Biopsy

"Do you have an appointment, Miss?" an elderly gentleman in a teal blazer asked.

"Hi, yes I do," I smiled. He led me to a number reel and handed me a piece of paper with a number. 

"You can sit here dear, and when they call your number you can go see the receptionist.  Have your cards ready and have a nice day" he said walking towards another helpless soul. A chime indicated the number change on the screen and I made my way to the chair across from the receptionist. 

"Health card?" she asked and began typing furiously. "You haven't been to this hospital before?" I shook my head. "Okay, you'll have to fill out this form so we can open a chart for you here.  When you are done you can come right back here and I will register you okay?" She handed me a clipboard with a pen attached to it and I filled in the questionnaire as I was told.  It took at least 15 minutes for her to register me. 

"You will have your ultrasound first, so just follow the green arrows and put this file in box number 14, have a great day" she smiled. I was greeted by a technician when I arrived at box 14, he brought me to a changing room and instructed that I remove everything above the belt and to don 2 hospital gowns. 

"The first one ties in the back, and you wear the second one like a housecoat, '' he instructed. "Just come right into the room when you are ready". The gowns were itchy against my skin and a little suffocating.  I walked over to the technician’s room pulling the second robe tightly around me, disliking how naked I felt without my bra on.

"You can take off this robe" he said pointing to the housecoat "and untie the other one at the back, I will need full access to your neck and shoulders" he said while fiddling with a large machine. Dumbfounded, I wondered why they bothered giving me the second robe if I was going to remove it so soon, but I kept my questions to myself. 

I laid flat on a hard leather table with my neck hyperextended. The technician squirted some warm gel on my throat and proceeded with the ultrasound.  I stared at the technician for any signs of surprise or concern but his face was completely unreadable. After what seemed like forever he announced that he was going to page the radiologist to come and do the biopsy.  I glanced at the clock to see that it was already 4. I wished someone had come with me to help me pass the time and help calm my nerves.  I took a deep breath and relaxed my muscles which were incredibly tense. A heaviness sat on my chest as my anxiety mounted.  If only I could turn back time and never mention this lump to my doctor.   Now that I had asked questions, I was afraid of the answers I would find. I was scared and alone. I started to hyperventilate as the radiologist walked in.  

"Miss Saunders, I'm doctor Khenessi, I will be doing the biopsy on your lump.  How are you doing?" he asked. I swallowed hard and smiled at him. How the hell do you think I’m doing, you’re about to poke me in the throat with a needle!

"Good, thanks" I replied.

"Good, so this procedure doesn’t take very long but we do have to keep you here for half an hour afterwards to monitor your vital signs" he explained. I nodded at him. "First thing I’m going to do is freeze that area of your neck, then, once it's numb I'll use this ultrasound to guide the biopsy needle.  You might feel some pressure but you shouldn’t feel any pain.  If you do, let me know.  Is that clear?" 

"Yes doc" my mouth was incredibly dry in pure fear. 

The doctor left the room and a nurse walked in. 

"Miss Harper Saunders?'' She asked "My name is Linda, I will be assisting Doctor Khenessi. '' Can you tell me your date of birth?" 

"October 6th, 1988" I replied

"Do you have any allergies dear?" She grabbed my arm and looked at the armband there. 

"No"

"Thanks dear" she said with a warm smile.  She pulled out a package wrapped in blue paper and I watched as she meticulously opened it, setting a few instruments on it and pouring some clear pink liquid in a bowl. She made it all look like a precise art.  The radiologist walked back in, washed his hands and put on long latex gloves from a package the nurse had opened for him. He grabbed the tongs in the set up and doused a few big cotton balls in the clear pink liquid before rubbing it on my throat. The liquid was cold and ran down the back of my neck and into my hair. 

"Okay Miss Saunders this will pinch a little but it will numb your throat" he approached my neck with a needle and it did indeed pinch.  He waited a few minutes and poked at my neck to ensure the skin was numb, satisfied that the medication had its intended effect,  he grabbed the ultrasound wand and a different needle, I assume was the biopsy needle and poked around in my neck.  I felt as if someone was gently pushing against my windpipe.  Although uncomfortable it was not painful. He pulled out the needle and handed it to the nurse who placed a sticker on it as he placed a bandage on my neck. "That's it Miss Saunders, we should get the results back in about 6 weeks" 

"6 weeks?" I asked incredulously, "That's an awfully long time" I complained. 

