It Hasn't Been Long Enough

Callie could hear yelling coming from Patrick’s room all the way down the hallway. As she approached the room she could make out the voices to be those of Patrick and Pete.

“You have to tell her!” Pete yelled.

“I already told you! She doesn’t need to know right now,” Patrick yelled back.

“So when are you planning on telling her? After you’ve finished treatment and are healthy again? Then you’re going to go to her and say, ‘hey, I had cancer, but I’m over it now, so don’t worry about it?’”

“Pete, I’ll tell her when I’m ready okay?” Patrick yelled as Callie opened the door and walked in the room.

“Hey, I’m just checking your stats,” Callie said as she walked to the side of Patrick’s bed, pretending she hadn’t just heard their argument. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Patrick said.

Pete, who had been in the corner of the room not paying attention to Callie, finally turned around and looked at her. “Callie?” he asked.

“Pete,” Callie said turning around toward him and giving him a half-smile. She then turned back around to Patrick. “Dr. Shriver will see you in a little bit to talk to you.”

“Bye, Callie,” Patrick said as she walked out the door.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Pete asked Patrick as soon as Callie shut the door behind her.

“Why didn’t I tell you what?” Patrick asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me your nurse is my ex-girlfriend?”

“I didn’t think it mattered,” Patrick said honestly. “You guys broke up four years ago.”

“You mean she left me four years ago,” Pete said bitterly.

“And you now have another girlfriend. Remember? Gloria? So, why does it matter if Callie’s my nurse? You’re over her, aren’t you?”

“Of course I’m over her!” Pete argued. “Still, it would have been nice for a warning. Just like it’d be nice for Emma to know that you have cancer.”

“Are we back to this?” Patrick sighed. “I’ve already told you a million times. I’ll tell Emma when I’m ready to tell her.”

“Fine,” Pete said defeated.

About ten minutes later, Dr. Shriver came into the room. “Hello, Patrick, Pete. I’m here to talk to you about your test results and your options.”

“Okay,” Patrick said.

“Your test results show that the cancer hasn’t started spreading to other parts of your body yet, which is good. However, if you don’t get treatment soon, it will. I am recommending to you that you have a wedge resection. This means that we would remove a section of your left lung.”

“What does this mean for singing?” Patrick asked thinking about the band.

“Well, you will have diminished lung function, but you will be able to sing. It just probably won’t be at the same level as before.”

“What other options do I have?”

“Well, we can always do chemotherapy, which you may have to have even if you have the surgery. And there’s a new type of treatment called targeted therapy. However, I personally believe that the wedge resection is your best bet. Ultimately, the decision is yours, though.”

Patrick looked at Pete, and he knew they were thinking the same thing. He looked back up at Dr. Shriver and said, “Let’s do the surgery.”

“Okay,” Dr. Shriver said smiling. “I’ll get it scheduled for as soon as possible. It’ll probably be in the next couple of days,” he said leaving the room.

“You know what this means, right?” Pete asked.

“What?”

“It means you’re going to have to tell Emma. You can’t go through surgery without telling her.”

Patrick didn’t say anything, but instead turned his head toward the window trying to think of an alternative to telling Emma that he was about to undergo surgery for cancer.