An Unforeseen Turn of Events

Chapter Thirty

Staring at the ceiling, Christine was grateful her headache had finally subsided.

Thank God it was nothing like that pain I had before I dropped out of college, she sighed.

The thought of college and that economics exam she took all those years ago made her shiver. She cringed as the memory of that big economics textbook loomed over her as if it were a monster about to attack her.

"Mom?"

"W-what?" Christine shot up in bed as if an imminent disaster was about to occur. The facecloth she had placed on her forehead plopped down to her chest.

"Mom, what is it? Is something wrong?" Tim cracked open her bedroom door an inch.

Christine breathed a sigh of relief. She willed herself to stop shaking. "Oh, nothing. I just woke up."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Tim walked in with his dirty blond hair newly trimmed that made him look preppy. He was wearing a Boston College T-Shirt.

"Bad headache?"

"Yes."

He sat at the edge of the bed. "I can't help thinking about Dad," he choked.

Christine rubbed his back. "I know, honey. I feel the same way. "

She made a concentrated effort to keep her tears at bay.

"It's not a hopeless situation, is it?"

"No, no. We're going to fight this thing with everything we have. And we have to stay strong for Dad's sake. "

"Do Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Seth know yet?"

A wave of pain flashed across Christine's forehead. "I don't think so. We have to leave it up to Dad to tell them." With that, she put her fingertips on her forehead and sank back down into the pillows.

"Oh, Mom. I didn't mean to upset you. Is there something I can do?"

Christine was touched by her son's concern, but she shook her head and smiled as she touched his arm. "No. I'm going to take some more migraine pills." She slowly sat up again and reached for the medicine on her nightstand, swallowing the pills with a tall glass of water. While they went down her throat and into her bloodstream, a thought occurred to her. Solemn-faced, she stared into her son's eyes.

"Tim, do you know if you and Trudy have to take economics at Boston College?"

"Yeah, we've got to take two economics courses—microeconomics and macroeconomics."

"Holy Christ!" Christine blurted out before she cupped her hand on her mouth. "I mean, do you and Trudy really want to take those courses?"

"Trudy doesn't want to, but some of my friends are majoring in economics. Some of them are telling me to minor in it. Why?"

Christine was glad she had already swallowed the migraine pills.

"Ummm, I found it tough."

"You took economics, Mom? I didn't know that! I can't imagine you'd like it."

Christine couldn't help smiling. "I hated it."

"I don't know if I'm going to like it either, but economics interests me. Dad liked it in college," Tim reflected. "We also have to take two philosophy courses. Not my cup of tea but Trudy wants to take them her first year."

Christine resisted the urge to order her son to hide the economics textbook from her sight when he takes the course, but anxiety began to dawn in the back of her mind: Daniel's medical treatments may very well jeopardize her twins' plans of going to BC. They'll probably have to postpone college and work for a year to save up for school. They may have no choice but attend a state school or community college. The money they had saved up over the years will need to be used for medical bills instead.