Please, don't forget to donate to Nifty as to keep this site free : https://donate.nifty.org/
Robin and I had quite a lot of work. For Robin it was because he was so efficient in his job and more clients asked specifically for him on their flights. Rudolf couldn't be happier. For me it was because the name and fame of our medical center was very good. It came to the point that we really had to find an extra doctor who would rotate on Randy, Ray and my free days, plus covering holidays as well. It would have to be a full time contract. We also thought about having a nurse all the time. That job was offered to Rafael, but he declined. He was happy where he was and even if he loved Ray to the moon and back, he didn't want to be 24/7 with him, claiming they wouldn't have much more to tell each other when off work. To find an extra doctor, we used the same ploy when contracting Ray as it had been successful.
Roy was so much at our place that we finally gave him a key to the house. It was a joy to have him around and, fortunately, it was not all about good sexual activities. We found out we had a lot of common interests. He was a scholar. We had only known him as a constructor of swimming pools, but in fact he was a construction engineer and had received a nice academical education. Very few were the subjects he didn't know anything about.
Summer had been a real parade of friends at the house. That was something that happened because of the swimming pool and the BBQ we used almost every day. It was already August when Robin got a call of Rachel, asking if she could drop by. It was a bit of a strange request as normally seen she just said she was coming instead of asking. She arrived shortly after calling. We were not used to see her on her own to start with and less with huge sunglasses on her nose that she didn't take off, not even to kiss us on the cheeks or when she was in the shade. Robin and I immediately suspected something had happened and after a long sigh, she finally took off her sunglasses and showed us a big and ugly black eye.
-I guess I have something to tell you, she said, and no, it is not Robbie's work, but his boyfriend's.
Oh ! So he finally came out of his closet, but we didn't mention it.
-I came home early from work and caught Robbie with that young thug in the bedroom, naked and fucking. I already had some suspicion about Robbie preferring guys. I put it out of my head thinking I was imagining things, but seeing him with that guy only confirmed what I thought. They saw me and I told them to get dressed and leave the house. That stranger in my house came up to me and told me :"Why don't you leave the house, bitch?". I tried to keep calm and explain myself and without the slightest warning I felt a stinging pain in my face and fell down. Robbie didn't move an inch and even smiled. I stood up and went to the kitchen and called the police who happened to be in the neighborhood and were quite quickly at our door. Meanwhile I was already on the phone with my lawyer who talked to them and they took the thug away as I pressed charges. Robbie was asked to leave the house as well. The police had received instructions from my lawyer who said he was on his way. He arrived at the same time as a locksmith who changed all the locks on the house. The police took some pictures of my eye that was already changing colors. I immediately filed for divorce, not on the ground of Robbie cheating on me, but for non-assistance to person in danger. My lawyer said that the fact he cheated on me was not that important anymore in divorce cases, but that the non-assistance would give quite some weight in the divorce file. So... here I am.
-And what are you going to do now ? Robin asked.
-The house is mine anyway, so I am going to sell it and move. I don't expect I will still have babies, so I will try to find a nice apartment here in town. But I have a favor to ask you Al. Could you make up a medical file, stating the black eye and even check if there are no other injuries due to that fist in my face ?
-You are family now as Robin and I are married, so I can't, but I'll ask my trusted colleague Randy to do the necessary. To be a hundred percent sure, we will also send you to the hospital for a scan or an MRI to complete the file and send it to your lawyer.
A quick call to Randy settled it and soon Rachel and Robin were on their way to the medical center. It had to happen. Not the fact that Rachel was hit by a thug, but the fact that Robbie would end up make a serious mistake. If people wanted to stay in the closet, I could accept that. It was their choice, but being in the closet means you also had to be very careful. From what Rachel told us, she could eventually accept her husband had a bisexual side, but certainly not that he would smile while she was hit on. The shit hit the fan big time. Luckily, Rachel was a strong woman and independent. She would certainly recover from that awful mess her husband had created. Randy did a marvelous job with his report and got an appointment for the same day for an MRI despite the short notice. As soon as he had the results of the MRI he called me.