"I know, unfortunately, that's how long it takes to get these results back" he shrugged. The nurse wheeled my bed into a different room and checked my vital signs.

"Do you have someone who will pick you up, dear?" she asked

"Yes" 

"Did you want me to give them a call? You should be fine to go in 15 minutes" 

"Sure, it's this number" I said, giving her Gabriel's business card and pointing to his cellphone number. She looked at the name and her eyebrows flew up. 

"Oh, you know Gabriel Mason?" she asked. 

"He's my… yes, I do," I said unsure why I felt the need to explain myself.

"I'll go give him a call and be right back with your discharge papers." I touched my throat and was disconcerted by numbness there. It was a strange sensation, although still pain free. The nurse returned with papers and announced that Gabriel had been called and was on his way. 

"You might feel some pain once your throat thaws, but that’s completely normal, so is swelling and bruising. If there is any bleeding you should come right back here though, that’s not usually an expected outcome. Do you have any questions dear?" she asked.

"No, I'm good thanks" I said as she handed me a pen and indicated where I needed to sign. She tore one of the carbon copies from the stack and handed it to me before helping me get dressed.  I was thankful I had chosen a V-neck shirt as my neck was certainly a little stiff.

"I'll send one of the care attendants to get you and bring you to the front door. Good luck dear." She smiled at me warmly. 

I was wheeled to the front door where Gabriel was waiting.  I got up from the wheelchair and saw Gabriel flinch; he must have thought I wasn’t supposed to be up and walking, or maybe he didn’t know what a biopsy was but he was certainly startled by my appearance. 

"Where did you want me to bring you?" he asked in a gruff voice. 

"Uhm… back to the camp" I raised a brow at him. 

"You're not working tomorrow" he announced looking at me for a fleeting second. 

"I'll be just fine tomorrow, it was just a biopsy" 

"You need to rest the nurse told me" 

"What? She didn't say that to me" I said, shocked at this new information. "Well I still have to go back to the camp, all my stuff is there" 

"You don't have anyone out here to stay with?" 

"No, I’m not from here, that’s why I stay at the camp on the weekends"  I said, exasperated. 

"I still think you should stay out here tonight, in case something happens, you’ll be closer to the hospital" 

"I'm fine Mr. Mason" I said, rolling my eyes. He didn’t reply but drove to a house about 10 minutes away. 

"You'll stay here this weekend" he announced puting the truck into park and killing the engine, "I'll get Janice to pack your things and bring it to you tomorrow" 

"Who lives here?" I asked, looking out at the small brick house. He was already out of the truck and opening my door.  

"Don’t-!" he warned as I jumped from the truck, regretting it instantly.  I winced as my neck was thawing and feeling quite tender. He gave me a reproving glance and shook his head at me. 

"Who lives here?" I repeated, trying to get my mind off the soreness in my neck. 

"I do"

"You?" I asked, shock evident in my voice. His eyes widened at me as he turned his hands up as if it was the most obvious thing ever. 

He unlocked the front door and I followed him in.  I was astounded at being inside his house. There was hardly any furniture or personal items decorating the little house.  The living room looked massive with its solitary leather couch and a measly coffee table.  An acoustic guitar laid on one side of the couch and a woolen blanket on the other. To the left the little kitchen had no table in favor of an island counter with stools.  A coffee maker and a microwave sat next to each other on the counter.  There were no magnets or photos on the fridge, no Live, Love, Laugh decals anywhere in sight. I sniggered at the thought, and Gabriel narrowed his eyes at me as one corner of his mouth lifted in a crooked smile. 

"What?" he asked. 

"Nothing," I smiled. He kept his small smile but his forehead furrowed. 

“The bathroom is over there," he pointed to a door next to the living room.  "And you can sleep in here" he said as he opened the door to a large bedroom with a king sized bed.  There were no decorations here either but a full dark maple bed set complete with dressers, side tables and headboard filled the room.  The walls were painted a beautiful forest green which perfectly complemented the maple hardwood floor and furniture. The comforter on the bed was a different shade of green and was tucked neatly at the bottom to form sharp mitred corners.

"Wow, it's beautiful!" I whispered. 

