For The Love Of Oatmeal

Chapter 20~Oatmeal & Pain

The next morning, Toby sat down to his  on-the-house breakfast at the Lilac Inn.

"Hello, I'm Emily. Sorry I didn't introduce myself before. What would you like to eat today?" Said the kind woman. Toby glanced up at her smiling - yet tired - face.

"Oh..Um... nice meet you Emily." Toby stammered awkwardly, regretting his hesitation. He mentally smacked himself in the face for sounding so rude.

"Ahem..say..do you guys serve oatmeal here?" He asked, trying to act cool.

"Oh, why of course! It'll be right with you." She almost looked relieved that he had asked for such a simple breakfast. Then she paused.

"You know, it's funny. No one has ever asked for oatmeal here since a fellow named Mr. Retep...and that was about 16 years ago."

"Wait..he used to come here? How do you know?" Toby asked, wondering how someone who looked not a day over 21 would remember something that happened 16 years ago.

"Oh, I wasn't working at the inn if that's what you're wondering." She giggled. "My aunt Jane mentions it every once in a while, just because it was so unusual. He would come in with his wife every Saturday morning, and they would both always order oatmeal with a dash of brown sugar." She whispered, like it was some big gossip of the town.

"Well I'll be..that's interesting." Toby said aloud. Tania's dad had come here all the time.

"Mhmm. My mom said that they both told her we had the best oatmeal around."

"Well, I suppose I'll be the judge of that!" Toby smiled.

"Oh! I'm so sorry to keep you hungry! I'll go get your oatmeal right away." She hurried off to the kitchen, trying to hide her blushing face.

Toby sat back, smiling to himself. He couldn't help but like Emily.

"Ah, good morning my boy!"

Toby jumped at the voice, only to discover it was just the doctor. He let out his breath in a sigh of relief. Doctor Banks laughed and sat down beside him.

"I just came by to check up on your friend Tania, and she seems to be doing quite well. She'll be on her feet in no time!"

"...wait...didn't she sprain her ankle?"

"Oh..I guess that's true. Well, she'll be on her feet eventually.." The doctor said distractedly. "..just try and make sure she doesn't eat too much oatmeal because it lacks nutrition...and in my experience...well, it's evil Toby. It destroyed a piece of my life." He said with sorrow as his eyes became deep pools of blue.

"What do you mean?" Toby asked, confusion in his looks.

"Well if you must know, I'll tell you." The  man sighed. "It was a cold September night, and I was working in the hospital just doing my job. Then suddenly, I get a call...a mother was about to give birth to her third child, and she wanted me to deliver. So I ran in there...but something wasn't right. She was deathly pale, much like Tania. She was having trouble breathing, but we couldn't figure out why. Hours passed by and just as the baby was being delivered, she died. The baby was a stillborn boy. I held him in my arms, wondering how I would break the news to the husband. Later I found out she had eaten nothing but oatmeal for her entire pregnancy..too much oatmeal. She had been carried away by her crazy obsession, and then suddenly she was gone. The worst of it was, she had been my only sister."

There was a silence.

"Wait...Elisa was your sister? Um...Mind blown here. You realize that means you're Tania's uncle...right?"

"I know, my boy...I know."

Toby's jaw dropped to the floor. What even? He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sound of screaming coming from the kitchen.