5 Necessary Arrangements
As soon as we got in the RV, I let the woman know that I didn’t appreciate being marched off to bed. She laughed, “You were struggling to stay awake.”
I started the engine. “I’m fine. I’m wide awake.” I backed out into the street.
She looked at me out of the corner of her eye. There was a skeptical smile on her face. “The walk back to the camper revived you.”
I shifted into drive and headed back to Discovery. We rode in silence
As soon as we were parked, Kate set up the bed. She slipped out of her shoes and slacks and rolled out her sleeping bag next to the wall. I said, “I’m going to have a drink. Do you want one?”
I started toward the back for my whiskey. She blocked the aisle. “You’ve had a couple of glasses of wine. That’s enough alcohol for one day.”
“I’m getting a drink,” I growled.
She stared at me. Her jaw set. Finally she said, “I’ll pour. Go sit down.”
A few minutes later, Kate brought two cups to the front and held them out. I took the one from her right hand. She took the passenger’s seat and held out her cup. “To a successful journey.”
Our cups clicked. “A successful journey.”
##
I woke up around two. She was lying next to me in her sleeping bag. I got up, peed and crawled back in the bed. She turned and looked up. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
I woke again at 4 and got up to pee. She was still lying there. Kate was up doing some yoga stance when I woke at six thirty,. Watching her made me think I should be doing something to get some exercise. She finished her routine and made her way back to the shower. On her way past me, she said, “Good morning.”
Suddenly the whole idea of driving across the country with a woman I had just met felt very strange. I had moved out of the house and into the camper a week before starting the trip but only to sleep and shower. I had the camper to myself. Kate came out of the shower draped in a towel and went into the bathroom to dress. When she came out she said, “What do you want for breakfast?”
“Eggs. Over easy. And toast. And coffee.”
She nodded. ‘How about you get up and stow the bed while I get myself oriented.”
I was still getting dressed, when Kate sang out, “You don’t have any eggs. I found some Cheerios.”
“Okay. I’ll have Cheerios.”
“Do you want to go over to Sam’s for a hot breakfast?”
If I had been by myself, I would have poured a bowl of cereal and been done with it. But the eggs sounded better. I shrugged.
“Did you ever pay Eddie?”
“No. He took off on a call. Then you took me to the doctor and then we went to dinner.”
“Let’s go take care of that. He’s probably up by now.”
Eddie was up and busy with some project. He insisted we come in and have breakfast with him. While we ate, he got caught up on our plans which were pretty meager. He gave us some suggestions for the Lewis and Clark Trail. Then he convinced Kate to leave her car with him. She called her cousin and made and appointment for one.
Over the next couple of hours, we rearranged my clothes so she had one of the dressers and half of the wardrobe for her stuff. I was able to consolidate some of my clothes but I had to pack some in Kate’s suitcase which we left in her trunk. That left time for grocery shopping and trip to a sporting goods store. Kate picked up a sleeping bag and some equipment for working on muscle tone while we were confined to my RV.
##
Jimmy, James E Graham III, was Kate’s second cousin. He had a small family law practice although he had handled some criminal cases. His offices consisted of the den and a connected bedroom of an old two story frame house. When we arrived he led us into the den where he several files laid out on a large oak table.”Whoa. I thought I was coming over to sign an agreement on terms of employment.”
“You are but the situation makes the agreement more complicated that it would be if Katherine was just signing up to do housework.”
“We have a verbal agreement that she will come along with me and perform housekeeping duties for $100 per day plus room and board.”
Jimmy shot a look at Kate. “Do you have any health issues, Mr. MacGregor?”
“I’m getting older but nothing significant.”
“What is your risk of stroke?”
“Insignificant. There’s no history of stroke or heart attacks in my family.”
“But you’ve had brain surgery,” the lawyer objected. “I can see the scar. Did they remove a tumor and do a biopsy?”
“If that’s a problem,” I snapped, “we can stop right now.”
“Don’t be like that, Mac,” Kate soothed. “I don’t have a problem. I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of making arrangements, if I did.”
