Page 4 of Beside the Rolling Waves
Becky stilled. Then, she swallowed before she said, “So you had an abortion?” That was the only thing she could think of. After all, Rita hadn’t talked about any pregnancy symptoms at all. Although…they didn’t talk that much.
“No. And it turned out to be twins.”
“Okay,” Becky said slowly. They weren’t born yet? Was she still pregnant? And why in the world hadn’t she told her older sister that she was pregnant, for goodness’ sake? After all, wouldn’t it have been her job to throw a shower for Rita at the very least? She wanted to celebrate it. Not that she had any money to do any kind of celebrating or even to buy her a pair of booties, but still.
“So, when I told you that I wasn’t feeling well, it was on top of the uncomfortableness of pregnancy.”
“Okay.” Becky couldn’t think of anything else to say. She still was missing key pieces of information. She hoped her sister just kept talking.
“Anyway. They did a biopsy. That was the test.”
“Okay. A biopsy. Usually I think of that in connotation with cancer. Obviously this is something different.”
“No. It’s cancer.”
Becky sat, stunned. Trying to compute, to figure out what her sister had said, what this meant, and what she was supposed to do.
Suddenly, Becky felt like she wanted to throw up. Forgetting about the cold, she gripped her phone and stood, the folding chair toppling over behind her as she paced from one side of the small office room to the other. There wasn’t anything in it other than the chair and the heater, and a small stool on which she kept her record books. Along with a pen. There were no electronic records here. It was her phone, her notebook, and her trusty old pen.
But she wasn’t thinking about any of that now.
“You have cancer, or the babies have cancer?”
“I do. They recommended a C-section immediately to take the twins and then have me starting on chemo right away. But…the doctor honestly thought there wasn’t much hope. He can save the babies, but he thinks that a C-section might cause the cancer to spread. Sometimes when you operate and you open it up to the air, it…explodes kind of… That wasn’t exactly what he said, but it was the picture I got when he was talking.”
“So cancer explodes?”
“No…kind of. I don’t know. But I scheduled a C-section for this Friday.”
“Okay.” Becky was running over in her mind what in the world she could do. She had to be there with her sister. She wasn’t quite sure how it was going to work out, but she said, “I’ll be there.”
“Good. Because this is what I need from you.”
Wait. Just being there wasn’t what she wanted?
“Anything. I’ll do anything. Of course I’ll do anything for you. You’re my sister.”
“I love you, Becky. I knew you would say that.” Her voice broke, and there was a short pause. “I need you to take my babies.”
Wait. She was supposed to take her babies? “Your twins?”
“Yeah. They’re almost full term. Thirty-seven weeks. The doctor said they’re going to be small, but as far as he can see, they’re both healthy, and he doesn’t expect any complications for them. For me…he’s not sure. The only thing I know for sure is that I’m not going to be able to take care of them right away.”
“No, of course not. You gotta fight this cancer.”
Rita had cancer. It still hadn’t sunk in. Becky was going to have to help her with her twins. That was a little easier to process, even though it was a surprise. But one question stuck in her head. How?
She looked around the small office. Pacing furiously, it was four steps across. Four small steps. This was the only place where she had extra heat. Upstairs…she kept it so cold that even she could barely stand it. Not to mention, it was one room. Her bed, a sink and counter, and a toilet was all together. There was no room for a crib, let alone…two.
“I knew you would help me out.” It sounded a little bit like her sister was sniffling or maybe crying. “I don’t want to die. But even more, I don’t want my babies to die. They didn’t ask for this. And I’ve got to take care of them. You know how things went for us.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“And I need my babies to have a solid, stable home.”
“Of course you do.”
“That’s why I want Rodney to help you.”
