Anne Bennett - Forget-Me-Not Child

‘Known what?’ Mary demanded. ‘What you on about?’

Matt ignored Mary and it was the doctor he addressed as he said, ‘Not long all told.’

Mary looked from one to the other and said, ‘Will someone please tell me what’s going on?’ And then all of a sudden the men’s faces were so grave she didn’t know whether she wanted to hear what they were going to say. But even as she mentally backed away she told herself it was yet one more thing to be faced. She swallowed the nervous lump that had formed in her throat, faced the doctor and said, ‘Go on.’

‘Your husband, Mrs McClusky, has a tumour in his stomach,’ the doctor said gravely.

Mary wasn’t totally sure what a tumour was, but it didn’t sound a great thing to have and so she said, ‘So can you take it out?’

‘I’m afraid not.’

‘So what happens now?’

‘Nothing happens,’ the doctor said, and went on to say to Matt, ‘I can give you something for the pain.’

‘You never said you were in pain,’ Mary said to Matt almost accusingly.

‘I was, but I was in such agony at losing the boys anyway,’ Matt said. ‘That hurt so much, any other pain didn’t seem to matter. And then you were suffering too, so how could I load it on you?’

‘And were you in a lot of pain?’

Matt shrugged, but the doctor said, ‘A great deal of pain, I would have said, judging by the size of the tumour now.’

‘Aye,’ Matt said. ‘The pain was bad enough at times but still nothing to the loss of two sons drowned in the Atlantic Ocean.’

The doctor raised quizzical eyes to Mary and she said, ‘Our two sons were lost at sea, making for America to join their older brothers. They travelled on the Titanic .’

Everyone knew about the loss of life on the Titanic and Mary saw the doctor’s eyes widen in sympathy and he quite knew why the man before him had ignored the pain he must have had for some time. Not that it would have made any difference to the outcome, but maybe he could have made him more comfortable.

‘Is that really all you can do,’ Mary said, ‘just give him painkillers?’

‘The man can’t work miracles, Mary,’ Matt said. ‘I’ve come to the end of the road and that’s all there is to it.’

Mary had not realized the doctor would be able to do nothing. Doctors were important and powerful and to seek their advice usually cost more money than she ever had, and what was the point if they could offer no cure? Matt on the other hand seemed to accept his fate and he just asked the doctor, ‘How long have I got?’

‘It’s impossible to be absolutely accurate, Mr McClusky,’ the doctor said. ‘However, the tumour has grown very large and seemingly quite quickly, so I would say months rather than years.’

Mary gave a gasp of shock as she realized that soon she would lose her man, who had been by her side for many years. They had shared in good times and lean ones and she knew she would miss him a great deal.

Matt looked across at her and gave a wan smile as he said, ‘Best tell our Barry and Angela to get a move on planning that wedding if they want me at it.’ And only Mary saw the tears glittering behind his eyes.

Angela and Barry were devastated to hear what the doctor had said when Mary told them as soon as they arrived home from work. Angela felt tears spring to her eyes because she loved Matt and she would miss him very much. She remembered when she was small and he was fit and strong he would lift her up onto his broad shoulders and carry her around the room. He had a special smile just for her and called her his wee little lassie. However, she didn’t let the tears fall because she knew it would be worse for Mary and felt she had to be strong for her, but Mary had had time to come to terms with the doctor’s prognosis. Her tears were spent, helped in part by Matt who had urged her not to take on so. He said everyone has to die some time and he’d had a fairly good innings.

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