In Your Eyes

Three days later, Mathias was out of bed. He was still pale but he didn’t have a fever anymore. He spent most of the day with Arella as she read some of her fairy tales to him.

“You have a letter, sir,” a guard said and handed him a thick envelope.

He opened it with shaking hands. He was pretty sure he knew what it was.

Mathias,
I am terribly sorry to hear about your suffering. I am glad you found my book, though, and I would be more than happy to come see you and your mother. Respond via letter when the best time for me to travel to your home is.
Sincerely,
Dr. Gregory Pole

“I had no idea they found him,” Mathias whispered. “He wants to come and see me.”

“When?” she asked, closing her book.

“As soon as possible,” he answered and wrote his reply. “Is it okay if he comes here?”

“Of course,” she said quickly. “Let me go inform my parents.”

“And I’ll tell my mother.”

He hurried to his mother’s room and handed her the letter from Dr. Pole.

“This is wonderful! Is he coming here?”

“Yes.”

-

The next two days were devoted to getting the castle ready for their guest. Mathias was incredibly nervous and he paced around the library, running his hand through his hair so much that it was now standing on end. What if Dr. Pole couldn’t help him? What if he was doomed? What if he never got to live a normal life?

He had spent 25 years with seizures and had just recently gotten used to living with it. Now he had this arthritis or some kind of branch of it. His mother came in during the afternoon and forced a cup in his hand.

“What is this?” he asked, looking at the clear liquid.

“It’s a tonic for the nerves,” she said. “You need it. If you keep this up, you’ll work yourself into a seizure.”

He swallowed it in one gulp and continued pacing.

“What if he doesn’t come?” he asked.

“He will.”

Arella walked in the room, looking just as nervous as he was.

“He’s here,” she said softly and Mathias clenched his jaw, following her to the study. She knocked lightly on the door and he heard a voice admit them. “Dr. Gregory Pole, this is Mathias Juniper and his mother, Dr. Dorothy Juniper.”

Dr. Gregory Pole turned out to be a very old man. His back was hunched and he had short white hair and very light blue eyes. His hands were twisted and veins stood out purple against his paper thin skin.

“Mr. Juniper,” he said, shaking his hand. “Dr. Juniper.”

“Please, call me Mathias,” he breathed and sat across from him. “How- How was your journey?”

Arella was passing around drinks but Dr. Pole took the tray from her.

“I don’t expect to be served by the princess,” he said in his shaky voice and she looked flattered.

She sat beside Mathias, holding his hand.

“So, young man,” the doctor said after taking a sip of his wine. “I hear you are in need of some serious answers.”

Mathias nodded. “I read your chapter on arthritis. You mentioned that there were different kinds but you didn’t go into detail in the book.”

The old man sighed. “Arthritis is such a difficult disease,” he said and Mathias felt his spirits sinking. That was a word he heard so often: difficult. “But I will give you as much knowledge as I can. See my hands?” He showed them pointing to his twisted knuckles. “Arthritis affects your joints. All of them. I’ve had arthritis in my hands for several years. The result is altered joints and a slow immune system.

“Now let me see your hands,” he said and Mathias extended them. Dr. Pole studied them for a long time, turning them over and pressing gingerly on his knuckles, sometimes making him wince. “Oh, my dear boy. How old are you?”

“Twenty-five.”

“That’s what I was afraid of. During my years as a doctor, I’ve come across one kind of arthritis I see more often in older adults than in young people like you. It’s called rheumatoid arthritis.” He pulled up a doctor’s bag that looked a lot like Dorothy’s. From it, he pulled out a plastic skeleton hand. “You have many joints in your hands and in the rest of your body. Arthritis is when the area around the joint flares up and puts extra pressure on it.

“For some folks, the pressure begins to warp their bones. Understand, though, that it’s not just the hands. I could only fit this in my bag. It’s everywhere. But that’s common arthritis. What you have is rheumatoid arthritis. You have all the normal arthritis symptoms, but your immune system – what helps you fight off sickness and infections – is attacking itself. It’s confused.”

“So that’s why he gets sick so easily,” Dorothy muttered and Dr. Pole nodded grimly.

“What can be done for it?” Mathias asked, his mouth dry.

“I’m afraid there’s no cure,” Dr. Pole said sadly. “The best we can do for you is have someone give you massages in your main pain areas and make sure you don’t overdo it with using your joints. I’ve read your work on salt baths,” he said to Dorothy. “Those are the best for immediate relief.”

Mathias looked down sadly.

“I’m so sorry to bring you this news,” Dr. Pole said, taking Mathias’s hand gingerly. “The world is unkind and harsh. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done for it.”

Mathias didn’t answer and Arella stood up, taking the doctor’s bag.

“I insist you stay here tonight,” she said when the doctor tried to object. “You have done us a great service.”

He glanced out at the falling snow. “It wouldn’t hurt to stay one night I suppose,” he consented and followed Arella out the door, leaving Mathias and his mother sitting in silence.

“Are you okay?” she whispered, a hand on his shoulder. He shook his head no, tears dropping onto his hands. “We’ll figure it out, sweetheart.”

She sat beside him and wrapped an arm around him, crying quietly.