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‘You look like you’re about to face a firing line,’ Scott said to Nellie as he helped her on with her coat.
‘Well I am, aren’t I? I’m going to walk into that doctor’s office a normal woman and come out as lord knows what.’ Nellie took her thin woollen scarf out of her coat pocket and wrapped it around her throat.
‘You’ll be coming out as you, nothing will change. Whatever the doctor says, we will face it together.’ Scott straightened the collar on his Nan’s coat. ‘Now let’s go and get this over with. Mark said he’d try and pop round later to see how you are.’
Nellie solemnly walked to the front door. ‘Coming to commiserate, is he? While I can still remember who he is?’
Scott let out a silent sigh. He couldn’t blame her; he was feeling just as anxious about getting these results. It wasn’t only her life that might be about to change forever: he might go from grandson to carer in an instant.
*****
The doctor did another examination of Nellie and asked her another series of questions about her day-to-day wellbeing. It didn’t sound hopeful to Scott, it felt like she was double-checking her diagnosis one more time before breaking the news.
After a few agonising minutes of waiting for the doctor to type up her notes into the computer, she finally turned her chair to face them. ‘So, Mrs Williams, I believe the issue is with your thyroid. The technical term is “hypothyroidism”, but it’s also known as thyroid disease. The good news is we can manage it with medication.’
‘What about all this forgetting business?’ Nellie didn’t sound convinced this was the right determination.
‘That is a common symptom of thyroid disease and it also ties in with some of the physical symptoms you described, like the fatigue and feeling the cold more than usual. Your cholesterol and heart rate all point to this being the issue. Nothing other than the memory loss suggests you are suffering from a dementia-related condition.’
Scott wanted to cry with relief. ‘Are you absolutely sure?’
The doctor nodded. ‘As sure as I can be at this stage, the blood tests look pretty conclusive. We’ll start you on the medication, Mrs Williams, monitor your response and we should know pretty quickly if we’ve made the right call.’
‘Oh, thank you, doctor,’ Nellie said. ‘How soon until I’m my old self again?’
‘Not too long, hopefully,’ the doctor was already typing up the prescription. ‘With some people the results are almost immediate, others can take some time to respond to the medication. It might be a good idea to have somebody stay with you for a few days, to keep an eye on things.’
‘She’s staying with me already,’ Scott said. ‘I’ll look after her.’
The doctor smiled at him. ‘You’re a lucky woman, Mrs Williams, not everybody is so well cared for.’
Nellie squeezed Scott’s hand so hard, he thought she might break the skin. ‘I am, doctor. I am very lucky.’
*****
That night Scott threw an impromptu dinner party to celebrate. It was hard to tell who was more jubilant: his Nan hadn’t looked this happy since the wedding, Evan had a smile plastered from ear-to-ear, and Mark kept getting sentimental and sniffly. Scott was grateful too, of course, but he couldn’t help feeling it was a stay of execution. Sooner or later his Nan would need to be looked after. He knew from taking care of Patrick at the end of his illness that this would be no small undertaking. No point worrying about it now, but he should prepare for that day sooner rather than later.
‘Scott tells me you’re all friends with Mel again,’ Mark said to Evan.
‘Yes, she even apologised to Scott the other night.’
‘I should think so after the stunt she pulled at your reception,’ Nellie said. ‘An apology is the least you deserve.’
‘She’s alright, Nan,’ Mark said, ‘she was going through something.’
‘From what I can see it was all of her own doing. I’m glad that you saw sense and stopped courting her. That one has trouble written all over her.’
Scott could see Evan wanted to defend Mel, but he was probably struggling to come up with a counter-argument.
‘I do think she’s changed,’ Evan said. ‘She seems more... aware now, that other people have feelings.’
Nellie was about to respond when Scott caught her eye and signalled her to stop. Her open mouth dropped into a grimace and she pierced another piece of pasta onto her fork.
‘How’s the bar doing, Mark?’ Evan said.
‘Bit slow, actually. Now the tourist season is over, we’ll be quiet till the Christmas parties start. January will be dead. Bit worried about it, to be honest with ya.’
‘Have you thought about drag?’
‘Don’t think I’ve got the legs for it.’ Mark grinned.
Everyone chuckled.
‘No, you haven’t,’ Nellie said. ‘They’re like two tree trunks.’
‘And I’m not shavin’ ‘em for anybody,’ Mark said, winking at her.
‘I meannnn.... would you consider a drag show one night?’ Evan asked. ‘I’m representing a few drag queens now, top quality, and your bar would be perfect for a midweek event. Maybe drag bingo, or karaoke?’
‘Yeah,’ Mark said, stroking his chin, ‘that might work. Just what we need to perk the place up. Can you put together some numbers for me to take to the boss?’
Scott was impressed. Evan was taking this new business seriously and obviously had the right instincts for it. He looked at his little family round the table and was overjoyed and terrified. The amount of love he felt for them was overwhelming, yet the scare with his Nan had warned him how fragile these bonds truly were, and of the potential to spin that love into pain. And if Evan knew the truth about Zach and him, would his entire future be ripped away? Now his Nan was sorted, he would have to deal with that time bomb, before it was too late to cut the red wire.