"You boys will have to be dressed and ready to leave for the University directly from breakfast. I hope you hung up your clothes properly after last night's romp in the Grand Hall," Kevin said as he adjusted his own tie and looked around to see how Hugo was managing.
"God, I'm nervous, Kev," Hugo said. He was already dressed and ready to go. In fact, he'd been dressed for an hour.
"I thought that you had to undergo an examination of your surgery site-- MRI or whatnot; so that the presenters would have the very latest information on your condition," Kevin said.
"Yep. I think that's right. I'm not enthused about taking any x-rays, but I'm just hoping that one more will not kill me... Oh, My God! To survive everything I have and be killed by an x-ray machine. That would suck," Hugo said.
"Now babe, you run from those things consistently; so I'd bet that just one today will not over tax your system," Kevin tried to rationalize.
"Well, there's no safe dose of radiation, Kev. Just ask the Japanese after their tsunami and nuclear power melt down." Hugo countered.
"Okay. But still, I've had more dental x-rays than I care to recall, and I don't have cancer or worse." (So! This was a weak reply, but after all I love the guy, and agreeing with him that he should obsess over one x-ray just didn't seem like the best choice to me.)
"Dad, can you tie my tie," Nicky said standing next to Hugo with the thing all twisted around his neck.
"Nicky, WHAT have you done with this tie? You don't have to twist it before tying three knots in it... Here, let me see," and for the moment, Hugo forgot the distress he was feeling over the x-rays in order to help his kid deal with life.
"Kevin, will you help me. I can't tie my tie either," Jilder admitted quietly too.
"Sure, Jilder. Just come over here and stand with your back to me. That way I can show you how it's done, and maybe you'll be able to do it for yourself before our trip is over."
"I can't tie my tie either, Kevin." Shannon said in a tiny voice. "Will you help me too?"
"Of course. I specialize in tying neckties for young ghost hunters... Just get in line 'Murph'!"
"Great. Okay, Nicky. Tie demo all done. Now, next time we'll take it slower, and I'll give you a better lesson."
"NEXT..." Kevin called out.
In good time, all of the boys were showered, dressed, 'tied', and sitting waiting for their dads to lead them to breakfast. This meal would not be in the grand dining room. There was a simpler dining room for just this purpose: brief nourishment and fast exit.
"Jerome is supposed to meet us here in front of the main castle gates at 9am," Kevin said to Hugo.
"Brandon also said that Jerome would be able to have us on campus well before 10am, when your examination is scheduled. And the seminar is set for 1pm; so we ought to be able to cover everything without the stress of fearing we'll be late." Kevin reminded Hugo.
Dressed and spiffy, the men left for breakfast.
The town car pulled up in front of the main University Medical building. "It's only 9:40. Jerome is a magician. How he got through those narrow streets and through the city with all that traffic, I'll never know... I guess only with lots of practice," Hugo said.
"Sir," Jerome said. You can call me at the cell phone number I gave you, and I'll be only 30 minutes away. OR, of course if you do think that the event will be concluded at 4pm, I can be right here where I'm delivering you without your telephone call."
"Why don't we plan to leave at 4pm? I'd bet that Dr. Kavanaugh will be prompt to begin and prompt to finish. If there's some irregularity, I will telephone you in time for you to change your plans. We are so very grateful for your transportation assistance, Jerome. I don't want to take advantage of you or put you to any inconvenience," Kevin said.
"Don't worry, Sir." Jerome replied. "Just see that your business here in Ireland goes well. I'll worry about the transportation."
"You are terrific, Jerome."
Hugo and Kevin and all three boys left the town car and began their ascent of the imposing stairway leading up to the lecture hall.
Once inside, they were greeted by none other than Dr. Kavanaugh himself, along with two of his assistants, each dressed in white, professional medical attire.
Dr. Kavanaugh extended his hand, "Hugo my boy. It's wonderful to see you. How was your journey?" And when he finished shaking Hugo's hand he pulled him close and gave him a big bear hug and two or three pats on the back.
"Everything went perfectly, Dr. Kavanaugh. We are so grateful to be able to show this small measure of gratitude in return for the great and immeasurable gift you gave to me by restoring my hearing. I only hope that the information I can provide will be of assistance to you in these seminars."
