Chapter 20

Week 12 - Monday

Frank Jones was in my office almost before I was. "Well, Ed, at least I found something out. I have cancer of the stomach. They won't know how bad it is until they do some more tests."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Frank. When are they going to do the other tests?"

"I'll be in and out of the hospital all this week. My wife or I will keep you informed."

I thanked him and wished him luck. I watched his body language as he left. I could tell he figured it was bad.

I had to get away from my desk, so I walked over to R&D. I talked for a couple of minutes with Marty, and another couple of minutes with Missy by phone.

I didn't know what to think about Frank. I didn't know if it was bad. I knew that most cancers could be cured, if they were caught early enough. I didn't know anything at all about cancer of the stomach.

Week 12 - Tuesday

Gene was in my office, early, but at least this time he was smiling. "I don't guess I should find this funny, but I'm afraid I do," he said as he sat down in one of my visitor chairs.

"What's that, Gene?" I asked.

"Roger Tipton was at Exiter, working on their sort controller. It has a problem that we haven't been able to isolate. He had the system shut off, and he was climbing over the first belt in the area that separates the boxes."

"Okay."

"It seems the belt he had climbed on started by itself. He fell on his butt onto the belt and he was taken down stream."

"Is he okay?"

"I'm getting to that. Luckily, his hands were up in the air when he got to the next belt, which wasn't running. The belt he was on pulled his ass cheek down between it and the downstream belt."

"Oh, shit."

"Oh, shit is right. If the downstream belt had been running, there wouldn't have been a problem. As it was, when his ass cheek was pulled down between the belts, it was pinched something terrible. He's in the hospital, but he'll be released this morning. He says his one ass cheek has a hematoma that is as big as half of a melon."

"Where is he?"

"He's in Fort Worth. I don't know how the hell we're going to get him home. Obviously he can't sit on the hematoma on the plane."

"Is his other butt cheek okay?"

"He says it is."

"Maybe someone can buy him a pillow for his other cheek to rest on. That way his damaged cheek could just hang out in the air."

"Good idea. I suggested he stay down there for a day or two, to give it a chance to go down some. I'm sending Larry Steinhelm out there to work on the problem. Maybe he can help Roger before Roger starts back."

"Good idea. Roger is going to be off work for a while anyway. Let him stay there as long as he feels he needs to."

Okay, I didn't think getting a hematoma as big as half a melon on your ass cheek was that funny. Brenda did. She giggled her way through lunch, talking about it. Brenda said she thought I could use a pinch like that on both of my cheeks. I'll have to admit, a friend of mine used to tease me. He said I have a vitamin deficiency ... No assatall.

The wedding seemed to intrude in every conversation now. Maybe intrude isn't the right word. Thinking about it, I know it would upset Missy.

"Mom says she's received RSVPs from the wedding invitations," Missy told me on the phone.

"Any from Belding?" I asked.

"That's the interesting part," Missy said. "She says she's had six people from Belding reply. She also said she's had three other people from Belding write to her and ask if they could attend. How many people at Belding did you tell Mom to invite, Ed?"

"Six. My four managers, Brenda, and Mike Severt."

"Mom didn't say who the other three are. I'll ask her the next time I talk to her."

Tomorrow would be our last day here. I would leave for Muncie on Thursday.

Week 12 - Wednesday

My last day at work! I went in early, and had breakfast. I was sitting, quietly talking with Brenda, when Mike Severt asked if he could join us. Of course we agreed.

"I just wanted to congratulate you. I think you and Missy make a fine couple and I'm sure you will have many years together," Mike said.

"Thank you," I said. "It's been kind of a rough row to hoe, but we think everything will be fine now."

"Well, I wanted to tell you that, because I won't be coming to the wedding. Since Mel, Marty, Gene, and Dale are all going to be gone, I didn't think it would be smart to leave as well."

"I understand, Mike. We'll miss you, but I understand how you feel," I said.

"I know you were planning to take a week off, but I want you to take two. Everything is running well in your department now, so indulge me and take two weeks."

"I don't have two weeks of vacation coming, Mike," I said.

