What Would I Do Without You?

"Goodbye Mr. and Mrs Bargo, have a good day." Dr. Kevin Ash stood and offered his hand to Elliot Bargo, who shook it weakly before turning away. Nurse Josie Chow entered the room and led the Bargos out of the room. Kevin could hear her give the usual spiel about getting their affairs in order, not to worry about setting up an appointment, and calling if they needed anything else. Kevin left the room and went to his own office.

After seeing them to the door and to the parking lot outside, Josie returned and entered Kevin's room before closing the door. "Have a good day? Really Kevin? You've just told them the absolute worse news, given him a death sentence in a month, and told him to have a good day? How can you do that?"

"Someone has to, Josie. The test results backed up what I already knew. Stage IV cancer of the liver, and it's spread everywhere. He has to know, if nothing else so he can plan. He's going to have a lot of bad days ahead, can't a man at least wish him one good day?"

"It just seems so...cold. I don't remember you being like that since you started getting all the bad cases, that's all. Maybe I'm getting to be that way too." Josie's face fell with the last comment.

"Don't say that Josie; what would I do without you? You've always been the cheeriest thing in this office. Martha was right when she said you'd be perfect to work here; she always seems to have a good feeling for what I needed the most" Kevin said as he looked at his wife's picture on his desk.

"She was like that even back when we went to school together" Josie agreed. "But the job does seem to be getting you down lately. It's got to be worrying her too."

"It's a burden that's for me to bear; you just keep being you. Why not go ahead and take lunch early and surprise that husband of yours downstairs?"

"Thanks Kevin. I think I'll do that, I could use a lift about now. Want to come along?"

"No, I've got some stuff to work on; you go ahead. Next appointment isn't 'till two. Go before the food gets cold."

"Thanks" she said smiling. "Bye!" She closed the door behind her on the way out, leaving Kevin to his thoughts.

But it wasn't my burden alone, he thought. Martha was always there for him. As a friend in high school, growing closer while they went to college. After graduation they got married and she got a job and supported them while he went to medical school. She kept things together while he studied, ate and slept medicine. Then all he seemed to do was work and sleep during his internship. She was still there, shoving food in his face and forcing him to get some sleep while he had the chance. What would he have done without her? The few moments they could spend together were golden, and when he finally made it as a resident things started to settle down.

He hadn't specialized, opting for the variety of family practice. He let others deal with the minutiae of their chosen fields; once he narrowed down a condition he could always send the patient to them for further diagnoses and treatment. Everything seemed to be going just the way it was supposed to until...after the accident.

The accident was simple enough. Kevin had been walking down a hall, going from one place that needed him to another place that needed him as an intern barreled out of a door with a gurney and flattened him. He hit his head when he landed on the floor and the resulting concussion keep him out of practice for a week. Of course Martha waited on him hand and foot as much as she could; the odd thing was there was no record of the intern, he couldn't be identified from security footage, and he was never seen again.

Kevin recovered and went back to his practice. About a week after his return he was seeing a patient who was complaining of feeling worn out. As he examined the man for possible pneumonia his eyes caught what appeared to be a small fish-like object attached to the man's left side. It wiggled slowly, almost like a worm with it's mouth partially embedded in the skin; a single eye stared at him and occasionally blinked. Kevin rubbed his eyes and the object was gone. Dismissing it as a visual aftereffect of the concussion, he ordered chest x-rays of the lungs for the man's condition.

The x-rays came back with signs of a small tumor in the lung under where he had seen the object. He sent the man to an oncologist where indeed cancer was detected and the patient ordered to undergo treatment.

A week after that it happened again. A woman came in complaining of a sore throat. As Kevin prepared to take a swab another fish-like creature appeared, bigger this time and attached to the woman's throat. Kevin tried to grab it but his hand passed right through the vision. The woman coughed and it disappeared. Uncertain, he ordered the throat scanned for possible problems. The results came back positive for throat cancer, more progressed than the last patient.

There seemed to be some connection between the vision and the disease; why there was one Kevin had no clue. After a third patient was sent to the oncologist, not only was Kevin convinced but the head of Oncology was starting to wonder out loud if Dr. Ash might want to join their department.

Kevin thanked him, but declined. He had told no one about this new phenomenon, and didn't intend to either. They'd either think he was crazy, or more likely somehow delusional from his concussion injury. He waited for the effect to go away, but over several months it continued. Through observation and correlation with test results he found that the larger the vision of the creature, the more advanced the disease. With the early stage 0 patients the creature was barely detectable; by stage IV it was so large it could be seen as the patient was walking into the office. Kevin still considered it a blessing, for it gave him the opportunity to quickly get to the core of the diagnosis.

