Worries did not go away, however. The MRI test turned out to be very much inconclusive and, to be 100% certain what kind of tumor was on Nate's pancreas, he had to undergo a histopathological examination. Wigham needed to know whether the change was benign, suspicious or malignant. Once again, Nate didn't want to go alone, so he asked Annie to accompany him. She took a day off without a problem - now that she was a part of the higher-ups, that wasn't so hard.
They were walking down the hospital courtyard when Annie finally spoke up.
"I appreciate your honesty that you finally decided to tell everything," she started, "even though you should have told me all that from the very beginning. From what you told me, I think Mike was right in his little rant. I bet that, until you told me the truth, he didn't feel good about lying to me."
"He didn't have to do it for long, though" Nate replied. "But he understood there was nothing to get you worried about until we were sure where we're at with my health. After today's examination results will be available, no one will be kept in the dark about anything. If the results will turn out to be alright, then there won't be any point in telling anyone - for example, my family - that any of this occured."
Annie eyed him, suspicious. "And if, God forbid" she tried to push the thought away, "the results won't come back okay, then what?"
Nate sighed. "Well then, I guess we'll be saving money for a place at the local graveyard."
Annie shoved him lightly in the arm. "You have no idea how good it is to see you can maintain your sense of humor, despite the shitty situation and all that."
Laughing and joking the rest of the way, they've finally reached the examination room.
"Well then, I can't go in there with you, although I could try to pry my way inside" Annie offered a small laugh and sat on the chair at the opposite end of the hall, "but I'll wait until it's all over and we'll go back home, okay?"
Nate slowly nodded. "Thanks" he pushed the door open and went inside. Wigham was already there, along with two doctors Nate didn't know. It looked like they were in a prep room, adjacent to the main one where the examination was going to be performed.
Nate greeted Wigham and the others.
"So..." he asked the doctor. "What exactly is this histopa--whatever..."
"Histopathological examination" Wigham explained patiently, even though he explained it to Nate before. It seemed like Nate was getting more and more nervous the closer it got to the date of examination. "is supposed to establish the nature of the tumor. A tissue material will be taken from you, as a sample, for further testing to give us a definite answer about your state. With that out of our way, we'll be able to determine what kind of treatment you should be receiving."
Nate nodded, but... he was thinking about this for several days, even more than before. First, there was a simple blood test, then it was an unexpected MRI, and now this. Even though he couldn't be certain about what was happening, he couldn't help but ask about things he knew Wigham didn't have answers for.
"Doctor Wigham..." Nate started slowly. "How could this happen? I'm a young man. I've never had any kind of problem with my health until the stuff that happened recently." He shouldn't behave like that, but an accusatory note appeared in his voice. "Why me?"
Wigham shook his head. It wasn't the first time he was asked those questions. "Obviously I can't tell you that. Those kinds of things come and go, sometimes escaping explanation. The cause might be genetic, but your guess is as good as mine. Besides, those things develop over time. Your stomachaches and throwing up not just food, but also blood... those are quite basic symptoms that can be mistaken for many things. The difference is, we've confirmed you have a tumor via different tests. Now we need to be sure what kind of tumor it is and how to get rid of it."
Nate tried to process all this. "Alright, let's just get this over with."
They all got prepared for the examination. Wigham explained that Nate would be fully anaesthetised for the duration of the entire examination and that the results will be available within several days.
Hours later, after the doctors made sure there wasn't any kind of alergical reaction to medicine used during the examination, Nate and Annie left the hospital. He told everything he remembered prior to being anaesthetized.
The couple held hands together.
"We'll be fine, you hear me?" Annie whispered and kissed him on the cheek.
"Now that you said it, I believe we will be" Nate smiled in return.
***
"Alright, I think you need to repeat this, because I don't think I got that right" Mike said very slowly.
He was in Nate's apartment, trying to process what he has just heard. He was Annie and Nate's friend, sure, but he did not expect to hear that.
"You got it right, it's just like I said" Annie replied, pacing around the room. "I'm going away on a business trip to Chicago and I'm allowed to have some people with me."
"Well, that would be obvious I'm coming with her." Nate joined in. He sat next to Mike, who was still taken aback by the news.
"I get it, I just don't understand why would you want me to come too" pressed Mike.
Annie shot him a look. "You're our best friend. For everything you did for us, I think we should return the favor. We all need a little vacation?"