-Hey Al ! Randy here ! I wondered if you want to take over your sister-in-law's case.
-Why the question Randy ?
-Well... It seems that the MRI detected something that has nothing to do with the punch on her face...
-Could you be more specific, please ?
-I am afraid it is not good news Al. She will have to undergo quite a few tests. The MRI shows a spot that is not normal. I'm afraid she has a tumor in her head and it is not small.
-I'll call you back Randy.
Robin was on a flight and I had to wait till he came home to give him the news. I was not looking forward to that. Robin had just found a sister and now there was a serious threat. He could lose her as quickly as he found her. There was another thing I was not looking forward to and that was to give Rachel the news. At first sight she looked perfectly healthy and probably ignored everything about the tumor. That was why it had had time to grow. I hadn't seen the MRI yet, but a tumor in the head was never a good news.
Robin took the news quite bravely and immediately switched over to his pragmatic self, asking the right questions about the procedure to follow. I told him I could take her case, but that she would have to see specialists anyway. I am a family doctor, not an oncologist or whatever was needed for that tumor. If possible, we would need a biopsy of it to know if it was benign or not and that was depending on where it was located. Robin called Rachel and asked her to come over. Just over the phone, she realized something was serious. As I was the doctor, Robin let me explain to her what was going on.
I expected her to be devastated. She wasn't ! As I said, she was a strong woman and faced the facts with dignity. There were no tears nor desperation. She was brave and valiant and accepted all the good advise I could give her. Indeed, I took over her case from Randy and got the "machine" working by contacting colleagues at the hospital. Appointments were immediately made and files transferred to the adequate specialists. Once everything was organized, we offered her to stay at our place. She declined the offer.
-I am not dead yet, she said. I still have a lot of things to do and it is not a tumor that will prevent me from doing them. I guess I am fortunate that I feel no pain yet, neither having some nasty effects of it. As long as I can, I'll stand on my feet and go on with whatever I was doing. I'll have to put some speed in certain things and then slow down others.
She was brave indeed, although I dreaded that she would fall to pieces once she would be alone and that's why we insisted that she would stay at our place. She declined the offer, for the moment. She said she would probably have to accept it if things got really bad. We made her promise to call as soon as she would feel something unusual. At least she agreed to that before she left.
To say that the following month was hectic, would be an understatement. Fortunately for our medical center we had found the fourth doctor we were looking for, because I made it a point to go with Rachel to every appointment she had with specialists and so on. I was almost more absent than present at my job, but everybody understood and supported me in my decisions. During that month, Rachel succeeded in selling her house and buy a nice apartment very close to our house. She put the apartment in Robin's name although she paid for it. She urged her lawyer to accelerate the divorce procedure as mush as possible. There was no proof at all that the tumor was due to the punch she had received and the non-assistance of her ex husband, but the lawyer "casually" mentioned it in court. The judge was clearly sensible to that argument. Rachel had the biopsy done and the news was not good once again. It was clearly cancer. She was scheduled for radiotherapy and that was when she sort of broke down, when she started to lose her hair. Surgery was on the planning, but her oncologist first wanted to see the results of the radiotherapy as the tumor was located around nerves and arteries. Surgery would certainly have side effects that nobody was looking positively at.
Roy had known her from the multiple visits Rachel had paid us and was becoming a good friend of her's. It made it all a bit easier at the moment to not leave Rachel alone. How hard it could sound, our lives went on and we all had a job to do, but we managed to always have one of us being with her. She got weaker by the day and she finally couldn't stay on her own in her apartment. The MRI after the radiotherapy showed that the tumor was far more aggressive than what we originally thought and the radiotherapy had not the expected results. I feared that Robin would indeed lose his sister earlier than foreseen and he knew it. The bond we had with Roy became even stronger as he was so involved in helping Rachel. He didn't only help Rachel. He helped us as well. We felt so sorry for Rachel, but I was feeling even more sorry for Robin. Roy had always the perfect words to lift our spirits when necessary.
