It was about a week later when I got a call on my cell while I was at work. It was the Shaker Heights Police. Caller ID's a great thing. After verifying who I was, the officer asked to speak with me about the police report on the theft of the two necklaces. Were they mine? Yes. Did you give them away or lose them, No. I told her the story of finding the hidden compartment of my jewelry box disturbed and that both necklaces were missing. They were custom made and I had pictures of the necklaces on me wearing them. I wore them at a Christmas party and a wedding. She asked and I started to describe the Christmas party dress and the officer completed the description. I realized that she had the pictures. Then she asked that I sign an affidavit to that effect and get it to her office ASAP. I used the lawyer at work to write up what I needed to say, had it notarized and fed-exed and scanned and emailed it in two hours. I never thought I would ever even hear of that jewelry again, these pieces were so beautiful.
The thing is, the call was a great break from what was going on. The day before I received a call from the doctor's office for the follow up visit. She pulled the appointment forward, two whole weeks earlier. That didn't sound good but no one was going to say anything. My appointment was for tomorrow, Wednesday, so I still have another day to sit and worry. That's a productive way to face it. A bowl of ice cream would have worked too. I thought about it and decided to wait it out. Tomorrow would be another day and when I had the facts to work with, I'd make my decisions then. Again, it wasn't going to be a good night's sleep.
I love doctors. The reason they say medicine an art was because they don't know everything. A couple of results came back skewed, the wrong way. It could be a fluke, it could be real. She wanted to do more extensive tests, and my right breast still did not feel the same after the mammogram. I thought that I may have felt a lump, but I wasn't sure and she wasn't sure either. That concerned me. Back to medicine being an art.
It wasn't the time to panic, that happened immediately after I walked out of her office. I sat down with a friend of mine, New York Cherry. I limited myself to one cone. Funny how you get a bit more calm after some comfort food.
On the way home I sent a text to my brother Dave to Google video chat after his kids went in bed. Later with him and Terry, I gave them a quick rundown of what happened today. The three of us talked for over an hour.
It helped that Terry had been through this before. For someone 2,500 miles away, being able to see them, hear them...they calmed me down. Terry offered to be available and would take time off of work if needed. She's such a good mother and sister-in-law. Dave said he'd be with me too. Because of the kids, they'd have to split their time. Being alone and going through health issues isn't good. I started missing everyone the past couple of weeks, and then Jerry showed up at my doorstep to add to it. That was good, but it only made it worse. I needed people more than ever, but I knew that for now, I'd hang in there. I'm my mother's daughter. I learned much from Mom's final journey those years ago. Hoped that I could be half as good as she was.
As expected, they confirmed a mass in my right breast. The thing to do now was to take a sample of the tissue, perform a biopsy. Terry warned me because of where it was exactly located, it could very well be painful. Think something like a cork screw RIPPING SOME OF YOU OUT OF YOU. For some reason they couldn't use much of a local. Don't ask me why. I was overwhelmed, I couldn't fight it. If this disease turns out to be more serious, it'll be back home to the Cleveland clinic. At least there I'd have a backup support system in place.
Outpatient and home and a day of rest after that. The three of us agreed that I could handle this alone. Anything more than this, someone would be there. It was scheduled for Monday morning. That gave me an entire weekend to worry about it. I was successful in keeping Cherry Garcia in the freezer.
Sunday at noon I was talking with Terry on Google video when the doorbell rang. I asked her to hold on, I wasn't expecting anyone. I opened the door and stopped. Jerry was there with a dozen roses and a small box in his hand. I was in total shock and my mind was racing a mile a minute. I had to be standing there for a minute with my mouth open.
"Well, could you at least invite me in?" That's when I grabbed him and gave him a hug. He presented the flowers to me, "I thought you'd like these."
"Jerry, what are you doing here? What is..." at that he put a finger to my lips and gave me the little box that he was carrying.
"This is yours. I thought that I'd deliver it to you personally. Let's go sit down." Walking to the couch, he moved the PC to sit down and started talking with Terry and Dave. "You guys have to make it up here. You wouldn't believe the weather. Just as much overcast as Cleveland." The three of them all laughed. That was true.
I started to get my bearings again. This wasn't random. This was planned. I grabbed the PC from Jerry and looked at both my brother and sister-in-law. "You guys set me up again. Didn't you?" While they started to mouth theatric denials I started talking over them loudly. "Thank you, thank you so much."
Dave started laughing. "It was all I could do to keep you away from the ice cream, honest. Besides, it was his turn to talk us into something now. Unfortunately, both of us are getting the flu, and that's not good for you. We'll see you guys later. Bye." And they disconnected.
Jerry sat on the couch looking at me. He's got a big smile on his face and he's holding out that small box to me. "I actually came here to deliver this to you. The roses were an add on. Don't worry, they're rainforest compliant or something like that."
I took the box and shook it slightly. We both laughed at the joke. It was something we both did as kids and never outgrew. Whenever either of us would give a gift, extra care was taken to either hide the rattle, or lay a false trail. Jerry's best was glass beads in a very small glass jar when we were not seriously dating in college. It hid tickets to see the Alkaline Trio.
He looked at me with a smile on his face, but he wasn't saying anything. I took the ribbon off, and then unpeeled the tape. But I did it slowly to see what reaction I was going to get out of him. I glanced at him and saw that he wasn't impatient.
The wrapping came off and there were two small boxes, neither of which rattled. We both laughed again. I repeated the process on the first box, taking off the ribbon, then the tape, and then found another box inside. He busted out laughing at the look on my face. I gave him a very fake scowl that barely covered my smile. Once again, the ribbon, the wrapping then a plain box that could be opened. It's my pendent necklace. He'd brought back my necklace. I looked at him then give him a big hug.
"Well, are you going to do the other one? I bring them from Ohio by covered wagon out west, over the plains and the Rockies. Fighting off the sun and thirst followed by the snow in the mountains. The least you could do is..." and I stopped him with a kiss, a real kiss. I immediately melted into his arms and begin sobbing quietly.
He wrapped his arms around me and gently held me. The stress and strains of the medical problems, the loneliness of having all the people in my life being 2,500 miles away. It all came out with my tears as he slowly rocked me back and forth and held me tight. This was the gift I needed. I think that he knew that. That damn brother of mine. He tried to take care of his little sister, like his little sister helped take care of Mom to the end, and years later, Terry till she recovered.
Jerry sat with me and held me. He held me. He held me till I decided to move. After what seemed like forever or only a few seconds, I slowly disentangled myself from his arms. Looking directly into his eyes while wiping the tears from mine, "Thank you for being here with me. You don't know how much it means to..." This is when he stopped me with a kiss to my cheek, and a hug that said so much more.
"I know you Sandy. You've always been one strong and resourceful woman. But I remember you telling me about being with your mother as she declined. By then, it was just you and your brother. Your Nonno Adriano had passed the year before. Last week, your brother called me and told me that because of the flu, they couldn't make it. I had to come for you to have someone to be around." He paused and then smiled.. "I bet you can't guess what's in the other box?"
