THE SIX LITER CLUB by HARRY KRAUS

Author:HARRY KRAUS
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books
Published: 2010-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

20

ON MONDAY MORNING, I sat in front of Tina Kinser in my clinic. “I talked it over with Dr. Gilles.”

“Well?”

“I’ll do what you request.”

“Dr. Gilles agreed?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Not exactly.” I closed her file and placed it across my lap. “He won’t tell me what to do, but he makes it clear what he would do.”

“Are you going to be in trouble?”

I reached for her hand. “This is right for you. As far as I’m concerned, this is an issue between you and me. What’s right for someone else or for everyone else, for that matter, may not be what is best for Tina.” I shrugged. “If someone has a problem with that, I’m ready to defend myself.”

“When do we operate?”

“I’ve got space on my schedule the day after tomorrow.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “OK.”

“Have you told your husband?”

She pulled her fingers through her hair and shook her head. She laughed nervously.

“We’ve separated.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was overdue.”

“He doesn’t know?”

She shook her head. “He’s not in the equation.”

“How long have you been married?”

“Twenty years.”

I pushed my rolling stool away from the table. “How much of this is due to your diagnosis?”

She stared at the wall. “Cancer has nothing to do with my failed marriage.”

“Facing cancer makes people do crazy things. I know a seventy-year-old woman who went bungee jumping as soon as she found out she had colon cancer.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m just exploring a possibility with you. I want to make sure you aren’t making rash decisions because you’ve had a serious threat to your health.” I paused. “Decisions you may regret.”

She looked down at her hands. “Cancer has made me wake up a bit.” She sighed. “OK, so I’m entitled to my own little midlife crisis. Psychiatrists aren’t exempt.”

I settled into a very nonsurgical mode, one that felt good. Relaxed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Her shoulders slumped. Lines appeared at the edges of her full lips. “I had an affair with a resident.”

I stayed quiet.

“At first, I think I did it to get back at my husband.”

“He’s hurt you?”

She nodded. “Then this happened.”

“Your cancer?”

Another nod. She pressed her fist against her upper lip. “At first I thought it was what I deserved because of . the way I’d behaved.” She sniffed and looked at me with wet eyes. “Then I started realizing that this apparent curse could be a blessing of sorts.”

“A blessing?”

“A wake-up call. It helped me see that I’d fallen into a boring routine with a man I no longer loved.”

“You said he hurt you. Did he have an affair?”

She bit her bottom lip. “Yes.”

“But you stayed with him.”

“I didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t brave enough to leave.” She paused. “Until now.”

“What does he want?”

“What do most men who have an affair to stroke their ego want when they come to their senses?”

I shrugged. “Forgiveness.”

“He’d be a fool to leave me. I’ve supported him in the lifestyle he wanted.”

“Forgiveness is tougher than leaving.”

“Are you married?”

I almost laughed. “No.”

“You have an idea about love.

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