The Coffee Shop (24 page)

“No, I just wish I hadn’t gotten in her way like that. That I had let her be the person she wanted to be. Not this person she has become because of me.”

“Is she happy?”

“I can only assume she is.”

“Are you saying you can’t tell?”

“I would like to think that if she really didn’t want to do it, that she wouldn’t.”

“Well, there you go then.”

“I think she’s doing it because she believes I want her to.”

Brian was silent for a time, before he sighed. “Ask her that.”

“What?”

“Ask her. Ask her if she’s really happy, and look her in the eye when she answers. You’ll know.”

“And if she’s not?”

“Then ask her why she’s doing it if she isn’t? Tell her you don’t want her doing it for any other reason than she wants to.”

“As simple as that, huh?”

“Yes.”

Derrick became quiet, and it wasn’t until they were sitting at the bar that he finally spoke. “Scotch, single-malt, neat, and make it a double.”

“Whoa, a double?”

“It’s pretty clear you don’t believe me. And by this point, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Then why the double?”

“Because I am about let an entire planeload of people die.”

“Okay, you’re going to have to explain that one in a little more detail than that.”

“Calaire, flight two one nine to Toronto is going to crash, killing everyone on board.” Brian didn’t say anything, but Derrick could feel his eyes boring into him. “I have no idea what causes it. Was it pilot error? A flock of geese? Engine failure? Mechanical failure? Because I have no idea, I can’t warn them. And even if I did, who’s going to believe me. If I called up and told you a flock of geese was going to fly into so-and-so’s engine causing it to crash, would you believe me? They inspect those planes on a regular basis, if it was mechanical, then whatever it was wasn’t obvious, so odds are they wouldn’t find anything. If it was pilot error, who’s to say they won’t do it again at another time. Or that it won’t come down on some other day, in some other way? The best I can do is put off the inevitable. They ground the plane and inspect it for…for what? A bomb that isn’t there, and then it gets cleared for takeoff. Or they ground it, inspect it, don’t find what they didn’t find the time before that, and put it back into service, and some other planeload of people get to die instead?”

“Um…”

“Don’t. Don’t say it. I don’t want to hear it. It’s pretty clear you have nothing to offer me.”

“Then why did you ask me to come here with you?”

“You know, I’m asking myself that same question. I know I sound crazy, but this isn’t the first time you didn’t believe me, and I have to say…I always thought you had more faith in me than that. But apparently, you don’t.”

“Okay, just for argument. Say the plane is going to crash, as you say, wouldn’t calling be better than not?”

“It would most likely result in me being imprisoned for making a terrorist threat, or filing a false report or something, I don’t know, and the plane would only wind up back in the air at some point. I mean, what are the odds it is pilot error, or geese? It’s most likely something mechanical, and they obviously haven’t found it to prevent it.”

“So you are convinced the plane is going down regardless of what you may try to do to stop it?”

“Call it a gut feeling. And you really need to work on that sound you get in your voice when you become patronizing. Bartender, could you turn it to a news station and turn it up, please? Thank you.”

“Calaire, flight two one nine to Toronto has gone down. At present, it appears there are no survivors. Rescue personnel are…”

Brian slipped his sunglasses off, his face losing all sign of color as he stared at the screen. “Derrick, wasn’t that the flight Annie was supposed to take?”

“Yes.”

Brian turned to face him. “Derrick, where is Annie?”

He reached into his inside coat pocket, pulling out a passport and boarding pass he laid it on the bar. “She’s definitely not on that plane.”

“She could always just get another boarding pass.”

“Yes, but she put it into her passport. So when she went to retrieve it from her purse, she would see her passport was gone. Without a passport, she’s not getting into Canada. Which means she would not get on the plane.” He looked at his watch. “She’s probably been trying to get a hold of me to ask me to help her track down her passport. Too bad, I turned off my cell phone so I could have a proper conversation with my good friend, Brian. And too bad I went to some place I never go, so it makes it near impossible to find me.”

Stepping through the front door of his suite, Derrick tossed his keys into the crystal glass bowl on the table by the door.

“You have your cell phone turned off!”

“Annie? What are you doing back here?”

“My passport, it’s missing. I always keep my boarding pass in it, and when I went to check in, I think someone stole it out of my purse.”

“I hate to say this but — ”

“I know! I know, you’ve told me time and again to close my purse.”

“So, by the very fact that you are standing here, I guess you missed your flight then?”

She turned white as a sheet.

“My God, Annie, what is it?”

“My flight. The one I was supposed to be on. It crashed!”

She started hyperventilating, and grabbing hold of her, Derrick led her over to the couch.

“No one survived.” She looked up at him, her expression fearful. “They’re all dead!” She stood, pacing the carpet before him. “I could have been…dear God…oh, my God!”

Standing, Derrick took hold of her shoulders. “Hey, hey, hey. You are here with me. You’re safe. You’re all right.”

“Yes, but had it not been for…Oh, I can’t think about it. I just — ” Annie closed her eyes, and pressing a hand to her side, she frowned.

“Annie? Annie, what is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s obviously not nothing, Annie.”

“Oh, I’ve had these for years. Just little aches and pains.” Opening her eyes, she shrugged. “What can I say, I’m getting old.”

“You’re in your thirties. Hate to tell you this, but that’s not old”

“I’ll be fine, like I say, I’ve had them for years. It’s no big deal.”

“All right, if it’s no big deal then you won’t mind seeing the doctor about it.”