"Of course, of course, My boy. I appreciate your feelings. Now, however, we must make good use of our time. I'd like to have blood tests prepared and the cell-implant site examined thoroughly, as well as a brief battery of audio sensitivity tests. That done, we will retire for lunch and then reconvene in the main lecture hall for a report on our work and an update on your condition."
"Lead the way, Sir." Hugo said.
"Oh, and I am forgetting my manners being so single minded of purpose. Kevin, my boy. I could NOT have done this without YOU. Your support and encouragement and nurturing of the patient were absolutely indispensible to the successful outcome.
I will be giving a public declaration of our indebtedness to you for the success of the implant. I thought I ought to prepare you to avoid embarrassment."
"Well, Dr. Kavanaugh, I was only doing what I would have done anyhow: loving Hugo. He's a pretty terrific person, whether able to hear or not... However, NOW, I can't hid anything from him, given that he hears better than anyone else in the family."
"Dad! I can hear good," Nicky corrected Kevin.
"Yes, son. Thank God for that. But you remember when Hugo couldn't hear, and how much it has meant to the family for him to regain his hearing. We're here so that Dr. Kavanaugh can tell other doctors about his work; and perhaps, one day, those doctors will be able to help other people like Dr. Kavanaugh helped Hugo."
"Yeah, Dad. That would be good," Nicky concurred.
Dr. Kavanaugh spoke directly to the boys, "If you'd like, you'll be able to tour the Arachnid (or spider) museum in the building right next to this one, while we're giving your dad his physical examination. Then we can all have lunch together..."
"OOOOOOh! cool," the boys all chanted in unison. "REAL SPIDERS, Sir?" Nicky asked.
"REAL SPIDERS, Nick! You'll be absolutely delighted at how marvelously frightening and "icky" they look.
Then looking over at Kevin: "Do you expect that the boys will be attending the lectures?"
"Yes. They need to be exposed to the manner in which human science is advanced, even if only the broadest outline of these events registers with them. Should they become restless, I'll be seated where we can leave without being a distraction. I assure you that these are remarkable boys. They will accommodate the needs of the affair without fail," Kevin commented.
"I'm sure they will," Dr. Kavanaugh replied.
"Does my memory fail me, or is there a NEW young man with you... The family grew it seems?" Dr. Kavanaugh said with a smile.
"May I introduce Master Shannon Murphy, son of Maxmillian Murphy, who is both our guest and our host in this visit to Ireland. His father, Max, has provided his car and driver, and his partner, Mr. Brandon Johnathan has given us constant company and will take us to Castle Dromoland during the next segment of this tour," Kevin explained.
"OHHH, My! what an elegant experience awaits you...." Dr. Kavanaugh replied.
Then he went on: "You must mean THE Maxmillian Murphy from the Irish Computer industry?" Dr. Kavanaugh asked.
"Yes. That would be he," Kevin replied.
Then Kevin explained: "It's a long and serendipitous story, but Shannon joined our travel party in New York, and we fell in love with him. Now, we're all going to tour Ireland with him and his father and his father's partner, Mr. Brandon Jonathan. Life just gets better and better, Dr. Kavanaugh."
"Oh, my boy. I'm so happy for all of you.... But, if you will excuse Hugo and me, we really must get started on the examination. Just ask for directions to the Spider Museum from anyone...
"Dad, they had the biggest, ugliest spiders I've ever seen!" Nicky told Hugo.
"Yeah, I'm going to check in my shoes tonight, because the man in the museum said spiders like to hide in people's shoes. Yuck!" Jilder said shuddering when he thought about what he'd just said.
"Do you REALLY think spiders will get in our shoes, Kevin," Shannon asked with just a hint of trepidation in his voice.
"Well, 'Murph', I'd bet that Castle Clontarf has cleaned out all the spiders and other pests; so that we won't have to worry about them sleeping in our shoes." Kevin tried to relieve a bit of Shannon's anxiety.
"They were really ugly, Kevin... and hairy too! I never knew that spiders could grow so big!" Shannon confessed.
"The big spiders, those were the special ones that live in the tropics I think he said... you know, like they live in the jungle in Africa. So here in Ireland the spiders are little, like in the United States..." Jilder attempted to inform the family about the true gravity of their spider-risk.
