What Happened to Baby Cameron?
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 33  

The Tests

On Wednesday morning, there was knock a on the bedroom door, I went to open it and Grandpa T. was sitting there.  “Steve and Hank, after Steve left for the airport, Cam came to talk to me.  He's concerned about Chad.  He says that Chad thinks he has cancer.  Is that true?”

I motioned for Grandpa T. to come in, even though Hank and I were only in our briefs.  I figured he had already seen me in that state, so it wouldn’t be a problem.  I shut the door.  “Chad, has a lump in his pelvic area and he’s scheduled for an MRI this morning.  No one has said that it was cancer.  I’m also concerned about Damon.  He has moles on his head and ears that Doctor Bednarik is concerned about.  We have an appointment with a dermatologist to check them out, this afternoon.

Grandpa T. commented. “Oh shit, those two boys don’t need any more stress than they've already had to endure.  Is there anything that I can do?”

I shook my head no, “I’m taking the boys for their appointments.  There shouldn’t be any problems.  Just so everyone knows, the six young guys physicals went well and Doctor Granger said they were fine, as is Len.”

We were interrupted by a knock on the door.  Hank called out, “Come in.”

Cam and Tony came in, carrying two trays.  Cam complained, “We figured that we would find you old people here talking about how to be mean to us wonderful, sweet little boys.  Whoever is taking us to school had better get their butt moving.  We’ve already finished breakfast.”

Hank scolded, “Cameron, why are you talking like that?”

Cam looked at his Dad, “You people are always talking about our butts, so why can’t we talk about your butts?”

I decided to stop any more talk, “Guys, I’ll take you to school.  I’ll be down in ten minutes.”

I took a quick shower, even though Grandpa T. and Hank were still talking, when I was dressed, I looked at the two of them.  “I’ll see you when I see you.  Hank, I’ll leave the times that the boys need to be where.  If Grandpa T. could go with you, you wouldn’t have to have a split personality.”

I picked Chad up at the high school and he was very nervous, “Mr. Michaels what if I do have cancer.  What can they do about it?”

“Chad, Mr. Rodgers had cancer, and he was cured.  Danny had a form of cancer and he was cured.  Think positive.  First, think you don’t have cancer, and if you do, we’re catching it early enough that it can be cured.  Please relax; you’re making the van vibrate.  Chad, did Colby give you your X rated birthday present last night, like he threatened he was going to?”

Chad started to laugh, “If you must know, he did.  But I promise, I had nothing to eat or drink after midnight.  I rest my case.”

After we were checked in at the hospital admitting office, we were sitting, waiting for the technician who was going to be doing the MRI.  Chad looked at me, “Mr. Michaels, I'm so scared, that I have to go to the bathroom, even though I’ve had nothing to eat or drink.”

“Well, go, I’ll tell the technician that you’re taking care of business in the bathroom.”

When Chad returned, the technician was waiting.  The young man looked at Chad, “My name is Drake.  I hope you didn’t lose too much weight in the bathroom, Mr. Martin, or you’ll be floating in space.  Please follow me.”

Chad looked at me, “Can my Uncle Steve go with me?”

The young man looked at us, “I don’t think you’ll both fit in the machine at the same time, but if you insist.”

I followed Chad and the technician and listened as the technician explained to Chad what was going to happen.   When we walked into the room, the young man looked at Chad, “Go into the changing room and change, so Mr. Michaels won’t start to drool all over the place.  You can leave your briefs on if would like, but considering where the lump is, it might be best if you wore only a gown.”

Chad came out of the dressing room with only a gown on.  The technician asked, “Chad, do you have any piercings that would show?”

Chad asked, “Sir, I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

I answered, “I can assure that Chad doesn’t have any piercings on his body.  He’s a farm boy.”

The technician placed Chad on the table and announced, “Chad, I’m going to be injecting you with a solution that is going to make you feel warm and you might even start to get an erection.  But the sensation will pass.  Please follow the directions that you hear from the machine.  Mr. Michaels, it might be best if you were where Chad’s attention won’t be diverted.  It’s going to be important that he remain perfectly still while he is in the donut cooker.”

After the test, Chad was sitting there waiting for the technician to make sure that the images were as they were supposed to be, and Chad asked, why is it taking so long?  That’s not a good sign, is it?”

“Chad, the young man is a technician, not a radiologist.  He appears to be very thorough.  He needs to make sure that the imagining he did is okay.”

The young man reappeared, “Chad, you’re free to get up and move about the country.  I think I'd better go watch while you get dressed; to make sure what I saw on the images wasn’t a fluke.  I ain’t seen many penises that come up so clear on the screen.  You must be packing a load between your legs.” 

Chad pointed to the young man’s hand, “You’re obviously married.  What would your wife say if she heard you talking like that?”

