Tabby woke up from her deep thoughts and memories and began to perceive the world around her again in a hazy way. She didn't even realize that the ceremony was already over. At the last moment, she saw her mother's coffin slowly drive behind a black velvet curtain and she covered her face with her hands. She suddenly felt a strange painful emptiness, her head spun and she fainted. Someone carefully grabbed her hand, it was Aunt Ruth.
"Come, dear, spend a few days at our house, I don't want you to be alone in these difficult times."
She happily accepted Aunt Ruth's offer. The neighborhood where she and her mother lived was actually a kind of small town in the middle of a big city. Everyone knew each other, knew about all their problems and joys, and the grandmothers on every corner tirelessly recounted and dramatized any event that refreshed the boredom of their long days. The thought of having to walk past them in the coming days and listen to curious questions and heartbreaking words of comfort already sent shivers down her spine.
"Thanks, Auntie, I'll be so grateful for that..." Tabby whispered softly, and together they slowly headed towards her uncle's parked car.
"But that's a given, you don't have to thank me at all. And one more thing... your father called me this morning, apologizing that he couldn't come to the funeral because he had to cover for two sick doctors in the ambulance, but... er... he deeply sympathized with you and would like to see you very much."
Tabitha looked at her in surprise, then frowned, creating a funny crease in the middle of her forehead.
"What? My father? And all of a sudden, after all these years? Does he think I'll sit on my ass in amazement after this? Did he have a conscience? If he still has one!" She replied sarcastically. She knew very well how the handsome and confident blond medic had treated her mother when she told him she was pregnant. He had left her to her own devices, and she had later proudly refused his financial help, as well as his mother's wish to see her grandchild. Her father had not come to Bedford to see Tabby for the first time until her fifth birthday, and he had probably thought he would bridge the bottomless emotional gap with a huge teddy bear and a pile of expensive gifts. To this day, she remembers that she didn't even touch them, stuck her tongue out at him and ran to her room. They're probably still in a box in the attic. And how lucky she was that she inherited her mother's appearance and not his, including the flood of thick raven hair. She would surely hate every look she saw in the mirror. The only thing that remained was the unpleasant fact that she had to bear his last name, which she had to accept for now.
"I really don't know what he's up to. But once he's your father, you can't change that, unfortunately. You have to realize that he's the only one you have besides me, and he has the right and the duty to take care of you. You're going to Ireland to see him this summer, he's even arranged for you to do a summer internship at their hospital."
Tabby no longer had the strength to resist after that terrible day and just nodded dazedly. She didn't care now what would happen tomorrow, in a week or in a month. Many hours later, after an almost sleepless night, her exhausting crying finally turned into sleep...
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Ireland, Dublin, Saint James Hospital, the same afternoon...
After a hard day in the oncology ward, Dr. Steve Harris leaned back tiredly in a massive leather chair and rubbed his unbearably burning eyes. He looked, as he did today for the first time, at a many-year-old photograph under the glass of his desk. It showed his daughter when she was still quite small. What does she look like today? He was also very sorry that he hadn't been able to attend the funeral of her mother and his ex-girlfriend Sandra. What a terrible misfortune! He couldn't believe it all. If it hadn't been for his strict father and his own frivolity and, above all, indecision, everything might have been completely different today. He had been alone for a long time, until eight years ago when he met Nicole, an assistant five years younger than him, whom he had also married and whom he had been trying to help come to terms with the fact that he would never have a child of his own. And he thanked himself in his heart for his idea of taking Tabby to his place at least for a while now, even though he was afraid of her rejection. He had tried many times to get them together, but he had never succeeded with Sandra or her. But he could not bear them any ill will. He looked at his watch and called the nurse.
"Do we have any more patients in the waiting room?" After her positive answer, a slim, handsome and very pleasant young man appeared in the door, his slightly swarthy face looking sunken and rather unhealthy from a doctor's perspective.
"This is the last one, Doctor. David Hatcher, he was sent to us by his attending physician, Dr. Reed."
"Jack Reed? But I know him from college, we've been friends for many years. Why didn't he call me? Come in, young man."
The young man smiled sheepishly and handed him a large brown envelope.
"Hello, here are all my pictures and medical reports," and with these words he sat down.
Dr. Harris read everything, then turned on the light panel, attached the pictures to it and looked at them for a long time and carefully, but although he wished with all his heart for something completely different, what he saw behind his left eye socket did not please him at all. He returned to his chair and looked at the young man in front of him. How old could he be? Looking at the card, he realized that he was twenty-two. So he was only two years older than his daughter...
"How are you feeling, do you have any serious problems?" Steve asked him, to break a moment of icy silence and undoubtedly unpleasant anticipation.
"Not at all, if you can put it that way. I just suffer from occasional severe headaches and dizziness, but for now it's bearable."
"Are you working or studying?"
"I'm studying archaeology and when I have time and my health allows it, I really like to travel. My father supports me a lot in this, he is a professor of history at the university."
"Hm, that's really interesting, maybe one day you will be famous like the famous archaeologist Howard Carter."
"I don't think so, but I'm very interested in all of it. I'm also involved in researching the secrets and mysteries of ancient civilizations, especially Egypt and India. A friend and I were just getting ready to go to Nepal, where my grandfather came from. There was also a very old map in his estate that interested me. It concerns a cave in the Himalayas that has not yet been explored and is surrounded by local legends." The young man answered him, but then he looked at him nervously and declared in a sharp tone, barely hiding the fear of what he was about to hear.
"Come on, Doctor, you don't need to distract from my problem. From your expression and tone of voice, I think I've probably been here for nothing!"
"Don't talk like that, David, there's always some hope and everything has to be tried."
"Yes, of course, the usual comforting phrase. But in other words, I've got it figured out, eh? So how much time do I have left, a year? Or just half a year? Or maybe even less? I want to know and I don't care what ethical rules you have to follow!" This time his voice trembled slightly. Dr. Harris thought for a moment. He realized that in this case it was necessary to explain the harsh truth, although he was very reluctant to do so, but he had to respect the patient's wishes.
"I can't say exactly at this point, but it's definitely more than a year. The finding isn't very big yet, but it could start growing at any time, which we'll try to prevent, but not for long. In the near future, you're unfortunately at risk of gradual vision loss and, over time, dysfunction of important organs, including total paralysis. I'm very sorry, but it's not possible to operate based on the MRI scans. But I'll do everything in my power to at least delay the inevitable as much as possible. You'll undergo all the necessary examinations and tests over the next week. Depending on the results, in about two weeks, we can start targeted treatment."
David shook his head and said with a sour smile.
"Okay, great, so I'll end up as a blind, limp little thing who pees in diapers and I'll be desperately wishing every minute that my toothy godmother would save me from all this..." He
stood up abruptly, threw his backpack over his shoulder, and when he was at the door, he added.
"Forgive my rude tone, but it has taken me by surprise, as you can imagine. Nevertheless, I thank you for everything. And I will go to the Himalayas, make no mistake about it, I will not bury my head in the sand and mourn my miserable fate. I will see you next week, then." He gave him a short wave of greeting and slammed the door behind him.
Dr. Harris looked after him thoughtfully for a moment, then shook his head and leafed through David's materials again. Over the years of practice, he had become quite accustomed to such fates, but sometimes it bothered him when someone so young fell victim to the disease. But sometimes life is like a fake game in which we are just impartial players. With a sigh, he turned off the computer and tried to divert his thoughts to something completely different, perhaps to the expected early arrival of his daughter Tabby..