Mike stifled a laugh. "A business trip is your idea of vacation?"
Annie stared at him, almost not believing what he was saying. "It's a business trip! It literally has nothing to do with business! There might be two, maybe three hours of meetings I'll need to attend, but otherwise we'll be free to go and do whatever we want. What's not to like?"
Mike smiled at them. "I appreciate the gesture, it's just... it happened all of sudden."
Nate slowly nodded. "We know that, but, truth be told, Annie was a last-minute addition. It's because of her recent promotion an all that." he quickly turned his attention to her. "I've just realized that this 'last-minute addition' did not sound too good, did it? Sorry hon" he winked at her, and she smiled back. "It's not a problem to arrange for me to go and you're woriknig from home anyway. We're going next week, it's just for three days. What do you say?"
It seemed to him that Mike wanted to say something, but decided against doing that and said something else. "It's... no, it's not a problem for me to go. But what about your medical examination results?"
Nate cut him off. "I'm scheduled to get them in two weeks time, we'll be back. But don't change the subject, is something wrong with us asking you to go with us?"
Annie and Nate paid close attention to Mike, who shiften uncomfortably in his chair.
"It's a nice gesture, but actually... I thought that maybe you want to go alone, you know, because of..." he turned his attention to Nate for a slight second. "...well, you know, with what you said last week--"
Nate suddenly understood what Mike meant.
And then, Mike noticed the expression of pure shock on Nate's face and understood that Annie didn't know what he was talking about. But now it was too late.
"What was that, again?" she eyed Mike suspiciously. When he didn't say anything else, she turned her attention to Nate "What did you say to him that I don't know about?"
Suddenly, Mike stood up. "I think I should go, it's a matter between y--"
"Sit down" Annie ordered him; she wasn't angry, just firm. When Mike sat down, she once again turned to Nate.
"Well then?"
Nate exhaled deeply. He thought it was a weird set of coincidences that Mike was always there when they were about to talk about intimate, "couple" stuff. He decided that there's no point hiding his intentions since Mike is fully aware of them anyway.
"Well..." Nate slowly started. "Due to recent events regarding my health and well-being, which are still pending examination" he tried to joke, even though it sounded shitty, even to him, "I asked Mike for an opinion about something I was thinking about recently."
Annie didn't say anything, just waiting for him to finally say what was going on.
"And, well... I was thinking about family. Well,
our family." He accented that word.
Annie stared at him. "What about it?"
When she noticed Mike shifting in his seat again, she finally understood what Nate was talking about and why Mike didn't want to be there.
"You... you think..." she had trouble coming up with a coherent sentence. "...that we should..."
"Yeah" Nate finished for her. "I want to have a kid. Truth be told, I'm wondering why we didn't think about it earlier, but now that our situation is somehow stable, I think we should go for it."
There was a moment of silence.
But moments later, it was broken by Annie running straight at Nate and hugging him closely.
"Yes! Yes, of course we should!"
She kissed him deeply, and he kissed her in return.
"Ekhm" Mike cleared his throat and they pulled apart. "If you want to try now, let me know and I'll go out, leaving you some room for that"
Everyone bursted out in laughter.
"Yeah, maybe later, hon" Annie grinned. "But it doesn't matter. You're coming with us, Mike. For all that money you've borrowed us, you could go on many more trips than this one."
Mike looked at her. "Don't bring the money to the table, it doesn't matter. How many times do I have to tell you that?" he joked.
***
"Where exactly are we going?" asked Mike. "I know I've never been there, but I think that's actually a way out of Chicago." he pointed at one of the signs.
"I know" Nate replied, looking at the road. "I felt like going out on the outskirts, you know, going a little wild."
Mike raised his eyebrows. "Wild?"
Nate nodded and turned to face him, a grin appearing on his face. "Yeah. Go wild! It's been a while since we've done that. I know we're not getting younger..."
They were out of the city; Nate drove them to some side road with cars literally nowhere in sight. It was getting late.
"...so at least I thought that it'll help us reminisce about past time, right?"
He switched the radio on, changing radiostations and looking for a song he'd like. Mike glanced at him for a second before turning his attention back to the road.
"Not gonna argue with that, it's been a while" Mike smiled a little.
Suddenly, Nate snapped his fingers when he found the radiostation that was about to play one of his favorite songs.
