The ride to the local airport the next morning was glum. Helen boarded at the airport in Wenatchee. It was a commuter flight servicing a number of small cities between Wenatchee and Boise. She would have stops in Yakima, Pasco, Walla Walla and Lewiston before arrival in Boise. With all the stops it would be mid-afternoon before she arrived home.
With many promises and a chaste kiss for Duncan, Helen boarded. Duncan stood, a forlorn sight, watching until her plane was out of sight.
Driving back to Chelan he decided the smartest plan was to drive his RV to Boise, towing the little BMW. They'd been planning on towing it on the now aborted photo safari so he already had the tow equipment on hand. It would only take a few minutes to hook it up. He would store his own small car in Chelan and pick it up after he left Boise.
He was on the road by late afternoon, feeling blue. His cell phone rang as he was crossing the Columbia River at the Pasco/Kennewick bridge. There was no traffic on the bridge so he answered it. It was Helen and he told her he would call her back as soon as he found a place to park. He hadn't got this old by splitting his attention between a call to his sweety and jockeying the RV down the road.
The news on Gerald was not good. Helen had talked to the Doctor, finally convincing him nothing he told her could be worse than what she was imagining. She was glad to find out what was wrong, but what he told her wasn't much better than what she had been imagining.
The Doctor suspected a brain tumor, which would be bad enough in any case but there was more. Without further tests he couldn't be sure but he feared it was cancerous. They would know more the next day and the Doctor didn't want anyone flying apart before they knew for certain.
Helen had gone home and immediately gone online to discover what she could about Brain Cancer. None of it was good, most of it was terrible.
Depending on the tumor's location and on how extensive it was, the prognosis was anything from possible minor mental impairment to an unpleasant death. The worst case scenario had Gerry dying within weeks.
It was possible to surgically remove a tumor, depending on where it was in the brain. Brain Surgery was never easy; there was no need to explain what a minute slip of the knife might do. If it was cancerous however, even removal was questionable. Cancerous tumors sent tendrils throughout the brain, making removal impossible.
The Doctor, who admittedly was no an expert in the condition, was very pessimistic. To him the symptoms indicated an advanced tumor in an inoperable area of the brain. If it was cancerous he feared the tumor had already sent out tendrils. If this was the case he expected personality changes and loss of motor skills at the minimum.
It was possible the tumor had been there for years. Gerald had complained of headaches for years, refusing to see a doctor for such a minor everyday problem.
Like plotting a Hurricane, each such tumor had its own life to run. What scared Helen was reading that some tumors might grow slowly for years, then suddenly explode. Like all cancers, if it was detected in time they can be defeated. Helen feared, believed, this had been growing for years. If so, that would account for the slow changes in her husband's behavior.
As Duncan expected Helen was terrified. He promised to be in Boise sometime the next day, planning to make the drive only stopping for naps and meals. If there were any kind of delay he would call, but she was to look for him sometime tomorrow evening.
For the first time he confessed his love for her. Then he promised that he wouldn't let it get in the way of any decisions she needed to make about her life. He agreed her marriage was and should be currently the center of her life. He told her this so she would know he would be there for her and hers as long as she needed him, she had no worry about him being there for her, at least until this nightmare was handled. There were no strings attached to his help and he would not get in the way of what she saw had to be done.
He pulled into a rest area soon after, made a meal, then took a nap. He was up and on the road again well before midnight. Driving carefully and taking a break every hour or so to eat and in some cases nap he called as he neared Boise to ask for directions to her home. It had been a fast trip with the RV, and he planned to stop and make dinner in the RV, eating before he arrived.
Arriving at the address for the Conningham home he saw a large two story white colonial. From its size Duncan guessed it had five, maybe more bedrooms. Helen opened the door as he stepped onto the porch. Drawing him inside she introduced him to her daughter Holly and to Conrad, her son. Neither of the young adults took askance at a strange man delivering their mother's BMW. Instead they took their cues from the way their father had reacted when he heard Duncan was coming. The unexpected, obvious near hero worship with which Gerald had greeted the news he was coming smoothed over what Duncan had feared would be a tense situation.
Gerry wasn't there to greet him when he came in. He had been too exhausted to stay up and was sound asleep when Duncan drove up.
Conrad had graduated in Accounting that winter from Idaho State University there in Boise. Holly had picked Idaho State and would be living on campus. She planned to major in Psychology. This would be her first year. Neither one lived at home.
It was later than Duncan had expected arriving and he was glad he had stopped to eat. Under the circumstances he pled being tired and was soon bedded down in the guest room for the night. He had no chance for talking alone with Helen that night and hadn't expected to do so. Much worse, under the circumstances he didn't know what to say. It certainly was no time to discuss their relationship. She didn't need that kind of pressure now. As he settled in for a troubled sleep he wondered if there would ever be a time for them now. He would try to speak with her privately the next day.
The next morning was hectic. Helen made breakfast for Conrad, who had spent the night "home" along with his sister who had moved into a dorm that week. Helen managed to get him off on time to his new job, assuring him she would call him if his dad took a turn for the worse.
Holly slept in, exhausted worrying about Gerry. Her first University class would be next week. She was starting with the Summer Quarter and she figured this was her last "sleep in" until that was over. She was hoping to be far enough along in her studies to go for her Master's Degree in three years. Duncan thought it very daunting, considering she hadn't yet attended her first lecture.
When Gerry pulled himself out of bed he was obviously hurting. He knew Duncan was due in last night and wanted to thank him for his kindness and didn't allow himself the extra time in bed his condition asked for.
