Chapter 11: Not A Milkman
{Al's POV}
Tim walks into the studio and I know this is the chance I've been waiting for. I haven't seen him in a few days so now is my chance.
"Tim!" He pauses and waits for me to catch up.
"Hey Al, how'd the show go?"
"Just fine....Tim what's going on? Its not a milkman." He sighs and fidgets. "Tim, I always tried to be your friend, let me help."
"I've been spending time with the family." I nod and he sighs. "Randy's sick." There's some thing about the way he says that that sets off alarms in my head.
"What do you mean sick?"
"Its cancer Al." Boy I hadn't seen that one coming. It feels like he sucker punched me. He looks away and I set my hand down on the rack of hammers for today's show to help steady myself.
"Oh Tim, I'm so sorry."
"Thanks buddy." Tim mumbles.
"C-can I ask how serious it is?" I trip over my words and shake my head to try and clear the fog away.
"It started on his thyroid, and its spread to his throat."
"Oh Tim, I'm so sorry." Tim nods and I feel my voice catch in my throat. "He'll be okay won't he?"
"I hope so." Tim sighs and shifts his weight from one foot to the other. "He just had part of his thyroid taken out. They're going to start him on radiation soon."
"Poor kid." I murmur. They don't deserve this, the Taylor family does not deserve to go through this pain.
"Lets just try to make today's show a good one." Tim breaks into my thoughts then and I nod trying to force a smile onto my face.
"Okay Tim." I say automatically trying to busy myself with the preparations.
*****
The show hadn't been as good as it normally would have been, but of course Tim has his reasons and I have mine. We're backstage now and Tim shakes off his jacket
"That could have gone better." He says simply.
"It could have gone worse." I reply with forced cheerfulness. He looks to me in annoyance and then drops his eyes down to the table.
"Tim, there's a message for you." Heidi says as she passes by, handing it to him.
"Thanks Heidi." He wanders off and she looks at me in concern.
"Is he okay?"
"No, I don't think he is."
"Is anything the matter?"
"He's having some problems with his family." I reply. There that should be enough information to ease her curiosity without giving out information I'm sure Tim wants to keep quiet.
"Oh, that's really a shame." Heidi replies, her face pulling into a sympathetic grimace. "Is it him and Jill?"
"I'm not really sure." I'm lying, I hate to lie, but I don't think Tim wants a lot of people to know about this. She looks appeased for the time being and her hand lands on my shoulder.
"I'll see you tomorrow Al."
"Yeah, bye Heidi." She heads off and I'm left alone to my thoughts. I haven't been able to think about much else since what he told me before the show. How the rest of the family must be taking this. Jill must be devastated. Maybe I should call. Right now I don't know what I should do, all I know for sure is that the Taylor family is suffering, and there isn't much anyone can do to stop it. All I can do is offer support to them when they need it. I'm sure they speak to Wilson, he'll help them however he can, I just need to figure out how to help them in my own way, and eventually, I'll figure it out.
End of Ch11
{Al's POV}
Tim walks into the studio and I know this is the chance I've been waiting for. I haven't seen him in a few days so now is my chance.
"Tim!" He pauses and waits for me to catch up.
"Hey Al, how'd the show go?"
"Just fine....Tim what's going on? Its not a milkman." He sighs and fidgets. "Tim, I always tried to be your friend, let me help."
"I've been spending time with the family." I nod and he sighs. "Randy's sick." There's some thing about the way he says that that sets off alarms in my head.
"What do you mean sick?"
"Its cancer Al." Boy I hadn't seen that one coming. It feels like he sucker punched me. He looks away and I set my hand down on the rack of hammers for today's show to help steady myself.
"Oh Tim, I'm so sorry."
"Thanks buddy." Tim mumbles.
"C-can I ask how serious it is?" I trip over my words and shake my head to try and clear the fog away.
"It started on his thyroid, and its spread to his throat."
"Oh Tim, I'm so sorry." Tim nods and I feel my voice catch in my throat. "He'll be okay won't he?"
"I hope so." Tim sighs and shifts his weight from one foot to the other. "He just had part of his thyroid taken out. They're going to start him on radiation soon."
"Poor kid." I murmur. They don't deserve this, the Taylor family does not deserve to go through this pain.
"Lets just try to make today's show a good one." Tim breaks into my thoughts then and I nod trying to force a smile onto my face.
"Okay Tim." I say automatically trying to busy myself with the preparations.
*****
The show hadn't been as good as it normally would have been, but of course Tim has his reasons and I have mine. We're backstage now and Tim shakes off his jacket
"That could have gone better." He says simply.
"It could have gone worse." I reply with forced cheerfulness. He looks to me in annoyance and then drops his eyes down to the table.
"Tim, there's a message for you." Heidi says as she passes by, handing it to him.
"Thanks Heidi." He wanders off and she looks at me in concern.
"Is he okay?"
"No, I don't think he is."
"Is anything the matter?"
"He's having some problems with his family." I reply. There that should be enough information to ease her curiosity without giving out information I'm sure Tim wants to keep quiet.
"Oh, that's really a shame." Heidi replies, her face pulling into a sympathetic grimace. "Is it him and Jill?"
"I'm not really sure." I'm lying, I hate to lie, but I don't think Tim wants a lot of people to know about this. She looks appeased for the time being and her hand lands on my shoulder.
"I'll see you tomorrow Al."
"Yeah, bye Heidi." She heads off and I'm left alone to my thoughts. I haven't been able to think about much else since what he told me before the show. How the rest of the family must be taking this. Jill must be devastated. Maybe I should call. Right now I don't know what I should do, all I know for sure is that the Taylor family is suffering, and there isn't much anyone can do to stop it. All I can do is offer support to them when they need it. I'm sure they speak to Wilson, he'll help them however he can, I just need to figure out how to help them in my own way, and eventually, I'll figure it out.
End of Ch11