indeed had held him in such high esteem even after his death that no one Mary Katherine had married would have met with their approval, except, Evan once joked to Mary Katherine either John or Kel, who she went out of her way to be overly kind to. To Ross she was nearly as effusive, but to Casey, she was as indifferent as she was to Evan.
Margaret must have called on her way over because she was there almost immediately. Evan opened the door and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which she accepted but dismissed the gesture with a shrug past him into the foyer. Under her arm she carried a large leather bound book. “Evan, you need to shave, you’re looking scruffy,” was all the greeting she gave him. She seemed pleased to see Ross and when she saw Casey she smiled ever so slightly and asked after her parents. Casey responded that they were busy campaigning, but well.
“Where is Mary Katherine? Did you leave her upstairs alone?”
“Of course not. Molly is with her. I’m on my way back upstairs.” He looked over his shoulder as he followed her up the stairs and rolled his eyes. Ross and Casey both laughed.
“Darling!” Margaret swept into the room and Mary Katherine sat up a little straighter.
“Mother, you remember Ross’s wife, Molly.”
“Of course.” She never held Molly in high affection either, as she knew she had been Evan’s friend long before. She sat beside her daughter and handed her the book. “I brought something to cheer up you up a bit.”
Cheer you up, Evan thought as if Mary Katherine was simply sad about something and not violently ill from chemo. “It’s your high school scrapbook!” She opened it up and Evan restrained from saying anything, but he assumed that the book was filled with photographs of Harry and he was right. Mary Katherine let her mother turn three or four pages, of dance photos and pressed corsages. She looked up at Evan, standing in the doorway and couldn’t bear the look on his face right now. She closed the book and handed it back.
“Not right now, Mother. Evan, I need you.” He was at her side in seconds, lifting her up and carrying her to be sick yet again.
“It’s been a tough day,” Molly said.
“She’s thrown up a couple of times then?” Margaret clearly was uninformed about the effects of chemotherapy.
“Pretty much all day. The longest she’s gone without being sick is a little over an hour.”
Margaret said, “Then why isn’t Evan doing anything to help her?”
That remark made Molly angry, but she answered as nicely as she could, “He is. He is doing everything he can to help her. He’s been a tower of strength and support. This hasn’t been easy for either one of them.”
Margaret settled herself on the sofa. “Evan has always been in love with Mary Katherine. In some ways I feel sorry for him because she has never been in love with him.”
“Why would you say that?” Molly wished that the woman would just leave.
Margaret said, “There was someone else that she lost. He could never have replaced her one true love. She settled, of course, but at least for someone who loved her. She likes him, I suppose, but love…” She shook her head.
Molly was angry enough to say something truly rude, but instead she said, “I think you are wrong.”
“Hmmm, I think I know my own daughter. Do you think they will be out anytime soon?”
“Maybe not,” Molly said.
“I need to go to garden club. We’re voting on yard of the month.”
“We can’t have you miss that, I’ll tell them you left and you can check in in a day or so.”
She was certain her sarcasm was lost on Margaret, who agreed, that yes, that might best, hefted the scrapbook and left without telling Molly goodbye.
Mary Katherine opened her eyes and looked up at Evan. He had fallen asleep holding her in the bathroom. “Evan,” she said softly. “I’m okay for now.”
He opened his eyes and looked down at her. “I know. I’m just hoping if we stay in here long enough your mother will leave.”
He helped her stand up and she was able to walk back this time. It was getting dark outside, which meant that with any luck they were over halfway done. There was no sign of Molly or Margaret. He fluffed up her pillow and she lay down again. “Stay with me,” she said.
“I’m right here.”
She closed her eyes and he hoped the worst of this one was over. She was pale and had dark circles under her eyes. Just get us through two more times, Lord, he prayed. He had hopes that given the biopsy report being inconclusive that the preventative treatment would make sure that there was no cancer anywhere else. He wasn’t sure what either of them would do if the final report was bad news. He lay back against the pillows and hated that tears fell yet again, but he seemed unable to stop them.
Ross came in. “Everything okay?”
“Just resting. Did my mother in law leave or is she lurking downstairs somewhere?”
“She left, after she made Molly angry.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ross said, “For what? Nothing for you to apologize for.”