"This isn't vacation. This is comp time. Just relax and enjoy."

"Well, I thank you from the bottom of my heart," I said.

Brenda had set up a meeting with my managers, and they started to drift in. Mike excused himself and left for his office. Once Brenda and the rest of the crew showed up, we got underway.

"Okay, people, I would like a status report from each of you. Lets hear from you first, Dale," I said.

I listened and Brenda took notes as each of my managers spoke. When they finished, they looked at me expectantly.

"Okay. It seems to me that you have a handle on everything. Are there any problem areas that I should know about?" I asked.

Everyone assured me there wasn't. All of them wished me the best of luck in our marriage.

Week 12 - Thursday

The drive to Muncie seemed to take forever. I had a million things running through my mind. Was I doing the right thing? Was Missy really the right one? Would she turn out like Lorna?

Then I stopped and really gave Missy the benefit of the doubt. I thought of the way she loved me and the way I loved her. She wasn't anything like Lorna.

I settled a lot in my mind during that drive. When I got to Muncie, I was a lot calmer than I had been for weeks.

Missy ran into the yard and threw her arms around me, when I arrived. I could feel her excitement as she kissed me and then led me into the house. Her mother, Alice, was almost as fired up as her daughter.

"You remember Charise and Sue, don't you, Ed?" Missy asked.

I told her that of course I did, and I asked Alice what I could do to help, and she told me to just stay out of the way. Missy giggled and gave me a big kiss. "She's right, honey. We have everything under control. I'm sure Sue will keep you company though."

Sue blushed, and then grinned. "Sure, come with me," she said.

When they were outside, Sue yelled, "Uncle Paul, we're going to borrow the tractor!"

He was standing across the yard, talking to Missy's Uncle Al. He just waved his hand and kept on talking. Sue climbed on the tractor and motioned for me to follow her. I'll have to admit I was a little reluctant to do so, but finally I complied.

Sue started the tractor, and then put it in gear. We took off at a speed that I thought was reserved for snails. The tractor was a little noisy for carrying on a conversation, but Sue shouted, telling me things about the farm.

She was very knowledgeable, and I learned a lot about the farm. We were probably about as far from the farmhouse as we were going to get, when Sue stopped the tractor, and turned it off. She gave me a big grin, and said, "Come on."

I watched as she disappeared into a grove of trees. Reluctantly, I followed. "My sister and I used to come over here a lot, in the summer," Sue said as we stopped to look at a large swimming hole. "I couldn't have been more than ten when Missy went off to college, but we spent a lot of time swimming in the creek before she did."

I didn't know what to say, so I kept my mouth shut. Sue looked like she was lost in thought, so I just let her think. "I haven't been around Missy much over the last few years, but she means a lot to me. I know from what Aunt Alice says and from the letters she has written that you mean a lot to her."

She was quiet for a minute, and I was beginning to think she was through talking, when she went on. "I really hope everything works out for you guys. I hope you have a long and happy life together."

"Thank you, Sue. I hope the same things for us. I also hope we stay in touch. Relatives are special people, and we should always stay close to them," I said.

We walked around and talked for a while. Sue was a lot more relaxed and a lot less flirty than the last time we were here. Finally, after it was almost dinner time, we mounted the tractor and headed back.

Missy was still flying high, but she had settled down enough that we could at least carry on a conversation. We went to bed fairly early, and Missy informed me that tomorrow night I'd have to sleep at the hotel. It didn't surprise me, so I readily agreed.

We made love gently, but with an underlying passion that couldn't be denied. When we had finished, and Missy was laying in my arms, she said, "Well, I don't think I gave Dad anything to talk about. I was actually pretty quiet."

"Yeah," I laughed. "I'm sure he'll find something though."

Week 12 - Friday

I knew from the start that this was going to be a bad day. I knew Missy would be busy with getting ready for the wedding. I knew my family and friends would be coming in later in the day, but I doubted they'd have time for me.

I watched Missy as she slept, then as she began to wake. Before she even opened her eyes, I could see a smile start to grow. She stretched, and I couldn't help pulling the sheet off her body, so I could see her in all her glory.