Matthew

                                                             Matt's POV.
Quite recently, I have been experiencing headaches to an extreme that it's not even plausible to explain. Of course, I've tried to explain my symptoms to Caitlin, but against her best efforts she couldn't tell me what to do. My father isn't sick, and he's already housed in an old folks home, my brother planted in a sanitarium for his, and every one elses own sake. I didn't leave to help other people. I left, to help myself.

Not a single doctor in Appaloosa Plains has been able to tell me what's wrong. So I made up a story for Caitlin, and I headed to Bridgeport to see some of the best doctors in the country. I didn't lie to Caitlin so I could go and play around in Bridgeport, I would never do that. I lied because I couldn't have her worrying about me. I would be fine. It's probably just nothing, but that is how I came to come face to face with one of the best doctors in the country.

"Are you comfortable?" She asks. "I'd be more comfortable with.. Pants." I say. She laughs. "As would I dear. So, what's been going on lately?" She starts out with the questions, most of which I am determined to answer.

"Well, I've been experiencing horrible headaches, nauseousness in the evenings I guess, my blood count dropped dramatically, from what the doctors in Appaloosa Plains could decifer, but overall it's just the headaches, and the fact that I can't sleep at night, and when and if I do sleep it's like blacking out." I name off all the symptoms that come to mind. Her face immediately drops. "They didn't tell me it was so severe." She says.

"Have you been involved in any accidents? According to your file you've never had cancer, so no radiation treatments gone bad then-" She starts, and after the word radiation, something comes to mind. "You said radiation... Would an explosion count?" I ask. "If it was nuclear, yes. Why is that?" "I was involved.. In an explosion when I was on duty in another country. They never told me what type it was. I lost two of my men in that explosion. And my symptoms started after I got out of the hospital, which was about a few weeks after the fact." I say. "That right there could be the initial cause of your problems. I'm going to issue an MRI, just to scan the brain for anything. I believe you may have acute radiation syndrome, which can cause cancer and all sorts of symptoms. I just want to be sure you don't have any spots on your brain."

She walked me down the hall and to an elevator, we went all the way to floor 27, then finally reached our destination. She opened the door for me, and told me to lie down on a small table. Everything in the room was white, and shiny. The lights were set to an intense setting, because they were burning my eyes. "Okay, I'm just going to go in that room right there. Feel free to close your eyes at any time, and stay calm, there's going to be a red light, that will spin a few times around your head. If you move at all it can distort the picture. Okay?" She explains everything to me, and I nod.

The machine must turn on, because the metal interior starts to spin, and the red light she was talking about flashes brightly, like everything else in the room. I close my eyes, and level my head. Hopefully, it's not as severe as it seems to be. It can't be that bad. Headaches, and loss of sleep. That's nothing. It's nothing.

After an hour of MRI testing, and a few hours after my blood was taken, she leads me back to the hospital room I started in. I lay down, and wait for the results to come to me. When my doctor comes in with a fake smile plastered to her face, I don't feel as happy as before. "Matthew. What we found was along the lines of the acute radiation syndrome, but that's not what worries me. Those symptoms are treatable, and in the end you could live a happy life, but the MRI showed spots on your brain-and I couldn't tell if they were tumors-or just-spots. Matthew if it's what my fellow workmen believe it is to be, you're looking at 6 months to a year left to live." She drops her eye contact, looking to the floor. Immediately my heart drops. "But, that's without treatment. If you go through with the treatment, it'll be, intense, but your results of the aftermath will be much better than going without." She says, and she regains her eye contact.
"I'll go through with treatment." I say.
"I'll book you a room." She replies.
Looks like I can't keep this 'my little secret' anymore.