The Delta Factor by Thomas Locke Read Free Book Online Page B

to see you again,” she said, taking both his hands with hers. “But not this great.”
    In all the days that had come before, he never missed her as much as he did in that moment. “Oh, Debs.”
    â€œStraighten up, Junior,” she said softly. “I didn’t ask you down here for pity.”
    â€œSorry.” He struggled to recover.
    â€œThat’s better. Now, then. We will get the worst part over and done with, all right?” She took a breath. “You were right to be angry with me.”
    â€œNo I wasn’t.”
    â€œJust shush up for a minute, please. I was fooling myself, thinking that if I ignored it everything would somehow go back to normal, or at least back to the way it was before. I hid behind a lot of scientific gobbledygook because that’s the way I am. And you were the only one who cared enough to make me see the truth.”
    â€œDebs, please.” Her words were tearing at his heart. “You don’t have to say this.”
    â€œYes I do. I have MS, Cliff. Multiple sclerosis. It’s certain now. I really went through the wringer, though, before I could get it confirmed. I had tests done that curdle the blood just thinking about them. The results were confusing. I heard diagnoses for everything from leukemia to sleeping sickness to a severe psychological disorder. Finally I went to a specialist up in Minneapolis, and he did a couple of MRIs—that’s magnetic resonance imaging to the uninitiated.”
    â€œI know what it is,” he said quietly.
    â€œSorry. I’ve grown accustomed to talking with people who would just as soon keep their heads in the sand when it comes to things like this. Not that I can blame them. Anyway, they detected scar tissue on the brain, and that was that.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said, and could only feel the futility in his words. “I’m sorry for everything. Most of all, I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.”
    â€œYou’re here now, and that’s what matters most,” she replied. “I need you, you see. If you had not forced me to look at myself like this, by being absent, I would have probably kept my own head in the sand for another couple of years. As it is, I have really grown a lot.”
    â€œI can see that,” he said, and he did.
    â€œYes, and it’s all thanks to you, in a way.” She took his arm. “But we’ll have time for that later. You must be tired.”
    He allowed himself to be led up the sidewalk. “I’m okay. How about you?”
    â€œThere are good days and not-so-good days, and then every once in a while a really bad day,” she said crisply. “Today started off bad, but now it is a good day.”
    â€œI’m glad to hear it.”
    â€œYes, so am I. There is also a major storm blowing up at work, but I’ll tell you about that later, too. If it’s okay, we’ll check you in, then rush back and let the bean counters make a fuss over you before they take off for wherever bean counters go on weekends. Is that all right?”
    â€œSure, Debs. Whatever.”
    She grinned. “I may just have a surprise for you this weekend, too.”
    â€œYou know I’ve never been much for surprises.”
    â€œThis one you’ll like, I promise. Sort of a welcome-home present.”
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œYou’ll see.”
    ----
    Cliff settled his long frame into her Cherokee, winced at the sight of the wheelchair in the backseat, and said, “How old is this vehicle? Five years, maybe six?”
    â€œDon’t start,” she warned. “I happen to be very attached to this rolling junk heap.”
    â€œI thought all successful researchers with the biggies drove late-model cars that most of us peons have never even heard of.”
    â€œNot this researcher.”
    â€œHow come?”
    â€œLong story.” She returned the wave of two men crossing the street.