Until the boy. A mother called to bring in her young son of six after he seemed to be getting particularly clumsy at home and school. As the boy walked into the office, Kevin could see a medium sized version of the creature sticking out of the boy's head, completely obscuring his right ear. Kevin initially recoiled in horror at the thought of such a young child with the disease; not only could the boy not fully understand the consequences of such a diagnosis, but the mother would have absolutely no idea what was about to be discovered. It was that day that part of Kevin went away; his careful balance of detachment and empathy that he had developed toppled and he retreated into strict professionalism while in the office.

The next day, while dining with Martha in a restaurant Kevin noticed a man at the next table with a creature sticking out of his cheek. He excused himself and tried to consult with the man discretely about seeing a doctor, but the diner was outraged at the suggestion and created quite the scene. Now when he was at the movie theater, the mall or even the park he would see the occasional creature, attached to a random person. At the beach he saw a man with an untold number of the creatures attached all over his heavily bronzed skin. Kevin started avoiding the public more, until now he was practically a recluse; his only time out was shuttling between home and work. The blessing was now also a curse.

As he looked out of his sixth floor office window, he could see the city from above the trees surrounding the nearby parking lot. From this distance the city looked beautiful; alive, vibrant but tranquil at the same time as the leaves were turning with the late fall weather. As he looked around, he saw a familiar car below drive up and park in his spot; Martha must have decided to surprise him and bring lunch, knowing he wasn't likely to go out to eat. The door opened and he saw as she backed out of the car and straightened up carrying a bag.

Oh my God, no.

It wasn't the bag that shook him to his core, it was the large apparition that covered her head. Completely engulfing it as she closed the door and made her way towards the building.

Not Martha. Anybody but her.

Kevin collapsed into his chair. It was the largest creature he had ever seen, even bigger than Mr. Bargo's had been. She hadn't been showing any signs of illness, but sometimes it went that way. Maybe she was keeping it from him to spare him the worry. The thought rankled him some, but terrified him more. Life without Martha?

There probably weren't going to be many good days left for her, followed by mostly really bad days. This wasn't a patient, this was the woman that was his better half; his friend, study partner and his own private nurse. Every time he had been sick she was there, with never a complaint; that's probably why she wasn't complaining even now. But her body would betray her, with the all the symptoms that accompanied the disease draining all the serenity even she had. He didn't know if he could stand seeing her suffer.

Kevin opened a drawer and looked inside where he saw a small bottle. A powerful narcotic still in its trial phase, courtesy of a connection of a pharm rep. A large enough shot would end any suffering she was hiding now and prevent her from experiencing the really bad days by simply going to sleep one last time. But what would he do without her?

…

Martha, Josie and Harry were coming down the hall.

"Looks like we caught you at just the right time" Josie said. "Harry and I were just going to lunch. Let's grab Kevin and we'll make it a foursome over tacos and tea. Besides, I want to be there when you surprise him."

"Deal" Martha said, voice slightly muffled. I've been trying to encourage him to get out more anyway, and not be so absorbed in his work. When I saw this I couldn't resist."

"Where did you get it anyway?" asked Harry.

"It was over at the Halloween costume store. I went for decorations and just had to have it. Help straighten it out so I can see better, please."

Harry turned it slightly to the left. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks. It's kind of hot, but after I surprise him I'll take it off."

They moved as a group through the front waiting area and into the back area before stepping up to Kevin's office. "Okay," Martha said "now!" before bursting into the office. "Honey, you'll never guess what happened to me…"

Kevin lay slumped at his desk, a syringe lying on the top surface. Martha ripped off the plush shark headpiece and rushed to his side; he was dead. A simple scrawled note read "What would I do without you?"

"What would you do without me? What would I do without you!" she wailed as she wrapped herself around the only man in her life, now gone.

The End

A/N: This story came about when I scraped my shin; while I was sitting at work with it burning I thought of it as something gnawing on my leg. A few days later I saw a display of these plush animal heads you wear for quick Halloween costumes. The two parts clicked together and this is what came out.

This certainly isn't my main genre, or even a story that left a good taste in my mouth (so to speak). But it was there, so I had to spit it out so I could move on to other lighter stories.