“She’s quite something, isn’t she?”
“And she’s gone. Why don’t you go downstairs and have some dinner? She’s sleeping pretty soundly and I am qualified in case of an emergency.”
He started to protest, but then he remembered that Ross and Molly had come without being asked to help him. “Okay, just for a little bit.”
He stood and looked down at Mary Katherine. Ross said, “You’ll get through this Evan.” Evan nodded and went downstairs where Molly and Casey were sitting down to dinner. He joined them at the kitchen table without saying anything and served his plate without even knowing what he was putting on it. It never ceased to amaze him how tired he was during chemo. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how exhausted his wife must be.
Casey and Molly were talking, but he wasn’t keeping up with the conversation. Casey stood and brought him a glass of iced tea, sweet, with lemon, the way his mother had always served it. It was a drink which was only available ‘in season’ in Newport, but Lily had always made sure it was on hand for Evan and the others had learned to like it as well.
“Thank you darlin’,” Evan said as she handed it to him. She squeezed his shoulder as she sat back down and thought how Evan’s slight southern accent, inherited from his mother, came out when he was tired.
“What did Margaret say that made you angry Red?”
She smiled at the use of his nickname for her . “I told Ross not to mention that, but since you asked, I really don’t like the implication that somehow Mary Katherine settled when she married you.”
He knew that in some ways, Mary Katherine had ‘settled,’ but he didn’t say that. He was a little surprised that even Margaret had said something along those lines to Molly. “She has a way of saying what she thinks.”
“I’m sure she thinks Ross married beneath himself too, after all my dad didn’t have as high a rank as yours.”
“If she ever says that I will tell her a few of my opinions of her. I can never figure out how Mary Katherine turned out so well with parents like hers.”
Casey said, “How could anyone be disappointed in you as a son in law?”
“She has her reasons for what she thinks, Case. I’m just not at liberty to share them with you.” He leaned wearily on the table. He wasn’t just tired from today, he had been having trouble sleeping ever since her diagnosis. Trying to keep things going at work, check up on Kel and take care of his wife was pushing him to exhaustion. Mary Katherine has suggested he pass on his five to ten mile run each day, but that was one thing he wouldn’t change, no matter how tired he was. Running was his only stress relief right now, the only time he could clear his mind of all the things he was worried about. He had never stopped training as he had when he was preparing for the Olympics, he probably never would. He had gotten up an hour earlier to run before
they left for the hospital this morning. Casey had come by every morning since the first round, and stayed with Mary Katherine while Evan ran. Mary Katherine had insisted that wasn’t necessary, but he had insisted it was. Besides, he told her, Casey made better coffee than either of them.
“Go on to bed, Evan,” Molly said.
Evan rose from the table and went back up the stairs without saying anything else. Ross was sitting by the bed, helping Mary Katherine sit up to sip some water. She handed him the glass and sank back on the pillows. She moved slowly across the bed to meet him and once again he wrapped her in his arms. It seemed like the only thing he could do right now that made any difference at all.
Chapter Sixteen
Tara looked at the newspapers spread out on a table in the Newsworthy conference room. She and Kel were on the front page of each one, from USA Today to The National Enquirer, large photos of their time in New York, even pictures of him kissing her in Central Park. The headlines were all similar, questioning whether or not Kel had engineered a relationship with her to deflect his single status.
“What is this?” Bobby asked.
“Sensationalism?” Tara asked.
“Very funny, you know what I mean. Why is every newspaper in the country speculating on a possible proposal from Kel-and for all the wrong reasons?”
“I have no idea. Neither of us has tipped them off.”
“You didn’t? You kissed him in Central Park. And I thought we were clear on the direction we were going in regard to his lack of a wife.”
“I talked to Evan and Mary Katherine. And Molly and Lily for that matter. None of them encouraged me to write that story.”
“Evan hardly knew Alise, I’m not sure Mary Katherine knew her at all. As for Molly and Kim, they were always jealous of Alise. And I’m sure Lily loved her. She always acted like she did.”
“I can’t think of any reason for your sister and Molly to be jealous of anyone,” Tara said. “And Evan may not have known Alise well, but he does know Ross and Kel well, so I feel certain he knows what he’s talking about. I want to talk to John.”