"Are you hungry?” he asked, “You probably haven’t eaten since breakfast..." he remarked.  Before I had a chance to answer he was pulling out his phone from his front pocket and scrolling through it. "I want to place an order for takeout," he said into the receiver.. "Gabriel Mason, I'll have the usual, with a number four with rice noodles, a number six and 2 orders of spring rolls… thanks" he hung up. "I'll go get that, make yourself comfortable" he turned on his heels and walked out. I watched him through the window as he swung himself into his truck and drove off. I sat on the leather couch eyeing the guitar at the other end, unable to entertain the idea that it belonged to Gabriel. I smirked as I imagined him playing Nothing Else Matters like all the guys did when I went to high school. This was so weird. 

The door suddenly swung open, I got up to help Gabriel with the take out order but I came face to face with a girl around my age or slightly younger. 

"Who the fuck are you and why are you in my house?" She said, frowning at me and taking me in. 

"I'm Harper" I said, a little stunned.

"Are you sleeping with my dad?"

"God no!" I recoiled in surprise.

"Then why are you here?" she demanded.  I was spared having to answer when the door opened again and Gabriel appeared holding two bags of take out Thai food. He looked from me to the girl, a frown appearing on his face again.

"Chris, I didn’t expect you here tonight" he said to the girl.

"Neither did I. You promised you wouldn’t bring your whores here" she spat, turning and walking into a bedroom.

"Chris!" he shouted after her.  He let out a long exasperated breath then looked at me in apology as he set the bags on the counter. 

"The plates are in that cupboard" he pointed, "eat whatever you want, I have to go deal with her." 

I examined each of the containers, and  unable to make up my mind about any single one of them, I sampled all of the food.   There was curry, spring rolls and Asian noodles.  I savored the delicious Thai food as I tried to block the yelling coming from the second bedroom wishing I had my headphones. I stared into space while I ate, concentrating on the most delicious take-out food I had ever tried. I washed my plate and cutlery and placed it back in the cupboard.

"Did you eat enough?" Gabriel's voice resonated behind me. I turned to look at him, and smiled. 

"Yes, it was delicious, thank you" I answered.  "If you let me know what time you leave tomorrow I'll go back to the camp for the weekend." 

"You can stay here" he shrugged as he doled out the food onto his plate, "Chris and I won’t be here, so you'll have the place to yourself" 

"Oh, well I don’t want to be a bother" 

"You won't be, no one will be here" he said with a clipped tone. He exhaled loudly, "Sorry, I'm just a little worked up. It's up to you, do what you want, I just need to grab some clothes from my room before you go to bed. He finished his spring roll and made his way to the bedroom, coming back out just moments later with a pillow and some clothes. "If you're staying the weekend you can put the leftovers in the fridge, if not just toss them out" he called as he grabbed the guitar and sat on the couch. I placed the still full containers in the fridge and listened to him play. 

"Thanks for letting me stay, and thanks for supper, I'll just go to bed now" I said softly, feeling awkward.  He nodded though his full concentration was on the guitar he was plucking. I left the door ajar so that the music would drift into the room as I tried to sleep. 

Far too soon there was a light knock at the door. 

"Harper?" a husky voice asked. 

"Huh?" I narrowed my eyes at the sliver of light entering the room as I remembered where I was. 

"Did you want to come to the camp to get your stuff or do you want Janice to pack it for you?" 

"I'll go," I said in a groggy voice.  I flipped the sheets off of me to get up. I dressed quickly and pulled my hair into a messy bun on top of my head before heading out into the early morning. Gabriel stopped by a coffee shop and ordered us both breakfast sandwiches and coffee. "Do you cook at all?" I asked, curiously. 

"Nope," he replied, taking a sip of his scalding coffee. We drove the entire way there without talking while listening to the radio’s morning talk show until we were out of range. I made my way to the kitchen to discover that Oli was in charge and Janice had everything under control. I made myself useful and got the coffee and tea station set up. 

"How did everything go?" Janice enquired after breakfast.

"It went okay, I won’t know anything for another 6 weeks though" I shrugged, filling the sink with hot soapy water. Oli was putting the food in takeaway containers so that some of the men staying at the camp would have something to eat during the weekend. 

"That's a long time to not know" she confirmed

"That's what I said"

"Are you staying here this weekend?" 

"I think I'll check with Matteo, if he stays I will too, otherwise I might head into town." 

