Breaking The Fall:

Breaking The Fall: Chapter 3

"Hi." Doug smiled.
"Hi."
"I...uhm. This weird or what?" He grinned.
"Kinda, yeah. I knew Mom was looking for relatives though. You look like my dad."
"You kinda look like him in your own way too."
She cocked her head slightly. "Is that good or bad?"
Wendy interrupted. "That's exactly what Doug said when I told him that! What can I say, Ray Ross was a good looking guy." She put an arm around Casey. "Okay, down to business I suppose. Doug, do you want a coffee or tea?"
"A coffee would be great, thanks."
"Mom, I'll do it. Do you want a juice?"
"You do the coffee, I'll get myself some water. That a deal?"
"Deal."
They both disappeared into another small room that was on the far side of the apartment. Doug took the time around to have a look around. The walls were painted a light beige colour, with dark blue carpet and mix and match furnishing. A small TV set was in one corner, and behind that a cabinet of trophies and awards on one side, books on the other. A dining table was behind where he sat. There were lots of flowers everywhere, including some on a vase on a small table next to the couch. A small tag lay beside them, and Doug reached for it, reading the cursive from Casey to her mother in celebration of Mother's Day. He put the tag back down, but knocked something to the floor in the process. He bent to pick it up and found it was a small bottle of round pills. Turning it over, Doug realised he was holding a container of AZT.
"Here."
Doug put the container back on the table and took the mug of coffee from Casey, who had returned from the kitchen.
"Thanks." He sipped a bit of the hot liquid. "So you're a Bulls fan?"
"Yeah."
"Same here. Been to many games?"
"No, I've never been."
"No? Maybe we can so something about that someti-" He was cut off by a crash from the kitchen.
"SHIT."
Casey ran off, and Doug followed behind. "Is everything okay?"
The small kitchen was full with two people in it, and Doug stood in the doorway. On the floor was a toaster, minus its plug, which was still in the socket on the wall. Wendy looked flustered and shaken, considering she'd only dropped a toaster, and Casey was on the floor picking it up.
"I can fix that if you want." Doug put his hand out for the toaster.
"It's okay, I can do it." Casey said, pulling out the plug and squeezing past, taking the toaster to her room. Wendy stood still, holding the worktop.
"Are you okay? Come through, you need to sit down." Doug reached for one of her arms and lead her into the lounge.
"Thanks, I don't know how that happened, I just..."
"Mom, did you remember to take those new pills?" Casey returned.
"Yes, Casey. I did." She looked at Doug with a weary smile. "I guess you can probably work out what I have to say."
"You have AIDS." Doug said quietly.
"Yes. It developed about 8 months ago, I've been HIV Positive since 1993."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry, it's not your fault. I'm doing okay right now, there are good days and bad days. But I don't have much time left on the cards." She looked at Casey, perched on the arm of the chair opposite. "That's why I've been looking up relatives."
Doug also glanced at Casey. "Now please don't think I'm pressuring you into anything. I don't know anything about your own situation, and this may be totally inappropriate. I understand that. I am speaking to anyone I can trace right now. There aren't many, but there are others who might take Casey. I just want you to know the situation, and to know each other."
Doug nodded slowly, the full reality setting in.
"Do you play baseball?" Casey said to Doug, cutting into the silence.
"Sure."
"Do you wanna go to the park and throw some?"
"Well, I..." He glanced at his watch, then looked back up and smiled. "Why not?"
Casey smiled back and ran off into her room once more.
"She's such a sports freak, she was talent spotted for a trial scheme the White Sox are running for a mixed softball team, but she turned it down."
"They wanted me to practice 6 days a week. You know I couldn't do that." Casey called from her room.
"Yeah, Casey is also my home nurse, my chef and my occupational therapist." She grinned broadly at her bittersweet joke. "You guys go down to the park while I nap, okay?"
"Yeah. Hang on, I can't find my mitt..." Casey called.
"Doug." Wendy spoke in hushed tones. "Please, I know this is not only sudden, but also a horrible burden on you. If you're not interested, I understand. But please don't build her hopes up."
Doug nodded again, knowing that he would never let that happen but feeling unable to articulate it. Instead he said, "Don't worry," before standing up straight to greet a triumphant Casey, holding the long-lost mitt in her hand. "Found it!"
"Great, let's go then!"
"Doug, thank you for this, and thank you for coming here today."
"It's no problem at all. You just call me if there's anything you need. I'm a doctor ya know!"
"I'll be sure to do that. Be careful, Casey."
"You more."
They left the apartment, shutting the door behind them and breaking out onto the sidewalk.
"Mom sleeps for about an hour, so we can play for 50 minutes. If that's okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine. I have to leave for work about then anyway."
"You work at night?"
"Yup."
"Where?"
"County General ER."
"Oh. Oh yeah, Mom said you were a doctor. We've been to that hospital a couple of times. What part of medicine do you work in?"
"Well, I work in the emergency room, but I'm a pediatrician there."
"Cool."
They walked for a while in silence, not a repressive one, but the air was still loaded.
"So the White Sox huh?"
"Yeah. A kid at school, his uncle tours schools looking for future players. Normally they just look for the boys but they had this thing where they were trying to start a mixed league, playing softball."
"But you turned it down to look after your mom?"
"Uh huh." She dropped the mitt and they stopped for a moment while she picked it up, before progressing towards the green area ahead.
"You know, a lot of kids wouldn't do that."
"Yeah, well, a lot of kids don't have a mom with AIDS either."
Doug agreed silently. "Still, you're doing a great thing. And besides, if you're going to get picked for a team you want the Cubs." He looked serious but she read the joke in his eyes.
"Naah, White Sox are totally kicking butt this season. Besides, I'm from the South, I can't be seen supporting the Cubs."
"It can't hurt that much, and don't make me start quoting last season's records."
"Aw, shuddup! I bet you don't know squat. Where do you get the time to watch baseball if you're a doctor anyways?"
"If you work 12 hours, you get 12 hours off. And believe me, I can fit in a lot of baseball watching into my breaks too."
Casey grinned as they went through the park gates. Suddenly her expression dropped a little and she looked up at him, a questioning tone leading the change of subject. "Did you know my, I mean, our, Dad?"
Doug nodded sagely. "Yeah."
"And he left you as well?"
"Yeah. Well, he came back every now and then."
"Me too, he'd bring me stuff, he brought me this glove when I was 8."
"It's a good one. That's one thing you could say about Ray, he never spared money."
"Did he bring you stuff too?"
"Sure, footballs, team shirts, one time this crazy bike."
"Wanna play here?" As quickly has the subject had changed it was turned around again.
"Yeah, okay." Doug felt a little blindsided by the flicking in the conversation, but knew he had to let Casey lead. He jogged backwards until they were a good distance apart, and lobbed the ball at her, not too hard. So he was a little surprised when the ball winged back to him not more than 10 seconds later, and hard. He thought he'd heard the unmistakable sound of someone calling him a wuss from downfield, but it must have been a figment of his imagination.