"I think you're right, Jilder," when I was in the Air Force many, many years ago, I was in Thailand where the climate is almost tropical, and there were some of those really big, ugly spiders there... "
"And in Thailand they have huge Rice Beetles that eat rice in the fields, fly into the towns where the Thai people catch them, bite their heads off and suck the sweet rice out of their stomachs," Kevin added.
'EEEEEEUEUUUUUUUUU! REALLY? KEVIN... THEY SUCKED THE GUTS OUT OF THE BEETLES! OH, THAT'S GROSS...." Jilder said.
"Come on, Dad... Did they REALLY eat the rice beetles?" Nicky asked not ready to believe what he just heard, even if it were on good authority.
"Yes, they did, son. At night, some of the men would bring little plastic buckets to the flight line where there were lots of bright lights that attracted the rice beetles. The Thai men would catch the beetles and take them home to eat!"
Well, that was just about all the boys could take! They were thoroughly disgusted with all of this insect talk.
"Dad, I don't want to talk about those bugs any more... maybe later," Nicky said.
"ME NEITHER," Shannon agreed.
"Well, at least we are educated about spiders and stuff. I think that's good," Jilder said, trying to rationalize his disgust that the others were quite comfortable displaying for all to know.
"Okay, guys. It's okay with me," Kevin said.
"What do you say we go over to the cafeteria where we can meet Dr. Kavanaugh for lunch. Do you think you can eat after seeing the spiders?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah! I think I can," Nicky said.
"I'll try," Shannon added.
"I'm not sure, but I want to go anyhow... I can drink some lemonade at least," Jilder said....
Dr. Kavanaugh, Hugo, Kevin, and the boys were just finishing their lunch when the two assistants who had conducted Hugo's examination and were processing the results came into the cafeteria and over to the table where everyone was eating.
"Dr. Kavanaugh, Sir. May we speak with you a moment before you go over to the lecture hall?"
"Certainly. Just give me a moment to have these lunches added to our research project accounts, and I'll meet you in the hall."
Moments later Hugo and Kevin could see Dr. Kavanaugh and his two assistants talking animatedly through the large glass doors between the hallway and the cafeteria.
Dr. Kavanaugh would look at the x-ray films, point to them, and speak to the men. This went on for over 10 minutes.
"I'm getting a little nervous," Hugo told Kevin. "Maybe they've found something wrong with me..."
"Hugo, you feel perfectly well. You hear perfectly. You don't have headaches or pains of any kind. What could possibly be wrong? I think you're stressing over nothing," Kevin replied.
"Yeah! But look at those guys talking about my examination results. They aren't all smiles..." Hugo answered.
At that moment, Dr. Kavanaugh and his assistants came back into the cafeteria and walked over to the table where Hugo and the others sat and conversed.
"Hugo, seems we have somewhat of a conundrum in our examination data. Perhaps you can shed some light upon it," Dr. Kavanaugh said looking directly into Hugo's eyes definitely perplexed and quite serious.
"Is there anything wrong with me, Dr. Kavanaugh?" Hugo asked right up front.
"OH, NO, my boy." and Dr. Kavanaugh laughed but quickly recovered his serious and perplexed demeanor. "NOTHING is WRONG with you; it's just that EVERYTHING is RIGHT with you... By that I mean, my staff can find no evidence of any operation at all. You have a completely intact inner ear, no scars or irregularities anywhere, no discontinuities of the nerve path that we spliced with the stem-cell transplant. What I'm saying, Hugo, is that you show absolutely no evidence of having had ANY SURGERY of ANY TYPE, and ALL of your hearing structures are perfect."
"To anyone who hadn't ever known you, it would appear that you have NEVER been without hearing, AND that you have NEVER had any surgery involving those structures! We are stunned. We have no explanations. Do YOU?" Dr. Kavanaugh said holding Hugo's eyes in an intense stare."
Hugo's jaw dropped and he sat speechless for a moment. "How can that be, Dr. Kavanaugh? Of COURSE I couldn't hear-- for nearly 20 years, EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT!-- and of COURSE you operated on me. Don't any of those people remember me from the surgery? I recognize several of them from my long stay in the hospital."