“Oh, come on. I am not going to waste some poor doctor’s time with my little discomforts.”

“This is clearly not some little discomfort. You are going to the doctor. We’re going to find out what this is and take care of it. And then you can relax and forget about it. How does that sound?”

“Sounds pretty damn bossy, if you ask me.”

“Did you just say, damn?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“But you don’t…Never mind.”

Chapter Nineteen

“I want you to do whatever it takes. To hell with the cost. Hell I’ll buy a machine if you need it to be able to examine her. Don’t hold back, give her every test this hospital has if necessary.”

“Derrick.”

“Don’t spare any — ”

“Derrick.”

“What?”

“I’ll do everything I can and more. You know that, don’t you?”

For a moment Derrick held Brian’s gaze. “This is Annie we are talking about.”

“I know.”

“I love her more than…if anything were to happen to her…I don’t know how I’d be able to live with it.” He closed his eyes.

“Look, I’m going to do everything I can for her.”

“I know you will.”

Brian waited a moment and lowered his head. “Are you ready to do this?”

Derrick took a deep breath, and straightening before him, he nodded his head. “Yes. I am ready.”

“Good, then let’s be there for Annie.”

Opening the door to his office, Brian stepped inside.

Annie looked up seeing Derrick and her face lit up. “There you are, I’ve been wondering what had happened to you.”

“Got caught in traffic.”

“Ah, the usual excuse.”

“Excuse? I’ll have you know that is never an excuse…well…maybe sometimes. But it makes a great one. Don’t you agree?”

“You always did have the gift of gab, as my grandmother would say.”

Derrick took the seat next to her, Brian sitting behind his oversized cherry wood desk.

“Now, as I was just telling Derrick here — ”

“You were talking about me?” She looked from Brian to Derrick. “Typical. I can just imagine the gossip you two come up with. Why, the air must have been positively blue by the time you two were finished.”

Derrick knew she was nervous, and her talking was her way of dealing with what might be happening to her. Smiling, he reached over, taking her hand in his. But this only caused her more concern…

“Okay, I’ll start by taking a medical history, and then I’ll examine you and order blood tests. How does that sound?”

Annie smiled. “Sounds good.”

Derrick sat forward on his chair. “That’s it? What about X-rays? And there’s the CT scan and MRI?”

Brian looked from Annie to Derrick. “Whoa, we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here, don’t you think?”

“My God, Derrick, you’d think I was dying, the way you are going on. I only have a little pain.”

“That wasn’t a little pain I saw you in.”

“What can I say? I’m a wimp when it comes to these things.”

“You say that, but I’ve never met anyone stronger than you are. For you to show pain…it must be pretty bad.”

“Oh, now look who’s overreacting. Derrick, it’s nothing. I’m sure of it. They’ll run some tests and find out I have some simple little thing, and tell me to stop overdoing it, that’s all.” She waved her hand at the room with its diploma-covered walls, examining table and apparatus all around her. “All this, is just to find out what it is. That’s all.”

“Just how long have you been hiding this from me?”

“Hiding? You make it sound so underhanded.”

“No. That’s not what I meant. If you are having problems, I need to know about it. You need to tell me and not keep me in the dark because you don’t want to worry me with it.”

“I think the words you are looking for is bother you with it. Honestly, Derrick, if I came to you with every little boo-boo I get, you’d be forever kissing it better.” She smiled, squeezing his hand. “Let’s just take this one step at a time. Okay?”

“You have the results of the biopsy?” Derrick knew he had spoken the words, but they sounded as if they were coming from somewhere else.

Brian smiled, but his smile was strained, and Derrick squeezed Annie’s hand more tightly within his grasp.

Annie held up her hand. “Before you say anything, I don’t want any lengthy medical descriptions or words, just give it to me as plainly as you can.”

Brian nodded. “Very well.” He looked down, his eyes fixed on the pages before him. “You have cancer. It’s advanced to…it’s in the late stages, and has…metastasized to your bones.”

Derrick sat forward in his chair. “So how do we treat it?”

Annie squeezed his hand. “We don’t.”

Derrick turned sharply toward her. “What?”

“It’s already metastasized to my bones, Derrick.”

“Yes, but there are treatments. There are things they can do.”

“That will only prolong my life by…not very much, and I would spend the time I have left weak and sick, and…that is not something I want to do.”

Derrick stared. “Brian, talk to her. Tell her. Tell her there is something you can do.”

Brian continued to stare at the papers on his desk. “I hate to say it, but she’s right. It wouldn’t prolong her life by that much, and she would spend the time she has left in a lot of distress.”

Derrick stood glaring down at the two of them. “What the hell is this? There is radiation, there is chemotherapy, there’s…there’s…”

“Derrick.”

He looked down to see Annie smiling up at him.

“Derrick.” She reached up taking his hand. “I don’t want to spend the time I have left flat on my back in bed, vomiting and so weak I can’t move. For the time it would give me, it would only prolong my suffering, and I know you don’t want that. There would be no quality of life. At least this way…”

Derrick thought his legs would go out from under him, and he was aware of Brian helping him to sit before he collapsed to the floor at her feet.

“This isn’t real. No, this is some dream. I’m dreaming. This is a nightmare. That’s what it is. No, I have to wake up. I have to wake up.” He stormed from the office out into the hall and down onto the street. Falling back up against the building, the bricks pressed into his back, and he slid down the wall collapsing onto the sidewalk. Looking up to the sky, he covered his face and wept.