"Damn straight it was!" he hollered, which caused Mike to slighlty jump in his seat.
"I don't understand why on Earth I was trying to weasel out of this trip" Mike said to himself. "This place is great!"
They were in the restaurant of their hotel in Chicago. Annie attended the meeting the day before, on Friday, and now they all had the time to do anything until Sunday when they were supposed to return home.There was a small gathering at the table, with Nate, Mike, Annie and some of her colleagues in deep discussion about the newly-announced project at their company.
"See? I told you so" Annie laughed before resuming the conversation with their friends.
"Oh, it would've been, could've been, worse than you would ever know!"
Nate turned up the volume so high that the noise almost caused Mike's head to ache. He didn't have any time to reply, however, as Nate depressed the throttle pedal and, with screeching wheels, the car stared gathering speed, going way past the allowed limit.
"The hell are you doing?" yelled Mike. He didn't know whether he was shocked, scared, sick or... that's a tought one to admit... happy
, in a weird way... everything was happening too fast - Nate started behaving like crazy. He didn't even reply to Mike's question, he just sang along with the radio.
"Oh, the dashboard melted, but we still have the radio!" he sang, excited.
He took a sharp turn left. Mike clutched at his seat, he could swear that the left side of the car didn't touch the ground and they made that turn on two wheels only..."They keep calling you from work?" asked Nate when Mike took out his phone. "Can't they respect your free time, even if just a little?
Mike motioned with his hands for everyone at the table to stop talking. When it was, well, reasonably silent at the place, he picked up the call. "Hello?" he said slowly. Everyone looked at him, wondering what that was all about. "Yeah, it'll be out by next week. I'm working on it right now."
People exchanged glances around the table, trying to contain their laughter.
"Okay, alright, thanks. Be in touch." With that, Mike hung up and looked around. People were grinning at him. Annie was the one to ask the question everyone was wondering about.
"You didn't tell anyone you're out of town, did you?"
Mike hid the phone in his pocket. "More or less." he sighed deeply, before a smile appeared on his face. "Okay, I didn't tell anyone. The hell I need to do that, they don't need to know where I work from!" he tried to get people to listen to him, but the table bursted out in laughter.
"Employee of the month, I'll give you that!" Annie joked with her friends.
With everyone joking about Mike's current situation at work, Nate picked up his own phone and glanced at it. He then resumed talking with Annie's colleagues from work.
"Nate, you're scaring me!" Mike was not sure what was going on, but he did not like that. It was a wild ride, sure, but he thought they were past those situations. They didn't do that anymore, and for a good reason. They weren't in high school anymore.
"Well, we scheme, and we scheme, but we always blow it!"
"Why?" Nate said, not slowling down and still speeding past the limit, taking wild turns and shortcuts around the forest, getting dangerously close to trees, sometimes inches away from them.
"You don't enjoy this?" Nate asked him, taking another sharp turn. "Years ago these were the moments when we were free and didn't give a damn about anything. Kings of life, top of the world, no one to stop us!" he once again drove past the trees, with Mike getting anxious with every passing second. "Woo-hoo!!!" Nate yelled.
"We've yet to crash, but we still might as well enjoy it!"
"Not saying I didn't!" Mike closed his eyes. It made him feel better for a moment not see everything speeding so fast past his eyes, but then he immediately thought that, with Nate driving carelessly around, it would be better if he could see the area in front of them, just in case Nate didn't notice something and crash. "But we're too old for this shit, seriously, dude!"
"Can't be too old for that!" was the only thing Nate said, still going as fast as possible and screaming in joy.
Mike stared at him incredulously. "What?" he tried to wonder what Nate meant. "We're way past being dumb kids, we should be more responsi--aah!" he covered his eyes with his hands, thinking that they were about to crash, but Nate narrowly dodged the tree and went back on the road.
"Oh it would've been, could've been worse than you would ever know!"
Nate came back from the bathroom and noticed that everyone got up from the table.
"Another episode of puking?" joked Mike.
"Ha-ha. Very funny" Nate faked his anger. "Nah, just a normal visit to the restroom. Why, you jealous?"
Mike smiled. "Not really. Since the one last week, there weren't any more, right?"
Nate slowly nodded. "Yeah. It's like it's receding. Maybe it's a good sign." He said, but it didn't sound very convincing, at least to Mike.
