Chapter Eight

August

The Office of Doctor Ronald Hyon

Jackie sits calmly in the waiting room for her name to be called. She has read the same paragraph three times in a magazine article about re-doing your kitchen, she chuckles softly, why in the hell am I reading about this? I don't have a house never mind a kitchen, she looks up when she hears her name. Tossing the magazine on the table she walks through the waiting room passing the receptionist. Nurse Barker greets her and leads her through the maze of the upper Manhattan medical facility. "Doctor Hyon will be with you shortly."

She just nods as the tall blonde closes the door behind her leaving her alone. Jackie glances around the room, deciding to sit on the examination table. They make you wait outside for fifteen minutes then they stuff you in an examination room and make you wait another fifteen minutes. The sound of a knock on the door startles her, "Yes," she says then clears her throat. "Yes!" She exclaims.

Doctor Hyon stands a millimeter shy of six feet tall; shades of black hair peek through the gray that is sprinkled throughout. His eyes are bright blue but soft. Having only known him for a few months she has come to trust him. "I have good news Jackie. My associates and I agree that you are viable for surgical removal of the tumor and I would like to schedule you for surgery within the next two weeks."

The Goren Home

Jackie unlocks the front door, "Hey Jackie," Alex says cheerfully, no response. "Jackie?"

"Huh," she looks up. "Oh, hey Alex you're home early."

"No, it's almost six o'clock."

"Oh," she tosses the house keys on the coffee table. "That's nice."

"Jackie, what's the matter?" Alex asks with concern.

She shakes her head, "Where's Rachel?"

"At Miss Wendi's, Jackie what's the matter?"

"Oh yeah that's right." Jackie sits down on the couch. "The doctor," she swallows hard, "The doctor wants to perform surgery on me," she takes a quick glance at her friend. Alex takes her hand as she sits down next to her. "He wants to schedule the operation within the next few weeks."

"What procedure, I mean what will they do?"

"Doctor George Herbert will perform the surgery to remove the tumor which is about three millimeters in size. He will have to remove part of my pancreas. Also, he will remove my gallbladder, small intestine and maybe part of my stomach. I will be hospitalized for at least two and half weeks." She speaks as if she is reading a recipe. "The recovery time afterwards will be another month of so," her voice mellow, she continues. "He also told me that even with the surgery, only 15 percent of pancreatic cancer patients make it to 5 years, and there is no consensus about which chemotherapy and or radiation after surgery is the most affective."

Alex pulls her friend closer and they hug. "I think that you and Rachel should stay here and not move to my parents, not yet."

Jackie breaks the embrace, "School starts soon, I have to register her for school."

"Register her here, call Peter tomorrow and he will take care of all the necessary papers for you to change your address to Brooklyn."

"Alex," she pauses. "I want to have papers drawn for you and Bobby to have temporary custody of Rachel. I realize that is a great deal to ask…" Alex pulls her in again for a hug, "Anything, anything that you need we are here for you."

Tears fill their eyes, "I was thinking about it all the way home, recovery from the surgery may be a long uphill battle. And with Hannah looming out there, I need some piece of mind."

The woman release their hold when they hear the front door open, Bobby being the observant man that he is instantly sees the sadness in their eyes, "What's going on?" he says as he begins to remove his tie.

"Bobby," Alex wipes her eyes, "You were supposed to pick up Robby and Rachel."

"I did," he points behind him. "They are outside running around with Hailee, you know Missus Gregory's granddaughter." He walks further into the room, "I'll ask again, what's wrong?"

Alex stands ready to speak, Jackie grabs her arm, "Doctor Hyon and his associates feel that I am a good candidate for an operation to remove the tumor, however my recovery may only be short lived." Alex keeps a tight hold of her friends' hand, "Between the hospital stay and recovery from the surgery and Hannah. I have asked Alex and now I want to ask you," she rubs her eyes. "I wish for you and Alex to take temporary custody of Rachel."

Bobby takes a quick glance at his wife, she smiles through tears. He takes a few steps closer, "As I said before Jackie, anything. Anything we can do to help."

"I don't know how to thank you both for all that you have done."

The front door opens again, it is Robby and following closely behind is Rachel. "Hi Mom," Rachel says excitedly.

"Hi sweetie, did you have a good time at Miss Wendi's?"

"Yes we did, right Robby?" The toddler nods his head as he runs to greet his mother. Jackie's expression is solemn and the keen nine year old notices, so is Alex's and Bobby's. "What's wrong?" she asks.

Jackie takes her daughter by the hand, "Let's go upstairs I need to talk to you."

