The Race Against Disease

Ch. 2: The Speech

He was working so hard on his speech. It has to be done and mostly memorized by tomorrow. He was about to go to bed when he realized he needed to work on his hygiene issues before he should go to bed. He hasn't showered in about a month and hasn't shaved either.
He went on a jog to tire himself out and took a nice, long, warm bubble bath to help him relax. He then shaved enough of his beard and trimmed his hair to look smart and sexy. After taking care of himself some of the color returned to his eyes, though they were still more grey than blue.
He was getting an early start that night. When he checked the time after he had finished in the bathroom, it was only eight. He picked out an outfit and lied down in bed. Before he shut his eyes to rest up for tomorrow, he said to the heavens above: "this is for you guys, mom, dad, Stella, and Claire. I will always love you all."
He drifted off with a couple tears rolling on to his pillow.

The next morning he woke up at six. He had to drive an hour to perform his speech at ten. Since he had extra time, he went on another jog and even lifted some weights. He ate a good hearty breakfast and took a shower.
When he got out of the shower, it was only eight fifteen so he performed his speech to himself in the mirror:
"Hello all, my name is Joshua Collins. You might have heard of me from my writing and research. You also might know me from some obituaries you've read over time. It is true that everyone I was close with, family and friends, has died from cancer. Because of that, I am going to find the cure, to end this monstrous disease. I will eradicate cancer to avenge my family. Those of you who have lost loved ones to this sick disease will understand. Now let's continue on to my research of the sickness."
He practiced listing all of his findings and by the time he was finished, he checked the time and noticed that he had to leave. It was almost nine and he had an hour drive to look forward to.

As he was driving he decided to turn on the radio to 92.9 FM, which played old music, from when his parents were growing up. "Good morning everyone," announced the speaker, "coming up right now would be an old tribute from My Chemical Romance, Cancer. Quite a depressing one."
He debated weather he wanted to listen to it or not. It was a song that he had never heard before so he decided to give it a try.
"Turn away....If you could get me a drink of water cause my lips are chapped and faded. Call my aunt Marie, help her gather all my things and bury me in all my favorite colors. My sisters and my brothers still, I will not kiss you. Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you...."
The tune of the song was quite depressing. The meaning seemed depressing too
"Know that I will never marry. Baby I'm just soggy from the chemo. But counting down the days to go, this just ain't livin! And I just hope you know.....That if you say goodbye today....I'd ask you to be true....Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you....."
By this time, Josh was crying. He really missed his family and wishes he could have at least helped them get through their last days pain free. He turned the radio off to have some time for himself for the rest of the drive.

When he got to the hall where he was performing his speech, nobody was there. He went into the bathroom to freshen up and work up courage. He practiced a few times in the mirror again and when he came out, people were starting to sit down. He sat were he was supposed to and waited for the program to start.
Jeremy Wilder took the stage to introduce Josh.
"Good morning everybody, I am Jeremy Wilder, founder of the CAS. Here to speak for us, we have Joshua Collins. He has written many research papers and is looking for help in his search for the cure.
Josh took the stage as the audience of at lease 1,000 were applauding. "Thank you all so much for coming. This means a lot to me." He cleared his throat, signaling that he was ready to begin.
He performed his speech. Many started tearing up at the part where he talked about his family. A few even had to leave the room because they were crying too hard. Josh almost had to stop and leave as his emotions were getting the best of him. He made it through and at the end someone was excited to volunteer to help.
His name was Dr. Stephen Odd. "Hello, Josh. I am excited to assist you in your search. I will help you even if it means I only prepare your dinner. I suggest you do the cooking though, I've never successfully made decent tasting food."
"I'm sure you will be plenty of help to me. If you would like I could teach you to cook, I happen to be pretty good."
"Thank you. That would be so great for my family."

They decided to meet up at the front doors when the banquet was finished. Josh went to get a drink when he ran into the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had long, blonde hair, gleaming hazel eyes, and the biggest smile sporting the whitest teeth anyone could have. He decided to get her a drink too. "Hello miss, would you like something to drink?"
"Oh yes, thank you." She smiled at him. "Surprise me"
He ordered drinks for the both of them and found out they have quite a lot in common. Her name is Garcia Houser. She doesn't have much family left besides her daughter, and she also wants to find help for people sick with what killed her family. She gave him her number and email address and told him to text her sometime.
By then it was starting to get late and they both had to get going.
Josh met up with Stephen at the front doors like they agreed, and walked to his car. Josh was wondering why Stephen was following him. "Don't you have a car of your own?"
"No, I like to carpool, it's cleaner for the air. Cleaner air, happier earth."
"Sounds good. Get in, I'll show you where you'll be staying and where we'll be doing our research."
As they drove back, Josh couldn't stop thinking about Garcia.