He then turned his attention to Annie and other girls. "Are we going somewhere?"
"Well, I've just talked with Jane and we thought that maybe we'll go and do some shopping. You know, it's a once-in-a-lifetime occasion" she sounded really excited. "Chicago, dude!" she said in a low voice. "Always wanted to say it that way."
"Sounded pretty good if you ask me" commented Mike.
Nate, however, raised his eyebrow slightly. "Oh yeah, because we don't have shopping malls back in New York."
It earned him a slight shove in the arm from Annie.
"Okay, okay, you can go." he raised his hands in the air, as a sign of surrender. "But I'm not going anywhere, you know I hate shopping."
"Yeah, count me out of that one too" Mike joined him. "Actually, we could go drive around the city. I know sightseeing is not the top of your priorities, but since you cannot visit bars, I'm not going to make you feel miserable and drag you there with me."
Annie laughed at that. "So instead of Nate being miserable, you're going to give up on drinking so you two can feel miserable together?"
Mike nodded his head slightly. "That's what friends are for, right? Although there are times when I'm second-guessing that..." he joked.
But Nate didn't mind. "Actually, I feel like a slight road trip could do me so good. We should do that."
With that, the group split up. The girls went shopping and guys went for their car. Before separating, Annie and Nate kissed each other goodbye and decided that they'll meet in the evening in their hotel room.
***
Back on the road, Nate didn't drive wildly around anymore. He slowly drove for some time, not saying anything, before pulling over.
Mike was looking out of the window, but then he turned his attention to Nate. He gave Nate a questioning look, not really saying anything.
Nate exhaled deeply and leaned on the wheel.
"I got a text for Wigham."
Mike raised his eyebrows. "What? When?" He was getting more and more worried with every passing second.
"At the table." Nate continued, his voice empty. "He asked me to call him as soon as possible. That's why I excused myself to the bathroom. Didn't know what it was, but if he texted me, then it must've been either very good or very bad news, you get the idea."
Mike didn't interrupt him. He knew that Nate will continue, he just needed time to find words, it seemed. It didn't lighten the mood and it certainly didn't make Mike feel better. It only made it worse; he was honestly scared of what Nate would tell him.
The song on the radio has changed.
"The results are in. It's maligant." Nate said and turned away from Mike.
He heard it; it was no mistake. For whatever reason, though, Mike wanted to at least try and remain optimistic. Maybe it's just one of the battles before Nate, before all of them. It's important not to lose hope...
"What are the chances of recovery?" he asked dryly. "Is there anything that can be--"
"Six months." Nate cut him off. "Eight at best."
The truth felt like a thunder from a clear sky for Mike. This can't be happening. It just... it can't be.
They were sitting in the car for what felt like an eternity. Mike didn't really know what to say to that. His mind told him that he should try and somehow comfort Nate, but something blocked him from doing that. He wasn't the one to be terminally ill, but somehow felt as if a part of him was about to die. Nate didn't say anything more, he just kept staring on the road, without any emotion on his face.
Mike was still trying to process what he just heard. A part of him knew that the test results might not come back as good as expected, but he thought that there might still be a chance. Besides, six to eight months... that would mean that the illness is in its final stages, and yet Nate didn't look like that. He lost some weight and look skinnier than before, but no one would say that he's terminally ill.
That thought somehow shook Mike out of his daze. He's thinking about this bullshit while, in the end, in eight months tops the man sitting next to him is likely going to be gone.
He turned to face him. He still didn't know what to say, but knew something else. He put a hand on Nate's arm. His friend turned to face him. They didn't say anything to each other, no words were spoken. Mike slowly nodded, not breaking his eyes off Nate. And Nate knew from the look on Mike's face that his friend will be there for him, all the way - trying to help by any means necessary, hoping to delay the inevitable - until the end.
After a short while, Mike finally spoke.
"Let's go back to the hotel?" he whispered slowly. Nate nodded, started the engine and they drove off, no wild ride on the way.
"It's going to be okay, you hear me?" Mike said, trying to convince not just Nate, but also himself.
The other song was still playing on the radio.
"When every ship is going down, I don't feel nothing when I hear you say,
'It's gonna be OK'."Annoyed, Mike hit the button a bit harder than he intended and the radio stopped playing.
