KILTED DESIRE 3 - New Blood

by McKINLEY, A. B.

  Things with Tiffany were still going great too. They were enjoying living with each other immensely and had even started browsing real estate listings on the computer, searching for a house that they could buy together. Scott couldn’t remember ever being so happy. He was in a relationship with a great lady who he thought the world of, they had lots of fun together, he had a great job, they had no financial worries and the climate where they lived was perfect. Everything was perfect, Scott literally felt like he was dreaming every single day. But everything was about to change.

  It was late Friday afternoon. The sun was beginning to set over the Pacific Ocean. It had been another fabulous late fall day in Southern California. Tiffany was at home. She’d finished work early that day and was busy making dinner for when Scott arrived home. She was expecting him anytime now. He’d also finished work early as he had a doctor’s appointment to follow up on the head injury he sustained in Baghdad. Tiffany heard a car pull up on the driveway and within a couple of minutes she heard the front door open. She walked across the kitchen towards the living room to greet Scott. As soon as she saw him she knew something was wrong, his head was down and he wasn’t smiling and walking towards her for a hug and kiss like he usually did.

  “Scott, are you okay?” she said nervously as she approached him.

  “I’m nae sure,” he replied quietly as he put his arms around her.

  “What is it? What did the doctor say?”

  Scott took her hand and led her towards the couch, they sat down, still hand in hand.

  “They did a scan on my head, apparently there’s a small mass near the injury site. He said it may nae be anything tae worry aboot but he wants tae do more tests, and maybe a biopsy.”

  “So what did he think it could be?” Tiffany asked, looking deep into his eyes. She was shaking but was trying to hide it.

  “He would nae tell me, he just said he needed tae do more tests. I’m trying nae tae worry too much.”

  “So when do you have to go back for the tests?”

  “He booked me in for Monday morning.”

  “Okay, I’ll come with you,” she said gripping his hand as tightly as she could.

  The weekend went very slowly. Although they probably should have tried to keep busy, Scott didn’t really feel like doing much. He was pretty down, although he was trying his best not to think about it, it was virtually impossible not to.

  It was another bright sunny morning when Scott and Tiffany arrived at the hospital on Monday. The doctor had done some further checks on the scans and had determined it would be best if Scott had a biopsy done. He also wanted blood samples from Scott so that was taken care of while the biopsy was being arranged. It was going to be done there, that same day. It was an outpatient procedure and would only take a couple of hours but a general anesthetic was necessary. So it was good that Tiffany was there to drive him home. Scott was a little nervous as he was prepped for the procedure. The thought of someone drilling a hole into his skull and inserting a needle into his brain was disconcerting. Even though the doctor had tried to assure him it was a very small fine hole and needle, it wasn’t helping very much. Just before Scott was taken away for the anesthetic, Tiffany got the chance to talk to him. She bent over and kissed him, whilst holding his hand, and assured him she’d be there waiting to see him as soon as he woke up.

  The next couple of hours went very slowly for Tiffany. She watched TV and read some magazines in the waiting room. Before finally a nurse came in and told her Scott was awake and everything had gone well with the procedure. Even though she’d only been apart from him for a small amount of time, she was still very happy to see him and excitedly entered the room where Scott was coming around. He was still a little groggy but was awake.

  “Hey baby how are you feeling?” She asked quietly as she bent down and gently stroked the side of his face.

  “I’m nae too bad gorgeous, apart fae a wee bit of a headache. Can we go home now? I’m nae a fan of hospitals. Nae offence bonny lass,” he said as he turned to the nurse. The young nurse smiled.

  “I’m pretty sure they need to monitor you for a couple of hours just to make sure the effects of the anesthetic have worn off,” Tiffany replied, also smiling at the nurse who confirmed that they would need to monitor him in the recovery room for a while.

