Rina returns from her doctor’s appointment. She walks to the back of the store to her father’s office. He looks up at her, sits her down, and closes the office door.
“He wants me to see a specialist, Papa. He looked worried but smiled and told me not to get excited.”
“This is Doctor Alito, right?”
“Yes. He said to say ‘hello.’ He scheduled an appointment with a specialist for me next Friday. We just have to wait, Papa,” Rina says.
Her father stares at the ceiling, his face radiating worry and apprehension.
“Go home, sweetheart. I’m going to speak with Dr. Alito.”
She nods and leaves the store.
Rina doesn’t go home. Instead, she goes to see Teri, who invites her in for tea. They sit at her kitchen table drinking Chamomile. Rina begins to cry. Teri leads her into her living room and sits her down on the couch. She holds Rina in her arms as Rina continues to weep.
Tony drives to Dr. Alito’s house in Oak Park. When he sees him pull into his driveway, Tony gets out. As the doctor unloads files from the back seat of his car, Tony calmly taps him on the shoulder.
Alito turns and flinches when he sees that it’s Tony.
“Tony, what are you doing here?”
“You know, Salvatore, you know. Why don’t you invite me in for a cup of coffee, let me say ‘Hi’ to Lena, and we can talk?”
Dr. Alito frowns heavily, but he cannot refuse. It would be a huge mistake. He gestures Tony toward the house. Once inside, his wife Lena greets them, and they engage in small talk. Then Dr. Alito leads Tony to his home office.
“Okay, tell me,” Tony says.
Dr. Alito leans forward in his office chair, folds his hands on the desk, and sighs.
“I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s cancer,” he says. Tony starts to pace, making Dr. Alito apprehensive.
“So, you don’t know for sure and that’s why you’re sending her to a specialist?”
“Of course. He’s an oncologist. I did not tell her any of this, but I think she has an idea. I wish she had come to me sooner.”
Tony leaves the doctor sitting in his office chair. Alito rubs his wrinkled forehead and breathes a sigh of relief.
When Tony returns home, he hopes to find Rina, but she’s not there. He picks up the phone and calls Teri, who answers on the third ring.
“My daughter there, Teri?”
“Yes, Papa, she’s here with me. Do you want to talk to her?”
“No. I’ll wait until she gets home. Is she okay?”
“I think so, yes. We’re just talking and I fixed her something to eat. I’ll call you when she leaves.”
Tony hangs up and sits at the kitchen table. Then he leans over and puts his face in his hands. So much is happening and all of it too fast. I wish Paulie was here. Then he thinks about it and shakes his head. No. He reaches under the table for the jug of Italian wine, pours a glass, and drinks it.
“You know I’m here for you Rina,” Teri says, opening the front door to let her friend out.
They hug each other tightly at the threshold. Rina dreads going home to her father, knowing he’ll have all kinds of questions for her. Sometimes she wishes that she’d made a life for herself and not obsessed on her one true love. She hopes everything will work out.