"Of course, yes, my boy. They ALL KNOW what we did, and we have extensive data from your case that dates well before our intervention, when you were deaf and working in the United States, through the work-ups, actual surgery itself, which we have on video, BUT! AT THIS MOMENT! THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF ANY OF THAT! What did you do? Have you had more surgery? I'm completely without understanding...." Dr. Kavanaugh sounded desperate.
"You know, Dr. Kavanaugh, that my friend Jake, the nurse, gave me those growth hormone shots every day for 3 months after you operated on me. That's it! I haven't been to a doctor for ANYTHING! Nothing. What do you mean there's no evidence that I had the stem-cell transplant. I CAN HEAR, Dr. Kavanaugh! What else does anyone need?" Hugo said clearly feeling defensive.
"Don't get upset, my boy. We all KNOW what we did. We have all accessed the data and the records... It's just miraculous that there would be complete and total resolution of your profound deafness but absolutely no evidence of our intervention. This has the makings of a medical hoax, however, Hugo." Dr. Kavanaugh was certainly not joking.
"Dr. Kavanaugh! I am part of NO HOAX! I was deaf, and now I can hear. And YOU transplanted stem-cells that you harvested from me back into me with the help of no fewer than 50 people, all of whom had SOME part in the procedures, and THAT MADE ME HEAR AGAIN! THOSE PEOPLE WERE NOT a fantasy or a hoax!" and now Hugo's demeanor shifted from initial intimidation to outrageous indignation.
Hugo rose and glared down at Dr. Kavanaugh saying nothing further.
"Oh, forgive me, my boy. I'm SO, SO SORRY FOR WHAT I'VE SAID TO YOU. In my shock and fear that someone might accuse ME and my associates of fraud, I attacked you. That was unforgiveable. Please, please forgive me Hugo," Dr. Kavanuagh said quickly, his eyes now desperate, knowing that he'd maligned his patient and his dear friend whom he felt was like a son.
Hugo grasped Dr. Kavanaugh's state of mind immediately. He sat back down in his seat, yet continued to look deeply into Dr. Kavanaugh's eyes. Quite softly Hugo said, "Dr Kavanaugh, it WAS a miracle-- what you did for me-- I KNOW that's why everything is perfect now."
Kevin reached over to Hugo and put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it firmly, "Hugo, WE know-- EVERYONE knows-- that this was NOT a fraud and you are correct. It has been a miracle for which you were and are now completely worthy. Your love together with Dr. Kavanaugh's historic intervention healed you PERFECTLY."
"Well...." Dr. Kavanaugh said. "We've got a very remarkable story to tell our colleagues who will be in attendance at this seminar."
Dr. Kavanaugh began to explain to Hugo and his family what has been arranged for the presentation: "We will run video of the very earliest examinations and your audiometric tests before we selected you for our intervention-- if you recall, and then we'll display the technical data on cell-conditioning and growth in spread-sheets via computer projection. Last, we'll project video of the exam you just went through, complete with x-rays and extensive recapitulation of the same tests you were given in the beginning. Then we will state the obvious: YOU ARE HEALED SO COMPLETELY that there is NO evidence of your having had any dysfunction in the first place!"
Dr. Kavanaugh explained further: "That will probably require the first hour or perhaps hour and a half. The seminar will break for restroom visits and then reconvene at 3pm for another hour of question and answer and no doubt for several physicians to examine Hugo for themselves on the seminar stage."
"We will end our seminar precisely at 4pm as planned, even if there should be requests for additional discussion sessions at some other time. How does that sound to everyone?" Dr. Kavanaugh concluded.
"Then," Dr. Kavanaugh spoke softly and to no one in particular, "and then we'll get ready for the fusillade of accusations, I suppose..." and his voice trailed off.
"Don't you worry, Dr. Kavanaugh. I won't allow them to think you or any of your medical enterprise are anything but Miracle Workers... THEY CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A FRAUD! IT ISN'T TRUE," Hugo said, now in offensive mode.
"Thank you, my boy. But sometimes one has no control over the waves of opposition that beset him. I really DO need your support-- and that of everyone else: Kevin and your boys and even your friends still back in the United States."
With everyone as ready as possible, they all stood to begin the walk over to the lecture hall.
The boys were questioning Kevin the whole way. They didn't understand why there would be any doubt that their dad had been able to hear after he took the special operation. They would tell the seminar: "Their dad wasn't lying-- nobody was lying."
And everyone entered the lecture hall.