  Scott was impatient, he wanted to go. He was a good patient for about 90 minutes but by then he’d had enough, and he felt fine. Scott got up and started to get dressed. The nurse was supposed to keep him there for at least two hours but all of his vital signs were good. Plus she had a feeling she wasn’t going to be able to stop him anyway, so said that he was good to go. The doctor talked with Scott and Tiffany before they left and told them he expected the results the following day, which was disappointing for Scott. He was expecting to know the outcome right away but another night wasn’t too bad. He made an appointment for Tuesday and thanked the doctor and nurses before leaving. The journey home was a quiet one, they were both tired and apprehensive plus Scott had a headache. It was going to be another long night of ‘not knowing’.

  It was indeed another long quiet night, although Scott did fall asleep quite early. The pain pills he was taking for his headache made him sleepy. Tiffany had a restless night though and was feeling tired as they drove to the hospital on Tuesday morning. Soon, they were in the office of Dr. Bjorkman waiting for him to arrive. After a few nervous minutes, the door opened and the cheerful doctor walked in. He was a short, heavily built, middle-aged man of Swedish descent and greeted the couple as he moved towards his chair, pausing to shake hands with them both. Scott had taken to the doctor’s personality the previous week when he’d met him, even though he was the one who’d initially given him the bad news. Scott’s pulse quickened, he knew he was about to find out some news and he hoped that this time it would be good. He reached over and gripped Tiffany’s hand as the doctor started to talk.

  “Okay Scott, I have some good news and some bad news, but I don’t want you to get alarmed at what I’m about to say,” he said smiling at them both.

  Surely it cannae be really bad if he’s smiling like that, Scott thought.

  “Och I’ll try my best nae tae get alarmed,” Scott replied as he gripped her hand tighter and smiled.

  “The bad news is we are dealing with a malignant tumor, but we’ve caught it very early and it has not spread anywhere else. If we get started with an aggressive chemotherapy course as soon as possible then I’m very confident we can get this removed quite quickly.”

  Scott’s heart sank, even after the positive words all he could think about was that he didn’t want to have to go into hospital.

  “So how long would the chemo last fer, and would I have tae be admitted in tae hospital?”

  “I’d like to start out with a five week course, administered through an IV. It will be three times a week and each time the treatment would last for a couple of hours. Although it will be a little longer the first time as the nurses will have to explain a lot of things to you. And it can all be done as an outpatient procedure. You wouldn’t need to be admitted.”

  “So do you think it could all be over in five weeks Dr. Bjorkman? If it goes well?” Tiffany asked as she squeezed Scott’s hand and smiled at him.

  “Absolutely, we’ve found this at a really early stage and that’s crucial when we’re dealing with this kind of thing. We’ll do scans and blood tests every week to see how things are progressing but I’m very confident that we can take care of this quickly.”

  “What kind of side effects can I expect?” Scott asked.

  “General weakness, chemo brain, which basically means your head may feel a little cloudy sometimes and you may get confused easily and often. Also mouth ulcers can be a problem. There’s nausea too but we do administer anti-nausea medication at the same time as the IV. You may lose a little hair too but you seem to keep it fairly short anyway so I don’t think it will bother you too much,” Dr. Bjorkman replied smiling.

>   “Hey I can be smarter than you for a few weeks,” Tiffany said smiling at Scott and trying to make him laugh.

  “Och yer very smart, that’s one of the things I like aboot yer,” he replied looking at her and smiling. He paused for a moment then continued.

  “Look it’s nae an ideal situation and obviously I could have done withoot this, but it looks like I dinnae have much choice, this chemo needs tae be done. When could yer start doing it?”

  “I’d like to get it started on Thursday. Then you can have a few days to recover from the initial treatment and we can go for Monday, Wednesday and Friday next week. How does that sound?”

  “It’s nae the best news I’ve ever had but it has tae be done. It could have been much worse I guess.”

  “You’re a very lucky man Scott, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tumor this small. We’ve caught it extremely early. If you’d have come in for a check-up a few months later, or maybe even a few weeks later then my prognosis could have been much different. Early detection is the key.”