The young man quipped back, “Just because I’m wearing a wedding band doesn’t mean I’m married to a woman.  But in my case it's true.” 

Chad went to change into his clothes.  When he came out of the changing room, the technician was waiting to escort us out.  The technician nodded, “The radiologist is already studying the results of the scan.  Of course, he’ll probably fall asleep four or five times before he finishes.  We’ll fax the results to your physician’s office and they should be calling you either later today, or tomorrow.  Who is you referring physician?”

Chad answered, “Doctor Bednarik.”

The young man started to laugh, “Well, in that case, it may be a month or two before you get the results of the test.  His primary nurse is my Mom and she keeps losing things.  Now I understand why I had to squeeze you into my schedule, today.”

I looked at the young man, “Are you saying that you’re Tina’s son?”

“No, I am saying she’s my mother.”

We arrived back at the admitting area and the young man shook our hands, “Chad, you’re going to be fine.  So chill.”

Chad and I stopped at a Village Inn restaurant, since neither he nor I had had breakfast.  We were walking out when my cell phone rang.

“This is Steve.”

“Steve, Grandpa T and I just took Tony and Ricky back to school.  Where do you want to meet for lunch?”

“Cowboy, Chad and I just finished a late breakfast.  I’ll meet you wherever you want, but I have to take Damon to see Doctor Straley at one thirty.

I met Hank and Grandpa T. at the Bread Basket and told them what had transpired.  Grandpa T. laughed, “You think that’s bad.  Wait until you talk to Ricky.  He’s mortified that he’s going to have to wear glasses.  Tony is ready to report you for child abuse for making him have a filling.  When he got out of the van at school, he didn’t even say goodbye.”

As we were leaving the restaurant, I looked at Hank and Grandpa, “Hopefully your afternoon will go better, and I won‘t have any of the other three boys yelling at me.  It will be interesting to see what happens with Damon, this afternoon.”

When Damon and I arrived at the Doctor Straley’s office, we had to fill out forms since this was Damon’s first visit.  As soon as Damon took the completed forms to the desk, a nurse opened the door.  “Mr. Demon Martin.”

Damon started to laugh, “Ma’am, the name is Damon.  I may act like a demon, but that’s not my name.”

The nurse adjusted her glasses, “If people would write more legibly, we blind people wouldn’t have such a difficult time to see what you are trying to write.”

The nurse looked at Damon’s folder, “Oh, I see that Doctor Bednarik referred you.  He’s a good man.  He sends us more patients than any other doctor in town.  He keeps food on my table.  Doctor Straley will be right with you, as soon as I can wake him.”

When Doctor Straley knocked and entered, he looked surprised, “It’s good to see you, Steve.  I didn’t realize you have some more sons.”

“Keith, I actually have two young sons.  Damon, however isn’t my son.  I guess you could say that I’m his fairy godfather.”

Doctor Straley was pretty much business.  He washed his hands with antiseptic soap and started to examine Damon’s face.  “Damon, I take it you have spent quite a bit of time out of doors?”

“Yes, sir.  We lived on a farm until just recently.”

“Did you wear a hat when you were outside?”

 

“Not usually.  If I did, it was a baseball hat.”

“Damon and Steve, there are two moles that I’m concerned about.  I’d like to remove the moles and have a biopsy done on them.”

Damon looked at me.  I shrugged my shoulders.  Damon frowned, “Doctor Straley, is it going to hurt and will I have to miss school?”

“Damon, you’re going to feel some discomfort, but you won’t need to miss any school.  Damon, I have another question.  You mentioned that you had lived on a farm.   Did you sometimes go without a shirt when the weather was nice?”

Damon grinned, “Only as often as we could.  We had to work on our tans.”

“In that case, take off your shirt, so I can examine you back and chest to make sure there aren’t any signs of melanosis.”

Damon looked at Doctor Straley, “Sir, I’m not sure what you meant by melanosis, but okay.”

Doctor Straley was examining Damon’s back and chest, “Melanosis means that I’m looking for any suspicious looking marks.  You certainly have a nice body for a fifteen year old male.  You must have had to work hard.  I don’t see any strange marks here.  Why don’t I take you to the procedure room, so you can bust out of this place?  Steve, I’ll have this young man back to you as good as new in about twenty minutes.”

When Damon returned, he had bandages on the top of both ears.  Doctor Straley nodded, “Steve, you need to buy this young man the biggest, floppiest cowboy hat you can find.  He has the type of skin that needs to be protected from the sun as much as possible.”

“Damon, stop at the desk and they’ll make an appointment for you to come back next Monday.  I’ll have the biopsy results by then and I can make sure that you aren’t having any complications.  If the kids at school give you any static, tell them you met a werewolf who liked to nibble on ears.”

