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Angel Wishes
Chapter 6
Fenton sat in Dr. Tanninger's office, listening to him describe exactly what would happen during the biopsy. He had decided to go in with the mindset that he was simply collecting information, just like he did at the beginning of each new case he accepted. Somehow it was easier to absorb all the details if he pretended this was not happening to his wife.
"We'll be doing what's called a core needle biopsy. We remove part of a lump or suspicious tissue using a wide needle," Tanninger explained. "A small incision, approximately one quarter inch in size is made in the skin and the needle is inserted into the lump itself to obtain tissue samples. We usually take between four and six samples. It's done under a local anesthesia, there is minimal scarring and it requires no stitches; only a band-aid."
"How long will the procedure take?" Fenton asked.
"Anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour."
"And this will tell you, definitively, if it's cancer?" Laura asked.
"Yes, once we get the results back from the lab. That generally takes several days but I'll ask them to expedite your results." Tanninger stopped and sighed, resignedly. "There's never a good time for this to happen, but this time of year…well, that's just particularly bad timing. I'd like to put your minds at ease before the holiday if at all possible."
"We appreciate that," Fenton replied, squeezing his wife's hand. He wasn't sure he could make it through Christmas without knowing for sure, one way or another.
The doctor leaned forward slightly, smiling again. "I understand that waiting for the results can be unnerving, but it's important to remember that eighty percent of all breast biopsies are not cancerous."
Fenton smiled to himself. While eavesdropping on his sons' conversation the previous evening, he had heard Frank cite the exact same statistic.
"Are there any other questions I can answer for you?" Dr. Tanninger asked them.
Fenton shook his head no, feeling more at ease having met Tanninger. He liked that the man was straightforward with them, answered all their questions honestly and in plain English, and most importantly did not rush them.
"Okay then." He stood and walked to the door, pulling it open. He looked down the hall and motioned with his arm, then turned back to Fenton and Laura. "Mrs. Hardy, if you'll follow Christine, she'll get you all set up. Mr. Hardy, if you'd like to go back out to the waiting area, we'll let you know as soon as we're finished."
Fenton turned to his wife, noting that both the doctor and his assistant were discreetly waiting in the hall just outside the door, giving him and Laura a little bit of privacy. Looking into Laura's blue eyes, he was suddenly lost for words. Putting his arms around her, Fenton pulled Laura close to him. Resting his cheek on top of her head, he simply held her for a moment, gently stroking her hair.
"I love you, Laura," he whispered. Stepping back, he smiled. "Everything is going to be just fine." He kissed her lightly, walked her out the door and watched until she disappeared into a room at the far end of the hall. Now feeling completely alone, Fenton made his way back to the waiting room, sat down and prayed.
oooOOOooo
Fenton checked his watch again and rolled his eyes. Ten minutes. It was only ten minutes later than the last time he looked. God, how he hated waiting! And this time it was worse than any stakeout or surveillance could ever be. Normally at the end of a boring detail spent watching and following a suspect, he had something to show for it. But when this wait was over, the only thing he really had to look forward to was more waiting.
'Distraction – I need a distraction,' he thought, standing up. Pacing restlessly, he tried to fill his mind with trivial, meaningless information about his latest case, his favorite sports teams, the weather forecast for the upcoming holiday…anything to stop obsessing on whether he and Laura would grow old together or whether he'd face the rest of his life alone.
"Okay, Mrs. Jenson, we'll see you next week if the baby hasn't made an appearance before then."
Fenton turned at the sound of the receptionist's voice. A woman in her mid-twenties, who was obviously about to deliver any day, waved as she left the office. Fenton smiled, an image of his young, very pregnant wife flitting through his mind. They had both eagerly looked forward to starting a family and were thrilled when Laura became pregnant with Frank. When he was born, Fenton had marveled at what an amazing mother Laura was. From day one, she seemed to know, instinctively, what to do in any situation and did it with ease, as if she were born to the role of mother.
He recalled the first time he'd held Frank – he'd been terrified! While Fenton Hardy had no problem chasing down thieves, drug dealers and murderers on the streets of New York City, holding the helpless tiny baby, who was completely dependent on him for everything, had ignited a fear in him like nothing he'd ever experienced before. But then he looked up and saw Laura smiling at him – him and their son – and he knew everything would be fine.
While Fenton recalled his initial parenting skills, which could best be described as laughable, his wife's had seemed near perfect. Laura had been patient, loving and supportive, helping him learn the ins and outs of being a new daddy and giving him the time he needed to adjust to this new role of father. With seeming ease, she taught him and encouraged him in caring for their infant son, while still really learning herself.
By the time Joe came along nineteen months later, Fenton was much more confident in his ability to help Laura raise their two sons into young men they would both be proud of.