“Well, if you don’t have a problem, then why are you and your lawyer dumping this legal mumbo jumbo on me?”
Kate moved closer and took my hand. “We have to be up front and honest about the situation. You’ve had a tumor surgically removed and you are not undergoing treatment. The tumor is going to grow back. Your risk of seizure or stroke is high.”
“I’m not going to waste my time and money on those treatments. They just prolong the agony.”
“I know. I‘ve watched people I cared deeply about go through it from start to finish.” She brushed her hand across my face and head, letting her fingers linger on the scar. “I hope that if and when I am in that situation, I have the courage to say ‘Fuck it. I’m going to live until I die.’”
Those laser green eyes caught me and held me. I couldn’t turn away. Tears welled up. I mumbled, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“Yes you do,” she corrected. “You’re doing it. But you have to think about the consequences for others.”
I turned away to look at Jimmy. “The symptoms were mild but they never cleared up. An MRI revealed a tumor on the right side of my brain. The doctors operated to remove it. Analysis showed it o be a stage four glioblastoma surrounded by a stage 2 tumor. I consulted with a couple of doctors and decided to pass on chemo and radiation treatments. That left me stranded. I was retired. My wife was dead. I had nothing.” I stood and walked around the room. “I wasn’t ready to die but I had nothing to live for. My solution was this trip. See the country and meet a cousin I had exchanged emails with.”
“Which brings us to the business at hand,” Jimmy said. “We have to document that these are choices you have made of your own free will. We also need you to acknowledge that Katherine is not a doctor and cannot be expected to provide medical care while she is with you.”
“Alright.”
“I will give you the benefit of my training and experience,” Kate added. “You can see a physician at any time you want official medical advice. If you decide to do that or if circumstances indicate that you should do that, I will do my best to get you in to see a doctor.”
“CYA lawyer language. I get your point. If I want real medical care or advice, it’s up to me to get it.”
“Good summary,” Jimmy said. “Katherine is asking for power of attorney and the right to make medical decisions for you in the event that you become incapacitated.”
“I’ll make my own decisions.”
“As long as you are capable. But you can become incapacitated. Doctors could even decide that you are not able to make sound decisions. In either case, somebody will make decisions for you. If you don’t trust Katherine you will be putting yourself in the hands of strangers.”
My head sank into my hands. How did I get into this mess? I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Kate’s hands covered mine. Her voice was gentle. “Mac, it’s going to be okay.”
I looked up. She was smiling at me. “I understand that this is difficult but now is the time to address these issues. Right now you can make choices and put your wishes in writing.”
I nodded. “Okay. Kate gets power of attorney and the power to make medical decisions on my behalf if I should become incapacitated.”
“Do you have living relatives? I think this would be a good time to draw up a will.”
I glared at him. “I’ve got a will. It’s in the camper.”
“Okay. Would you mind letting me make two copies? One for my records and one for Katherine.”
“Now?”
“This would be a good time. We could use a break.”
The walk out to the RV gave me time to think. They were right about covering the bases before something happened. But that was the kind of thinking that killed great adventures. Kate knew all this was coming. What kind of game was she playing? Can I trust her if she needs all this CYA shit? Or is she just going along with it to satisfy her lawyer?
When I got back, I handed the will to Jimmy and turned to her. “Kate, I need an honest answer. Can I trust you? Are you going to have my back? Or should I write this off as a bad idea and go ahead without you?”
She looked up those laser green eyes piercing right through to my soul. Her face was peaceful. “I’m with you, Mac. I’m excited about this trip. I don’t like this BS any more than you but I have to think about what is going to happen, if something goes wrong, I’ll be the one on the hotseat. Not you.”
I slumped into a chair. It seemed like I was getting tangled up in a bad situation but I liked Kate. She would at least give me some company and brighten up the RV. At the same time I couldn’t stop thinking: There’s no fool like an old fool.
I signed the papers. As we were leaving, Jimmy told us about a rest stop not far up the road where we could park and sit as long as we wanted.