The Browns were once again jammed into Angie's car, heading to another hospital to seek a different opinion.
They had consulted doctor Bill Mathews, who had run tests on Nobert and given full conclusive reports.
Alice hadn't believed it, and she couldn't.
"I don't believe this crap," She had said while the family was in the doctor's office.
"Sorry," Bill had said.
"I don't believe this crap. You might have confused the results with someone else's. My husband can't have cancer. He is the most health-conscious person I know," Alice had said.
"I understand that this might be hard for you. However, you need to understand that the earlier we get him on treatment, the higher his chances of him surviving. As it is, it's already in the final stages, so…."
"No. He is cancer-free. You don't know what you're saying. Where did you even study medicine?" Alice asked.
Angie and Gabriel were quiet, looking at the charts before them; they heard their mother deny the authenticity of the results and looked at each other, then nodded in agreement.
It wasn't easy for them, but the results were before them.
Gabriel had also been staying at home, so he knew how sick his father had been.
He had lost some hair and lost weight. He complained of having trouble when going for a short call and had complained of blood in his urine and semen.
If it wasn't cancer, it had to be another serious illness, and Gabriel knew they had to do something fast and quick, or they would lose his father.
Nobert and Gabriel had been as close as any father-son duo could be. Gabriel would say that everything he knew had been taught to him by his father.
"I studied at Stanford. I did…"
"Well, that's not good enough. I will consult another doctor. I am convinced we will come out with something positive," Alice had said.
Bill hadn't been in the field for long, but at 31, he had handled patients exactly like Alice, so he understood where she came from.
He understood that she felt just like he had felt all those many years ago when his brother Dan had been diagnosed with manic depression.
Their family had crumpled then. Their dad William had turned to an alcoholic, and their mother had walked away on them, never to return.
For a young Bill, he didn't know what hurt him the most. The fact that his brother was sick, his dad being an alcoholic. Or was his mother leaving them?
He hated the mother for that but funny enough, he didn't resent the dad because at least he was present.
William would leave for their money to buy the basic necessities and a young Bill took on the responsibility of taking care of his young brother.
He had once left home, to his mother's ancestral home, but she hadn't gone there. The grandparents didn't even know she had left her family.
However much Bill had tried to be there for his family, he couldn't do everything.
Dan had relapses and remissions, delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and mood swings.
He needed medication, and no one was there to help. The uncles and aunts kept their distance.
Then one morning, when Bill was to leave for school, he went into Dan's room like was the norm.
The brother was lying in the same position he had left him the night before.
Everything was where he had left it, which wasn't normal, given Bill would always kick things around the room.
Bill had moved towards Dan's bed and bent over it. Dan's body was cold, and there was no pulse in him. He was no more.
"You two seem quiet? Do you believe what that doctor said?" Alice asked her kids while in the car.
"I don't know, mum. All I know is that dad needs medical attention as soon as he can get it."
"That doesn't mean we should believe every quack doctor," Alice reiterated.
She was full of high hopes, but when they got into that doctor's office and explained the symptoms Nobert had, they saw him shake his head in pity or disbelief. They couldn't tell which.
He asked that they carry out tests, and when the results came back, hours later, they were similar to Bill's diagnosis.
But still, Alice wouldn't believe it. She needed more opinions, but Nobert, Angie, and Gabriel were convinced that it wasn't worth the efforts.
They had been through enough already.
"Are you going to give up?" Alice had asked.
"No, mum. It's not a matter of giving up. We're spending lots of money on consultations, money that could be used to carry out his surgery and get some drugs," Angie had opined.
"You can't be complaining about money when we're worried about your dad's health," Alice told Angie in anger.
"Why not? Won't we need money for his treatment?"
"I thought that when you grow up, you would be more compassionate, but you never will be," Alice started, but Gabriel interrupted.
"This isn't the time to be fighting. We need to hold each other's hands and walk together. If not for ourselves, then for our dad and your husband," he said, looking at Angie then Alice.
"He is right. Besides, I am tired of all those needles and sitting under those machines, Alice," Nobert had said weakly.
"Good point. We need to get him into treatment. It might prolong his life," Angie said.
"He's not going to die," Alice said. "Nobert, you promised me that we will be through this life with you, so I won't let you leave me here. You hear me?"
"I didn't say I was leaving," Nobert weakly answered as he smiled.
Alice moved towards him and hugged him tightly. The scene was emotional, especially when the two kids joined.