Consumed

"How?" Kole questioned, feeling tears well up in his eyes.

"How can you rid something, that's already begun to consume you? That can't be rid of without killing your very existence?" Kole held Irene's hand tightly as he closed his eyes and let the tears stream down his face.

Irene placed her other hand on his cheek and rubbed the tears away with her thumb, her black wavy hair falling into her eyes as she looked into his. She kissed his forehead and whispered

"Just look for the light, in the dark."

She removed her hand and tied a black cloth around Kole's eyes, blackening his vision.

Irene nodded to Dr. Swallows and he pulled out a small pen and notepad.

"Now." He began, "Tell us who you are?"

Kole took a deep breath and in a voice that wasn't his own, replied "I am.... Alive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kole walked out of his bedroom, and walked slowly to the bathroom. He placed his hand on his temple and moaned in pain. He opened the cabinet to his left and took out some Advil. Placing it in his mouth, he leaned his head back and swallowed the two pills, in hope of relieving the awful pain in his head, that kept reoccurring. He closed the cabinet and stared into the mirror. He was a handsome man, only 25 with messy dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wasn't muscular, but he wasn't a stick, he was just right in his eyes. The ladies adored his high thin lips and freckles that dotted his nose and underneath his eyes. But the ladies only liked him for his looks, not his personality, which was the same old college graduate, majoring in English literature, and hoping to be a writer someday. He was just a young man, with his nose in books and head in clouds, if only it would stop hurting.

Kole waddled to his kitchen in his apartment and pulled out a protein shake. He chugged it down and wiped his mouth with his arm. He made his way to the couch to the left of his kitchen and sat down. Pulling out his phone he noticed he has a missed call from the doctors office. He put the phone to his ear and listened to the line ring, until the sound of a females voice was heard.

"Hello, this is Yukon Hospital, how can I be of service?"

"Hello. My name is Kole Plunter. I called earlier about a doctors appointment?"

"Oh! Yes! Kole, we've been awaiting your return call. You complained about constant headaches and reoccurring blurred vision, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright, we have you scheduled for 1:30 pm this after noon. You will be with Dr. Hertz. Is that a good time for you?"

"Yes it works perfectly thank you."

The lady on the other line said good bye to Kole and hung up the phone. He looked at the clock on his phone after ending the call. It read 11:00 am. Kole sighed and stood up, stretching his entire body. Slowly he walked towards the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He undressed and got into the shower, preparing for his doctors appointment.

Kole wrapped his navy scarf around him as walked on the sidewalk towards the hospital. His black leather jacket with gray fabricated sleeves gave warmth to his body, and his black vans gave no warmth to his toes.

Not the best choice of foot wear he thought.

He made his way through the crowded city that was known as Darnas. People crowded the large side walks, and cars buzzed around the towering skyscrapers. It was a well known, busy city. Finally arriving at the hospital he say down in the washed down blue chairs next to the entrance, where everyone waited for there appointment. Kole twiddled his thumbs nervously. He always hated hospitals. They smelled odd, and the scent of death and injury lingered in the air. Death and injury made Kole extremely uneasy.

"Uh, Kole Plunter?" A small lady with aging blonde hair looked up from her clipboard and towards the people in the waiting room. Kole stood up and raised his hand awkwardly. The lady nodded and Kole followed her down the white hallway. The lady led him down the hall to a series of small check up rooms on the left and right of the hallway. She led him inside of one and closed the door.

"Please remove your jacket and roll up your sleeves so I can take your blood pressure." The lady instructed, wheeling over a blood pressure machine.

Kole pursed his lips and nodded. He removed his jacket and revealed a subtle white t-shirt. The lady smiled and began the test. Kole looked at the walls, which were painted a sad blue and noticed the pictures of the ocean, but they were also very depressing to look at. He felt his arm begin to pulse, which made him cringe. The machine beeped and his arm was released. The lady looked at the machine and wrote down the results on her clipboard.

"The doctor will be with you soon." The lady turned towards the door and shut it behind her on the way out.

Kole took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs, and awaited the doctors arrival. There was a knock on the door and a man walked in. He was wearing glasses and had white and gray hair that was sleek. By the way he held his head and adjusted his glasses, this doctor may have been old, but he still had class.

"You must be Kole!" The doctor held out his hand.

Kole took his hand and gave it a firm shake and have the doctor a nod.

"I'm Dr. Hertz. You called about headaches and blurred vision?"

Dr. Hertz began running through a series of questions.

"How often?"

"How painful?"

"Are you on any prescriptions at the moment?"

"Are you stressed?"

"Can you sleep"

Kole answered each thoroughly and the doctors smile was slowly beginning to fade with each question. Dr. Hertz nodded his head and excused himself for a moment and walked out the door.

A few moments later he returned with one of those hospital gowns.

"Kole, I would like to preform a quick cat scan to be certain about what's been giving you headaches." Dr. Hertz handed Kole the gown and awaited outside the door.

Kole opened the door and came out in the gown, feeling slightly embarrassed as the intern nurses ogled at him in nothing but his underpants and a thin hospital gown. The doctor led him down another hallway and onto and elevator. He pressed the button that said 8th floor, and they began to elevate towards it.

Dr. Hertz opened a door and stepped into a room with lots of technology and computers lining the walls and windows. On the other side of the window was the cat scan machine.

Kole began to feel uneasy. He went through the process of a cat scan and was awaiting the news from Dr. Hertz in another waiting room which was smaller and empty. Finally the doctor knocked on the door and stepped in.

"We got you tests back." He stood in front of Kole and began handing him pictures of his brain during the scan.

"You see, here is the scan of a normal healthy brain," the doctor pointed to the picture Kole was holding in his left hand.

The brain looked perfectly normal, no abnormal shapes or lumps of any sort.

"And here is the scan of your brain." He pointed to the photo in Koles right hand.

Koles brain had a large shaded area on the left side of it.

"What's wrong with it?" Kole asked feeling his stomach drop.

"I'm very sorry, Kole. Your brain has developed a very rare form of brain cancer."