Bobby places his arm around Alex's shoulder as they watch mother and daughter walk up the stairs. He turns to her, "You just found out about this?"

Alex nods, "Yes," she exhales, "I….I just got her back and now I may lose her." Alex removes herself from his embrace, "Jesus will you listen to me. She's not thinking about herself," she says pointing in the direction of the stairs. "Her only thought since she walked in that door has been about her daughter."

"She needs to be certain that Rachel will never live with her grandmother. Which she would if we weren't around, but we are," he flashes a sweet smile.

She reaches up and kisses his cheek, "I love you Bobby."

"Back at ya, what's for dinner?"

She laughs, "Come on," she takes his hand. "Let's see what's in the freezer."

"Rachel, please sit down. I have something to tell….discuss something with you."

"Uh-oh, I don't think I want to hear this," she makes a move to stand. Jackie lightly touches her shoulder.

"Doctor Hyon has set me up for a surgical procedure to remove the tumor," she can see her daughters' eyes light up. "Yes it is good but….the recovery maybe slow and," she sits down next to her on the bed. "I should have asked you first but….during my hospital stay and recovery I have asked Alex and Bobby if they would take temporary custody of you."

"Huh?"

"It's for your protection, something tells me that your Grandmother is in the process of filing for custody of you and that…." She says firmly. "Will never happen."

"So, we're gonna stay here and not move in with the Alex's Mom and Dad?"

"Yes," she places her arm around Rachels shoulder. "I want you to tell me honestly, are you alright with this?"

Rachel stands and begins to pace around the room, Jackie chuckles, "You've been hanging around with Bobby too much." They share a laugh. Rachel resumes her seat next to her mother, "Honestly," she pauses. "I love it here," she kisses her mother's cheek. "And I love you."

Garden Grove Re-Hab Center Palisades New Jersey

Visitor's Room

"Mother, oh it so good to see you." He reaches for her, she sits down.

"Charles, you are looking well."

"Thank you," he sits across from her. "I only have seventy-five more days to go." He says sadly.

"Seventy-five days here compared to seventy-five days in jail, don't complain Charles. I'm not responsible for your being here."

"I know that," he sits back in the chair speaking proudly, "My lawyer is in the process of making a deal with the DA, no jail time after my release from here, but I would be on probation for two years."

"Yes I know about the deal he called me yesterday," she says smugly.

"Mother have you seen Jackie or Rachel?"

"Why would I want to see Jackie?" she leans forward, "Now Rachel," she places her bag on the table. "I have hired an attorney about getting custody of my granddaughter. He thinks I have a good chance of taking her away from that trash that you married." A smug expression crosses her face. "I told you not to marry her but did you listen to me? No you didn't and look at all the trouble she has caused you."

"I know Mother but I….I'm her father. I should get custody."

"You?" she laughs mockingly. "No Charles, you will never be granted custody not with the way that you have been behaving. No judge in his right mind would ever give you custody of her, but me….with my education and my money and of course my connections gaining custody of her will be a snap."

"I suppose you're right," he lowers his head.

"Suppose? No….I am right."

"Yes Mother," he says solemnly.

The Office of Peter Jordon

"Yes Jackie, I have contacted all the agencies with your change of address."

"Thank you Peter for everything."

"Yesterday," he leans forward placing his arms on the desk. "I received a phone call from an Oliver Mickens; he called to advise me that Hannah Fogerty, your mother-in-law has petitioned to gain custody of Rachel."

She laughs and he frowns, "Unbelievable," she says shaking her head. "That woman is unbelievable, I'll tell you something Peter, I'm not surprised. All I can say is, yeah she should get custody of Rachel because she did such a great job of raising her only son." She sits back in the chair stretching her legs. "I'm glad that my papers are already in place, giving Bobby and Alex temporary custody."

The Office of Oliver Mickens

"Who in the hell does she think she is?"

Oliver removes his glasses tossing them on his desk, "She is the child's mother and from what I can see she has been a caring parent to her, more than…."

"More than whom? Remember how much money I am paying you."

"Money isn't everything Ma'am."

"It is to me and the people who really count in this world. If you are not able to do this I will get another attorney."

"What I mean is that in today's world money does not always guarantee that you would be a better guardian to her."

She stands, placing her hands on his desk, he looks up, "I don't like to lose Oliver."

TBC

A/N: I am dedicating this chapter and the rest of this story to a man by the name of Randy Pausch and his family. I learned a great deal about this cancer from his blog. The remaining parts of this story will be loosely based on what happened to him in his battle against this cancer, unfortunately he lost.