  All details were worked out and Scott was booked in for the treatments. As they drove home Scott was not happy about his impending chemotherapy. He really didn’t like going to the hospital but he realized he was lucky that the cancer had been found when it had been. Many other people weren’t that lucky, so he knew he should be grateful for that. The doctor’s positive words had encouraged him but it was still cancer. It was still scary, even for Scott, he was a government made machine who didn’t do ‘fear’. This was an entirely different enemy to those that he was used to though. He wasn’t trained to fight something like this, an enemy that was attacking him from inside his own body. He kept trying to remember back to the days when he was paralyzed in the aircraft accident, he wasn’t trained to deal with that either but he got through it and proved the doctors wrong. And this time the doctor said that he was confident that Scott would make a full recovery, that had to be a positive sign, he thought. Many things continued to go through Scott’s head as they neared home. He realized Tiffany had been quiet and that she must be scared too. He reached over and put his hand on her thigh as she drove.

  “How are yer Tiff?”

  “I’m okay, I’m just sad that you have to go through this. It’s not fair, you’ve been through enough,” she replied as she tried to hold back the tears.

  “Och dinnae worry, I’ll be fine. I’ve been through lots of battles and I’ve pretty much kicked the ass of everyone and everything that’s tried tae beat me. Cancer will just be added tae that list. I just hope I can still get some work done while I have the treatments. I dinnae want tae let yer Dad doon, but that chemo brain thing that the doctor talked aboot is a wee bit worrying.”

  “You don’t need to worry about work at all. I’ll talk to Dad but I know what he’ll say, take as much time as you need. Health is the most important thing.”

  “Aye he is pretty cool, but I’d still like tae try and get some stuff done, even if I have tae do some of my computer work that I can do fae the house.”

  “Just see how you feel after you’ve had the first treatment, don’t push yourself too hard Scott. I just want you to get better. And I’ll be there for you throughout your treatment, we’ll get through this together.”

  “Thanks Tiff, I love yer. I’ll be better soon.”

  “I love you too, more than you’ll ever know and you’d better be. I’ve only just found you and I’m not ready to let you go.”

  Chapter 4

  The following evening Scott was finding it hard to sleep. He’d gone to bed early to try and make sure he was well rested for his treatment but that plan wasn’t working out too well. Tiffany was asleep in his arms but Scott’s mind was racing. He wasn’t sure what to expect and was concerned about the side-effects of the chemotherapy. Another thing that was troubling him was his last couple of relationships. Both of them had ended when he was injured and had to spend time in the hospital. He trusted Tiffany and was confident she’d stand by his side throughout his illness, but still he couldn’t get the past events completely out of his mind. It wasn’t something he wanted to discuss with her though. She hadn’t done anything wrong and had been completely supportive. He wasn’t going to mention his insecurities to her, plus the doctor had said there shouldn’t be any need for him to be admitted into the hospital. He tried to put it out of his mind and just focus on beating his new enemy. It wasn’t easy and took a while but eventually he drifted off to sleep.

  The next day, Tiffany went with Scott to his first treatment. She had arranged for her staff to run the boutique for her for the next few weeks, and had given them specific instructions to only contact her if it was something really urgent. She planned on spending time with Scott and helping him get through his ordeal. She and Scott had spoken with her parents and they too had been supportive, telling Scott to take as long as he needed to recover and not to worry about work. The couple ended up spending about four hours at the hospital that day and everything went well. His treatment had gone as planned and he’d felt reasonably good throughout. The anti-nausea medicine that was administered to him worked well and at no stage did he feel sick. He was suffering from no obvious side-effects as they drove home.

  “That’s the first one done, Scott. How are you feeling?” Tiffany asked as she reached over and held his hand.

