Side Effects

Beau

Beau held eyes with a lanky, yet soulful woman in the hospital gown, for only a moment; then turned away and continued onward toward the Doctors office. Before entering the room, Beau took a moment to look at the nameplate on the door, seeing that it read FITZROY. "Close enough," Beau thought to himself as he pulled down on the icy silver handle and waded into the room. Dr. Fitzroy, a man of about sixty, with grey hair and fat, sausage fingers, stood up to greet Beau. "Good Morning again, Mr.Brasque." Beau noticed the doctor had to look down at his chart to see Beau's name, so any guilt about forgetting the doctors named had absolved then and there. "And how are we fairing today?" Dr. Fitz-whatever asked, in a very procedural voice, though the question itself had actually brought Beau's attention to his physical condition; just as Beau eased into his chair, he felt and heard a rather unnerving popping sound radiate from his back. "I'm fairing about as good as a teacup in a tornado, if I'm being honest." The Doctor leaned forward, "Well, if I'm being honest, it would have worried me if you had said anything contrary to that, Mr.Brasque." Beau was puzzled.

"Meaning what, exactly?"
"I mean to say that your case has been popping up rather frequently lately- brittle bones, weakened muscles, low red blood cell count. I understand that these are adverse side effects from a medication you took, correct?" Beau was a Jigsaw.
"Yes, and I was told that with continued treatment, the symptoms would go away, right?"
"Not exactly. The reason I say your case has been popping up lately is because you aren't just having adverse side effects from that drug, you've actually contracted a very rare disease that a lot of people who took that drug are starting to get. It's called Hollingshead Syndrome."
Beau couldn't really discern whether or not he should be worried.
"So what does this mean for me? Do I not get treatment anymore?"
"No it's nothing like that, we have a wing here that we'll put you in to begin treatment immediately, E wing. But I'll be cut and dry with you, the survival rate among those who contract this disease is extremely low. I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you." Beau had actually tuned out the doctor for a moment, only catching the end of his well practiced apology. He wondered how many times he had broken bad news to people, and how many nights he actually lost sleep over it.

Dr. Badnews sat with Beau until half past too long. Beau soaked up all his new medical information with the tenacity of an unwilling sponge before heading towards E wing to register for treatment. On his way down the hall, Beau saw the decrepit brunette woman once again. Only now she was enveloped in a bright blue dress with flowers embroidered on it. Seeing her in actual clothing put her character in perspective to Beau. The languished lady was walking out the E wing doors, and Beau could swear he heard her bones clanging, much like his did when he was sitting in the Doctors' office, only much more pronounced. Thinking about the cracking bones made him achy again.

Beau met with the nurse in E wing, who, for all he knew, could have been the same nurse who checked him in when he originally arrived. The enigmatic woman took down Beau's information and sent him on his way, with a schedule for his first treatment in hand.

Beau hurried toward the waiting room to grab his daughter and skedaddle; it hadn't occurred to him how he would break the news to her, or better yet, what would happen to her if he bought the farm. Beau found Mel right where he left her, curled up in one of the chair-like contraptions and glued steadfastly to her phone. He tickled her ear to get her attention, which yielded about the same result as if he'd prodded her with a scalpel. After Mel recovered from her spastic fantastic moment, the Daddy-Daughter Duo was on its way home.