***
The guys went back to the hotel. It was 9 p.m., but Annie said before her departure that she won't be back until 11. Mike disapproved of Nate's idea of them going back to their separate rooms.
"You're not going to sit down alone before she comes back. It's better to have company."
"I can still take care of myself. I won't do anything stupid if that's what you're wondering about." Nate replied.
"You've taken me on the wildest ride of my life right after finding out about your test results." Mike raised his eyebrow. "So, if you ask me, you already did something stupid."
He tried to lighten the mood, but knew it was a failed attempt.
"Alright then." Nate said, his voice changing to the one of concern. "Then I'll be honest - let's just go down to your room as fast as possible, because I have a feeling I'm going to be sick."
Upon hearing that, Mike picked up the pace, with Nate following him. Mike quickly opened the door to his room and both men walked inside.
"Well, the ride came with a price" Mike said. "I knew that--Nate!"
Nate didn't manage to get to the bathroom; he threw up in the middle of the room and fell to his knees. The vomit was on the floor and on Nate's clothes, but what really worried Mike was there was blood again. What's worse, there was more of it than when Mike saw a similar situation last time.
Before he could react, Nate landed with a thud on the floor. He started hissing, still clutching his stomach.
Mike immediately went to him.
"Nate? Nate!" he tried to make his friend notice him. "What's going on?"
"I..." he started. "I... I think it's... ove--" he didn't finish, throwing up blood again. Mike got some of it on his clothes too.
"It hurts.. like fucking hell."
Mike grabbed him. "Come on, I'll help you up." He managed to stand him up, although Nate was still leaning forwards, not letting go of his stomach.
"You have to tell Wigham about this. It's worse than the last time."
Nate nodded, gritting his teeth. "I know. I know..."
They slowly walked towards the bathroom. "Let's go, you need to clean up. I'll take care of that mess in the room."
Mike let Nate go just by the shower and went to the door before he heard Nate. The sound of his voice almost scared him - Nate was pleading.
"Mike..." he said, his voice weak. "I need... I need your help."
Mike turned around and looked at Nate. He looked as if he was about to cry; he knew it took him a lot to ask for that. But Mike didn't let that phase him longer than it had to; after Nate told him what's going on with him in the car, he swore to himself he'll help.
He went back to Nate and helped him get out of his clothes which were covered in vomit. When Nate raised his arms for Mike to take his shirt off, he hissed in pain and the moment he was out of it he immediately grabbed his stomach again.
Nate stepped into the shower while Mike turned the water on and walked out of the bathroom with dirty clothes. He didn't feel embarassed about seeing his friend naked for the first time in his life; instead, he felt angry. At whom? At what? He couldn't tell. But he felt the anger getting stronger with every second. Why Nate? Why is it him? Why is the fate punishing him with terminal illness? He's a good person, he shouldn't suffer like that...
He washed Nate's clothes in the kitchen and left them out to dry. After a moment, he heard Nate calling out for him from the bathroom. He didn't have his things here, so Mike grabbed some of his own fresh clothes from the drawer and went to the bathroom.
Nate was still in the shower, clutching his stomach.
"I brought you some clothes" said Mike, trying to sound normal. "They're similar in size, so it should be okay. Need help with that?"
Nate offered him a weak smile.
"Thank you, but I think... I hope... I'll manage. I want to hold on to whatever dignity I have left." he said, slowly stepping out.
Mike didn't respond to that. He imagined how Nate must feel right now...
"I'm thinking how to break the news to Annie" said Nate. "But there's... one thing. We won't tell her about my attack and vomiting my insides out, alright?" before Mike could protest, he continued. "It's going to be very hard for her, I don't need it to make it worse right now by saying that I can barely contain my stomach contents inside me. Besides..." he exhaled "...I have a feeling it's just a beginning."
Mike considered his point. He slowly nodded his head. "I washed your clothes. After they'll be dry, you can change back into them. Right now, go and sleep in my bedroom. It's better for me to be around in case of any other attack. I'll be nearby, I need to clean up that mess in the main room."
With that, he left the bathroom. It must've been problematic for Nate to put clothes on, because he emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later. He thanked Mike for his help and went to the bedroom.
Meanwhile, Mike was kneeling on the floor, trying to wash the vomit and blood from the carpet, not even noticing his own tear dropping down to the floor and onto the bloodstain he was trying to get rid off.
End of Part 3