Chapter 1; Part 7

Continued from part 6

I arrived home from the hospital around five o'clock and the phone rang. It was Doctor Kroll calling from Hal's bedside.

"Mrs. Tennant, I am here with your husband; we have now found the source of the problem. It's a tumour and I'm pretty sure it's malignant."

He paused to give me a minute to register what he had just said.

"The surgeon will remove it tomorrow morning. Are there any questions you would like to ask me?"

All I could manage was, "Will he need a colostomy?"

"No, no, not for this. The surgery will of course be more extensive now that we know what we'll find, but there won't be any need for a colostomy."

After I hung up the phone I stared out the window for a long time. Then I called the children to tell them the news. M'Liss and Lorrie, my daughter-in law would arrange to come to the hospital the next morning to wait with me while the surgery was performed.

Then Hal called. Somehow I thought the doctor would have given him a sedative and in my confusion and grief it hadn't occurred to me to call him.

"Now, don't you worry; I'm going to beat this thing. I love you."

I was emotional and crazed but he was calm and upbeat, as though he already recognized the battle ahead and the need for cool thinking. All through this puzzling time, I had been the solid one, perfectly calm and in control, but now Hal was the rock.

He had met the surgeon, Doctor Beam, earlier that day when they were still planning the more minor procedure. He was a young formal guy with reddish hair and Hal liked him. When he learned that Hal had finally been diagnosed he returned to his bedside to reassure him about the operation and tell him what he would be doing now that he knew what to expect.
Continued in Part 8