LITMIR.BIZ

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said to bring you in at nine thirty because he would not be too busy on a Friday morning. Do you want to go by your apartment and change clothes?”

      “Of course, but please don’t bother about me. I can go alone.”

      “Now, Liisa, you know Ben would be furious with me for letting you go alone. I need to go and be with you for my sake. I want to know immediately what he finds. I couldn’t stand to stay here and wait and wonder. Be patient with me, Liisa. You know you’re as dear to me as if you were my own child. As far as this family is concerned, you are ours. Gloria, Paul and Ronald love you as much as they do each other.”

      With trembling lips and tear-glistened eyes, Liisa walked around the table to hug Ellen. I know, Aunt Ellen, and all of you are so dear to me as if we were blood relatives.”

      “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Let’s cut out the waterworks and get out of here.” Ellen took off her apron and headed for the kitchen while Liisa wiped off the dining table.

      Liisa drove to her apartment. Ellen came in to wait while she showered, changed clothes and brushed her teeth. Then she drove to Ben’s office on Meadow Street. Ellen told Liisa to drive to the back of the building and park where the employees parked.

      Dr. Alice Green, Ben’s assistant, met them in the back hall and walked with them to Ben’s office where he was waiting for them.

      “Hey! Two of the most beautiful women in the city can sure come into my office any time and brighten my day.” He held Ellen tenderly. “And you, my darling, are the most beautiful of all.”

      Liisa smiled at them with a soft feeling in her heart. She loved these two people and was so glad they had each other. They were as much in love now as they had been thirty-six years ago when they first married.

      “Sit down, sit down. We have a lot to discuss before Liisa starts her battery of tests.” Ben drew a deep breath. “Well, here you are again my little problem child. Remember, you were the one who usually fell out of the trees or into the lake trying to keep up with Paul. Poison ivy, mosquito bites and bee stings were common with you.” He shifted to a more comfortable position in his chair. His big, padded, leather chair had formed to his body over the years.

      “Sweetie, I will not be doing any of the more detailed and complicated tests. Others on my staff will be doing those. The results will be given to me and I’ll compile a medical profile of you.”

      Ben smiled at Liisa as he leaned back in his chair and locked his hands behind his head. “First we’ll do a complete blood work-up, urine specimen, reflexes, etcetera. I’ll explain each test as we progress. Any questions?”

      “Not at the moment, Uncle Ben. I’m sure I shall have scads of questions later.”

      “It’ll be several days before all of the test results are completed. I know all of us are anxious, you more than us, but it does take time. Unfortunately some of them may have to be taken over. Par for the course,” he smiled.

      “I understand,” Liisa nodded. As apprehensive as she felt, she had to smile to herself to see Ellen quietly shredding tissues and filling her lap with shredded material. Ben calmly took the shredded tissues and dropped them in the wastebasket.

      Liisa recognized that Ben, too, was nervous. She also knew he felt as he would if she were one of his own children, and that he was trying to put her at ease.

      “Alice, we’re ready,” Ben’s deep voice boomed out. “I was afraid of losing Alice because she recently got engaged to a good ole Southern boy. He’s a college professor from a nice Georgia family. I’ll admit I would be lost without her. I’ve come to depend on her for so much in the two years she’s been with me, and she’s naturally an excellent physician. She was born to be one.”

      Alice walked with Liisa to a cubicle where she put on a short gown that opened in the back. Alice gave her a second one to wear open to the front so that Liisa could walk down the hall without being embarrassed. Liisa’s heart was doing a drum roll against her ribs.

      After about an hour and a half, Liisa returned to Ben’s office to find Ellen flipping through a magazine as if she were in a reading race. Ben motioned for Liisa to sit beside Ellen as he pulled a chair closer to sit facing them. “Now honey, we’re going to take you to the clinic to have a magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. This test uses nuclear resonance and goes deeper and in more detail than the computerized axial topography, better known as the CAT scan. During the later part of the MRI, they will inject you with a nuclear medicine that will help them trace the path of the test with more accuracy. It might not be comfortable, and will take some time, but nothing will hurt you.”

      Liisa smiled bravely at him and hoped she was hiding the need to burst into tears. She would go through any tests that Uncle Ben recommended to determine why she could not remember the lost time.

      Liisa was placed on a gurney and a compassionate young male black nurse wheeled her through a short tunnel to the clinic where she was given the MRI. She was exhausted and very happy when she was told that the tests were nearly finished.

      Later, dressed and back in Ben’s office, Liisa sat to wait for Ben to tell them what she must do next. Ellen kept patting Liisa’s hand absently in her nervousness and saying repeatedly, “It’s all right, dear. It’s all right.”

      Ben’s receptionist, Kerry Kane, stuck her head in the door. “Gloria is on line one,” she grinned.

      Ben picked up the phone. “Hi, sweetheart. Guess who’s here in the office with me.” He listened a few minutes. “Is that right?” You don’t say. Well, well.” Ben laughed aloud. “Here’s your mother. Why don’t you tell her all of that,” he chuckled as he handed the phone to Ellen.

      Talking low to Liisa, Ben laughing said, “Gloria says that she has cooked enough for a small army and if the three of us don’t come over and help them eat, that she will have to throw it out in the streets so the animals and whoever wants it can get it.”

      “Yes, darling. We’ll be there in about a half an hour,” Ellen smiled and hung up.

      “Whoa! You didn’t consult with Liisa and me. We might have rather gone out on the town dancing until dawn.”

      “I can just see that,” laughed Ellen with fists on hips. “I know you’ll eat anything that anyone will serve to you, especially if it doesn’t bite back. Besides Liisa needs to be with our gang who loves her.”

      “Guess that solves your afternoon,” Ben grinned at Liisa. “Actually I’d love it. I didn’t get enough sugar from the plump little cheeks of Jerome.”

      “That’s the answer,” Ben said firmly. “You need to find a good, sensible husband and have your own little plump sugar cheeks.”

      “Hold it,” Liisa smiled. “You’re really rushing things. Anyhow, how do you know I don’t have a husband and baby? With my memory, or lack of it, I might have a whole little ball team tucked away somewhere,” she finished on a chocked sob.

      “Don’t joke. It isn’t funny,” Ellen snapped.

      “Ah, Aunt Ellen, I didn’t mean to upset you. If I don’t joke a little, I’ll end up a blubbering wreck.”

      “Drop the subject for now,” Ben spoke. “We’re all tense over the situation. It’s great that we can all hang together. It isn’t as if you have to face this alone,” Ben placed an arm around her shoulders.

      “Come on, Liisa. We’ll go on ahead to Gloria’s and visit a while. Ben can follow when he gets through here. See you, Alice,” called Ellen, looking in the adjoining office.

      “Bye now, y’all, see y’all later, ya hear,” joked Alice. “I’m learning to talk southern. Liisa, I’m so glad to meet you. I’ve heard so much about Ben’s other daughter. Please relax and place yourself in our hands knowing we’ll do all that is humanly possible to help you.”

      “Thank you so much. I’m glad to meet you, too, and I’m

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