As it turned out Matteo was heading into town so I spent the weekend at Janice’s again. We spent our days off celebrating together, sipping mai tais by the pool in her backyard. I had gotten absolutely hammered, pushing away the fears I had about the biopsy to the back of my mind. I was still a little buzzed when Gabriel came to pick me up from Janice’s house on Sunday night. As soon as we were out of the driveway I grabbed Gabriel’s discarded sweatshirt, rolled it up and used it as a pillow against the window; I slept the whole way back. I woke up some time later at the campsite where it was pitch black out.  The truck was parked by Gabriel’s cabin but the engine was turned off and he was nowhere to be found. I unbuckled my seat belt and jumped out of the truck.  I looked for my bag in the back of the truck but it wasn't there and neither were the groceries.  I walked over to my cabin in the blinding darkness, stumbling along the way. Gabriel was coming out of my cabin and was startled when he saw me approach. 

"I just brought your bag, I didn’t want to wake you" 

"Thanks," I said, still groggy.

"Good night Harper" 

"Good night Mr. Mason," I said. His large hand grabbed my upper arm as he passed next to me. I looked down in shock. I felt a thrill run through me, and I wasn’t sure why.  His other hand reached for my chin turning my face up towards him, his gaze bore into mine for a moment and my breath caught in my throat.

"Call me Gabriel" he ordered, "Please"

"Ok" I replied breathless. His hands dropped away from me and he walked towards his cabin. I tossed and turned as I tried to settle to sleep, but I didn’t get much sleep that night. 

Oli and I had gone over the next week's menu and I had agreed to give him more freedom in the kitchen.  I was still going to do most of the work but I was going to let him do breakfast on his own the following week. Oli turned out to be an excellent cook and we developed a certain rhythm not unlike the one Janice and I had.  He followed my directions a lot better and seemed to be improving his skills during his time at the camp.

In the evening, Matteo kept me company until about 8pm.  We would either watch a movie or play a board game before turning in. 

"Will you be staying here this weekend?" he inquired on Thursday

"Yeah, I wouldn’t mind just vegging all weekend," I admitted. 

The weather was beautiful all weekend so Matteo and I packed lunch and spent most of Friday afternoon by the river. I read a book while trying to get a bit of a tan while Matteo wrote to his family and read the letters they had sent him over the week. 

It rained all of Saturday so I stayed in my cabin and watched movies by myself.  Matteo had taken advantage of the crappy weather to sleep in and he insisted on cooking super for the two of us in the early evening. When we returned from the river on Sunday, we were surprised to see that several people had come in early, including Gabriel, which was unusual. Normally the crew came in after supper and when Gabriel didn’t have to give me a drive back he would only show up early Monday morning.  I helped Gabriel and Oli unload the groceries and examined every item. 

"Did you stay here all weekend boss?" Oli asked with a grin. 

"I sure did" I said absentmindedly looking at the receipt Gabriel had given me.

"What do you do here on the weekend with no internet?" he asked incredulously. 

"I spent most of my time by the river with Matteo," I replied. "These tomatoes and herbs are way too expensive, I think we should start growing our own next year" I pointed out looking over the receipt Oli had handed me. Gabriel looked at me with a raised eyebrow and shrugged. 

"If you want" 

"If I’m here I will" I decided

"Why wouldn't you be here?" he asked

"You’ve threatened to fire me two months in a row... So I’m guessing you have someone else in mind. Anyways, pass on the message to your next cook!" I said with a teasing grin. Once Oli left I began organising the fridge and cupboard the way I liked them and Gabriel stayed behind watching me. 

"Is there something between you and Matteo" Gabriel enquired. 

"No!" I exclaimed, baffled, 

"So what are you two up to?" 

"Nothing, he's my friend. That's it"

"Really?" 

"Yes! Plus he's married and has kids at home" 

"So? They're not here" he said.

"That doesn’t matter! I'm not some cheap whore who sleeps with a guy cause he pays attention to me" I cried out. Gabriel shrugged. "Is that what you think I am?" 

"I don't know Harper," he started sounding annoyed.  "You work in the middle of the woods with 40 men who haven’t seen their families in I don’t know how long. I just thought maybe you two were sleeping together."

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. 

"I'm not working here to sleep around. I really enjoy the work I do" I defended. "And on top of that I have a bit more self respect than sleeping with anything on two legs" I retorted bitterly at him. 

He glared at me and left the kitchen. 

"Well if the shoe fits Mr. Mason" I said under my breath.

Oli’s last week was uneventful.  I let him lead and he did an incredible job. I was pretty happy with the way he turned out and felt sad that I was going to have to start over the next week with a new student.