  “I dinnae feel too bad at all really. I’m maybe a wee bit more tired than I usually feel but apart fae that I’m okay. I’m sure it’s going tae get worse though as it goes on. Thanks fer coming with me.”

  “You’re welcome, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll be there for every treatment and I’m glad you feel okay.”

  “I was looking forward tae my first Christmas oot here, but I guess it’s nae going tae be much fun now as I’ll be midway through my treatments.”

  “Oh we’ll still have fun, don’t worry about that. I usually just go up to Mom and Dad’s and we do a lot of eating and drinking. Although last Christmas wasn’t particularly fun, it was when I found out that my ex was cheating on me.”

  “Aye I remember yer telling me that. Last Christmas was nae very guid fer me either. Well it was actually New Year’s that I got the news aboot my ex cheating. Still, everything happens fer a reason eh! If it would nae have happened then I probably would nae have found yer,” he said smiling at her and gripping her hand tightly.

  “We’ll both have a better Christmas and New Year’s than we did last year, I’ll make sure of it,” she replied as she steered the sleek yellow Porsche through the streets of Los Angeles, towards their home.

  The next few weeks went by quite quickly as the sunny Californian days gradually got shorter. It was now Christmas Eve and Scott and Tiffany had just arrived at her parents’ house in Montecito to spend a couple of days with them over the holiday. Scott’s treatments had been going well and he was already over halfway through them. He’d had some great news at his last appointment when Dr. Bjorkman confirmed that the mass on Scott’s brain was noticeably smaller, the chemotherapy was working. It was a huge relief for them both. Scott hadn’t really been suffering too badly from the side-effects. He’d been feeling tired and weak, plus his appetite wasn’t as good as normal. Also he’d been having occasional headaches but he was used to that. Overall though, he was pleasantly surprised at how little it had been affecting him, as he was expecting it to be much worse. He’d been doing some work from home too, although Tiffany hadn’t been letting him overdo things and was strictly limiting him to two hours a day on the computer. Scott didn’t object, he thought it was quite cool that someone cared about him so much.

  It was early evening, the sky was dark but the temperature was still in the 60’s. After parking the car Scott and Tiffany walked across the driveway towards the house, she was carrying a bag full of presents. They could hear the sound of waves gently rolling on the beach, it was a beautiful clear night and the moon was full. Both Jim and Linda greeted them at the door, Kyle was there too.

  “Hey yo
u two, how are you?” Jim asked as he hugged his daughter and then shook Scott’s hand.

  “I’m nae too bad, thanks. It’s guid tae see yer both,” replied Scott as he hugged Linda before they all went inside and sat down. The Robinson’s already stunning living room was enhanced by a huge Christmas tree, covered with red tinsel and strewn with an array of white sparkling lights. The rest of the room was filled with festive decorations too. It really was a spectacular sight. Linda was very much a fan of the Christmas holiday and took a lot of pride in her display every year. The next 15 minutes or so was spent by Scott and Tiffany answering various health related questions, mainly asked by Linda. She was a worrier and wanted to make sure Scott was doing everything he should be, and that her daughter was looking after him. When she was satisfied, the questions started to slow down. Scott got the feeling that he was going to be fussed over for the next couple of days. He smiled at Tiffany. They both knew what each other was thinking. She’d prepared him on the drive up the coast as to what her Mom would be like.

  “So, how are things going Kyle? I heard yer got involved in a gym!” Scott asked.

  “Yeah, it’s going well. Dan, a friend of mine from college opened it just over a year ago. There’s an area with weight machines and cardio equipment plus a room for all sorts of classes, plus there’s a separate area with an octagon for sparring. I invested some money in it and I’m training hard, I’d really like to give it a go and have some real fights.”

  “Och, I did nae realize yer were at that stage, I thought yer’d only recently started. Do yer have any other martial arts experience or background then?”

  “No, he doesn’t, he needs to learn to slow down and think about things a little more before he rushes in,” added Jim before Kyle could answer.