Chapter 2 - THE TWO MONTHS BRANDON KEPT QUIET
Gertrude agreed to go to the emergency department only after Brandon threatened to drive her there himself.
Nicole did not examine her.
That distinction mattered.
She was Gertrude’s daughter-in-law.
She was angry.
She was frightened.
She was not going to blur those roles by becoming the doctor directing her mother-in-law’s care.
At the hospital, Nicole gave the emergency physician the basic history she personally knew.
Visible rectal bleeding.
Weight loss.
Reduced appetite.
Possible abdominal discomfort.
Then she stepped back.
Blood work showed significant iron-deficiency anemia.
Not catastrophic.
Not something that had appeared overnight either.
The emergency physician asked Gertrude how long she had noticed blood.
“A week.”
Brandon looked at the floor.
Nicole watched him.
The physician continued.
“Any change in bowel habits?”
“No.”
“Abdominal pain?”
“Sometimes.”
“Unintentional weight loss?”
“I’m eating less.”
“Why?”
Gertrude glanced toward Nicole.
“The food at home is terrible.”
The doctor did not laugh.
Neither did Nicole.
A CT scan showed an area of abnormal thickening in part of the colon that required further evaluation.
It was not a diagnosis.
A gastroenterologist would need to investigate.
Gertrude heard only one phrase.
“We need a colonoscopy.”
Her face went white.
“No.”
The gastroenterologist, Dr. Priya Shah, remained calm.
“Mrs. Hayes, we need to understand where the bleeding is coming from.”
“I’ve had hemorrhoids.”
“That may be true.”
“So that explains it.”
“It may not explain the anemia or the imaging.”
Gertrude looked at Brandon.
“Take me home.”
Brandon’s old instinct appeared instantly.
Protect his mother from discomfort.
He looked toward Nicole.
She said nothing.
The decision had to become his.
“Mom,” he said eventually, “we need to know.”
Gertrude stared at him.
“You too?”
The words sounded less like disagreement and more like betrayal.
Brandon flinched.
Nicole saw it.
That was Diane—no, Gertrude's power.
A question that turned every boundary into abandonment.
Later, when Gertrude was admitted overnight for monitoring and expedited follow-up, Nicole found Brandon alone near the vending machines.
“How much did you know?”
He rubbed his face.
“She told me there was blood.”
“Two months ago.”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“She’d been tired.”
“And?”
He hesitated.
“Sometimes she said her stomach hurt after eating.”
Nicole stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“She told me not to.”
“You’re my husband.”
“She didn’t want you diagnosing her.”
“I wouldn’t have diagnosed her.”
“She said you’d make everything into a medical emergency.”
Nicole laughed once.
It came out ugly.
“Your mother has been bleeding for two months.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
“I thought it was hemorrhoids.”
“Because she told you?”
“Yes.”
“Did anyone examine her?”
“No.”
“Then you didn’t know.”
Brandon’s face tightened.
“She’s scared of doctors.”
“And you helped her avoid one.”
“I was trying to keep her calm.”
Nicole looked toward Gertrude’s room.
“You always call it keeping her calm.”
Brandon turned back.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means every time your mother doesn’t want to face something, you become the person who makes sure she doesn’t have to.”
“That’s not fair.”
Nicole’s eyes filled.
“Our daughter watches you do it.”
That stopped him.
“She watches Grandma insult me.”
“Nicole—”
“She watches Grandma throw food away.”
“Stop.”
“She watches you defend her.”
Brandon lowered his voice.
“This is not the time.”
Nicole looked at him.
“That sentence is exactly why we’re here.”
Before he could answer, Dr. Shah came into the hall.
“Mr. Hayes?”
Brandon turned.
“We reviewed some of your mother’s outside records.”
Nicole saw the doctor’s expression.
“There’s something we need to clarify.”
Gertrude had undergone a positive stool-based colorectal cancer screening test eight months earlier.
She never completed the recommended colonoscopy.
Brandon stared.
“What test?”
May you like
Nicole slowly turned toward his mother’s room.
This time, even Brandon had not known.
