Chapter 12: All Screwed Up

Mary walked out into the living room to find Joe asleep in the same spot where she had left him. She tried her hardest to keep quiet as she got herself a small breakfast before work and made something for Joe to grab when he woke up, if he was interested in eating yet.

"Mary?" he gruffly asked.

Mary was on her way to the door, but stopped and gave him her attention as she put on her coat. "How are you feeling?"

Joe rubbed his throbbing forehead as he slowly sat up. The sun light coming through the window was his worst enemy at the moment. "What the hell?" he asked finally looking around.

"You came here last night wanting me to talk to Rhoda for you. You were so drunk you basically just passed out here."

"Sorry about that," he said.

"Yeah well," Mary said as she grabbed her purse. "I guess you weren't really in a good state of mind." She was about to leave, but stopped before she grabbed the handle. The last words he had said to her the previous night went through her head. He was sick and to not tell Rhoda.

Her arm fell back to her side and she took a step back. "Joe? Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah, I think my head's gonna explode," he said.

"No, I mean," Mary stopped and thought before she spoke. It was hard for her to ask what she was about to ask. Taking a few steps closer to him, she leaned against the couch. "You told me last night that you were sick, and that I shouldn't tell Rhoda."

Joe slowly looked over to her. He tried his hardest to try and remember, but he couldn't. "I did?" he asked.

"Yeah, you told me that you didn't know yet, but you needed to talk to me," Mary said.

Joe sighed. The painful memories that he had been trying to shove out of his head were all coming back. A familiar pain that he had felt when ever he thought about it. "Maybe during your lunch or something you can take me to my hotel room and I can show you. I have the results there. I haven't checked them yet. I'm afraid to see."

"What were you tested for?" Mary asked.

"You know, the usual. Infections, blood abnormalities, esophagus cancer."

"I see," Mary said. With her friends' lives crumbling before her, it was hard to comprehend everything going on at the moment. She completely stood up and started to turn towards the door. "I'll go with you during lunch."

"Thanks," Joe said.

"Yeah," Mary sighed and then left for wok.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Mary showed up for work. She was absent, more quiet than usual. Slowly, she hung up her coat and then headed to her chair, which was now occupied by Sue Anne.

"Something wrong Mary?" Murry asked upon seeing her.

Sue Anne turned to her. "Yeah, you're usually happier, like annoyingly happy."

"No, there's nothing wrong. Just thinking," Mary said.

Sue Anne stood up. "Has our little Mary gotten herself into trouble? You know there are ways of protecting yourself, and if you need some help I can surely..."

"That's not it," Mary said cutting her off.

"Alright then." Sue Anne was unconvinced as she smugly smiled to her. "If you need me I'll be down the hall," she said as she stood up.

Mary just watched her head towards the door and leave before she sat down. Everything that had happened within the past few days just didn't feel real to her anymore. It was almost as if her life had become one of those movies that you would watch alone when you felt like crying. Two friends coming to her, both problems that they kept from each other, causing strain between them. What was she going to tell Rhoda next time she heard from her? That Joe was just a selfish jerk who had left her? She couldn't do that anymore. There was a reason, a good reason now as to why he was acting so weird.

"You sure there's nothing wrong?" Murray asked.

Mary nodded. She couldn't tell anyone at this point. There was no definite answer to what was going on, so there was no need to start anything. "I'm fine. Like I said just thinking. I think just everything going on between Rhoda and Joe. It just seems weird to me, that's all."

"As long as you're okay," Murray said and then went back to what he was working on.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

While Mary was at work, Joe managed to find out when the next flight to New York was and get his things all packed up to leave that night. The one thing waiting was the results.

The results were in the envelope that sat before Mary and Joe. Neither of them wanted to open it. As soon as they found out what was going on, it would seem too real. There was always the chance of it being nothing, but the odds were against him.

"You want me to open it?" Mary asked.

Joe looked over to her. "Sure," he said. His voice was absent of any emotion, yet everything was rapidly going through his head, playing out every outcome that could come of this, trying to quickly figure out what to do with each possibility. Wondering what would come next for everything in his life. Heart rapidly pounding in his chest, sweating hands that began to slightly tremble as he watched her pick up the envelope. His entire future was printed before him on a piece of paper.

Mary pulled out a few papers and skimmed through each of them. Some statements, records, and then finally, the test results. Each disease and disorder suspected, listed out. Next to them either a negative or positive written by them. All of them were negative, well all except for one.

"Well?" he anxiously asked.

Mary slowly looked up. Eyes full of sorrow. That was all Joe had to see to know. "I'm sorry," Mary said.

"So am I," Joe said.

The room began to feel tense and uneasy, but no matter how bad it got for her, Mary knew that it had to be ten times worse for Joe. "If you need anything," she started. It was pointless, but she had to say something, just to let him know that she did care.

Joe adverted his eyes off to the side as he began to scratch at the back of his neck. "Actually, do you mind if I have some time alone? I gotta finish getting ready to leave. Figure out a few things."

"Yeah, sure." Mary went to leave, but stopped and turned back to him. "I guess all there's left to say now is good luck with things." She stood there a moment as she watched him gaze towards the floor and then turned and continued on her way out.

As soon as he knew that she was gone, Joe began to pace the floor. With every glance down at the paper in his hands, he wished he would just wake up and find out that it was all a bad dream.

He carefully let out a labored sigh and sat down. His eyes went over that paper at least ten times, each time his hand clenching onto it tighter and tighter. The anger had built up to the point where he had finally just crumbled the paper up and threw down to the floor. "Damn it!" he yelled out as he stood up.