Roy showed so much love and compassion, but most of all respect. He was the only one to immediately accept Rachel's decision to stop all kinds of treatments. She didn't want any radiotherapy anymore. She vehemently refused the chemotherapy and when her oncologist repeated the idea of surgery, she just said no. The only thing she asked was for serious painkillers and it wasn't long before those didn't work anymore and we had to go over to morphine. It was not unusual that she stayed in bed all day. Very rarely she would get up and sit at the table to eat. She was so fed up to not be able to have a normal life.
Arriving home one night, Roy's SUV was parked in front of the house. I went into the house and noticed immediately a very nicely dressed table and Roy very busy in the kitchen.
-What's going on Roy ?
-Rachel's lawyer was here when I arrived. After his departure, Rachel asked me to dress a very nice table and to prepare a nice meal. She said she was going to take an extra doses of morphine... and would come down at 7 sharp. She asks us to be nicely dressed.
But Roy had puffy red eyes and I knew he had been crying. I asked him why.
-My intuition tells me something I don't want to believe... Officially I think that the lawyer told her everything is settled and she wants to celebrate, but I also think it will be her last celebration...
Roy dropped what he was doing and came over to me, clearly needing a hug. We were standing there in the middle of the kitchen when Robin entered. Without knowing what was going on, he joined in the hug.
At 7 sharp Rachel came down the stairs. She had put on her best clothes, but it was obvious she had lost a lot of weight. She had done her hair the best she could and even had some make-up on her face. She asked if there was still that bottle of Champagne in the fridge. We opened it.
-We celebrate that today I am officially divorced and that the thug that hit me received a deserved punishment. I am at peace !
We had a wonderful meal and after dessert, Rachel looked at us with piercing eyes.
-You three love each other, right ?
-What do you mean Sis ?
-Oh, come on Robin ! You know exactly what I mean. You can fool a lot of people, but not me. I just have to see how you three look at each other to know that you love each other. It is more : you are in love with each other. It is as obvious as the nose in the middle of your face... and I think it is cute and beautiful. What you have to do is stop pretending, stop having sex and start to make love.
My eyes were wide open and Robin looked at her in total disbelief. We looked at Roy.
-I didn't say anything at all, he exclaimed.
We looked back at Rachel who had a sheepish smile on her face as if she knew something that we ignored.
-I am not stupid, she said, and I can recognize love when I see it. I don't say you have to shout it all over town, but at least you should admit it to yourselves.
-We are just friends, Robin replied.
-Yes, Rachel said, and I am the Queen of England. Please guys, life is too short and God knows what I am talking about. You should never be ashamed of your feelings for each other... Now, I am going to bed again. Please don't make to much noise when making love and wake me up.
She hugged and kissed us, expressing all she had in her.
After cleaning up, we went to our bedroom and got naked between the sheets. There was probably something true in what Rachel had said and that night with Roy, Robin and I, we really made love and didn't have sex. It was as if a weight had been taken from our shoulders and we abandoned ourselves in that lovemaking, sharing whatever we had, whatever we felt. The kisses were suddenly more intense. The caresses were more electrifying. Our orgasms were earth-chattering. The satisfaction was beyond words. As we let our feelings talk, our purpose was exclusively to please the other two. It was purely "giving". It was generous and brought our lovemaking to a whole new level.
In the morning it was my turn to bring breakfast to Rachel. I entered her room joyfully.
-Good morning Sunshine, I hope we didn't make too much noise last night...
But Rachel didn't react... at all. I put the breakfast tray down and came closer to her bed. I am a doctor and I didn't have to check anything at all, I knew. She was gone. I called the other two who were about to leave for work. They came running up the stairs. Roy's intuition had been right. She had known it was her last meal. Robin didn't need any explanation at all. He saw my face and knew Rachel was not there anymore. I called Randy to come over and make the death certificate, as I couldn't, being family.
