The Afters
Chapter 21
Alzheimer's Disease.
For the next several weeks, Ron looked endlessly at books, pamphlets, he did more reading than he ever did. List of different symptoms, different causes, but what hurt Ron the most was the possibility...of death.
The children were heartbroken, for both of them had read about AD in school. Andy helped his father with research and even created a few holographic models of his dear mothers future progression. There was some hope Kim could overcome the severity of this disease, but the chances were slim, for there was no cure. Everyday Ron gave Kim, who seemed as normal as possibly despite the regular memory changes, her medicine along with a nice breakfast. But all and all, Ron blamed himself.
"Nothing I can do to help her, she's going to die. She's so young, older people get this, why did she have to get it? What did she ever do?" He cried into his pillow one afternoon. He decided, he was going to resign from the Bueno Nacho Corporation (Whom he was still President of) when helped arrived. Monique and Brick, whom had been married for a while with a daughter, had bought Kim's neighbor's house. This way, Monique could come over and take care of Kim, and Ron could whenever he had time off.
Ron had to expect the possibilities of Kim's behavior. He read this section off a website:
Alzheimer's (AHLZ-high-merz) disease is a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person's memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate and carry out daily activities. As Alzheimer's progresses, individuals may also experience changes in personality and behavior, such as anxiety, suspiciousness or agitation, as well as delusions or hallucinations.
"The kids are going to be heartbroken." He scratched his head. He shuddered at the thought that Kim forgets who her children are. What would happen if she didn't live to see her grandchildren? Not even that long, if she missed Holly's wedding, or Andy's? When would it take her life and leave Ron to live on his own? His kids surely would help, but Kim is his wife, his lover, his best friend? He decided to keep a journal tracking Kim's progress either towards perfect health, or perfect death.
But then, there was Holly...
"Alright Miss Stoppable, it appears the substance has not caused any permanent damage, but I advise you to take this medicine for at least a month, just to be sure." The brunette doctor smiled, "And say hello to your parents for me."
"Thanks Aunt Sara. Say Hi to Uncle Wade for me." Holly took the bottle of medication from Sara's hands. "Is my dad here to pick me up?"
"No, but this very handsome young man is." She opened the door, to reveal Jacob with a bouquet of pink roses.
"JACOB!" she jumped out of bed and flung her arms around him.
"Holly, you just saw me yesterday."
"I know, but well...you know." Holly flushed brightly. "Flowers for me?"
"Of course. And I got some red ones for your mother."
Holly's expression sank, "Oh, mom."
Sara started to leave the room, "I'll leave you two alone." Holly sat back down on the hospital bed and placed the bouquet to the side. Jacob sat down next to her and held her hand.
"Holly, she's in the earlier stages of Alzheimer's, she'll remember who you are. Sure she may have slight memory glitches, but your still her daughter. And Andy's still her son, and I'm still her daughters best friend."
"And boyfriend," both smiled.
"But, more responsibility is expected from me. I mean, I'm a senior in high school, I'm the star forward on the soccer team, I'm going to college, and I save the world on a regular basis. Now I have a sick mother, a genius brother, a depressed father a boyfriend...where's my partridge in a pear tree?" Holly laid her head on Jacob's shoulder, "There has to be some way for her to always remember." her eyes shot open, "We have the whole office filled with newspaper clippings and home movies! I'll have Andy make them into a slide show or movie, and she'll have to remember her past. That's going to be the first thing to go, isn't it?"
"Most likely but-"
"So, I'll just show it to her like once a week and she'll remember everything!"
"Holly!" Jacob startled her, "There's no need to jump to conclusions. Until your mother gets older, she'll probably remember everything. She's Kim Stoppable, she can do anything. And you're her daughter, Holly Stoppable, equally capable of everything. Just wait until both of you are older, and then decide on what critical steps to take."
"That's good advice, tell my father that, he's probably berserk."
"Holly," Jacob started, "Do you think, we could look at the home movies?"
"I don't see why not."
Short chapter, but I wasn't sure where to go with it. So lets watch some home movies! Oh and that segment is from an actual website, type in alzheimers disease on a comcast search (may work for google) and its under what is alzheimers (it wont let me put in the http)