As we were going to the reception area, Damon was laughing.  The person at the desk looked up, “Damon, what time on Monday would be best for you?  Would you prefer a morning or afternoon appointment?”

Damon looked at me, but I held up my hands and shrugged.  Damon thought, “It would probably be better if it was afternoon, the later the better, so I wouldn’t have to miss as much school.”

The young lady looked at the computer screen, “The best I can do would be at 2:45.”

“That would work great.”

As we were pulling out of the parking lot, I looked at the clock.  It was three o’clock.  I hope Hank remembers to pick up the boys.  I dropped Damon at the house on the hill and decided to go to the ranch.

When I pulled in, I was relieved, because I saw four of the five little bodies out in the yard.  When I climbed out of the car, Cam came running up to me, “Daddy had to take Ricky to get his glasses.  Tony’s not talking to you.”

“What did I do?  It was you who told us that he had a tooth that hurt.”

“Don’t tell him I told you, or he’ll beat me up.  He’s still talking funny.”

Randy and Andy approached where I was standing talking to Cam.  Randy giggled, “Look, Daddy, no cavities.”

Andy smiled and he was missing some front teeth, “Doctor Pat pulled my two baby teeth so the big people teeth could come in, It didn’t even hurt.”

Tony was standing there glaring, “Traitor, see if I ever trust you again.”

I grabbed him, “Look, kid, we only did it so your tooth would stop hurting.”

Tony hugged me, “I know, but it still wasn’t fun.”

I looked around, “Where is everyone else?”

Cam looked up, “Grandma Ellie and Grandpa T. went to do some errands, and Chase and Freddie had to go take care of something at Uncle Dusty’s place.  Jordan called and said he needed some help.”

I started to see red, “Do you mean that you four guys were here by yourselves?”

Cam shook his head no, “Danny and Lionel are here doing what they always do.  They keep coming to check on us.  We aren’t doing anything bad.”

Danny and Lionel appeared, “Hi, Uncle Steve, all of a sudden the boys disappeared when we had told them they were to stay where we could see them until someone got here.  I need to get home and help with chores. Li, I’ll see you tomorrow.  Guys, be good for Uncle Steve.”

I looked at the four boys, “I’ll go change and we can go check the horses.  Did you guys have a snack?”

Randy answered, “Yep, we had some cookies and milk and we brushed our teeth good.  Andy had a hard time eating them without his two teeth.”

The four guys followed me into the bedroom and watched as I changed clothes.  I looked at them, “Guys, why are you following me like little puppies.  Is there a problem?”

Cam sat down on the bed, “Dad, I heard Daddy and Grandpa T. talking and they think you’ve been trying to do too much.  Daddy is worried about you.  I heard Daddy talking to Uncle Wayne and Daddy was saying, “Wayne, Steve isn’t trying to usurp your position as the head of the household.  He’s only trying to help the Martin boys get on with their lives.”

I took a deep breath, “Cam, do you know what usurp means?”

“No, Dad, I don’t.  It sorta sound syrup or slurp but those things don’t make much sense.”

I was seeing red again, “Guys, let’s go check on the horses.”

When we walked into the barn, I knew I made another wrong decision.  Natasha was trying to deliver a new foal.  I looked at the four guys who were standing on the railing watching, “Guys, get down.  You shouldn’t be watching this.  Cam, go get me some gloves from the shower room, please.”

Cam entered the stall with me as I helped Natasha deliver her foal, “Cam, I can take care of this, myself.”

“Dad, I’ve seen horses being born before.  I’m not a little boy.  I’ll hold Natasha’s head while you help her.”

When we had finally brought the new foal into the world, Cam checked and jumped in the air, “It’s a boy.  Dad, whose horse is he going to be?”

“Cam, we’ll decide that, later.”

“Dad, we gotta decide now, so we can name him.”

I threw up my hands, “Since you already have two horses, he can be Randy’s horse since he is the first of the boys I met.  We’ll have to make sure the other three boys get the next foals.  Randy, you get to name the horse, since he’s yours.”

We were interrupted by the arrival of Hank and Ricky.  Ricky came up to me, “Daddy, I can see what you look like.  Why aren’t you smiling?  You always seem so happy.  Don’t you feel good?”

I bent down, “Ricky, I’m fine.  I’m just rather tired.  It seems as if certain people think I’m usurping their positions.  Take Mr. Rodgers and get Cam and me some clean clothes.  We can’t very well go into the house looking like this.  Come on, Cam, let’s go shower while they bring us some clean clothes.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  It is always wonderful when a new life enters the world.  I am sure that Randy will take good care of his new colt.  I am also sure that Ricky will have one of his own, sometime soon.

I do detect a bit of tension building up.  I hope that can be cleared up quickly.  Now that the new boys are getting settled in, it would be a shame if there were more problems that they have to deal with.

I guess we will find out in the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 04/16/10