We found an envelope on her night-stand, addressed to all three of us. Everything was settled, even her funeral. The only thing we had to do was call her lawyer as she had left very clear instructions. She had left nothing to casualty or hazard. We called the lawyer indeed who came over quite quickly and had all the necessary documents with him. The coffin, the funeral itself, everything was already paid for. A detailed list of her belongings told us who had to receive what. Even the list of people to warn of her death was joined to the lawyer's papers. There were no heirs, except for Robin, Roy and me. Her lawyer made us sign a few documents and was then busy calling the necessary people.
It was when we signed the papers that we realized Rachel was a very wealthy woman. We would never have guessed as she was always so humble. The lawyer told us he would warn us once all the papers were legalized. The funeral company was there before he left. In less than two hours from the moment I found her dead in het bed, the house was empty. Roy and I emptied her room, following the instructions about what to do with the belongings she had brought with her once she couldn't stay alone anymore. Robin was devastated. He had known Rachel for very little time, but got really attached to her. He felt guilty that he hadn't been able to do more for her and whatever we said, didn't take that guilt away.
After the funeral, Robin entered a real depression to the point I had to give him medication. Roy's and my love for him apparently didn't help him and neither did the medication. I scheduled him with a psychologist and even if there was a very slight improvement, I had the sensation Robin had completely lost his will to live. From the day Rachel died, he never again had a smile on his face. I missed that smile and told him so. That didn't help either. Robin spent his entire days in bed or on the sofa. He completely stopped caring about himself. I had to oblige him and even threaten him so that he would at least take a shower. Weeks and months went by and Robin was just the shadow of what he once had been. Roy and I became really desperate. If things went on like that, I would have no other choice to have him taken to a psychiatric hospital, because I was at the end of my resources.
Unfortunately, it finally came to that. Robin needed help that I could no longer provide. It broke my heart and Roy's when we took him there, but Robin didn't even react. With tears in my eyes I tried to explain him why I had taken such a decision, but there again, there was no reaction on Robin's part. He just turned his back on me and fell asleep. The psychiatrist had seen similar cases before and told us that we would have to have a lot of patience.
Roy and I went to see him every day, being it together or separately. Knowing Robin like I had known him, I couldn't see any improvement, on the contrary. It seemed he didn't even recognize us anymore. Most of the time, he would be asleep and if he was awake it was as if he was looking towards an unknown and far away place. The best way to describe it was that his eyes were ... empty. It was as if his eyes were open, but that he didn't see anything. When he started to refuse his meals, meaning that he didn't touch them at all, they had to put an IV to feed him. He systematically pulled the IV out of his arms. They had to tie his hands to the bed while feeding him.
I started to understand what he had gone trough when I was in hospital and that I didn't recognize him. I was in the same situation. I had the feeling I was losing him completely and in a certain way I already lost him, but I didn't give up. I continued to go visiting him and so did Roy. Robin's father, brother and sister were of big assistance, but could get any reaction from Robin who was in a world of his own and didn't let anyone in. Even his psychiatrist started to worry and consult with colleagues to find a solution. On top of that, he was losing weight and as he almost never came out of bed, started to have problems to stand on his feet. We tried to show him pictures and videos of parties we had at the house and where he could see Rachel laugh and dance, but it was to no avail. At the hospital they did a complete physical check-up and "physically" he was in absolute perfect health. It was all in his head but nothing could be seen on scans or MRI.
At one of my visits, together with the psychiatrist, Robin uttered a few words to no one in particular.
-I want to go.
When asked where he wanted to go, he just said : "Rachel".
That was a real eye-opener. Robin just wanted to die.
The comments and feedback is what makes us want to go on writing for you.
Without any feedback we have to think the story isn't that good after all.
Let us know what you think about the story and even make suggestions at amahy1957@gmail.com
To be continued...