Elsie smiled, and wiped away the last of her tears. "Yeah, Ma. Thanks so much."
"It's nothing, kid. Does anyone else know, by the way?"
"Yeah, Max, Bella and Nick. The last two deserved an explanation for why I had absolutely no attraction for them."
"And they've all been nice about it, yeah?"
"Yeah, of course. A bit confused at first, and I think Nick was a bit hurt because I think he liked me, but Bella was just happy to have me as a friend again. And Max has been great."
Katie grinned. "Is that why he's been snapping at us so much lately?"
"Yeah. I told him not to do that, though. Sorry about that."
"No, I'm sorry, El. I shouldn't have been bringing up relationships so much. Makes me as bad as the parents who just assume their kids are straight."
Elsie furrowed her eyebrows. "No, Ma. It's okay. Max was more offended than me, honestly, and he's engaged."
"Still, though. It wasn't nice for me to be presumptuous. That must mean I'm showing my age, huh."
"Yeah, you're a fossil, Ma. Did you remember your dentures before you left the house?"
"Ha ha, very funny, Braces."
"Okay, okay, you're very young. What McFlurry are you getting?"
"Is that even a question? Of course, I'm getting Maltesers."
💛
"Kind of felt bad leaving El home alone.", Katie said, breaking the silence in the waiting room as she flicked through a recipe magazine.
"I don't. Max and Bella are there, and she doesn't need to be hearing this upfront."
"I mean, we'll be telling her anyway."
"Amore, this would be the worst place for her to find out. She could run out or anything."
Katie sighed. "I suppose that's true. I'll lock up before we tell her if it's bad news."
A few more silent minutes passed, and finally, Zoë was called into the doctors office, Katie supporting her as she walked in.
"Good morning, ladies. How're ye keeping?", the doctor asked, but not as enthusiastically as she usually did. Zoë immediately spotted the glint of sadness she hadn't seen in her eyes since when she gave the diagnosis, so she knew already that Katie would have to lock up the house.
"Just tippin away the best we can, Doc. In a good bit of pain, though.", Zoë replied with a half smile.
The doctor sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to be able to casual act any longer. "Well, there's no easy way to tell you this, Zoë. Given your recent tests and your everyday symptoms that you log, I'm afraid the prognosis has shortened since your last checkup."
Zoë blinked, and Katie scoffed in disbelief. "Ms Peters, her previous checkup was six weeks ago and gave a prognosis of a year and a half. What is it now?"
Ms Peters sighed and passed over a box of tissues. "Your rate of deterioration has been drastic, Zoë. While your initial prognosis promised a safety blanket of slight deterioration over the course of a few years, you've lost motor functions at a much faster rate. Your fine motor skills being gone completely, increasing respiratory difficulties and lack of movement in one of your legs only four and a half months after your diagnosis is far more concerning than we predicted."
"How long have I to live, Doc?", Zoë asked with exasperation.
"Well, the deterioration is going to get even drastic and faster. At this stage, it's likely that you'll lose mobility entirely over the next three months, so I'd recommend getting mobility aids immediately if you don't have them already. As for your respiration, the deterioration isn't as fast at the moment but is more than likely to speed up, as well as your ability to chew and digest food properly. This means that you'll have to go on a liquid diet in the near future, eventually with a tube. Once this all culminates, you'll more than likely have to go into hospice care within the next five to six months, and once that happens, you'll be lucky to live a further two months. In that time, it's possible that you may lose your ability to speak, depending on your throat deterioration. That doesn't happen to everyone, and your deterioration is mostly in your limbs, but considering that you're such a family oriented person, I felt it necessary to warn you about that. I'd suggest only resuming work for another two months, as that kind of stress could potentially agitate your symptoms. I'm so sorry, Zoë. At most, you have another eight months, but you could be gone in five months."
