Sally's Secret

Chapter 5

Sally couldn't help but smile at this young woman's excitement. It was obvious she had some major issues with self-confidence, but she seemed perfect for the job otherwise. Sally was glad, once again, that she'd taken FAB 1 to get here because she still needed to brief Maria on all the weird quirks of the job she was taking on. Any Tracy boy who would have been waiting would already be antsy to get back in the sky by now. Sally fully intended to take her time and be well-prepared before they left London. However, she had limits on sitting in one place for too long.

"I need to use the ladies' room," she announced, rising from her seat. "Then how about we go for a walk around the grounds and chat some more?"

"That sounds lovely. Do you need any help?" Maria also stood. The look on her face was pure concern, but not in any way disparaging.

Sally would have to remember that she hired Maria to do exactly what she was offering. In fact, she would have to start accepting help at home whether she felt the need or not, lest this whole scheme fall apart. "Not this time, dear. I'll explain it all when we go for that walk. You can tell Parker to put your things in FAB 1 though. I'll just be a minute."

When she emerged from the ladies' room, Maria was assuring Parker that he'd already taken all of her luggage out. Sally heard Parker mutter, "Just two bags? Milady brings more than that for one night."

"Did Miss Anderson tell you that I hired her?" Sally asked Lady Penelope.

"She did indeed. Can't say I'm surprised." She had that look in her eye that implied she had known when there were still forty-seven candidates that Sally would pick this one. "Back to Tracy Island then?"

"Not yet. Would it be all right if we took a stroll in your lovely rose garden, dear?"

"Oh, absolutely. My roses are spectacular this year and nobody has seen them to appreciate all the pruning work Parker did. Are you all right on your own then?"

Sally smiled. "I have help now. We'll be fine." Maria offered an elbow and they walked out together with Sally leaning on her new aide's arm.

When they were alone, Sally drew a deep breath. "I haven't told anyone else about my diagnosis, not even Lady Penelope or my grandsons. Does an LVN have the same obligation to keep patient secrets as a doctor?"

Maria used her free hand to pat the top of Sally's hand in the crook of her elbow. "We do. But even if we didn't, I would hold anything you told me as a sacred trust."

This young woman had been to medical school, so there would be no easing into this like there might be when she told others. There was simply no way to beat about the bush, so she charged in, full steam. "I have Truflun's Disease. Stage four."

"I'm so sorry."

"Thank you, but that's really not the worst of it. They caught it just after my son Jeff's accident. My doctors begged me to get treatment and they may have been able to cure it completely back then, but I refused because I didn't want to be away from my boys when they had just become orphans. By the way, I still call them 'my boys' but they're my grandsons and they're all adults now. So where was I? Even if they cure Truflun's in the early stages, there's a price to pay. It's no way to live."

Some said the treatment for Truflun's was as bad as chemotherapy or radiation, worse, because the side effects were often permanent. A crippling cure that could leave someone bedridden was worse than the disease itself, to Sally's thinking. "I did what I had to, to be with my family and help them through a rough time. I have no regrets."

They both stopped to look at a row of roses. Lady Penelope was right. Spectacular was exactly the right word for them.

"That's not a decision I'd wish on anyone." Maria hesitated, her face reflecting concern and possibly confusion. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Jeff Tracy's death quite a few years ago, ma'am?"