'And we did…'
Standing at the window, he stared out as years of memories bubbled up from deep in his heart. Being a cop's wife with two young children hadn't been easy but Laura made it look that way. And when Fenton approached her to discuss going out on his own as a private investigator, she had been his biggest supporter. They had packed up and moved to Bayport, where Fenton had grown up. But for Laura it was a new town where she didn't know a soul. She was often left alone on a moment's notice with two small boys, so Fenton could build his business and she had taken it all in stride. Her encouragement was constant and unwavering, and when Frank and Joe began to show an interest in his work, Laura offered them the same support and encouragement, despite the anxiety Fenton often saw in her eyes. Worrying and wondering if her husband would come home alive each time he left the house was one thing; but to have that same fear for her children…
Even as he acknowledged the danger, Fenton had been secretly thrilled that his sons wanted to follow in his footsteps. In fact his secret dream was that Frank and Joe would one day join the agency, allowing him to pass the 'family business' on to them when he retired. Smiling, he thought of the dreams he had for retirement. Fenton had traveled all over the world in the course of his work, but he never really had a chance to enjoy it. The first order of business upon retirement would be to revisit many of the exciting and exotic places he'd already seen – with Laura by his side. Nothing sounded more appealing to him than exploring the world with the woman he loved. The only danger he wanted to face in retirement was the possibility of a pulled muscle after a day spent entertaining his grandchildren.
Returning to the chair in the corner of the waiting room, Fenton sat down, crossing one leg over the other. Idly bouncing his foot up and down, he let his thoughts wander back over the years, letting fond memories of Laura and the boys grab his attention.
Chuckling softly, Fenton recalled the day he'd been catching up on paperwork and heard strange whirring and buzzing sounds coming from somewhere outside his office door. His curiosity piqued, he went to investigate, only to find Laura, clad in a child's small plastic hard hat and goggles and wearing a matching toy tool belt crawling around the living room floor on her hands and knees. The buzzing sound was coming from the toy buzz saw she was using on the carpet, while the accompanying whirring sound was from the plastic chain saw five-year-old Joe was using to help his mother build an imaginary structure seen only in the small boy's very vivid imagination.
Joe had gotten the 'true to life sounds' tool set for his birthday a week earlier and had immediately taken a liking to all the annoying noises they made. Oblivious to Fenton's presence, Laura and Joe had spent the better part of the afternoon building what had turned out to be an invisible hideout for the Hardy family to escape into should any criminals slip past the alarm system on the house. For the next several days, both Joe and Laura had to repeatedly remind Fenton to walk around the hideout every time he entered the living room.
While Joe often recruited his mother as an accomplice and playmate, Frank preferred quieter pursuits when he had Laura's undivided attention. Frank had discovered books at an early age and loved nothing better than to snuggle close to his mother while she made his favorite stories come alive. Fenton often found them curled up together in Frank's room or on his and Laura's bed, a stack of children's books beside them. Even after Frank learned how to read, he still preferred having Laura read to him, watching, mesmerized, as she acted out the parts of every character in the book.
Laura's entire world revolved around the boys when they were young, yet even as they grew, when most children wanted to distance themselves from their parents, Laura was still an integral part of their lives. Fenton chuckled softly, remembering the numerous times he'd overheard Frank and Joe's friends telling them how lucky they were to have such a 'cool' mother. Throughout the boys' high school years, the Hardy home somehow became the unofficial gathering place for their close circle of friends, with Laura becoming a second mother to most of them.
Fenton shook his head sadly, realizing how much he'd taken his wife for granted over the years. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the wall.
'Please, God, give the chance to prove I'll never take her for granted again.…'
oooOOOooo
Laura fixed her gaze on a spot on the ceiling, preferring to ignore the minute details of the procedure. She had already decided to focus on happy memories of her family to get her through the next sixty minutes. Laura smiled inwardly, recalling the day she found out she was pregnant with Frank. While she enjoyed her job as an administrative assistant at the county courthouse, the job she wanted more than anything in the world was that of full-time mother.
It had been a struggle on a cop's salary, especially early on, but Fenton knew how much it meant to Laura to be home with their children. He had taken on a lot of private security work in his off-duty hours, and with Laura scrimping, saving and budgeting every single penny, they had somehow made it work. Then, a few years after Joe was born, Fenton retired from the police force to open his own private investigation firm. Money was tight once again, but they never wanted for anything and their house was always filled with the most important thing in the world – love.
In the beginning, Laura often had to be mother and father to their two sons, as Fenton worked tirelessly to make his business a success. While it was hard sometimes, Laura found she cherished all the extra time she spent with Frank and Joe, making sure their father's absences were a little less lonely for them. It was during that period when she began the weekly 'dates' with her sons. Every week, each of the boys got one morning or afternoon to have his mother all to himself, without his brother – or anyone else – clamoring for her attention. Laura ignored everything around her and made her son the center of her world during the course of their 'date'.
She had intended it to be temporary, until Fenton got his business established and he'd be able to spend a little more time with Frank and Joe. But the boys loved the idea of weekly dates with their mother so much that they continued well into their teenage years. Eventually, however, the dates dwindled from weekly to monthly to non-existent as her sons' busy high school activities and social lives, and their amateur sleuthing, gradually took control of all their free time.
Laura knew eventually that would happen and imagined she'd feel rather lonely and forgotten. Yet rather than the emptiness she thought would be there when the inevitable finally did occur, she felt grateful for the close relationship she had with both her sons. A relationship that she knew was built and nurtured by those weekly dates.
"Mrs. Hardy, we're done. You can get dressed now."
Laura heard the nurse's voice and allowed the woman to help her off the table. "Thank you," she smiled.
"I'll go let your husband know we're finished and take him to Dr. Tanninger's office. When you're ready, meet him in there."
Laura smiled and headed for the small bathroom to change back into her clothes. Thinking back over her life with her husband and sons, Laura realized if she could do it all over again, she wouldn't change a thing. Despite the position she found herself in now, Laura felt blessed by the life she'd been given and only hoped she had another forty-plus years to look forward to.
