Chapter 16

Lunch was delivered just as I dropped my bomb about the size of my trust. Polly looked stunned. Hawk looked amused, and I waited for the other shoe to drop. The silence stretched out between us for a little while, and then Hawk said, "We knew about your trust, honey. We would never have brought it up under any circumstances. The fact that you wish to have us added as inheritors is remarkable, but we would never have even considered it.

"You need to think long and hard before allowing anyone access to your private fortune. There have to be very good reasons, and the only person that those reasons need to make sense to is you. We don't get to advise you wither way.

"Your money is yours." He was emphatic.

"Angela, we are taking that trip to Sweden so Doctor Abrams can get a look at your pelvis, how the surgical repairs are really healing up, and to give Doctor Abrams a chance to evaluate you from top to bottom. We are concerned about how long it took for you to heal after your last surgery. At fourteen, nearly fifteen years old, you should have bounced back a lot faster, and we want to make sure the doctors and surgeons didn't miss something."

"Besides that," Hawk added, "Doctor Abrams asked us to bring you to him for a comprehensive follow up of your pelvic surgery. He was – to say the least – not pleased to hear you lost your ovaries. If I understand what was relayed to me, he suggested that the surgeon who took them out, might have checked with him first, and he is determined to see for himself that everything is as it should be."

Polly took over. "We want to leave in four days, and it will be your first ride on Air Force One!"

I loved her for how she tried to soften the blow, but I could see that the truth was more than she was saying. "How bad is it?" I asked gently, almost afraid of hearing the answer.

Polly blinked twice, a sure sign that I had surprised her by seeing through their happy talk. Hawk cleared his throat, and said, "There might be some complications from the attack on you, and we think Doctor Abrams is the best man to tell us what to do about it if there are."

Hawk decided that I needed to hear the unvarnished truth, and said, "Your blood work keeps showing up with signs of a massive infection, but nothing they use seems to make a dent in it. Our doctors are completely flummoxed, which is why we're heading to Sweden to see Doctor Abrams. The important thing is to keep a positive outlook and let the good doctor work his magic. That's how your mother and I have decided to proceed, and hope you will do so, too."

He meant it. I could tell from his facial expressions. "If Doctor Abrams can't find out, then how long before I die?"

Polly literally leaped to her feet when I said, 'die.' Her tears were instant, and Hawk went to try and calm her down, but nothing was going to stem the flow of her tears. I could see that she hadn't processed the information from the doctors to the end, and until right then, she had not considered a fatal outcome until I brought it up.

Polly's outburst caused the Secret Service to peel in to make sure nothing bad was happening, but a withering glare from Hawk took care of any potential interruption. Once the door closed and we were alone, once more, Hawk pulled me into a group hug with him and Polly, kissing us both on the head like we were small children, and murmuring soft words of comfort to his wife.

Hawk gave me a steady look that said as much about my chances of survival as his lips did. Right then I accepted the inevitable, and said, "I need to call Tom, and have the trust amended to add you both ... just in case ... Is it Ok t have him fly up here to meet with us to get the papers in order?" Still holding a sobbing Polly, Hawk said, "When we're done eating, have Harriet, outside my door, make a note to set it up, then let her know when he can come, so the Secret Service can pick him up and transport him here."

Polly worked hard to pull herself together. She was as worried about me as she was hurting for herself, and tried to soften the blow by stressing the positives of going to Sweden on Air Force One, and seeing one of the best doctors in the world, but I knew that whatever news was coming wouldn't be good news, and for a little while I really let it get me down.

We ate together, but conversation was strained as I came to grips with the knowledge that I was, once again, terminal. Even though we didn't know all the details, Hawk filled me in as much as he could. "The doctors at Bethesda have consulted with our best minds at Disease Control, and the best they can tell us is that your body isn't recovering from the plague, combined with your injuries, and the shooting. We hope Doctor Abrams can tell us more, because he has a reputation of finding the most impossible ways to cure otherwise cureless conditions, so we made arrangements to go as soon as he agreed to see you.

Polly held my hands and looked straight into my eyes. "I have this total faith that Doctor Abrams will know what to do, and be able to do it, so don't worry sweetheart. We are going to find the cause of your problem and fix it. I promise."