This story is written by Autumn Thomas and co-written by me.
Life beyond 9 to 5
Chapter Two
The call
The following morning, Claire woke up in a fantastic mood. From the very moment her eyes opened all she could think of was Scotty. When and if she would see him again, whether or not she had made a complete idiot out of herself at the party. If she had, had he noticed, or cared?
Well, there wasn't much time for Claire to concern herself with that now, if she didn't hurry, she was going to be late for work. Just as Claire is about to head out her front door, the phone rings.
Claire answers the phone and hears her father, Liam's voice on the other line. An intense feeling of worry and concern filled Claire's mind, the moment she noticed the worried tone in her father's voice.
Liam's voice trembles as he speaks to Claire.
"Your Mother's very ill Claire. She's in the hospital. You really need to come visit her."
Forget work, Claire needed to get to the hospital and fast. Work was important, indeed, but not as important as family.
Once Claire has arrived at the hospital, she is greeted in the lobby by her younger brother, Daniel. If you wanted to know more about Claire, she is the eldest of three children. Daniel is 27 and Caitlin is 25. Both of their parents moved to America from Ireland, shortly after they married.
"Danny! it's so good to see you! Though, it must be serious for you to come all the way from New York. "
"It is serious. The doctor thinks Mom has leukemia. "
"Oh no. This is not good. " Claire says, as tears run down her cheeks.
The two siblings hug, as they hope for the best.
"Where the hell is Caitlin?! It is so typical of her to be late!"
"Claire, calm down. She's here already. She's in the room with Mom and Dad."
"I guess I should go see her now too. What room is she in?"
"It's on the third floor. Come on."
Now on the third floor, Daniel and Claire slowly approach the room where their Mother is being treated. Claire places her hand on the doorknob, but pauses a moment to wipe her tears, before entering.
Once Claire has entered Mother's room she tries her hardest not shed anymore tears. Claire slowly approaches her Mother, who is named Moira and kisses her softly on the forehead.
Claire! I'm so glad you came, baby. I'm sorry i couldn't make it to your party. I just wasn't feeling up to it."
"It's alright, Mom. I didn't even want a party The whole thing was Caitlin's idea."
"Oh yeah Mom. I forgot to tell you, Claire met a guy at the party." Caitlin tells Moira.
"Hey! Shut up! This is no time to talk about guys." Claire blushes.
"Actually, this is very interesting. Continue, Caitlin." Moira says.
"Ok, so he's really cute. I swear, he looks just like James Dean, except he's really tall."
"He does sound cute." Moira agrees.
Daniel and Claire's father, Liam overhear the conversation from outside the room and enter the room, deciding to join the women of the family.
"What's this I hear about you meeting a young man, Claire?!" Liam says, sternly.
"Don't worry about it, Daddy. It's nothing." Claire says, still blushing.
At that moment, Moira's doctor, Dr. Harris had entered the room.
"What is it doctor? Is she going to be alright?" Liam asks.
"I'm very sorry, Mr. Murphy but the blood test confirms it's leukemia."
"You can't be serious! Maybe the test is wrong. Run it again, please!" Liam pleads.
" I ran it twice to make sure."
Claire, Daniel, and Caitlin all begin crying uncontrollably.
" Leukemia is a treatable disease. Most treatments involve chemotherapy, medical radiation therapy, or hormone treatments. The rate of cure depends on the type of leukemia as well as the age of the patient. To be completely honest though, children are more likely to be permanently cured than adults. Even when a complete cure is unlikely, most people with a chronic leukemia and many people with an acute leukemia can be successfully treated for years." Dr. Harris says in an attempt to comfort everyone.
"Dr. Harris, are you sure? I only came in because I had a fever." Moira says, worried.
After spending the majority of the day at the hospital with her mother, Claire headed down to the Four leaf clover. To her surprise, Scotty was also there.
Claire walks over to the bar, and takes a seat next To Scotty.
"Hey! I thought I'd see you here. I can't believe I forgot to ask for your phone number. " Scotty smiles.
"Oh! So you're stalking me?!" Claire laughs.
"No no. Not at all. "
Scotty had indeed gone to the Clover hoping to see Claire. Deep down, Claire was aware of that fact. As was stated earlier,she couldn't stop thinking of him. Until she got that oh so devastating call, informing her of her Mother illness.
"The truth is, I came here, hoping to see you. I have a feeling you wanted to see me again too. Am I wrong? "
"No. Not completely. Excuse me for not being overly cheerful today, by the way. I kinda have a lot on my mind, right now." Claire says, trying not to look too depressed.
"Why don't we talk about what's troubling you on our second date? " Scotty smiles.
"It depends. What would we be doing on this date? "
"I'm not telling you. I want it to be a surprise. " Scotty teases.
"Great. I love surprises. " Claire says, sarcastically.